Ivory History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Ivory came to England with the ancestors of the Ivory family in the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Ivory family lived in Oxfordshire. Their name, however, is a localreference to the family’s place of residence prior to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, Ivry-la-Bataille in Eure, Normandy. The name of this place derives from the Gallo-Roman personal name Eburius, which means ivory.

Early Origins of the Ivory family

The surname Ivory was first found in Oxfordshire 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 a the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Ivory family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ivory research.

Ivory Spelling Variations

Multitudes of spelling variations are a hallmark of Anglo Norman names. Most of these names evolved in the 11th and 12th century, in the time after the Normans introduced their own Norman French language into a country where Old and Middle English had no spelling rules and the languages of the court were French and Latin. To make matters worse, medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, so names frequently appeared differently in the various documents in which they were recorded. The name was spelled Ives, Ivery and others.

Ivory Ranking

In the United States, the name Ivory is the 3,364^th most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. [1]

 Migration of the Ivory family to Ireland

Some of the Ivory family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.

 Ivory migration to the United States +

Because of this political and religious unrest within English society, many people decided to immigrate to the colonies. Families left for Ireland, North America, and Australia in enormous numbers, traveling at high cost in extremely inhospitable conditions. The New World in particular was a desirable destination, but the long voyage caused many to arrive sick and starving. Those who made it, though, were welcomed by opportunities far greater than they had known at home in England. Many of these families went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Ivory or a variant listed above: 

Ivory Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

• William Ivory, who arrived in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1652 [2]
• George Ivory who settled in Virginia in 1653 with his wife Florence
• Geo Ivory, who arrived in Virginia in 1653 [2]
• Edmund Ivory, who arrived in Virginia in 1657 [2]
• Margaret Ivory, who landed in Maryland in 1662 [2]