Guntter History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsLike many surnames, the name Guntter 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 Guntter familyThe surname Guntter 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 Guntter familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Guntter research. Another 64 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1094, 1100, 1205, 1221, 1581 and 1626 are included under the topic Early Guntter History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Guntter Spelling VariationsAnglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Gonther, Gunter, Gunther, Guenthner, Guntard and many more. Early Notables of the Guntter 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 Guntter familyBecause of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Guntter name or one of its variants: Lester Gunter, who arrived in New England in 1635.
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