Map of England showing where the Cannings arms are recorded
The Cannings arms were recorded in England, c. 1620.
Arms such as these were typically recorded in York.
Yorkshire is the largest of the English counties, and it held more gentry families than any other. Land there was split among a great many households rather than a few, so a great many of them carried arms.
This is where the arms were entered in the register. Families often moved to other parts of the country, so the same name can turn up in more than one region.
The body that granted and recorded arms in England in this period.
James VI and I
Sovereign of the period
James VI and I
1603–1625
Reigning in England when the Cannings arms are first recorded.
How Arms Worked in England
English heraldry allowed arms to be shared by all legitimate descendants of the original owner. These symbols were treated as personal property that moved through the generations to all children. While the eldest son kept the original design, other family members could use the same shield without needing to change it or register their own unique versions.
Granting authority
The College of Arms in London has regulated the use of coats of arms throughout England and Wales since 1484.
How they got arms
Families typically obtained their coats of arms through a formal grant from the Crown or by proving their ancient right to them.
Where arms were recorded
All official coats of arms are recorded in the registers kept at the College of Arms, which date back to the fifteenth century.
The family's standing
Recorded among the armigerous families of England.
Origin & History of the Cannings Family in England
The surname Cannings is an ancient English locative name, meaning it originally identified a person who came from a specific place. It is derived from the village of Cannings in Wiltshire, which was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Caninge. Over several centuries, families who moved away from this region carried the name with them as they settled in different parts of the country. By 1620, members of the Cannings family were well-established in the city of York, suggesting that the family had successfully migrated north from their ancestral roots in the south of England. During this era, the name was often spelled in various ways, reflecting the phonetic nature of record-keeping before standardized spelling became common. These early settlers in York were part of a growing urban population, likely contributing to the local trade and social life of the city during the early seventeenth century.
Cannings Meaning & Related Branches
Root word
Canna
A Celtic or Old English personal name meaning wolf or cane.
This name
CanningsRefers to the descendants or people belonging to the settlement of Canna.
also spelled
Cannyng
Canynges
Kanninges
Documented Sources
Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, London: Harrison & Sons, 1884
Ekwall, Eilert. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names. 1960
Reaney, P.H. A Dictionary of British Surnames. 1958
Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York. Archbishop of York Diocesan Records
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chiefAuthority, wisdom and dominion
roundelA coin, and one who has been to the crusades
chiefAuthority, wisdom and dominion
roundelA coin, and one who has been to the crusades
