Kage History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of England produced the name of Kage. It was given to a person who because of their physical characteristics and physical abilities was referred to as kedge a Old English word that described someone who was brisk or active. 1

Although one notes source has a different understanding of the origin on the name. In this case, Kage is from the "Middle English [word] keech ‘a lump of congealed fat; the fat of a slaughtered animal rolled up into a lump’, used in the 16th century for a butcher: ‘Did not goodwife Keech the Butchers wife come in then?’ (Henry IV); ‘I wonder, That such a Keech can with his very bulke Take vp the Rayes o’ th’ beneficiall Sun, And keepe it from the Earth’ (Henry VIII), where the reference is to Cardinal Wolsey, a butcher’s son. " 2

Early Origins of the Kage family

The surname Kage was first found in Cambridgeshire and Surrey where Reginald and Hugo Keche were listed in the Curia Regis Rolls for 1206 and 1219. 2

Years later, the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included Peter Kech, Norfolk; and Adam Kyg, Buckinghamshire. 1

In Somerset, early rolls there show John Keche holding lands 1 Edward III (during the first year of King Edward III's reign.) 3

In Norfolk, John Keche, was rector of Erpingham in 1430 and "a brass plate in the ancient church of St. Helen's, Norwich, reads: 'Hie jacet corpus Dni. Edmundi Keche, presbyteri' " 4

Early History of the Kage family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Kage research. Another 109 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1206, 1620, 1621, 1640, 1673, 1686 and 1704 are included under the topic Early Kage History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Kage 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 Kage has appeared include Ketch, Keech, Keach, Kedge and others.

Early Notables of the Kage family

Distinguished members of the family include Hugo Ketch of Cheshire; John (Jack) Ketch (died 1686), one of King Charles II's executioners, who became quite infamous for the terrible suffering of his victims; his name has lived on as slang for the gallows or even for death itself.Benjamin Keach (1640-1704)...
Another 48 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Kage Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Kage migration to the United States +

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 Kage arrived in North America very early:

Kage Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Ludwig Kage, who landed in Texas in 1846 aboard the ship "Flavius" 5
Mrs. Friedke. Kage, (nee Jacobi), German who arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1846 aboard the ship "Flavius"
Mr. Ludwig Kage, German who arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1846 aboard the ship "Flavius"
Mr. Hein. Kage, German who arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1846 aboard the ship "Flavius"
Mr. Christian Kage, German who arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1846 aboard the ship "Flavius"

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)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.
Rye, Walter, A History of Norfolk. London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, 1885. Print
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)