Crain History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsAn ancient Scottish tribe called the Boernicians were the ancestors of the first people to use the surname Crain. It is a name for a person whose was tall, and had long legs. This nickname derived from the Old English words cranuc, and cornuc, which mean crane. Early Origins of the Crain familyThe surname Crain was first found in Suffolk, England, before the name made its way North to Scotland. "In 1261 an inquest found that a man named Crane had held, by gift of King William the Lion, the lands of Inyaney and the office of gate-keeper of the royal castle, and that he never raised an army or gave assistance or did anything else in the world for the said lands, except gate-keeper of our lord the king's castle of Montrose. Cran and Crann are current in the shires of Aberdeen, Banff, and Inverness, and Patrick Crane is recorded in Aberdeen in 1398. Crane is the spelling used by an old family in the parish of Maryton." 1 Early History of the Crain familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Crain research. Another 106 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1398 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Crain History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Crain Spelling VariationsSpelling rules only evolved in the last few centuries with the invention of the printing press and the first dictionaries. Spelling variations are extremely common in names from before that period. Crain has been spelled Crane, Craine, Crain, Cran, Crann, Crayne and others. Early Notables of the Crain familyMore information is included under the topic Early Crain Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Crain RankingIn the United States, the name Crain is the 1,773rd most popular surname with an estimated 17,409 people with that name. 2 Migration of the Crain family to IrelandSome of the Crain family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
After making their great crossing, many Boernician-Scottish families settled along the east coast of North America. When the War of Independence broke out, United Empire Loyalists moved north to Canada while the rest stayed to fight. The ancestors of many of these Scots still populate the continent. This century, through Clan societies and other Scottish organizations, they began to rediscover their collective national heritage. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Crain or a variant listed above: Crain Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
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