Koe History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Etymology of Koe

What does the name Koe mean?

The ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of England produced the name of Koe. It was given to a jackdaw. Checking further we found the name was derived from the Old English word coo. This was in turn derived from the Old Norse word ka, which was their word for jackdaw. Thus the original bearer of this name must have reminded his contemporaries of a jackdaw and was referred to as "Koe" as a nickname.

Early Origins of the Koe family

The surname Koe was first found in Lancashire, where the Koe family held a family seat from ancient times. The earliest known bearer of the name was Osbert Ka, who was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Lancashire in 1188.

Early History of the Koe family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Koe research. Another 103 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1188, 1221, 1783 and 1860 are included under the topic Early Koe History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Koe 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 Koe has appeared include Coe, Coes, Cowe, Kow, Cawe, Kowe, Coo, Ku, Koo and others.

Early Notables of the Koe family

John Herbert Koe (1783-1860), a prominent British judge, and several members of the Coe family of Lancashire

Migration of the Koe family to Ireland

Some of the Koe family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Koe 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 Koe arrived in North America very early:

Koe Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Rich Koe, who landed in Maryland in 1666 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)