Dean Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Dean Family History

Dean Family History

The ancient origin of the name Dean was found in the irishsurnames.com archives.

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 Dean include Deane and Deen. This is a locality name meaning 'at the dean', from a person who lived in a valley. This name is of Celtic origin and is popular throughout England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is found in many mediaeval manuscripts in the above islands. Examples of such are a Thomas de la Dene, of Hertfordshire, England, who was recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls' in the year 1273 and a Johanna del Dene, who was recorded in the 'Poll Tax', of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in the year 1379. In Scotland it originated from 'Dean' in the Parish of Kilmarnoch, which was an ancient seat of the Boyds, Earls of Kilmarnoch. The Deans of Ireland were one of the famous 'Tribes of Galway' and the name is now numerous throughout the four Provinces. Their Sept was of the same stock as the O'Carrolls of Ely O'Carroll with a branch migrating to Kerry in the sixteenth century. The Dean 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 Dean descendants.