Foy Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Foy Family History

Foy Family History

The Foy ancient family history 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 Foy include Foye. This is a baptismal name meaning 'the son of Faith', a name of great antiquity. This name is of English descent and is found in many ancient manuscripts in the above country. Examples of such are a Willemus Foye who was recorded in the 'Poll Tax' of the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1379. A Magota Foy was also recorded in the same year in this ancient document.

Names were recorded in these ancient documents to make it easier for their overlords to collect taxes and to keep records of the population at any given time. When the overlords acquired land by either force or gifts from their rulers, they created charters of ownership for themselves and their vassals. It was by the method of creating and updating these old reference books that they were able to maintain their authority and enforce laws.

In Ireland the name Foy is usually derived from the native Gaelic O'Fiaich Sept who were located in County Cavan and North Connaught. This Gaelic name was also anglicized as Fee, Fay and Fye.The Foy 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 Foy descendants.