Sessums History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The history of the Sessums family name begins after the Norman Conquest of 1066. They lived in Gloucestershire, at the manor of Siston, from whence their name was derived.

Early Origins of the Sessums family

The surname Sessums was first found in Gloucestershire where they held a family seat as Lords of the manor of Siston, held at the time of the taking of the Domesday Book, a survey of England taken by Duke William of Normandy after his conquest of England in Hastings in 1066 A.D. In this survey the village of Siston was held by Roger de Berkeley. Conjecturally they were descended from Roger, and as it was the tradition of Norman families, the second or third son usually adopted the name of his manor or lands.

Early History of the Sessums family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sessums research. Another 70 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1661, 1690, 1720, 1749 and 1783 are included under the topic Early Sessums History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sessums 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 Siston, Sistons, Syston, Sistun, Systun, Sisson, Sissons, Sysun, Sisun, Sissun, Sison, Sisons, Syson, Sysson, Session, Sesion and many more.

Early Notables of the Sessums family

More information is included under the topic Early Sessums Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sessums Ranking

In the United States, the name Sessums is the 18,445^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Migration of the Sessums family to Ireland

Some of the Sessums family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sessums 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 Sessums or a variant listed above were:

Sessums Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Nicho Sessums, who arrived in Virginia in 1716 2

Sessums Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Alice Sessums, aged 18, who landed in America in 1909
Davis Sessums, aged 57, who immigrated to the United States in 1909

Contemporary Notables of the name Sessums (post 1700) +

Thomas Terrell Sessums (1930-2020), American politician, Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 1972–1974
Lieutenant Commander Walter Sessums, American helicopter pilot, eponym of Sessums Glacier, Antarctica
Kevin Sessums (b. 1956), American author, editor and actor
Dr. J. Kim Sessums, American artist and sculptor

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)