Leah History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

It was among those Anglo-Saxon tribes that once ruled over Britain that the name Leah was formed. The name was derived from the baptismal name for the son of Leman, which was taken from the personal name Liefman. 1

Early Origins of the Leah family

The surname Leah 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 Leah family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Leah 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 Leah History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Leah Spelling Variations

Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Leah include Leaman, Leamen, Leman, Lemon, Lemmon, Leemon, Limon and many more.

Early Notables of the Leah 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 Leah Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Leah family to Ireland

Some of the Leah 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.

Leah migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Leah Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Miss Mary Ann Leah, (b. 1848), aged 19, British nursemaid travelling from London aboard the ship "Glenmark" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 14th November 1867 4
Mr. Joseph Leah, (b. 1856), aged 23, Cornish ploughman departing on 19th July 1879 aboard the ship "Rangitiki" arriving in Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand on 14th October 1879 5
Mrs. Martha J. Leah, (b. 1856), aged 23, Cornish settler departing on 19th July 1879 aboard the ship "Rangitiki" arriving in Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand on 14th October 1879 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Leah (post 1700) +

Norma Leah McCorvey (1947-2017), better known by the legal pseudonym "Jane Roe", American plaintiff in the famous lawsuit Roe v. Wade
Hallee Leah Hirsh (b. 1987), American actress known for her role as Daley in the children's series Flight 29 Down
Charlotte Leah Salt (b. 1985), English actress
Gary Leah Thomasson (b. 1951), American former outfielder in Major League Baseball 6
Leah Van Dale (b. 1987), American professional wrestler known as Carmella, dancer and model
Leah Thall- Neuberger (1915-1993), nicknamed Miss Ping, an American table tennis player, ranked the No. 3 in the world in 1951
Leah Wortham, Associate Professor of Law at the School of Law at The Catholic University of America
Leah Hayes (b. 2005), American swimmer
Leah Claire Borrie, American director, known for her work on Babygirl (2021), The Day the World Expanded (2016) and Corbin Nash (2018)
Leah Balsham (b. 1915), American lithographer and ceramic artist who took part in the Federal Works Progress Administration

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)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 2018, April 30). Emigrants to Lyttelton 1858-84 [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/new_zealand_assisted.pdf
Gary Thomasson. (Retrieved 2011, January 24) Gary Thomasson. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Thomasson