The Shields family has a long and storied history, with roots stretching back hundreds of years. In this article, we will explore the origins of the Shields surname, tracing the ancestral line back through time to uncover where this family truly comes from. Using genealogical records and DNA evidence, we can piece together an understanding of the Shields’ journey across continents and centuries. Where did the earliest Shields ancestors live? When did they first arrive in America? How did the family grow and spread over time? Read on to learn more about the rich heritage of this storied clan.
The Origins of the Shields Surname
The Shields surname has its roots in the British Isles, first appearing in Scotland and northern England. It derives from a nickname related to the word “shield,” indicating that an early ancestor was known for carrying or bearing a shield. This could refer to a warrior or soldier who used a shield in battle. Other times, it referred to an armiger, someone entitled to bear a coat of arms or shield based on noble status. Over time, the nickname became a hereditary surname passed down through generations of the family.
Records indicate the surname arose independently in several locations, reflecting its origins as a descriptive nickname. Early examples appear in Scotland, particularly Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Roxburghshire, and Berwickshire starting in the 12th century. The name also emerged contemporaneously in England’s northern counties of Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire and Lancashire. As family members migrated over the centuries, the surname spread across the Britain and Ireland.
Spelling variations emerged due to regional accents and translations between Gaelic, Scots and English. Common early forms include Scheles, Sheils, Sheels, Shields, Shiels and others. The name continued to evolve until the common modern spelling of “Shields” became standardized in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Early Shields Ancestors in Scotland and England
The earliest known records relating to the Shields family point back to Scotland and northern England in the Middle Ages. These ancestors lived along the war-torn border region between the two kingdoms, an area marked by frequent raids and clashes.
One of the first records comes from Ragman Rolls, a 1296 document listing Scottish noblemen swearing fealty to King Edward I of England. The rolls include a reference to Martinus filius Schieles, indicating Martin, son of Shields, as a landholder in Lanarkshire, Scotland. This puts the Shields family name in that region by at least the late 13th century.
Other early records point to possible ancestors living in Northumberland, England. The Poll Tax Returns of 1379 list several individuals with the surname Schelis, Shelys, and Scheles as residents of the region. The earliest records of the name in Northumberland date back to the mid-1200s.
By the early 1400s, we find solid references to the Shields surname in Yorkshire, England. Wills and parish registers record a John Shiels living in York in 1409 and a William Sheels having children baptized in Holderness, Yorkshire around 1430. The Shields continued inhabiting Yorkshire for centuries, becoming one of the most common surnames in the East Riding region.
Meanwhile in Scotland, records point to thriving Shields families across Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Roxburghshire and Edinburgh by the early 1500s. Alexander Shields, who lived in Edinburgh, became minister of St Cuthbert’s Church and a notable religious dissident against royal interference in church affairs during the late 1600s.
Migration to Ireland
Starting in the 1600s, many Shields left Scotland and England, sailing across the Irish Sea to resettle in northern Ireland. This migration aligned with the broader Plantation Movement, in which Protestant English and Scottish settlers colonized lands seized from Gaelic Irish clans. The earliest Shields arrivals came as colonists during the initial settlements of Ulster starting around 1610.
Many more Shields families migrated to Down and Antrim over the next century, often as tenant farmers or laborers. For example, Matthew Shields and his family left Ayrshire, Scotland and relocated to County Antrim in the early 1700s. Other branches migrated directly from England, including the Shields of Northumberland who moved their family business to County Down.
By the late 1700s, the Shields had established deep roots across northeast Ireland. Griffith’s Valuation, a comprehensive property survey from the 1850s, records hundreds of Shields leaseholders and landowners across Counties Down, Antrim, Armagh, and Tyrone. Their presence continued through the potato famine, despite the heavy toll and emigration it sparked in Ireland.
Arrival in America
The first Shields immigrants sailed across the Atlantic to the American colonies during the mid-to-late 1700s. These initial arrivals were primarily from the Ulster region of northern Ireland, which experienced high rates of emigration in this period. Their Protestant background fit the preferred profile for British subjects heading to the colonies.
Charles Shields is considered the earliest known ancestor to reach America. Born in County Down, he first settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania in the 1750s as a young man. Other branches filtered in through the ports of New York and Philadelphia during these decades.
The flow of Shields immigration picked up through the late 1700s and early 1800s. Alexander Shields left County Antrim and arrived in Virginia in 1794 with his wife and children. The 1810 US census records over 150 heads of households with the Shields surname, representing a substantial footprint for an immigrant family at the time.
Some sought out the call of open land on the American frontier. Brothers William and Thomas Shields migrated from Ireland to Ohio in the 1810s as pioneers. Their families became early settlers of Perry County, OH, landing in the area just five years after statehood. Other frontier settlers headed south along the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania through the Appalachians to Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia.
Spread and Growth in 19th Century America
The Shields clan grew rapidly in 19th century America, with succeeding generations dispersing westward with the expanding frontier. New immigrant arrivals continued coming as well, now enriched with many Scots, English and Scandinavian branches blending into the Shields melting pot.
The growing family spread along the primary migration routes from the Upper South into Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois. Others headed into newly opening territories across the Old Northwest and Old Southwest. By the 1850s, Shields families had ventured deep into Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and other points west.
The California Gold Rush captured the pioneering spirit of many younger Shields, drawing adventurers west along the California, Mormon and Oregon trails. Brothers Samuel and Hugh Shields left Missouri in 1849 and struck out for the gold mines and forests of the Pacific Northwest.
Industrialization and urban growth brought many Shields into emerging boom towns and cities across the Northeast, Upper Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. They became laborers, craftsmen and merchants in the burgeoning industries of the Industrial Revolution era. The name remains common today in former manufacturing hubs like Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo.
The Shields Name Today
From those early roots in medieval Britain, the Shields have emerged as a thriving international clan today. The name maintains an influential presence in Scotland, England and Ireland. However, most Shields descendants now live in the United States and Canada, representing the millions who have come down from those intrepid immigrants of the 1700s and 1800s.
In the US, Shields remains among the 150 most common surnames with over 75,000 bearers. It is most highly concentrated today in California, Texas, Florida and Chicago. The name is also flourishing in Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the former British Empire.
Although dispersed over time, the Shields share a common heritage passed down to sons and daughters across countless generations. Learning this lineage helps us understand the long road traveled by the ancestors who built the foundations for this family today.
Conclusion
The Shields surname originates from medieval Scotland and northern England, emerging as a nickname for warriors or armigers bearing shields. After thriving for centuries as border clans, many branches migrated to Ulster, Ireland during the Plantation Period of the 1600s-1700s. This set the stage for the family’s spread to America, as immigrants sailed across the Atlantic starting in the mid-1700s.
The first Shields pioneers laid down roots in Pennsylvania, Virginia and the Carolinas. Their descendants followed the frontier west through the 19th century, dispersing to farms, towns and cities across the growing country. This distributive migration led to the widespread presence of nearly 100,000 Shields in the US today. Although now many generations removed, they all share a common lineage passed down from those tough border reivers who first bore the Shields name many centuries ago.
