Lovey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland
Scotland

The name Lovey has a rich and ancient history. It is an Anglo-Saxon name that was originally derived from an Old English personal name Lufu which affectionately referred to Love. In this case, the name was a "personal name and pet name [Middle English love, luf(e), Old English lufu, from, love]. Lufu was an A.-Saxon fem. name." 1

The surname Lovey was adopted in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. After the Norman Conquest, the Old English naming system gradually dissolved. Old English names became less common and were replaced by popular continental European names. The earliest surnames in England were found shortly after the Norman Conquest and are of Norman French rather than native English origins.

However, two other sources disagrees with this generally accepted origin and in "this name relates not to the tender passion, but is an old modification of the French Loup, wolf." 2 3

Early Origins of the Lovey family

The surname Lovey was first found in Oxfordshire, where one of the first records of the family was listed in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 as a forename as in Love del Hok. The same rolls lists Alan le Love and Walter Love in Cambridgeshire. 4

Another source claims "Love is an ancient Kentish surname. Reginald Love held property around Chatham and Rochester in the reign of Henry V. The Loves have long been an old Staplehurst [, Kent] family of gentry; a hundred years since there were several inscriptions to this family, some of them obliterated, in the church and churchyard." 5

Up in Scotland, early records there revealed Thomas Lufe who appeared as witness in Glasgow, 1472, and Yhone Luyif was a tenant in the barony of Glasgow, 1521. William Lufe and Ranald Lufe were rebels at the horn in 1534, and John Lufe rendered to Exchequer the accounts of the bailies of the burgh of Renfrew in 1567. 6

Early History of the Lovey family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lovey research. Another 93 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1095, 1470, 1596, 1608, 1610, 1661, 1682 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Lovey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lovey Spelling Variations

Before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, French and other languages became incorporated into English through the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Lovey include Love, Lufe, Luf and others.

Early Notables of the Lovey family

Distinguished members of the family include Richard Love (1596-1661), an English churchman and academic, Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, member of the Westminster Assembly, and Dean of Ely; Nicholas Love (1608-1682), an English lawyer, one of the Regicides of King Charles I of England, upon the Restoration, he escaped to Switzerland where he died. On the more infamous side, Peter Love (d. 1610), was an English pirate, believed to have been from Lewes, Sussex. As captain of the Priam...
Another 78 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Lovey Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Lovey family to Ireland

Some of the Lovey family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 76 words (5 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lovey migration to the United States +

A great wave of immigration to the New World was the result of the enormous political and religious disarray that struck England at that time. Families left for the New World in extremely large numbers. The long journey was the end of many immigrants and many more arrived sick and starving. Still, those who made it were rewarded with an opportunity far greater than they had known at home in England. These emigrant families went on to make significant contributions to these emerging colonies in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers carried this name or one of its variants:

Lovey Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Mrs. Lovey, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 7

Lovey migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Lovey Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Richard Lovey (b. 1805), aged 29, Cornish settler convicted in Cornwall, UK on 1st July 1834, sentenced for life for stealing a cow from John Clemens, transported aboard the ship "Hooghley" on 25th July 1834 to New South Wales, Australia 8
John Lovey, who arrived in Holdfast Bay, Australia aboard the ship "Cygnet" in 1836 9
Mr. John Lovey, English convict who was convicted in London, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Earl Grey" on 27th July 1838, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 10

Citations +

Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Charnock, Richard, Stephen, Ludus Patronymicus of The Etymology of Curious Surnames. London: Trubner & Co., 60 Paternoster Row, 1868. 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)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
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)
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 30th May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_australia_convicts.pdf
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) Cygnet arrived Holdfast Bay, Adealide Sept. 11, 1836. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1836Cygnet.htm
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 17th August 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-grey