Guntier History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsLike many surnames, the name Guntier comes from a personal name, in this case, from Gunter or Gunther. Such names may be patronymic, signifying that the person's father was named Gunther, or they may simply have been chosen arbitrarily at the time when people were taking surnames. Gunther is a French and German name, coming from the Old French "gontier" or the Old German "gunter," both of which mean "battle-army." However one source notes "a tradition in the family says, from gamut d'or, allusive to the gauntlets in their arms; but this is very improbable." 1 Another source note that the name could have been originally Norman as the Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae lists N. Gontier, Normandy 1180. This same source notes that "Sir Peter Gontier or Gunter accompanied Bernard de Neumarchd in the conquest of Brecknock 1088, and obtained a fief there." 2 Early Origins of the Guntier familyThe surname Guntier was first found in Oxfordshire, where two men bearing the first names Gunter and Gonther were recorded in the Domesday Book at that time. 3 1 "In Berkshire the name has long been known. In the reign of Henry VI., the Gunters were Berkshire gentlemen. Colonel Gunter, who was a zealous adherent of Charles II., belonged to a family living at Racton, Sussex, in the 16th and 17th centuries, and hailing from Gilleston in Wales before that time. The name also occurs in Gloucestershire, and a reference will be found to it under that county.4 The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included: Geoffrey le Ganter, Cambridgeshire; and Adam le Ganter, Oxfordshire; Walter Guntard, Norfolk; and John Gunter, Oxfordshire. 5 Early History of the Guntier familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Guntier research. Another 64 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1094, 1100, 1205, 1221, 1581 and 1626 are included under the topic Early Guntier History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Guntier Spelling VariationsAnglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Gonther, Gunter, Gunther, Guenthner, Guntard and many more. Early Notables of the Guntier familyOutstanding amongst the family at this time was Edmund Gunter (1581-1626), English mathematician and inventor, namesake of Gunter's chain, a measuring device used for land survey and Gunter's rule/scale which... Migration of the Guntier familyFor many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Guntier or a variant listed above were: Lester Gunter, who arrived in New England in 1635.
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