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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: Natasha27 on Thursday 17 April 14 23:44 BST (UK)
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Can anybody help me with the origin of the surname Guyler?
Apart from my family I do not know of anyone with this surname, is it particularly popular anywhere in the world? Most people tend to guess that it could be French, I would love it if anyone had an idea of where it come from.
(In my family history I have also seen it spelt as Gillah)
Natasha
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Hi Natasha
Welcome to Rootschat ;D
Looking at early entries in the birth marriage and death indexes from 1837 at www.freebmd.org.uk it seems the surname may have come from the Nottinghamshire area.
You'll need to do some historic research in parish registers to see if there are early rferemnces to it.
Have you tried searching at www.familysearch.org
That's most probably a good place to start if you don't have any subscriptions to genealogy sites.
Dawn
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Thank you :)
We are still in Nottingham, (we didn't go far clearly!) I have managed to trace our Guyler name back to the 1800's, I just think its quite an unusual last name, but maybe after all it will be English.
I've never properly had a look at that site, thanks for the link, I'll have a search
Natasha.
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According to this it is an English occupational name:
http://gbnames.publicprofiler.org/
(Enter the name and select 1881 to check for locations)
There may have been variations through the ages too, so keep an open mind when searching further back - Gayler springs to mind. Even if surnames have different origins sometimes spellings can be confused and names and misheard, mistranscribed and misspelled.
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That is interesting, I wonder what occupation the name may have come from.
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Hi Natasha,
This surname intrigued me & having had a look at Ruskie's link, which just showed that it was an occupational surname but not what occupation it derived from. I decided to consult my copy of the Oxford Names Companion, which is basically a dictionary of Christian names, Surnames & English Place names & found the folllowing for the surname Guyler.
Guyler English (Nottingham): nickname for a deceitful or treacherous person, from an agent deriv, of ME guylen to deceive (a deriv. of guyle guile, from OF but of Gme origin).
ME = Middle English
OF = Old French
Gme = Germanic
I have typed it as it appears, but have added the abbreviations underneath.
Its certainly interesting anyway.
Hope this helps.
Kind regards
David
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It could have been from an occupation which no longer exists:
http://rmhh.co.uk/occup/g.html
Keep in mind that your family could have come from elsewhere and changed their name, intentionally or otherwsie, to appear less 'foreign' and to fit in. :-\
The best thing to do is trace your family via the traditional means and see where that takes you.
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Oh dear, worrying if that is where our name comes from! :s
I do find it an interesting name and we have wondered if it could have derived from something else like you say people did sometimes make alterations to 'fit in'
thanks for all your help.
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a terrific actor - born in Wallasey but brought up across The Mersey in Liverpool
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deryck_Guyler
although there are plenty of Nottingham Guyler from Nottingham early 1800`s - the earliest on here is 1711 and from Bretagne ,France
http://en.geneanet.org/search/?name=guyler&ressource=arbre
England/France /Austria/Dutch were all at war with Spain in 1718 - 1720 ...I wonder if that`s when the first Guyler may have came over from France ??
something for you to ponder about
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From the Oxford English Dictionary
Guiler, a beguiler; a deceiver. Forms: ME gilowre, guilour, gylor, gyulere, ME giler(e, -our(e, ME–15 gylour(e, guiler, ME gyler, gyllor, 15 guyler
Stan
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The Works - Volume 2 - Page 215 by Edmund Spenser,
So goodly did beguile the Guyler of his pray.
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0yx7/
Stan
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The French link is definitely a possibility and something I'd be interested in looking in to.
Not sure I am liking the definitions of the name! Though it makes it all the more interesting to me.
That Edmund Spenser is a good find, thanks everyone.
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a terrific actor - born in Wallasey but brought up across The Mersey in Liverpool
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deryck_Guyler
Remember him! I didn't realise he died in Brisbane.
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I find the NBI is a good place to find name origins. Not everyone was baptised or married but everyone did get buried.
There are 71 with 90% coming from Notts.
Strangely the earliest is 1611 in Staffs.
The earliest Notts. I have is 1780.
Basford has the largest contingent.
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There are 142 Guylers in the 1881 census, 51 in Nottingham, 46 in Basford, 13 in West Derby, the rest in various other locations.
Stan
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I am a Guyler in Philadelphia Pennsyvania, USA. I had no idea where it originated until I read this discussion.
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Hi Natasha, My Grandparents were Guiler, (often spelt as Guyler or Gyler or Giller) Family history that was passed down to different sides of the family maintain that brothers arrived in Ireland from France. They more than likely fought for the Catholic side at the Battle of the Boyne, then remained in Ireland. I have found Guilers in Country Clare, Derry and Tyrone (particularly around Lough Neagh at Ardboe)
I have heard of some Guiler names arriving from Scotland also. If you have done a DNA test it won't be difficult to trace your Guiler side.
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Guiler surname-Derry and Tyrone in Ireland. Anybody DNA testing might like to search for these French surnames that seem to connect. Gaillard, Saucier, Le Clair and Champagne/Lambert. Area of French origin suggests Perche, Normandy.
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further research shows
born 1475 - Laurens Guyler - De Bruxelles Belgium.. so I would say definitely not English -probably Flemish ?
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My Grandmother was Hannah Guiler/Guyler, born 1890 in Limavady from 3 generations of Alexander Guilers back to 1790s.There were three Guiler families in this area in the Protestant Landholders Records of 1740. Oral history, confirmed by American and Canadian branches, is that they were of French origin. There was a contingent of French soldiers who overwintered on the lands of the Quakers of Loughgall, Armagh in 1689 that culminated in the Battle of the Boyne. It is recorded in the Blackburn family history that it caused many sufferings to the Quakers there. As I have both Blackburn and Guiler in my family tree I have wondered if they are connected.
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My Grandmother was Hannah Guiler/Guyler, born 1890 in Limavady from 3 generations of Alexander Guilers back to 1790s.There were three Guiler families in this area in the Protestant Landholders Records of 1740. Oral history, confirmed by American and Canadian branches, is that they were of French origin. There was a contingent of French soldiers who overwintered on the lands of the Quakers of Loughgall, Armagh in 1689 that culminated in the Battle of the Boyne. It is recorded in the Blackburn family history that it caused many sufferings to the Quakers there. As I have both Blackburn and Guiler in my family tree I have wondered if they are connected.
The Blackburne family owned Hale Hall -they were that rich they didn'seal the roof with lead - they used Silver located between Liverpool and Widnes - the parish church is St Mary - check their records to see if there are any Guyler there - 27 records for Blackburne - https://www.lan-opc.org.uk/cgi-bin/mkindx.cgi?parish=Widnes&type=District&community=Hale
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The Blackburns I am interested in lived as missionaries, hoping to bring the local Irish to their faith. Little headway was made and the families made their way to Pennsylvania to the much more successful New Garden of Chester meeting houses. They did have the friendship of William Penn, so it is possible that they had wealthy relatives. The Antrim meetings were held at Ballynacree and sometimes at Toberhead at the McCool family home. Anyway, this is getting off-topic, via DNA I believe the Quaker families of Lightfoot, Holmes, Blackburn and McKee are connected somewhere to the Guilers.