Head Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Head Family History

Head Family History

The Head ancient family history was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Head is a locality name meaning 'at the head', from a person who lived at the head of a mountain or valley. This name is of English descent and is found in many ancient manuscripts in that country. Examples of such are a Willemus del Heued and a Cecilia del Heued who were recorded in the 'Poll Tax' of the West Riding of Yorkshire in the year 1379.

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 this name appears as a principal name in the census of 1659 in Counties Meath and Tipperary and was also prominent in Counties Cork and Waterford at that time.The Head 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 Head descendants.