Introduction to the GRACE Family Name & Y-DNA Study

Many of us with the name of GRACE have totally independent origins. Early references in England, before significant periods of economic migration, suggest local reasons for the name being adopted (see maps below). Any name sounding close to a word that occurs in the Christian Bible (a main vehicle of early education) would inevitably lead to an early standardisation of the spelling. Here are some of the possible reasons why you may have this surname:

1.    A direct descendent or illegitimate offspring from the old noble Norman Irish de GRAS or le GROS, later GRACE, family;
2.    A C11th/C14th Irish servant or tenant-farmer working for the GRACE family above;
3.    A resident of "Grace's County" in Kilkenny, Ireland; home of the de GRAS / GRACE family;
4.    A servant or tenant-farmer working on the lands of GRACE family in Buckinghamshire, England or connected with the estates in surrounding counties;
5.    A church orphan/foundling, who was given that name;
6.    Someone who was the (illegitimate) son of a mother named Grace;
7.    Someone who was graceful in nature or character and was given that name (from the Old French);
8.    Someone who was deemed to be religious and was given that name (grace - a term mainly used in Catholicism);
9.    Someone who was grey (particularly in hair colour or complexion), i.e. originally greys or gray (grisja in Old German, later latinized to grace in Old French);
10. A shortened form of "grazier" from atte grase - a shepherd or animal stock keeper (from Old English graes meaning grass or pasture);
11. Immigrant named GREIS, GRIES, GRAES, GRACZYK, GROSE, or similar, from Western Europe (France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Poland) adopting a naturalised spelling;
12. Dialect for GRICE or similar family name of different origins. Note: GRICE has an origin from gris as English dialect from the Old Norse griss meaning pig or boar. The modern Norwegian name for pig is also gris. One GRICE coat of arms shows three boars heads, possibly supporting this origin;
13. Someone from the port town of Grays in Essex, perhaps?;
14. There were GRACE plantations in the West Indies which may account for some Afro-Caribbean surnames;
15. Some modern oriental GRACE family names appear to be anglicized Chinese or other languages (many such names in Hong Kong today);
16. A westernised name of Latvian origin, possibly originally GRACEOUS, or similar;
17. Modern French names of GRACE & GRÂCE, perhaps connected to original Norman French families;
18. Connection with the farm and area surrounding of Great Graces, Little Baddow, east of Chelmsford, Essex ("Graces Manor");
19. A variant or mistranscription of GRACIE, GRACEY or similar name of English origins
20. ...and what about you?

In 1990's I initiated a Y-chromosome DNA study for the GRACE name, in an effort to see if I was really a descendant of that clan family name (as discussed below), or possibly an orphan as speculated on my family GRACE webpage. The few GRACEs taking the Y-chromosome test at that time (and still in 2007) show that there is no close match to my own results. I therefore submitted my DYS results for comparison on the free & publicly available Ybase & Ysearch databases. I therefore encourage any male GRACE interested in genetic genealogy to submit their results to these databases and contact me to compare results. Status of my genetic search can be reviewed on my DNA page.

My ancestral search is for any Jeremiah GRACE baptised between 1800-1830, anywhere in the UK & Ireland (the latter country having a known concentration of that family name), although there no evidence to connect my family with the noble Irish or Kilkenny families. Jeremiah consistently believed he had origins in Colchester, Essex, and that his reported ages put his birth around 1811/12. Spelling variations are also of interest which include GRACE, GRACEY, GRACIE, GRACEY, GRAYES, GRAYS, GREYS & GRICE. There is also a grouping of the GRACE family name in the Bermondsey area of London. It is also possible the name is an anglicized version of a European family name such as GREIS, or GRACZYK.

Earliest East Anglia family names include an Adam GRACE on the Suffolk Subsidy Rolls (1302) and Simon GRACE on the Essex Court Rolls (1310). From the reign of Edward I (1239-1307) there was Gras's or Grace's Manor which fell within the Chelmsford area of Essex in Little Baddow (see map above). In recent times a few GRACE / GRICE / GRAYES families have lived in the area (Chelmsford, Great Waltham, Purleigh, Runwell, Springfield) but appear to be connected to the numerous families in Hertfordshire & Buckinghamshire. The earlier families were likely connected to the lands owned by the noble Irish family who arrived with William the Conqueror in the C11th and led to the family name in Kilkenny, Ireland.

Records shows the earliest known GRACE family references in the following English counties. The name has a clear geographical focus on Buckinghamshire, which was home to lands belonging to the GRACE family. The name has radiated outwards from the focus area along major routes of the times. The other more widespread occurrences may be due to the alternative pastoral origins of the name:

Beds: Leighton Buzzard (1572), Berks: Reading (1588), Sunninghill (1579), Bucks: Aston Clinton (1586), Aylesbury (1565), Cheddington (1566), Chesham (1539), Chicheley (1567), Cholesbury (1587), Datchet (1563), Grandborough (1554), Hoggeston (1571), Ivinghoe (1583), Leckhampton (1560), Marsh Gibbon (1591), Newton Longville (1596), Stone (1549), Swanbourne (1573), Waddesdon (1563), Cambs: Cambridge (1584), Essex: Manuden (1579), Saffron Walden (1581), Shellow Bowells (1597), Gloucs: Bristol (1720), Dursley (1610), Hants: Penton Mewsey (1562), Weyhill (1565), Herts: Cheshunt (1561), Kimpton (1583), Layston (1567), Much Hadnum (Hadham) (1583), St. Albans (1563), Tring (1566), Hunts: none, Kent: Canterbury (1547), Dover (1562), Lancs: 1690's, Leics: Desford (1561), Melton Mowbray (1567), Lincs: Horncastle (1576), Morton by Bourne (1567), London: Bermondsey (1584), inner London districts (1545), South Mimms (1558), Norfolk: Field Dalling (1568), Norwich (1561), Northants: none, Oxon: Brize Norton (1571), Henley on Thames (1595), Lower Heyford (1578), Rutland: Whissendine (1579), Staffs: Shenstone (1600's), Suffolk: Woodbridge (1566), Surrey: Buckland (1560), Godalming (1568), Kingston on Thames (1569), Ockley (1590), Sussex: Brighton (1562), Chichester (1596), Dimmington (1562), Fittleworth (1568), Hove (1584), Rudgwick (1587), Warwicks: Radford Semele (1575), Wilts: Boscombe (1579), Bromham (1596), Newton Toney (1593), Sailsbury (1592), Urchfont (1551), Yorks: Allerton Mauleverer (1589), Braithwell (1626), Crofton & Wakefield (1643), Felkirk (1612), Gargrave (1579), Leeds (1581), Rotherham (1614), Sheffield (1575), Thirsk (1618) Thornhill by Dewsbury (1580), Wragby (1620).

My arrangement of the war song of the Grace's "Grasagh Aboe!" contained in the book
appropriately became the first piece of music I ever sold.

An overview of the number of GRACE households in each county of Ireland in the Primary Valuation property survey of 1848-64 (the number of households paying), with the main counties highlighted - perhaps you're related to one of them?

Antrim (2), Armagh (3), Carlow (6), Clare (10), Cork (33), Dublin (7), Dublin city (12), Galway (1), Kildare (9), Kilkenny (268), Laois (24), Limerick (10), Limerick city (3), Meath (8), Offaly (2), Roscommon (4), Tipperary (110), Waterford (14), Westmeath (4), Wexford (31), Wicklow (10)