Ringley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland
England

Ringley is a name whose roots are found in the clans of the Boernician people of ancient Scotland. The Ringley family lived in a place near Stow Roxburghshire, called Hopringle or Pringle. As such, Ringley is a habitation name, a category of surnames that were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. The place name comes from the Old English word hop which referred to an "enclosed valley," and Prjónn, an Old Norse name comprised of components which mean peg and ravine. Thus, the original bearer of the surname came from an area noted for an enclosed valley or a ravine.

However some sources presume the name to be derived from "pilgrim," as "they bear in their arms the escallop shells or badges of pilgrims to the Holy Land." 1 2

Early Origins of the Ringley family

The surname Ringley was first found in Roxburghshire, where the first Chief on record was Robert de Hoppryngil who witnessed a deed by King Alexander III of Scotland in 1250 A.D. Forty-six years later, Ellys Obringkel was Bishop of St. Andrews, and rendered homage to King Edward I of England on his brief conquest of Scotland in 1296. His seal bore a hunting horn. About this time they acquired the Clan territories near Stow and they became close allies of the Black Douglases. 3

"The little silver coin called a pringle, formerly minted in Scotland, and of about the value of an English penny, may have derived its name from one of this family." 4

Early History of the Ringley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ringley research. Another 426 words (30 lines of text) covering the years 1200, 1368, 1406, 1450, 1455, 1485, 1513, 1568, 1580, 1625, 1626, 1628, 1631, 1664, 1667, 1689, 1736 and 1976 are included under the topic Early Ringley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ringley Spelling Variations

Scribes in the Middle Ages simply spelled according to sound. The result is an enormous number of spelling variations among names that evolved in that era. Ringley has been spelled Pringle, Pringell, Prindle, Hopringle and others.

Early Notables of the Ringley family

Notable among the family at this time was George Pringle (1631-1689), of Torwoodlee, eldest son of James Pringle of Torwoodlee. The Pringles of Torwoodlee, Selkirkshire, are descended from the Pringles of Snailholm, Roxburghshire, the first of the name being George, son of William Pringle of Snailholm who was killed at Flodden in 1513. This George Pringle was murdered in his own house by a party of Liddesdale reivers in 1568. 5Walter Pringle (1625-1667), of Greenknowe, Berwickshire, Scottish Covenanter, was the third son of Robert Pringle, first of Stitchel, Roxburghshire. The Pringles of Stitchel were descended from the Hop Pringles of Craiglatch...
Another 124 words (9 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Ringley Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Ringley family to Ireland

Some of the Ringley family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 35 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ringley migration to the United States +

Most of the Boernician-Scottish families who came to North America settled on the eastern seaboard of what would become the United States and Canada. Families who wanted a new order stayed south in the War of Independence, while those who were still loyal to the crown went north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. In the 20th century, the ancestors of these families have gone on to rediscover their heritage through Clan societies and other patriotic Scottish organizations. Research into the origins of individual families in North America has revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Ringley or a variant listed above:

Ringley Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Frederick Ringley, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1856 6

Contemporary Notables of the name Ringley (post 1700) +

John Ringley, American one time owner of Jim Crockett Promotions, a wrestling promoter
Jennifer Kaye Ringley (b. 1976), American Internet personality and former lifecaster, known for creating the popular website JenniCam

Citations +

Sims, Clifford Stanley The Origin and Signification of Scottish Surnames. 1862. Print.
Dixon, Bernard Homer, Surnames. London: John Wilson and son, 1857. 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)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. 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)