Show ContentsShankland History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Shankland Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Etymology of Shankland

What does the name Shankland mean?

In ancient Scotland, a tribe called the Boernicians were the first to use the name Shankland. It is a nickname for a person with long legs, or a peculiar manner of gait. Shankland is a nickname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. Nicknames form a broad and miscellaneous class of surnames, and can refer directly or indirectly to one's personality, physical attributes, mannerisms, or even their habits of dress. It derives from the Old English word sceanca, which means shin bone, or leg. While this word has survived in Scotland, it has been replaced in England, by the Old Norse word leggr, which means leg.

"Shank, in Scotland, is a topographical word, meaning the projecting point of a hill. The family existed in early times in Mid-Lothian, the founder being Murdoch Schank, who is said to have discovered, and taken charge of, the body of Alexander III., King of Scotland, who met his death while hunting in 1286. For this service, Robert Bruce presented him with the lands of Castlerigg." 1

Early Origins of the Shankland family

The surname Shankland was first found in Midlothian, from the lands of Shank, where the family held a family seat from very ancient times. 2 3

They were designated as 'Shank of that Ilk" meaning an ancient Clan who possessed lands of that same name. Murdoch Shank, son of the first recorded chief of the Clan of Shank in Midlothian, was granted the lands of Kinghorn in Fife by a Charter from King Robert the Bruce of Scotland in the year 1319 for his allegiance and loyalty of the Clan in his fight for the crown of Scotland. 4

"Thomas Schankis witnessed a charter in the Castle of Cumnock, 1426, and in 1474 John de Schankis appears as charter witness in Glasgow. Stene Schanx, witness in Lanark. 1488, appears two years later as Stene Synkis, and in 1489 James Schankis had remission for his part in holding Dunbertane Castle against the king." 4

Early History of the Shankland family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Shankland research. Another 209 words (15 lines of text) covering the years 1426, 1489, 1490, 1503, 1508, 1595, 1599, 1620, 1630, 1635, 1636, 1643, 1712, 1725, 1740, 1758, 1766, 1771, 1776, 1823 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Shankland History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shankland Spelling Variations

In the Middles Ages scribes spelled names by their sound. Often a name was written under a different spelling variation each time it was recorded. Shankland has appeared as Shank, Shanke, Schank, Schanke, Shankis, Schankis, Shanks, Shanx, Schanx and many more.

Early Notables of the Shankland family

John Shank, also spelled Shanke or Shanks (died 1636), an actor in English Renaissance theatre, a leading comedian in the King's Men during the 1620s and 1630s. A long time resident in St. Giles's, Cripplegate, "he speaks of himself in 1635 as an old man, and affirms that he was originally in the company of Lord Pembroke, and afterwards in the companies of Queen Elizabeth, James I, and Charles I. This would place his first appearance in the sixteenth century. " 5 John Schank (1740-1823), the Scottish admiral, born in 1740, son of Alexander Schanck of Castlereg, Fifeshire, first went to sea...
Another 153 words (11 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Shankland Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Shankland family to Ireland

Some of the Shankland family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 60 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Shankland family

The ancestors of Boernician-Scottish settlers dot North America even today. They settled all along the east coast when they came over, but some went north as United Empire Loyalists at the time of the War of Independence. However, these strong lines endured as Scottish families in the United States and Canada have rediscovered much of the heritage that was taken from them centuries ago. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Shankland, or a variant listed above: Stephen Shank settled in Barbados in 1663; John George Shank arrived in Pennsylvania in 1770; John Shanks settled in Virginia in 1650; another John Shanks arrived in Virginia in 1734.

Contemporary Notables of the name Shankland (post 1700) +

  • Lieutenant Colonel Robert Shankland (1887-1968), Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross during the First World War 6
  • William Shankland Andrews (1858-1936), American Republican politician, Justice of New York Supreme Court 5th District, 1900-20; Judge of New York Court of Appeals, 1917-29; Delegate to New York convention to ratify 21st amendment, 1933 7
North Sea Flood
  • Gerald J. Shankland, British traveler aboard the ferry "Princess Victoria" killed in the North Sea Flood, a major storm surge in 1953

The Shankland Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Spero
Motto Translation: I hope.
  1. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  2. Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
  3. Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
  4. 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)
  5. Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
  6. Robert Shankland. (Retrieved 2010, September 27) Robert Shankland. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Shankland
  7. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, August 17) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html

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