Conny History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
Conny is a name whose history is entwined with the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. It was a name for a swift runner or a timid person. The surname Conny is derived from the Old English words conig and cony, which mean rabbit. 1 "The fact that Thomas Cony (1323, Freeman of York) was a pelter suggests that the surname may also have denoted a dealer in rabbit-skins, perhaps also a furrier." 2
Early Origins of the Conny family
The surname Conny was first found in many counties throughout ancient Britain. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list Richard Conni, Salop (Shropshire) and John Conay, Huntingdonshire. 1
"Sire Hubert and Sire William de Coni held lands from Philip Augustus c. 1204. Robert Coignee occurs in Gloucester 1230." 3
Richard le Cony was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1296 and later the same rolls included Robert Cony who held lands in Cambridgeshire in 1327. 2
One of the strongholds of the family was found in Lincolnshire where "in the 16th century Richard and Thomas Coney, father and son, who were Merchants of the Staple of Calais, owned the manor - house, Basingthorpe; the same Thomas Coney, who accumulated a great fortune and was High Sheriff of Rutland in 1573. He gave £100 towards the national fund collected for the defence of the country at the time of the expected invasion of the Spanish Armada in 1588." 4
From these early entries the name expanded to places like Coney Arm, Newfoundland 5 and Coney's Castle, an Iron Age hill fort in Dorset, England.
Early History of the Conny family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Conny research. Another 132 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1585, 1592, 1595, 1630, 1645, 1646, 1676, 1679, 1682, 1685, 1713, 1786, 1794, 1806, 1815 and 1833 are included under the topic Early Conny History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Conny Spelling Variations
Before the last few hundred years, the English language had no fast system of spelling rules. For that reason, spelling variations are commonly found in early Anglo-Saxon surnames. Over the years, many variations of the name Conny were recorded, including Coney, Coyney, Coyny, Cony, Conney, Conye, Coyney, Cony, Conny, Connay and many more.
Early Notables of the Conny family
Notables of the family at this time include
- Robert Conny (also Cony) (1646?-1713), an English physician. He was the "son of John Conny, surgeon, and twice mayor of Rochester, born in or about 1645. He was a member of Magdalen College, Oxford, a...
Migration of the Conny family to Ireland
Some of the Conny family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Conny migration to the United States +
To escape oppression and starvation at that time, many English families left for the "open frontiers" of the New World with all its perceived opportunities. In droves people migrated to the many British colonies, those in North America in particular, paying high rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Although many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, those who did see the shores of North America perceived great opportunities before them. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Research into various historical records revealed some of first members of the Conny family emigrate to North America:
Conny Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
- Edward Conny, who landed in Virginia in 1657 6
- Francis Conny, who landed in Maryland in 1671 6
- Elizabeth Conny, who arrived in Maryland in 1680 6
Conny migration to West Indies +
The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association.
7Conny Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
- Mr. John Conny, (b. 1614), aged 20, British settler travelling from London, UK arriving in St Christopher (St. Kitts) on 5th January 1634 6
Contemporary Notables of the name Conny (post 1700) +
- Conny Van Dyke (1945-2023), sometimes credited as Connie Van Dyke, an American singer and actress
- Conny Vandenbos (1937-2002), Dutch pop singer and actress from The Hague, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands who had her first radio hit in 1966 and continued to make hit recordings through the 1970s, also known for roles in Theo & Thea in de gloria (1988), Knokken voor twee (1982) and Veertig jaar liedjes (1965)
- Conny de Beauclair, German actor, known for Haider lebt-1. April 2021 (2002), Step on It (2002) and Julia-Eine ungewöhnliche Frau (1999)
- Conny Hamann (b. 1969), Danish gold medalist team handball player at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Conny Maki, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from New Mexico, 2004 8
Citations +
- Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
- Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
- The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
- Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
- Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland Montreal: McGill's-Queen's University Press 1998. Print. (ISBN 0-7735-1782-0)
- 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)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
- The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 10) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html