Fryant History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• England

Etymology of Fryant

The history of the name Fryant goes back those Anglo-Saxon tribes that once ruled over Britain. Such a name was given to a person who was considered to be very good-natured and neighborly. The surname is derived from the Old English word frend which meant friend. 1 The early variant Le Frend eludes to a possible Norman influence. 2 During the Middle Ages people would use this word when they referred to their relatives or their kinsmen.

Early Origins of the Fryant family

Early History of the Fryant family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Fryant research. Another 69 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1297, 1667, 1669, 1675, 1683, 1696, 1714, 1715, 1728, 1745, 1751, 1754 and 1766 are included under the topic Early Fryant History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Fryant 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 Fryant family name include Friend, Freind, Frend and others.

Early Notables of the Fryant family

Sir John Friend (Freind) (died 1696), was an English conspirator arraigned for high treason at the Old Bailey, 23 March 1696, denied the assistance of counsel and executed at Tyburn 3 April 1696. 4 John Freind (1675-1728), was an English physician and politician, a younger brother of Robert Freind, born at Croton (or Croughton), near Brackley in Northamptonshire, of which place his father, William Freind, was rector. Robert Freind (1667-1751), was head-master of Westminster...
Another 72 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Fryant Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Fryant family

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. Investigation of the origins of family names on the North American continent has revealed that early immigrants bearing the name Fryant or a variant listed above: John Friend who settled in New England in 1640; Rowland and Susannah Friend settled in New England in 1733; Charles, George, Henry, Jacob, Martin, Norman and William Friend all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860..