Contents [hide]

Croce History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Croce History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Italy
Ireland

Croce is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Croce family once lived as dwellers at a cross or crucifix. The surname Croce originally derived from the Old English word crosse, which means cross. 1 2 3

Early Origins of the Croce family

The surname Croce was first found in Lincolnshire. The name was first found to be in the southern English counties of Lincolnshire, Buckingham, and Oxfordshire, about the year 1250. By the year 1340 the most important branch of the name had moved northward to Lancashire, and established manors and estates at Crosse Hall, just outside Liverpool. This branch also moved into the Cross of Ledsham to the south in the county of Cheshire.

The Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379 included: Johannes del Crosse; Johanna del Crosse; and Andreas de la Croys while the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 still had a few Latin entries for the family: Jordan ad Crucem, Buckinghamshire; Humfrey de Cruce, Oxfordshire; and Conan ad Crucem, Lincolnshire. 3

The name is "rare or absent in the northern counties, and in the south coast counties. Mostly confined to the east centre of England and to the adjacent coast counties between the Wash and the Thames." 4

In Norfolk, Thomas atte-cross, was Rector of Bexwell, Norfolk (no date given) 5

In Lancashire, Richard del Crosse was found there in the Assize Rolls of 1285 and later William atte Cros was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for Suffolk in 1327. 6

Early History of the Croce family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Croce research. Another 74 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1590, 1606, 1609, 1610, 1613, 1616, 1621, 1627, 1630, 1632, 1633, 1641, 1646, 1650, 1655, 1660, 1662, 1664, 1671, 1672, 1674, 1680, 1682, 1683, 1686, 1689, 1691, 1698, 1700, 1718, 1724, 1738, 1762 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Croce History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Croce 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 Croce family name include Cross, Crosse, Croce, Crosce, Croise, Croice and others.

Early Notables of the Croce family

Notables of this surname at this time include: John Cross (1630-1689), Franciscan friar, a native of Norfolk, and his real name appears to have been More. He took the habit of St. Francis in or about 1646, and was declared D.D. on 12 Oct. 1672. On 10 May 1674 he was elected provincial of his order in England for three years, and being re-elected on 25 April 1686. 7Michael Cross (fl. 1630-1660), the painter, obtained great renown as a copyist in the reign of Charles I. He is doubtless identical with Miguel de la Cruz, a painter at Madrid, who in...
Another 331 words (24 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Croce Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Croce Ranking

In the United States, the name Croce is the 14,662^nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 8

Migration of the Croce family to Ireland

Some of the Croce family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 57 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Croce migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, 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 Croce surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Croce Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Gartano Croce, who settled in Baltimore in 1832
Gaetano Croce, who landed in New York, NY in 1836 9
Ludwig Croce, who settled in New York in 1855

Croce Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Angelo Antonio Croce, who arrived in Kansas in 1938

Contemporary Notables of the name Croce (post 1700) +

Mary Keating Croce DiSabato (1928-2016), American Democratic Party politician, Member of the New Jersey General Assembly (1974-1980)
Arlene Croce (b. 1934), American critic and writer on dance, founder of Ballet Review in 1965
Jim Croce (1943-1973), American singer songwriter
Benedetto Croce (1866-1952), Italian philosopher, critic, and educator

The Croce 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: Cruce dum spero fido
Motto Translation: Whilst I have breath I confide in the cross.

Citations +

Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
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)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Rye, Walter, A History of Norfolk. London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, 1885. Print
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
"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)