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  Covey Family Crest / Covey Coat of ArmsThis surname COVEY was derived amazingly from the Hebrew given name Yaakov, via the Latin Jacobus. In the Bible this is the name of the younger twin brother of Esau who took advantage of the lack of hunger and impetuousness to persuade him to part with his birthright 'for a mess of potage'. The name is traditionally interpreted as coming from Hebrew AKEV (heel) and Jacob is said to have been born holding on to Esau's heel. The name has travelled widely and the principal forms of the given name in major European languages are Jacob, Jacques, Giacovo, Giacopo and Iacopo. Throughout Eastern Europe Jewish forms of the name were extremely common, ranging from Yaakov to Jankl. The name was brought into England at an early date, and Richard COVEY appears in County Sussex in the year 1200. Walter de COVERE was recorded in 1210 in Sussex. Many factors contributed to the establishment of a surname system. For generations after the Norman Conquest of 1066 a very few dynasts and magnates passed on hereditary surnames, but most of the population, with a wide choice of first-names out of Celtic, Old English, Norman and Latin, avoided ambiguity without the need for a second name. As society became more stabilized, there was property to leave in wills, the towns and villages grew and the labels that had served to distinguish a handful of folk in a friendly village were not adequate for a teeming slum where perhaps most of the householders were engaged in the same monotonous trade, so not even their occupations could distinguish them, and some first names were gaining a tiresome popularity, especially Thomas after 1170. The hereditary principle in surnames gained currency first in the South, and the poorer folk were slower to apply it. By the 14th century however, most of the population had acquired a second name. The name was taken to Ireland by early settlers, and it is a surname found in Louth, Gaelicized as O'COMHDAIN. The lion depicted in the arms is the noblest of all wild beasts which is made to be the emblem of strength and valour, and is on that account the most frequently borne in Coat-Armour. A notable member of the name was Frank Michael COVEY, born 24th October, 1932. Attorney. His Appointments included Associate, McDermott, Will and Emery (1960). 1959-1960, he was instructor at the Northwestern Univerity School of Law. |
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