Black Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Black Family History

Black Family History

The family history of the ancient name Black was found in the irishsurnames.com archives.

Surnames developed a wide number of variants over the centuries. Many different spelling variations of the same name can be traced back to a single original root. Also, when a bearer of a name emigrated from Ireland it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books upon arrival at their new location. Some names have dozens of spelling variations. Some Surnames were also altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically, by their sound, and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another. This was especially so in Ireland where most Gaelic names were 'anglicized' at some stage.

Variants of the name Black include Blacke, Blac, Blake and Blackie. This is a name of nickname origin meaning 'of dark complexion'. This name is often of Scottish descent spreading to Ireland, England and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts throughout these countries. Members of the old family of Black of Wateridgemuir, Logiebuchan, in Scotland, have been Burgesses of Aberdeen for the last 450 years. In Ireland the name is connected with the three Scottish Clans of Lamont, MacGregor and MacLean and is very numerous in the Province of Ulster. Black in England often takes the form of Blake in early times and is found in the person of Hamo le Blake who is recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls' in the year 1273. A Margery Blak was recorded in the 'Close Rolls', in the reign of Edward II. In Ireland Black is also sometimes used as a variant of the names Duff and Kilduff as, when these names are rendered in Gaelic they have the Gaelic word 'dubh' within them, the translation of which is 'black'. The Black family crest (or coat of arms) came into existence many centuries ago. The process of creating these coats of arms began as early as the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this, including Ireland. The new more formalized art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own family crest, coat of arms, including Black descendants.