I have long wanted to find my family crest but have no idea where to research it.
2006-07-17 03:37:20 · 9 answers · asked by Chris 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
Outside of the British Isles, very few families have anything resembling a "family crest". It's also highly misused and misleading. Those online stores that will "sell" you a crest and claim it belongs to your family made up most of them (yes, you too can create your own authentic looking family crest for $29.99).
Even the families that DO have a crest, may have more than one associated with the name. Only one person in the family is allowed to bear the crest, and that passes only to the oldest son, not to ever descendent. If someone were given a crest in the 1400s, he may have 500,000 descendents but only the oldest son of the oldest son of the oldest son, etc is legitimately entitled to the use of that crest.
If your family came from continental Europe, the coat of arms they would have borne would be that of the reigning monarch or noble of their region. See the coat of arms of Toulouse here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toulouse
Please don't be fooled into paying money for one of these. If your family did legitimately have a family coat of arms, a book on the heraldry of their country (available at your local library) will show you what it was. Otherwise, the rest of the stuff out there is voodoo created with no legitimate history behind it at all. Even the histories of the family names listed on those websites are horribly inaccurate. My own family was decidedly Prussian, yet the "family shield" websites claim it's Scottish and make up a bunch of supposed proof that can't be verified by any legitimate sources at all. Caveat emptor!
2006-07-17 04:05:21 · answer #1 · answered by yellow_jellybeans_rock 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Trace your family history and don't worry about crests. If you have a direct descent from a prominent family, the crests will fall in your lap. I had to get back 11 generations to find the one with a published crest. He had 2 million descendants, but I have never seen the crest mentioned or offered on a commercial service.
2006-07-18 02:34:09 · answer #2 · answered by Woody 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Be careful!
A lot of places that claim to be experts in these matters have very general information and just want to sell you merchandise.
Research the web search engines very carefully and look for non-commercial web sites that can give you family crests, coats-of-arms, origins, etc.
Many European names will trace their histories to relationships with nobility and noble families. Don't get too excited about that: remember that those 'relationships' were often subordinate and are the reason millions left Europe to the new worlds.
2006-07-17 10:47:58 · answer #3 · answered by DJ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are actual stores which sell copies of family crests. Be careful, though--some may be fakes. Shop around, and see if the designs match. I have an unusual last name, and a small family, so since it stands out so much, it's been easy to find.
2006-07-17 10:43:31 · answer #4 · answered by cross-stitch kelly 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not every family HAS a crest. Geneology is a hobby of mine, if you email me your family name, I might be able to find something for you.
2006-07-17 10:45:59 · answer #5 · answered by Lisa G 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
enter "family crests" in google. There are many companies that research and re-produce them for you.
2006-07-17 10:43:35 · answer #6 · answered by SecretAgentMan 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
look on your bathroom medicin cabinet, you should find the crest in there
2006-07-17 10:41:19 · answer #7 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yea what he said makes mre sense than any answer i could give u
2006-07-17 10:41:41 · answer #8 · answered by kayla 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
http://www.family-crests.com/
2006-07-17 10:40:08 · answer #9 · answered by Michael F 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋