Cerferd History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The ancient roots of the Cerferd family name are in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The name Cerferd comes from when the family lived in a valley or at the foot of a hill. Cerferd is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties.

Early Origins of the Cerferd family

The surname Cerferd was first found in Yorkshire where Ricardus de Kerfforth was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. A very rare name, we must look to 1572 to find the next record, that of Margarette Kyrfote, of Bolhngton who appears in the Reg. Prestbury, Cheshire at that time. A few years later, John Kirfoote, or Kyerfoote, Cheshire appears in the Register of the University of Oxford in 1583. 1

Early History of the Cerferd family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cerferd research. Another 101 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1379, 1661, 1664, 1688 and 1741 are included under the topic Early Cerferd History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cerferd Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Cerferd has appeared include Kerfoot, Kerford, Kerfont, Kerfut, Kerriford and many more.

Early Notables of the Cerferd family

More information is included under the topic Early Cerferd Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Cerferd family to Ireland

Some of the Cerferd 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.

Migration of the Cerferd family

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Cerferd arrived in North America very early: Thomas Kerfitt, who settled in Virginia in 1624; and Elizabeth Kerfoote, who sailed to Virginia in 1637.

Citations +

Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)