The Noyes / Swain Family Tree

Hello and welcome to The Noyes / Swain Family Tree. Feel free  to click on names and explore different branches! If you spot any omissions or  mistakes please let me know. Don't forget to sign the guest book (found under  the "Home" tab at top of page).

Some family trees have beautiful leaves, and some have just a bunch of nuts. Remember, it is the  nuts that make the tree worth shaking. 
 ~Author Unknown

What's in a name...

Swain is not only one of the oldest of all recorded surnames, pre-dating the 1086 Domesday Book  (see below), it is one of the earliest settler names in America. It derives from the pre 8th  Century "Viking" (Scandinavian) personal name Sven, Suen or Sveinn, a form of endearment  translating literally as "boy". The name in several variant forms was enthusiastically adopted by  the English, and also by the 1066 Norman invaders who were themselves of Viking origins. By the  16th Century the term "swain" had developed the senses of "young rustic", and hence "rustic lover,  wooer". 
 The modern surname from this source can be found as Swain, Swaine, Swayn and Swayne, while the  patronymic forms are Swains, Sweynson, Swenson and Swainson. The early recordings include Robert  Suein in the 1166 Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire, whilst Walter Swayn is found in the Court Rolls of  Suffolk in 1295. Later recordings include Samuel Swaine of Sewardstone, Essex, in 1612, a  descendant of William Swayne, also of Essex, granted arms on June 29th 1444, whilst on June 1st  1681, the rare form of Swains (a development of Swaynes) is found at Thame, Oxford, when John  Swains married Marrian Powell. The first American recording is of Peter Swaine, who was a passenger  on the sloop "Batchelor" bound for the Leeward Isles and Virginia from London on May 3rd 1679. The  first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Osgot Sveyn, which was dated  1045, in the "Anglo-Saxon Wills List of Cambridgeshire".

Noyes... Recorded as Noy, Noyce, Noyse, Noice, Noyes, Nice, Nicey, and probably others, this is an  English medieval surname. However spelt it is a patronymic form of the biblical male given name  Noah from the word "noach" meaning long-lived. The are two possible origins for the surname. The first is as an Introduction into Europe by the returning Crusaders knights of the 12th century,  fresh from their many attempts to rescue the city of Jerusalem from the hands of the Muslims. It  became the fashion for these returning warriors to christen their subsequent children with biblical  or hebrew names, which later developed into surnames. The second possibility is the name of an actor who played the part of Noah in the medieval miracle plays based on the story of Noah and his  ark. The forename is first recorded as Noe in the Staffordshire Chartulary of the year 1125, whilst  the surname is well recorded in the surviving London church registers from the Elizabethan times.  These recordings include Alice Noyes, who married an Edmund Holmes at the church of St. Katherine  by the Tower (of London) on June 16th 1661, Richard Noice, who was christened at St Peter-le-Poer,  on July 5th 1730, Abby Nussey, christened at St Andrews Holborn on March 12th 1758, and Robert  Nassie recorded at Westminster Crown Court, on July 17th 1796.. The first recorded spelling of the  family name is shown to be that of Simon Noysse. This was dated 1327, in the Subsidy Tax Rolls of  the county of Suffolk, during the reign of King Edward III of England, 1327 - 1377.