Show ContentsShove History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Shove family

The surname Shove was first found in Hertfordshire, where the first record of the name was Aluricus Scoua who was listed in the Domesday Book. Leuuinus Scufe was listed c. 1067 in the reference "Old English Bynames" and Wulnod Scoue was listed as a Templar Knight in 1185. The name is probably derived from the Old English word "scufa," which means to "thrust, push."

The name is often metonymic for Shoveller and it's variants. In this latter case, the name is a trade name for someone who makes "shovels."

As the names are so similar phonetically, it is now difficult to clearly determine which origin is which. One branch of the family was found at Knowlton in Kent. "The mansion-house was the residence of Sir Cloudesley Shovel, to whom it came by marriage with the widow of Sir John Harborough, whose two sons were drowned with Sir Cloudesley when his vessel was wrecked off the Scilly Isles." 1

Born John Shovell in 1650, he assumed the first name of Cloudesley from his maternal grandmother Lucy Cloudisley and rose to become Admiral of the Fleet from a cabin boy.

Early History of the Shove family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Shove research. Another 90 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1301, 1609, 1650, 1703, 1707 and 1777 are included under the topic Early Shove History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shove Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Shovel, Showl, Shovell, Shoveller, Shouler, Showler and many more.

Early Notables of the Shove family

Notables of the family at this time include

  • Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell (c.1650-1707), an English naval officer and politician


United States Shove migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Shove Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • George Shove, who landed in New England in 1665 2
Shove Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • John Shove, who arrived in Baltimore, Maryland in 1782 2
Shove Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • L Shove, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 2


  1. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  2. 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)


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