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Cronkhite Family Crest / Cronkhite Coat of ArmsThis surname of CRONKHITE was a German and Dutch nickname for one who was slight, weak. The word was derived from the Old German KRANK, and in some cases may refer to a chronic invalid or a hypochondriac. The name is also spelt KRANKHEIT, KRANKHEID and CRONKITE. Surnames having a derivation from nicknames form the broadest and most miscellaneous class of surnames, encompassing many different types of origin. The most typical classes refer adjectivally to the general physical aspect of the person concerned, or to his character. Many nicknames refer to a man's size or height, while others make reference to a favoured article of clothing or style of dress. Many surnames derived from the names of animals and birds. In the Middle Ages ideas were held about the characters of other living creatures, based on observation, and these associations were reflected and reinforced by large bodies of folk tales featuring animals behaving as humans. The ancestors of the American CRONKITE family, one of whose members is the broadcaster, Walter CRONKITE (born in 1919) were Dutch merchants who settled in the 17th century in what is now New York, then the Dutch settlement of New Amstersdam. When the first immigrants from Europe went to America, the only names current in the new land were Indian names which did not appeal to Europeans vocally, and the Indian names did not influence the surnames or Christian names already possessed by the immigrants. Mostly the immigrant could not read or write and had little or no knowledge as to the proper spelling, and their names suffered at the hands of the government officials. The early town records are full of these mis-spelt names most of which gradually changed back to a more conventional spelling as education progressed. 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. |
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