Christall History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

Etymology of Christall

What does the name Christall mean?

The history of the Christall name began with the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from Christopher, an ancient and popular font name which has been common since the 12th century. 1 Another source claims the name was "derived from a geographical locality. 'of Cristall.' I cannot find the spot, but Yorkshire seems to have been the home of the surname." 2

Early Origins of the Christall family

The surname Christall was first found in Yorkshire where one of the first records of the name was Robert de Cristall who was registered in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. 2

Scotland was another homeland for the family and in this case, "it is certainly a diminutive or pet form of Christopher. The first form was an old surname in Foveran and it was not uncommon in Prestwick, Ayrshire, in the fifteenth century" 3

Early History of the Christall family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Christall research. Another 96 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1470, 1474, 1487, 1491, 1535, 1567, 1650, 1672 and 1790 are included under the topic Early Christall History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Christall Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Christall family name include Chrystal, Cristall, Cristoll, Cristole, Cristell, Crystal, Crystall, MacCrystall, MacCristall and many more.

Early Notables of the Christall family

Thomas Crystall, (d. 1535) the twenty second abbot of a Cistercian monastery of Kinloss, near Forres in Moray. "Crystall was born in Culross in Perthshire, and educated in its monastery, a house of the Cistercians, where his talents, especially for music, attracted the attention of James Rait, the abbot, and his brother William, a skilled musician, who trained the young chorister. So great was...
Another 64 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Christall Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Christall migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Christall surname or a spelling variation of the name include :

Christall Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Robert Christall, who landed in Maryland in 1665 4

The Christall Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Mens conscia recti
Motto Translation: A mind conscious of rectitude.

Sources +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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)
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)