Kerens History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland

The roots of the name Kerens are found among the Strathclyde-Briton people of the ancient Scottish/English Borderlands. Kerens was originally found in Midlothian. The name Kerens is also derived from the Gaelic word carn, which means pile of stones, and referred to the stone burial chambers we now call cairns. 1

Early Origins of the Kerens family

The surname Kerens was first found in Midlothian, in the lands of Cairns in the parish of Mid-Calder.

"The first of the name recorded is William de Carnys, who appears as a charter witness in 1349. Though this is the earliest mention of the name in record there must have been many of the surname living at an earlier date, as in the latter half of the fourteenth century many individuals of the name are mentioned in documents referring to the adjoining counties of Midlothian and West Lothian. In 1363 William de Carnys and his son, Duncan de Carnys, had a charter of the baronies of Esterquytburne and Westirquitburne from David II. Two years later David de Carnys appears as a bailie of Edinburgh." 2

Early History of the Kerens family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Kerens research. Another 271 words (19 lines of text) covering the years 1350, 1372, 1386, 1395, 1401, 1406, 1408, 1418, 1430, 1431, 1452, 1454, 1455, 1503, 1572, 1639, 1665, 1669, 1673, 1703, 1707, 1732, 1743 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Kerens History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Kerens Spelling Variations

In the era before dictionaries, there were no rules governing the spelling or translation of names or any other words. Consequently, there are an enormous number of spelling variations in Medieval Scottish names. Kerens has appeared as Cairns, Cairn, Kairnes, Carnys and others.

Early Notables of the Kerens family

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

Migration of the Kerens family to Ireland

Some of the Kerens family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 127 words (9 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Kerens migration to the United States +

The freedom, opportunity, and land of the North American colonies beckoned. There, Scots found a place where they were generally free from persecution and where they could go on to become important players in the birth of new nations. Some fought in the American War of Independence, while others went north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. The ancestors of all of these Scottish settlers have been able to recover their lost national heritage in the last century through highland games and Clan societies in North America. Among them:

Kerens Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

James M Kerens, who landed in Arkansas in 1891 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Kerens (post 1700) +

Richard C. Kerens (1842-1916), American Republican politician, Member of Republican National Committee from Missouri, 1884-1900; U.S. Ambassador to Austria-Hungary, 1910-13 4

Citations +

Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 6) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html