Origin of the Name Field
The ancient history of the name
Field was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives. Field is a name of locational origin. Variants include Feild, Fields, Fielden, Fielding, Fielder and Fielden. This name is often of Anglo-Saxon descent spreading to the Celtic countries of Ireland , Scotland and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts throughout these countries. Examples of such are a Linot ate Feld and a William a la Feld, both of Oxford, who were recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls', England , in the year 1273. A Thomas atte Felde was recorded in the 'Writs of Parliament' in the year 1301.
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.
Field is also an occasional anglicized form of the Gaelic O'Fithcheallaigh sept name which was more often changed to Feehily and Feeley. As 'de la Felde' the name dates back to mediaeval times.
The Field 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 Field descendants.