Cordwainer History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• England

Etymology of Cordwainer

Cordwainer is a name that first reached England following the Norman Conquest in 1066. It is a name for a shoe maker having derived from the Norman French word cordwainer, which was their word for a shoemaker.

Early Origins of the Cordwainer family

Early History of the Cordwainer family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cordwainer research. Another 82 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1221, 1273, 1296, 1327, 1588, 1612 and 1796 are included under the topic Early Cordwainer History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cordwainer 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 Cordwin, Cordin, Corden, Cordewan, Corduan, Kordewan, Corden, Cordiwant and many more.

Early Notables of the Cordwainer family

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

Migration of the Cordwainer family

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 Cordwainer name or one of its variants: S. Corden who sailed to Norfolk in 1822.