Kender History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Kender

What does the name Kender mean?

Kender is one of the many new names that came to England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Kender family lived in Kinder, Derbyshire. The surname of Kinder was a local name which means of Kinder, a hamlet in the parish of Glossop, Derbyshire, near Chapel-en-le-Frith. 1

"Kinder may represent a Norse. personal name (cp. Dano-Norwegian kiender, â€˜skilful manâ€™)." 2

Early Origins of the Kender family

The surname Kender was first found in Derbyshire where they held a family seat at Kinder, a small hamlet originally called Chendre before the taking of the Domesday Book census. 3 Kinder is a hamlet near the Kinder Scout, the highest and best known mountain in the Peak District of Derbyshire, and is often called 'The Peak'. 4 At the time of the taking of the Domesday Book, 5 the hamlet of Kinder was "King's Land."

It is here that we find the first record of the family in early rolls. Philota de Kender was recorded in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1274 for Derybyshire. 6 Much later, Hugh Kynder was listed in London in 1419 and Margaret Kyndur was recorded in Cheshire in 1492. 7

Early History of the Kender family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Kender research. Another 161 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1576, 1581, 1597, 1703, 1752, 1800, 1819, 1852, 1855, 1863, 1868, 1903 and 1936 are included under the topic Early Kender History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Kender Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Kinder, Kynder, Chinder, Chendre, Kender, Kyender and others.

Early Notables of the Kender family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Phillip Kinder (born 1597), also Kynder, an English writer from Nottinghamshire. His "Booke," a collection of oberservations, letters and poems is preserved in the Bodleian Library. 8John Kinder (1819-1903) was a London-born, New Zealand Anglican clergyman, teacher, artist and photographer. He emigrated to Auckland, New Zealand in July 1855 to become...
Another 58 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Kender Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Kender migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Kender or a variant listed above were:

Kender Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Peter Kender, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1737 9
Caspar Kender, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1738 9
Bastian Kender who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1752
Bastian Kender, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1752 9

Sources +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Lee, Sir Stanley, Dictionary of National Biography. London: The MacMillan Company 1909. Print
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)