Origin of the Name Chandler
The ancient history of the name
Chandler was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives.
Over the centuries Surnames developed a wide number of variants. Different spellings of the same name can be traced back to an original root. Additionally when a bearer of a name emigrated it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books at their new location. Surnames were also often altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another.
Variants of the name Chandler
include Chantler, Chandlor, Candler, Chandelier and Candeler. This name is usually of occupational origin and describes a person who made candles, a very important job in medieval times. This name is derived form the French 'chandelier' and ultimately from the Latin 'candelarius' meaning 'to be bright'. A Chandler in a priveleged household was responsible for the lighting within that house. A 'Ship Chandler' is a supplier of equipment to the shipping trade. A very early record of the name was in the Hundred Rolls of London in the year 1274, referring to a Matthew le Candeler.
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 creating, maintaining and updating these reference books that they were able to maintain their authority and enforce laws.
Chandler Beach (1839-1928), was an American encyclopediast and fought in the US Civil War. Raymond Chandler (1888-1959), was an American Novelist and Screenwriter.
In Ireland this name and its variants were introduced into Ulster Province by settlers who arrived from England and Scotland , especially during the seventeenth century. It was the 'Plantations of Ireland ' in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that marked the end of Gaelic supremacy in Ireland . While the influx of settlers in the wake of the earlier Anglo-Norman invasion of the twelfth century resulted in a full integration into Irish society of the new arrivals, the same never occurred with the Ulster Planters who maintained their own distinct identity.
The Chandler coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Chandler descendants.