Wanamaker History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Wanamaker family

The surname Wanamaker was first found in Essex 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 Tey (Great or Little Tey) held by Count Eustace, a Norman noble, who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086.

Early History of the Wanamaker family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wanamaker research. Another 78 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Wanamaker History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wanamaker Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Wannaker, Wannamaker, Wanker and others.

Early Notables of the Wanamaker family

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

Wanamaker Ranking

In the United States, the name Wanamaker is the 11,768^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Wanamaker migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Wanamaker or a variant listed above were:

Wanamaker Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Georg Wanamaker, aged 30, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1731 3

Wanamaker migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Wanamaker Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Mr. Richard Wanamaker U.E., (Derrick, Dirck) (b. 1755) from New Jersey, USA he died before settling in Fredericton, New Brunswick c. 1783 he served in the New Jersey Volunteers, married to Elizabeth who took on his land, he died in 1779 4
Mr. Henry Wanamaker U.E., (Hendrick) (b. 1755) born in Ramp, Bergen County, New Jersey, USA from New Jersey, USA who settled in Hampton, King's County, New Brunswick c. 1784 he served in the New Jersey Volunteers 4th Battalion, married to Leah (Mary) Van Neesher having 7 children, he died in 1828 4
Mr. Peter Wanamaker U.E. who settled in Adolphus Town [Adolphustown], Ontario c. 1784 4

Wanamaker Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

John L Wanamaker, who arrived in Canada in 1831

Contemporary Notables of the name Wanamaker (post 1700) +

Walter B. Wanamaker, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Ohio, 1936; Candidate for Chief Justice of Ohio State Supreme Court, 1938 5
Temple Wanamaker Jr., American politician, U.S. Vice Consul in Bilbao, 1943 5
Martin J. Wanamaker, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for Michigan State House of Representatives from Wayne County 5th District, 1930 5
Lewis Rodman Wanamaker (1863-1928), American Republican politician, Presidential Elector for Pennsylvania, 1916 5
George W. Wanamaker, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from New York, 1904, 1908 5
Zoë Wanamaker CBE (b. 1949), American-British actress
Sam Wanamaker (1919-1993), American actor and movie director
John Wanamaker (1838-1922), American businessman, civic and political figure, founder of Wanamaker's department store, the first department store in Philadelphia

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)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 18) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html