Leager History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The Anglo-Saxon name Leager comes from the baptismal name for the son of Leman, which was taken from the personal name Liefman. 1

Early Origins of the Leager family

The surname Leager was first found in Suffolk at Wenhaston, a parish, in the union and hundred of Blything. "The family of Leman had a [family] seat here. The church is an ancient structure in the decorated English style, with a square embattled tower, and contains several monuments to the Leman family." 2

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 provided some of the earliest records of the family, typically with ancient spellings: Leman Bru in Norfolk; Alan filius Leman in Cambridgeshire; Eldred Leman in Somerset; and Thomas Letman in Oxfordshire. 3

Early History of the Leager family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Leager research. Another 83 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1185, 1616, 1637, 1645, 1660, 1667, 1690, 1695, 1701 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Leager History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Leager 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 Leager has appeared include Leaman, Leamen, Leman, Lemon, Lemmon, Leemon, Limon and many more.

Early Notables of the Leager family

Notables of the family at this time include Sir John Leman, Lord Mayor of London in 1616; Sir William Leman, 1st Baronet (died 1667), an English politician who sat in the House of...
Another 32 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Leager Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Leager family to Ireland

Some of the Leager family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 57 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Leager 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 Leager arrived in North America very early:

Leager Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Tho Leager, who arrived in Virginia in 1636 4
Jacob Leager, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1641 4

Leager Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

William Leager, who landed in Virginia in 1703 4

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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)