Yale History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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Wales

Etymology of Yale

What does the name Yale mean?

The Welsh surname Yale is derived from the Welsh word "iâl" which roughly translates as "dweller at the fertile upland." Elihun Yale's family (eponym of Yale University) came from Plas-Gronow, near Wrexham in Denbighshire. The family had a family estate at Plas yn Iâl for many years.

Early Origins of the Yale family

The surname Yale was first found in Denbighshire (Welsh: Sir Ddinbych), a historic county in Northeast Wales created by the Laws in Wales Act 1536. They claim descent from Ellis, second son of Griffith Ap Einion, Lord of Yale.

Yale is "a genuine Cambrian name, from the family seat in Flintshire." 1

Early History of the Yale family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Yale research. Another 112 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1525, 1526, 1542, 1544, 1566, 1567, 1573, 1577, 1649, 1652, 1672, 1687, 1690, 1721, 1798, 1821 and 1871 are included under the topic Early Yale History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Yale Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Yale, Yales and others.

Early Notables of the Yale family

Prominent amongst the family during the late Middle Ages was

Elihu Yale (1649-1721), American merchant, philanthropist, governor of the British East India Company, eponym of Yale University. "He was the second son of David Yale, a native of Denbighshire (d. 14...
Thomas Yale (1526?-1577), was an English civilian, born in 1525 or 1526, graduated B.A. at Cambridge University in 1542, and was elected a fellow of Queens' College about 1544. "In 1566 he was one of...
James Murray Yale (c.1798-1871), was Canadian chief trader for the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) at Fort Langley

Yale Ranking

In the United States, the name Yale is the 8,513^rd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Yale migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Yale Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Ann, David, and Thomas Yale all, who settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1637
Thomas Yale, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1637 3
David Yale, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1640 3

Yale Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Simon Yale, who settled in Philadelphia in 1839
Gregory Yale, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Yale (post 1700) +

Brian Joseph Yale (b. 1968), American four-time Grammy Award nominated bass guitarist for the band Matchbox Twenty
Linus Yale Sr. (1797-1858), American inventor and manufacturer of locks; he filed 14 patents from 1830 through 1857, father of Linus Yale Jr
Linus Yale Jr. (1821-1868), American inventor of the Pin tumbler lock, co-founder of the Yale Lock Company, best known for his inventions including the cylinder lock
John Reed Yale (1855-1925), American businessman and politician, Member of the New York State Assembly for Putnam County (1902-1913) and (1921-1925)
David Eryl Corbet Yale FBA, Hon. QC (1928-2021), British scholar in the history of English law, Reader in English legal history at Cambridge University from 1969 to 1993
James Murray Yale (1798-1871), Canadian chief trader for the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) at Fort Langley, eponym of Yale, British Columbia
Anthony Yale Gresham OAM (1940-2025), Australian amateur golfer
Robert Yale Lary (1930-2017), American NFL football player who played from 1952 to 1964 for the Detroit Lions, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979
Moses Yale Beach (1800-1868), American publisher, who established the New York Sun
Joseph Yale Resnick (1924-1969), American Democratic Party politician, U.S. Representative from New York 28th District, 1965-69; Candidate for U.S. Senator from New York, 1968 4

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. 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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 10) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html