First found in Sussex where they were anciently seated as Lords of the Manor. The Norman influence of English history prevailed after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed. The family name was one of many recruited by Henry 1st into England. The family name was first referenced in the 12th century when they held estates in that county. They were from Deville or Davidville in Neufchatel in Normandy.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: the name represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands..

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