The Ismay Family

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ORIGINS OF THE NAME ISMAY

There are many theories on the origin of our name:

My research takes me back to Bromfield, Cumbria (or Cumberland, as it was once known). The name Ismay was well known in that area from the mid 1600's until the mid 1800's. From this time, the name spread throughout the UK, the main areas outside Cumberland seemed to be; Yorkshire, Hampshire and Ireland. The name then spread worldwide, including: America, Australia, Malta and Cyprus.

The earliest examples of the name include, Yasemay Vidua and Isamey Egleberd both found in the Hundred Rolls for the county of Oxford in 1273. Richard fil Ysmay was found in the Hundred Rolls for the county of Linconshire and Ismaya Hibernicia was also found.

P H Reaney's Dictionary of British Surnames (second edition) notes the earliest occurrencies of the name as Ysemay de Mult in 1275 in the Royali Hundredorum for Linconshire. Hyssamaye and Isemay were found in the Descriptive Catalogue of 13th centuery Charters for Sheffield, Yorkshire and William Ysmay in the 1327 Subsidy Roll for Derbyshire.

Reaney notes that "Is" occurs in a number of old German names and quotes Foresremann's derivation of "Machareas" rom the root "Mag" which is related to the Old High German word "magan" meaning "might". He also notes that Forssner suggests the old French word "Maissent" may contain the same first element, from the Old German Magisand, Megisind, and hence he concludes that Ismay may perhaps be from Old German "Ismagi or Ismegi" meaning "iron might or strength"

At this point, one should remember that even as recently as the last 140 years, those responsible for recording births etc. simply wrote the names in the way that they were heard, i.e. no allowance was made for local accents. This would be true to say for many surnames, however, for anyone familiar with local accents in England, it is easy to see how the surname ISMAY could be recorded as Ysmay, Isamey, Yasemay or Ismaya for example.

Heraldry

Latest theory:

I have recently came across a theory of how the name Ismay came to England,

The Guild Hall in London has scrolls and books dating from before the Domesday book. The following information is based on these.

It is said that the name ISMAY may come from a Norman knight by the name of D'Ismee, or D' Ismey

D'Ismee was given lands for his gallant part in quelling Harold's subjects in South East England when William the conqueror landed. The lands were Cumbria (formerly Cumberland) so the derivation of Ismay may well have Germanic origins, as Normans came from the Border lands of France/Germany/Holland. One message was quite clear, the name Ismay and it's variants was not within Britain before the Norman Conquest.

It has long been considered by senior members of the family that the famous Walter Disney (Walt Disney) is of the same origin. I have little information to collaborate this yet, but by applying the same 'accents' theory it is possible to see that the name Disney could also be a derivation of D'Ismey.

Family Coat of Arms

There are several versions of the Ismay coat of arms, however the example shown on this page is taken from the parental arms dated in the year 1300. We believe that this is the original Ismay coat of arms, and that variations have been have been made over time, including one made by Thomas Henry Ismay. The family motto, 'BE MINDFUL' appears on each.

We believe this to A slightly different

be the original CoA version

I welcome any other theories on the subject.

Other known variations of the name ISMAY not mentioned above:

¶Ismy ¶Ismie ¶Ishma ¶Isham ¶Ismaie ¶Ismaje

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