Show ContentsDandy History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Dandy Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Etymology of Dandy

What does the name Dandy mean?

The ancient history of the name Dandy dates back to the days of the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. It was a name given to a male, where it was originally used as a pet form of Andrew. 1 Essentially the surname Dandy originally derived from the Old Scottish name Andrew.

Early Origins of the Dandy family

The surname Dandy was first found in Surrey in the parish of Leigh, where the Dendy family held estates and made sizable donations to the local church. 2 The first record of the family was Dandi (without surname) who was listed in Lincolnshire in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1271-1273. The same rolls list Richard Dande in Huntingdonshire. Later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Willelmus Dandy, et uxor ejus and the Lay Subsidy Rolls of Lancashire listed Thomas Dandisone in 1332. 3 Adam Dandy was listed in the Register of Freeman of Yorkshire in 1312. 1

The name may also be from Dand, Dandy, familiarly used in Scotland for Andrew. Comparing the Scottish records to the English ones, we can see that the Scottish ones were more recent and in many cases the name appears as a forename, not a surname. "Andrew Kerr, son of the eighth lord of Ferniehurst, who died in 1499, was generally known as 'Dand Kerr.' Dand was common as a Christian name in the south of Scotland in the sixteenth century, and in the list of tenants under the Abbey of Kelso in 1567 we find Dand Howy, Dand Glernet, Dand Lermont, Dand Craige, Dand Stobe, etc." 4

Early History of the Dandy family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dandy research. Another 96 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1613, 1674, 1806, 1819 and 1831 are included under the topic Early Dandy History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dandy Spelling Variations

Until quite recently, the English language has lacked a definite system of spelling rules. Consequently, Anglo-Saxon surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. Changes in Anglo-Saxon names were influenced by the evolution of the English language, as it incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other languages. Although Medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, so it is common to find one person referred to by several different spellings of his surname, even the most literate people varied the spelling of their own names. Variations of the name Dandy include Dandie, Dandy, Dande, Dando and others.

Early Notables of the Dandy family

Kerr Dand, son of the eighth Lord of Ferniehurst; and Edward Dendy (bap. 1613-1674), English Serjeant-at-Arms in the Long Parliament and for the Rump during the trial of Charles I, convicted regicide, after the Restoration he fled to Rotterdam, and later to Switzerland where he died before the English ambassador George Downing could arrange for an arrest warrant in Rotterdam. Joseph Haydon Bourne Dando was born in Somers Town in 1806. At an early age he commenced...
Another 75 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dandy Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dandy migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia included the First Fleet of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

First Fleet
  • Mr. John Dandy, British settler convicted in Lincolnshire, England in 1788, sentenced to 7 years for theft, transported aboard the ship "Neptune, Scarborough or Surprize" leaving in 1789 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1790 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Dandy (post 1700) +

  • Walter Edward Dandy (1886-1946), American neurosurgeon who co-identified the Dandy-Walker syndrome (DWS)
  • Reginald Dandy (1902-1966), birth name of John Garrick, British film actor, known for his roles in Charlie Chan Carries On (1931), Just Imagine (1930) and Vagabond Violinist (1934)
  • Raymond Dandy (1887-1953), French actor, known for his roles in Bloomer Smokes Opium (1913), Headless Bloomer (1913) and Bloomer Short-Sighted (1913)
  • James Dandy (1903-1976), British botanist, Keeper of Botany at the British Museum (Natural History) between 1956 and 1966
Empress of Ireland
  • Mr. James Ferguson Dandy (1867-1914), Canadian Second Class Passenger from Pierson, Manitoba, Canada who survived the sinking on the Empress of Ireland 6
  1. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  2. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  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)
  4. 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)
  5. Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 4th February 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships
  6. Commemoration Empress of Ireland 2014. (Retrieved 2014, June 16) . Retrieved from http://www.empress2014.ca/seclangen/listepsc1.html

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