Chee History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The Anglo-Saxon name Chee comes from when the family resided in or near either of the settlements called Cheadle in the counties of Cheshire and Staffordshire. Cheetle is a "parish, in the union of Wimborne and Cranborne, hundred of Moncktonup-Wimborne, Wimborne division of Dorset." 1

Chee belongs to the class of habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.

Early Origins of the Chee family

The surname Chee was first found in Cheshire at Cheadle, a parish, partly in the union of Stockport, and partly in that of Altrincham, hundred of Macclesfield. "The village, situated near the Mersey, is remarkable for the beauty and salubrity of its situation, and its neat appearance." 1

In Staffordshire, Cheadle is a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the S. division of the hundred of Totmonslow. 1

Early feudal rolls provided the king of the time a method of cataloguing holdings for taxation, but today they provide a glimpse into the wide surname spellings in use at that time. Hobbe de Chedel was found at Wakefield, Yorkshire in 1297; Agnes de Chedle in the Assize Rolls for Staffordshire in 1356; John Chetel was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379; Wilson Chetill in Dorset in 1546; and William Chettle in Somerset in 1641. 2

"There is a Dorset parish [named Cheetle]; and an ancient family of Chettle held property in Blandford St. Mary, Dorset, during the 16th and 17th centuries." 3

Early History of the Chee family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Chee research. Another 102 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1592 and 1607 are included under the topic Early Chee History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Chee Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Chee has been recorded under many different variations, including Cheadle, Chedel, Cheade, Cheatle, Cheddle, Cheatley, Chedle, Chettle and many more.

Early Notables of the Chee family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Henry Chettle (d. 1607?), English dramatist and pamphleteer, son of Robert Chettle, a dyer of London. "Chettle first comes...
Another 27 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Chee Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Chee Ranking

In the United States, the name Chee is the 6,660^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 4

Migration of the Chee family

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Chee or a variant listed above: Margaret and William Cheadle settled in Virginia in 1663; Ann Cheade also settled in Virginia in that year, probably the daughter.

Contemporary Notables of the name Chee (post 1700) +

Leonard Chee, American Republican politician, Candidate for Arizona State House of Representatives 3rd District, 1998 5
Hon Chung Chee, American Democratic Party politician, Postmaster at Honolulu, Hawaii, 1966-81 (acting, 1966-67) 5

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 8) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html