Jameson / / / Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Jameson / / / Family History

Jameson / / / Family History

The ancient origin of the name Jameson was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Jameson is a baptismal name meaning 'son of James', a very old personal name. Variants include James, Jamieson, Jamison and Jamson. This name is of Anglo-Norman descent spreading to Ireland, Scotland and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts in these countries. Examples of such are an Alicia James who was recorded in the 'Poll Tax' of the West Riding of Yorkshire in the year 1379. A Robert Mowlde and Alice James were married in London in the year 1566. A William Jamison and Mary Smith were married in Saint George, Hanover Square, in the year 1769. The purely English Jameson and its variants are mostly confined to north England, and indeed the great majority are of lowland Scottish descent. In Ireland this name is often an abbreviation of MacJames and Fitzjames formed from early settled Norman families and is numerous in Counties Carlow and Wicklow. The Gaelicized form of the name is Mac Sheamuis, which is also anglicized as Keamish as well as Jameson.The Jameson 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 Jameson descendants.