Long Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Long Family History

Long Family History

The family history of the ancient name Long 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 Long include Langan, Lanigan, Lang and Laing. Meaning 'the long', this name describes the stature of the original bearer. This name is of Anglo-Norman descent spreading to Ireland, Scotland and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts in the above countries. Examples of such are a Henry le Longe, of Buckinghamshire, who was recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls', England, in the year 1273 and a Johannes Longus who witnessed a grant to the Hospital of Soltre, Scotland, 1180-1214. In Ireland the family of le Long arrived after the Anglo-Norman invasion of 1172, and most of this name belong to one of several Gaelic Irish septs. One of these septs known as the O'Longs of Cannaway, held lands in County Cork. Although losing their lands in the seventeenth century they are still numerous in Cork. This name in Gaelic is O'Longaigh and O'Longain. Longan is another frequently found anglicized form of this name. The variant Laing has been on record in Edinburgh from 1461 and is sometimes used in Kintyre as a curtailed form of Loynachan.The Long 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 Long descendants.