Show ContentsNailer History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

  • Origins Available:
  • England
Nailer Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Etymology of Nailer

What does the name Nailer mean?

The name Nailer came to England with the ancestors of the Nailer family in the Norman Conquest in 1066. The surname Nailer is for a person who was a maker of nails having derived from the Old English word nayl. 1 2

Early Origins of the Nailer family

The surname Nailer was first found in Gloucestershire where they held a family seat from very early times. There is an early record of Stephen le Nailere in 1231 in the Patent Rolls of London. A few years later, James le nayler was listed as a Freeman of York in 1273. 3

The source Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III., notes that John le Naylere was listed in Norfolk, 20 Edward I (during the twentieth year of King Edward I's reign.)

Later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 included entries for Johannes Nayler and Willelmus Nayler who held lands there at that time. 1

"Some of the Naylors of Derbyshire are probably connected in their descent with Christopher Nayler of Derby, who, in 1666, left bequests for the poor of the parishes of St. Alkmund and St. Michael in that town. The name is still in Derby." 4

Early History of the Nailer family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Nailer research. Another 65 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1273, 1616, 1617, 1660, 1764, 1792, 1804 and 1831 are included under the topic Early Nailer History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Nailer Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Naylor, Naylour, Nayler and others.

Early Notables of the Nailer family

James Nayler (or Naylor) (c. 1616-1660), an English Quaker leader, one of the members of the Valiant Sixty. He was born at Ardsley, near Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, about 1617. His father, a substantial yeoman, gave him a good English education. 5 Sir George Nayler (1764?-1831), was Garter King-of-Arms, the fifth son of George Nayler, surgeon, of Stroud, Gloucestershire. The Duke of Norfolk gave him a commission in the West York...
Another 71 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Nailer Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Nailer migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Nailer or a variant listed above were:

Nailer Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • William Nailer, who arrived in Maryland in 1776 6

Nailer migration to Australia +

Nailer Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Samuel Nailer, aged 36, a ploughman, who arrived in South Australia in 1852 aboard the ship "Amazon" 7

Nailer 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:

Nailer Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • William Nailer, aged 27, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Sir Charles Forbes" in 1842
  • Mary Ann Nailer, aged 28, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Sir Charles Forbes" in 1842
  • Eliza Nailer, aged 5, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Sir Charles Forbes" in 1842
  • William Nailer, aged 4, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Sir Charles Forbes" in 1842
  1. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  2. Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
  3. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  4. Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
  5. Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
  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)
  7. South Australian Register Tuesday 3 February 1852. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) AMAZON 1852. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/amazon1852.shtml

Houseofnames.com on Facebook