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Seal History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Suggested Reading Citations

Seal History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The Seal history begins in Cornwall, a rugged coastal region in southwestern England. Quite distinct from Devon, the adjoining county, Cornwall had its own spoken language until the late 18th century. The Seal history began here. The manner in which hereditary surnames arose is interesting. Local surnames were derived from where the original bearer lived, was born, or held land. Unlike most Celtic peoples, who favored patronymic names, the Cornish predominantly used local surnames. The Seal family originally lived in the parish of Seal which had various locations in England including the counties of Northumberland, Leicester, Surrey and Kent.

However, the name could have originated from a variety of sources. It could be one who worked at the hall from the Old English word "sele," 1 or, perhaps, "dweller by the sallow copse" from the Old English "siele," or "sele." 2

Early Origins of the Seal family

The surname Seal was first found in Devon where Ralph de la Sele was listed in the Pipe Rolls of 1168. Roger Sele was also listed in the Pipe Rolls for Norfolk in 1198. 2

"The Seals of the Derby district may hail originally from Seal, a Leicestershire parish close to the Derbyshire border." 3

Today Seal could also be a Bengali Hindu Brahmin family name which literally means "the quality of being devoted."

Early History of the Seal family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Seal research. Another 67 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Seal History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Seal Spelling Variations

Cornish surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The official court languages, which were Latin and French, were also influential on the spelling of a surname. Since the spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. Lastly, spelling variations often resulted from the linguistic differences between the people of Cornwall and the rest of England. The Cornish spoke a unique Brythonic Celtic language which was first recorded in written documents during the 10th century. However, they became increasingly Anglicized, and Cornish became extinct as a spoken language in 1777, although it has been revived by Cornish patriots in the modern era. The name has been spelled Seal, Seale, Seel, Sealey, Sealy, Seally, Sealley and others.

Early Notables of the Seal family

Notables of the family at this time include

Seal of Mount Boone

Seal Ranking

In the United States, the name Seal is the 2,728^th most popular surname with an estimated 12,435 people with that name. 4

Migration of the Seal family to Ireland

Some of the Seal family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Seal migration to the United States +

Research into the origins of individual families in North America has revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Seal or a variant listed above:

Seal Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Emanuel Seal, who landed in Maryland in 1676 5

Seal Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

William Seal, who settled in Maryland in 1740
Anna Maria Seal, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1746 5
John Paul Seal, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1751 5
William Seal, who settled in Boston in 1763

Seal Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Catharine Seal, who landed in Texas in 1840-1850 5
C H Seal, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1850 5
Thomas Seal, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 5
H W Seal, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 5
Derdinand Seal, aged 28, who arrived in New York, NY in 1854 5

Seal migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Seal Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Samuel Seal, English convict who was convicted in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Eliza" on 2nd February 1831, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 6
Charles Seal, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Caspar" in 1849 7
William Seal, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Caspar" in 1849 7
Mary Seal, aged 17, a domestic servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1855 aboard the ship "Bucephalus"
William Seal (aged 22), a carpenter, who arrived in South Australia in 1856 aboard the ship "Eliza"

Seal migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Seal Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

James Seal, aged 38, a farm labourer, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Avalanche" in 1875
Frances Seal, aged 30, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Avalanche" in 1875
John Seal, aged 9, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Avalanche" in 1875
B. Ann Seal, aged 1, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Avalanche" in 1875
Mr. William R. Seal, (b. 1857), aged 21, English boot and shoe finisher from Leicester departing on 10th August 1878 aboard the ship "Hydaspes" arriving in Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand on 9th November 1878
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Seal (post 1700) +

Frances Thurber Seal (1860-1930), American Christian Science practitioner and teacher who helped establish the religion in Germany
Paul Seal (b. 1952), former American football tight end in the National Football League
Richard Godfrey Seal (1935-2022), English organist and master of the choristers at Salisbury Cathedral (1968-1997)
Jimmy Seal (b. 1950), English former footballer who played over 421 matches from 1968 to 1981
Elizabeth Seal (b. 1933), Italian-born, British Tony award winning actress, best known for her title role of Irma La Douce
Jaynie Seal (b. 1973), Australian television presenter from Sydney, New South Wales
Sir Brajendra Nath Seal (1864-1938), Bengali Indian humanist philosopher
Aditya Seal (b. 1988), Indian model and film actor
Mike Seal (b. 1970), English Assistant Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
David Seal (b. 1972), former Australian soccer player who played for the Australia U-20 and Australia National Teams
... (Another 1 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Seal family +

HMS Royal Oak

Leonard Seal, British Seaman with the Royal Navy aboard the HMS Royal Oak (1939) when she was torpedoed by U-47 and sunk; he survived the sinking 8

Citations +

Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 28th February 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eliza
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) The CASPAR 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849Caspar.htm
Ships hit by U-boats crew list HMS Royal Oak (08) - (Retrieved 2018 February, 9th) - retrieved from https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship68.html