Meakyn History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Wales
• Ireland

Early Origins of the Meakyn family

Early History of the Meakyn family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Meakyn research. Another 65 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1541, 1600, 1614 and 1675 are included under the topic Early Meakyn History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Meakyn Spelling Variations

Welsh surnames are relatively few in number, but they have an inordinately large number of spelling variations. There are many factors that explain the preponderance of Welsh variants, but the earliest is found during the Middle Ages when Welsh surnames came into use. Scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, which often resulted in a single person's name being inconsistently recorded over his lifetime. The transliteration of Welsh names into English also accounts for many of the spelling variations: the unique Brythonic Celtic language of the Welsh had many sounds the English language was incapable of accurately reproducing. It was also common for members of a same surname to change their names slightly, in order to signify a branch loyalty within the family, a religious adherence, or even patriotic affiliations. For all of these reasons, the many spelling variations of particular Welsh names are very important. The surname Meakyn has occasionally been spelled Machen, Machin, Machon, Mackon, Makin, Makins, MacMacken and many more.

Early Notables of the Meakyn family

Prominent amongst the family during the late Middle Ages was Thomas Machen (c. 1541-1614), an English mercer who was mayor of Gloucester three times, Member of Parliament for Gloucester in 1614; Bathsua Reginald Makin (c.1600-c.1675) English middle-class proto-feminist who...
Another 39 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Meakyn Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Meakyn family to Ireland

Some of the Meakyn family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 31 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Meakyn family

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many people from Wales joined the general migration to North America in search of land, work, and freedom. These immigrants greatly contributed to the rapid development of the new nations of Canada and the United States. They also added a rich and lasting cultural heritage to their newly adopted societies. Investigation of immigration and passenger lists has revealed a number of people bearing the name Meakyn: Bernard, Charles, Hugh, James, John, Michael, Patrick, Steven and Thomas Mackin all arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1840 and 1860; Hugh, Michael, Patrick, Thomas and William Macken also arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860.