Keiling History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The history of the name Keiling goes back those Anglo-Saxon tribes that once ruled over Britain. Such a name was given to a person who fished codfish and was accordingly named after the fish. The surname Keiling is derived from the Old English word keling, which means young codfish. 1 2

Occasionally, the name is derived from residence in the settlement of Keeling in the county of Norfolk. 1 3

Early Origins of the Keiling family

The surname Keiling was first found in the Domesday Book of 1086 where Chellinge was listed in Yorkshire. Over the years, this place name evolved to be known as Killing or Keeling. 4

In Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, Ælfuine Celing was registered there c. 1095. Later in Suffolk, Robert Kelyng was listed in 1277. 1

The noted historian Bardsley, notes the name is "local, 'of Keelin.' I suspect the Staffordshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire Keelings are of local origin. But I cannot find the spot. The final 'g' is in this case an excrescence, as in Jennings, Hewlings." 2

We did find this interesting passage in the source Baines' Lancashire: "In 56 Henry III (1272), Henry de Lasey granted for his service all that land which William of Keelin and William his son formerly held, and which reverted to the grantor by the felony of William de Keelin." 5 Unfortunately, no other details were provided.

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included: Walter de Kelin and Osbert Kelyng, in Huntingdonshire. 2

Early History of the Keiling family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Keiling research. Another 90 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1240, 1372, 1463, 1482, 1577, 1586, 1604, 1607, 1618, 1619, 1620, 1625, 1626, 1649, 1661, 1663, 1671, 1683 and 1691 are included under the topic Early Keiling History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Keiling Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Keiling family name include Keeling, Keiling, Kealing and others.

Early Notables of the Keiling family

Notables of the family at this time include John Keeling (1586-1649), an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1625 and 1626. He was Member of Parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme. Captain William Keeling (1577-1619), of the East India Company, was a British sea captain. He commanded the Susanna on the second East India Company voyage in 1604. During this voyage his crew was reduced to fourteen men and one of the ships vanished. On his return, King James I appointed Keeling a Groom of the Chamber, and in c. 1618 he was named Captain of Cowes Castle on...
Another 132 words (9 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Keiling Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Keiling family to Ireland

Some of the Keiling 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.

Keiling migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Investigation of the origins of family names on the North American continent has revealed that early immigrants bearing the name Keiling or a variant listed above:

Keiling Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Wilhelm Keiling, who arrived in New York in 1850 6

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Barber, Henry, British Family Names London: Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, 1894. Print.
Baines Thomas & William Fairbairn, Lancashire and Cheshire, Past and Present History of Counties London: William MacKenzie, 1867, Digital, 4 vols
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)