Origin of the Name Fleming
The
Fleming family history 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 Fleming
include Flemyng and Fleeming. This is a locational name meaning 'of Flanders'. This name is of Anglo-Norman descent spreading to Ireland , Scotland and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts in these countries. Examples of such are a John le Flemeng who was recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls', England , in the year 1273 and in Scotland a Theobald the Fleming had a grant of land on the Douglas Water, from the Abbot of Kelso in the year 1147. The name in Ireland is recorded from the twelfth century onward, when many Flemings migrated to Ireland . The Irish Flemings arrived just before the Normans and owned great estates in Meath and elsewhere. Lord Slane, who was Christopher Fleming, owned the Castle of Slane in the seventeenth century, but his loyalty to King James II caused his downfall.
The Fleming 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 Fleming descendants.