Heye History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Heye

What does the name Heye mean?

The ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of England produced the name of Heye. It was given to a tall or distinguished person. A broad and miscellaneous class of surnames, nickname surnames referred to a characteristic of the first person who used the name. They can describe the bearer's favored style of clothing, appearance, physical stature, habits, or character.

Early Origins of the Heye family

The surname Heye was first found in Buckinghamshire, where they held a family seat from very early times.

Early History of the Heye family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Heye research. Another 44 words (3 lines of text) covering the years 1273, 1567 and 1585 are included under the topic Early Heye History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Heye Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Heye has appeared include High, Hye, Hyee, Heye, Highe and others.

Early Notables of the Heye family

Robert le Heye, a prominent landholder in Buckinghamshire during the reign of Edward 1st

Heye migration to the United States +

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Heye arrived in North America very early:

Heye Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Friedr Heye, aged 23, who landed in New York, NY in 1893 1

Sources +

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)