Origin of the Name Mansfield
The ancient history of the name
Mansfield 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 Mansfield
include Mansfeld and Mannsfeld. This is a locality name meaning 'of Mansfield', from a parish found in County Nottinghamshire. This name is of English descent and is found in many ancient manuscripts. Examples of such are a Robertus Mannsfeld who was recorded in the 'Poll Tax' of the West Riding of Yorkshire in the year 1379. A Richard Mannsfeilde and Susanna Selbie were granted a marriage license in London in the year 1577.
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.
In Ireland Mansfield is often of immigrant origin, especially in Ulster Province. The Norman 'de Mandeville' family who settled in County Antrim in the twelfth century occasionally anglicized their name as Mansfield, as well as Mandeville.
The Mansfield 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 Mansfield descendants.