Salay History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland
Scotland

Salay is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from a family once having lived in the county of Cheshire, where they held the estate of Sale. The surname Salay was originally derived form the Old English word soel which refers to a hall. In this case the original bearers of the surname Salay were either servants at the hall or resided near a dining hall. 1

Early Origins of the Salay family

The surname Salay was first found in Cheshire but the family can be found throughout ancient Britain in early years. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list Robert a la Sale. Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III lists Nicholas de la Sale, temp. 20 Edward I and William de la Sale. Robert de la Sale was Bailiff of Norwich in 1327. 2

"About the time of Edward I., Thomas, son of William De la Sale, held twelve acres of land in Ickleford, Hertfordshire. According to Cussans, the Hertfordshire Sales hailed from Scotland nearly two centuries ago, and he mentions Francis Sale, a gentleman who was married at Ashwell in 1694." 3

Early History of the Salay family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Salay research. Another 66 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1590, 1612, 1652, 1655, 1659, 1664, 1670, 1671, 1675, 1682, 1697, 1734 and 1736 are included under the topic Early Salay History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Salay Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Salay has been recorded under many different variations, including Sale, Sail, Sales, Salle, Salley, Sally, Sallete, Sallett and many more.

Early Notables of the Salay family

Notables of this surname at this time include: William Sayle (c. 1590-1675), English explorer and later settler of the Bahamas, the first governor of colonial South Carolina from 1670-1671; and George Sale (1697-1736), English Orientalist and solicitor, best known for his 1734 translation of the Qur'an into English and as author of...
Another 52 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Salay Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Salay family to Ireland

Some of the Salay family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 97 words (7 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Salay migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Salay or a variant listed above:

Salay Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Juan De Salay, who arrived in America in 1811 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Salay (post 1700) +

Mike Salay (1909-1973), born Michael Szalai, an American Indy 500 racecar driver
Cam Salay, Canadian musician, former member of The Paperboys, a Canadian folk music band from Vancouver formed in 1991

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. 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.
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)