Ketter History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

Early Origins of the Ketter family

The surname Ketter was first found in Northamptonshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 1 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Kettering held by a stweard of Peterborough Abbey who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086.

Early History of the Ketter family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ketter research. Another 93 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1240, 1273 and 1382 are included under the topic Early Ketter History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ketter Spelling Variations

Multitudes of spelling variations are a hallmark of Anglo Norman names. Most of these names evolved in the 11th and 12th century, in the time after the Normans introduced their own Norman French language into a country where Old and Middle English had no spelling rules and the languages of the court were French and Latin. To make matters worse, medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, so names frequently appeared differently in the various documents in which they were recorded. The name was spelled Kettering, Kittering, Ketring, Ketering and others.

Early Notables of the Ketter family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

the Kettering family of Northampton

Ketter Ranking

In the United States, the name Ketter is the 15,163^rd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Ketter migration to the United States +

Because of this political and religious unrest within English society, many people decided to immigrate to the colonies. Families left for Ireland, North America, and Australia in enormous numbers, traveling at high cost in extremely inhospitable conditions. The New World in particular was a desirable destination, but the long voyage caused many to arrive sick and starving. Those who made it, though, were welcomed by opportunities far greater than they had known at home in England. Many of these families went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Ketter or a variant listed above:

Ketter Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Henrich Ketter, who arrived in New York, NY in 1710 3
Tobias Ketter, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1752 3

Ketter Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Phil Wilh Ketter, who arrived in America in 1854 3
Wilhelm Ketter, who arrived in Baltimore, Maryland in 1860 3
Henry Ketter, who landed in St Clair County, Illinois in 1874 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Ketter (post 1700) +

Clay Ketter (b. 1961), American painter and photographer
Philip "Phil" Ketter (1884-1965), American Major League Baseball catcher who played for the St. Louis Browns in 1912
Henry Ketter, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from Ohio 2nd District, 1900 4
E. F. Ketter, American Republican politician, Candidate for Missouri State House of Representatives from Audrain County, 1954 4
Kerry Kenneth Ketter (b. 1947), Canadian retired NHL ice hockey player from Prince George, British Columbia

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
"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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 7) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html