Ketterer History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

Early Origins of the Ketterer family

The surname Ketterer was first found in Northamptonshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 1 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Kettering held by a stweard of Peterborough Abbey who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086.

Early History of the Ketterer family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ketterer research. Another 93 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1240, 1273 and 1382 are included under the topic Early Ketterer History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ketterer Spelling Variations

Anglo-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 Kettering, Kittering, Ketring, Ketering and others.

Early Notables of the Ketterer family

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

Ketterer Ranking

In the United States, the name Ketterer is the 18,630^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Ketterer migration to the United States +

Because 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 Ketterer name or one of its variants:

Ketterer Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Hans Michel Ketterer, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1753 3
Heinrich Ketterer, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1767 3
Jacob Ketterer, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1770 3

Ketterer Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Henry Ketterer, aged 46, who arrived in New York in 1833 3
Joseph Ketterer, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1841 3
Frederic Ketterer, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1873 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Ketterer (post 1700) +

Andrew "Drew" Ketterer (b. 1949), American lawyer and politician, Member of the Maine House of Representatives (1990-1994)
Mary E. Ketterer, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Ohio, 1944 4
J. L. Ketterer, American politician, Mayor of Bozeman, Montana, 1936-37 4
Mrs. Charles Ketterer, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for Presidential Elector for Ohio, 1928 4
Sepp Ketterer (1899-1991), German-born Austrian cinematographer
Theodor Ketterer (1815-1884), German renowned Black forest clockmaker, best known for his cuckoo clocks
Eugène Ketterer (1831-1870), French composer and pianist
Markus Jari Ketterer (b. 1967), Finish retired professional ice hockey player, inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005
Reinhard E. Ketterer (b. 1948), German retired competitive figure skater

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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 7) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html