Contents [hide]

New History Etymology Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Suggested Reading Citations

New History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Etymology of New

What does the name New mean?

The ancient roots of the New family name are in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The name New comes from when the family lived near a yew tree. New is a local surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. In this case, the surname New comes from the Old English phrase, atten ew, which means, at the yew tree. The surname New may also derive from the Old English word newe, which means new. This may have been a name given to newcomers to an area, and as such, it would have been a nickname surname. 1

Alternatively, the name could have been for someone who lived near a yew tree, from the Old English word eow. 2

Early Origins of the New family

The surname New was first found in Cambridgeshire where Richard le Newe was first listed there in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273. The same rolls also lists Robert le Newe in Wiltshire; and Simon le Neue in Bedfordshire. 3

The Feet of Fines of Warwickshire lists William le Neuwe there in 1221 and the Feet of Fines for Cambridgeshire lists Walter le New in 1234. John atte Newe was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Somerset in 1327. 2

Kirby's Quest lists Richard le Nywe in Somerset, 1 Edward III (during the first year of Edward III's reign.) 4

Newe House, a manor house in the village of Pakenham, Suffolk remains today as it was built in 1622 by Sir Robert Bright. Castle Newe was a mansion house, situated in Aberdeenshire, built in 1831 by Archibald Simpson.

Early History of the New family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our New research. Another 88 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1234, 1273 and 1886 are included under the topic Early New History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

New Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name New has appeared include Newe, New, News, Newes, Nuce and others.

Early Notables of the New family

Distinguished members of the family include

Walter New of Cambridgeshire

New Ranking

In the United States, the name New is the 3,047^th most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. 5

Migration of the New family to Ireland

Some of the New family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 43 words (3 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

New migration to the United States +

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name New arrived in North America very early:

New Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Richard New who settled in Virginia in 1638
Edw New, who arrived in Virginia in 1663 6
Mathew New, who landed in Maryland in 1665 6
Roger New, who landed in Maryland or Virginia in 1665 6
Thomas New, who landed in Maryland or Virginia in 1665 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

New Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Samuel New, who arrived in Georgia in 1734 6
Nicholas New, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1761 6
Adam New, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1761 6
James New, with his wife and six children, settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1769
Christopher New, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1773

New Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

John New, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1841 6
James L New, who landed in New York in 1846 6
Casper New, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1847 6
Jacob New, aged 24, who arrived in New York, NY in 1848 6
D New, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

New migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

New Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Edward New, (b. 1800), aged 18, English convict who was convicted in London, England for 14 years for coining, transported aboard the "Baring" in December 1818, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1854 7
Mr. William New, English convict who was convicted in Dorset, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Claudine" on 19th August 1829, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 8
Mr. James New, British Convict who was convicted in Dorset, England for 7 years for machine breaking, transported aboard the "Eleanor" on 26th June 1831, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 9
Mr. William New who was convicted in Eversham, Worcestershire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Elizabeth" on 3rd October 1831, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 10
Rowland Hill New, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Anna Robertson" in 1839 11
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

New migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

New Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. John New, (b. 1854), aged 20, Irish farm labourer, from County Down travelling from Greenock aboard the ship "Nelson" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 31st December 1874 12

New migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 13

New Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

John New, who settled in the Bahamas in 1660

Contemporary Notables of the name New (post 1700) +

Private First Class John Dury New (1924-1944), United States Marine, awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1944
John Chalfant New (1831-1906), American Republican politician, Member of Indiana State Senate, 1863; Treasurer of the United States, 1875-76; Indiana Republican State Chair, 1880-82 14
Joe New, American Republican politician, Candidate for Presidential Elector for North Carolina, 1956 14
Jeptha Dudley New (1830-1892), American Democratic Party politician, Common Pleas Court Judge in Indiana, 1864-68; U.S. Representative from Indiana 4th District, 1875-77, 1879-81; Circuit Judge in Indiana, 1882-88 14
Jack New, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Indiana, 1956, 1964 14
Harry Stewart New (1858-1937), American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Indiana, 1896, 1912, 1920, 1924; Member of Indiana State Senate, 1897-99 14
Darrell Eugene New (b. 1944), American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Florida, 2004, 2008 14
Daniel D. New, American Republican politician, Candidate in primary for U.S. Representative from Texas 8th District, 1996 14
Charles A. New, American politician, Socialist Labor Candidate for Presidential Elector for Pennsylvania, 1908 14
Bob New, American Libertarian politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from California 27th District, 1998 14
... (Another 12 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Hanks, Patricia and Flavia Hodges, A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. Print. (ISBN 0-19-211592-8)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/baring
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 18th February 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/claudine
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 9th February 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eleanor
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 9th March 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/elizabeth
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) ANNA ROBERTSON 1839. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1839AnnaRobertson.htm
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 11) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html