Where did the Gleave coat of arms come from? When did the Gleave
family first arrive in the United States? Coat of Arms > Gleave
Coat of Arms Some noteworthy people of the name Gleave Most
Welsh surnames are patronymic; that is, they are derived from a
personal name of an ancestor. In the Middle Ages, the prefixes
ap, ab (son of) and ferch (daughter of) were commonly found in
Welsh surnames. Welsh names used to include strings of
patronymics going back through the generations, until the 16th
century when people began to use fixed hereditary surnames.
However, some surnames' prefixes can still be found today in
many Welsh surnames, such as Prince, Probert, Bowen (ap Owen),
and Beddoes. Henry VIII frowned upon this nomenclature and thus
began the great change in Welsh surnamesMore THE BLACK KNIGHT
The Black Prince, or Edward, Prince of Wales, (1330-76), is
thought to have gained his nickname due to the color of his
armor -- jet black. However, this claim cannot be verified.
Contrary to popular conceptions, peri