Howard Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Howard Family History

Howard Family History

The ancient origin of the name Howard 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 Howard include Harward, Heward, O'Hure, Ivers, McKeever and McIvor. This is a baptismal name meaning 'chief guardian' or 'the son of Herward'. This name is of Anglo-Celtic descent spreading to the countries of Ireland, Scotland and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts throughout the above islands. Examples of such are an Elwin le Heyward of Norfolk who was recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls', England, in the year 1273 and a William Howard, who was Sheriff of Norwich in the year 1657. Thomas Hawarde and his brother Henry Haiwarde were registered in Oxford University in 1568. The name in Ireland is taken from the sept of O'hIomhair. This sept was allied to the O'Deas and were located near Mount Callan. They were listed among the principal Thomond septs at the Battle of Abbey in the year 1317. This family changed their Gaelic name to Ivers. Ivers today is mostly found in Louth and is an abbreviation of MacIvor which is an alternate form of the variant MacKeever, a name well known in Counties Monaghan, Tyrone and Derry.The Howard 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 Howard descendants.