Berkenhead History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The Anglo-Saxon name Berkenhead comes from when the family resided near a birch-covered headland. The surname Berkenhead is derived from the Old English words bierce, meaning birch, and heafod, meaning head. 1

Early Origins of the Berkenhead family

The surname Berkenhead was first found in Cheshire, at Birkenhead, a rising sea-port, market-town, and township, in the union, and Lower division of the hundred, of Wirrall. Another branch of the family was found at Backford, a parish, in the union of Great Boughton, partly in the Higher division of the hundred of Wirrall, and partly in the Lower division of the hundred of Broxton.

"During a great part of the 13th and 14th centuries, the manor was held by the Masseys, of Timperley; about the year 1580 it was sold to Thomas Aldersey, by whom it was soon afterwards alienated to the Birkenheads, who resided at Backford Hall until the family became extinct in the male line in 1724." 2

Early History of the Berkenhead family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Berkenhead research. Another 77 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1350, 1400, 1553, 1560, 1571, 1572, 1590, 1608, 1614, 1616, 1617, 1679 and 1696 are included under the topic Early Berkenhead History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Berkenhead Spelling Variations

Before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, French and other languages became incorporated into English through the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Berkenhead include Birkenhead, Birkehead, Birkenheed, Birkenhedd, Birkead, Birkinhead and many more.

Early Notables of the Berkenhead family

Notables of the family at this time include

Sir John Birkenhead or Berkenhead (1616-1679), was a British political writer and journalist was imprisoned several times during the Commonwealth for his obtrusive Royalism. His loyalty to the crown w...

Berkenhead migration to the United States +

A great wave of immigration to the New World was the result of the enormous political and religious disarray that struck England at that time. Families left for the New World in extremely large numbers. The long journey was the end of many immigrants and many more arrived sick and starving. Still, those who made it were rewarded with an opportunity far greater than they had known at home in England. These emigrant families went on to make significant contributions to these emerging colonies in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers carried this name or one of its variants:

Berkenhead Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Rupert Berkenhead, who landed in Maryland in 1672 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Berkenhead (post 1700) +

Sir John Berkenhead (1617-1679), English Royalist Journalist

Citations +

Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, 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)