Cats History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Netherlands
England

Etymology of Cats

What does the name Cats mean?

The name Cats is part of the ancient legacy of the early Norman inhabitants that arrived in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Cats was a Norman name used for a person who has a fancied resemblance to a cat. The name stems from the Old Northern French cat, of the same meaning, which occurs in many languages in the same form from a very early period.

Early Origins of the Cats family

The surname Cats was first found in Norfolk where they held a family seat from very early times and were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Cats family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cats research. Another 75 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cats History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cats Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Catt, Cat, Catts, Ketts, Chatt, Chat and others.

Early Notables of the Cats family

More information is included under the topic Early Cats Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cats migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Cats name or one of its variants:

Cats Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Bennito Cats, who landed in Mobile County, Ala in 1840 1

Contemporary Notables of the name Cats (post 1700) +

Jacob Cats (1577-1661), Dutch statesman and poet

Sources +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)