Art by Betmatrho in
this Red-Thread Genealogy section for the
'Lost Tribes of Israel'
may
be freely used for personal use.
Origin: EnglishCoat of Arms: A shield divided quarterly red and gold, in each of the red quarters, there is a gold cross potent.
Crest: A stork holding a cross formy in its beak.
Motto: Cruce dum spero fido.
Motto Translated: Whilst I have breath I confide in the cross.
Origin: English
Spelling variations include: Cross, Crosse, Croce, Crosce, Croise, Croice and others.
First found in Lincolnshire where they held a family seat from early times.
Some
of the first settlers of this name or some of its variants were: John
Cross, who came from Ipswich, England, on the sailing ship the
"Elizabeth" in 1634. Another John Cross settled a year later, also from
Ipswich, and he became a freeman in Hampton in 1635. John Cross was
constable of Wells, Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1647. John Croos (same
family) settled in Boston in 1633.
1. English: topographic name for someone who lived near a stone cross set up by the roadside or in a marketplace, from Old Norse kross (via Gaelic from Latin crux, genitive crucis), which in Middle English quickly and comprehensively displaced the Old English form cruc (see Crouch). In a few cases the surname may have been given originally to someone who lived by a crossroads, but this sense of the word seems to have been a comparatively late development. In other cases, the surname (and its European cognates) may have denoted someone who carried the cross in processions of the Christian Church, but in English at least the usual word for this sense was Crozier.
2. Irish: reduced form of McCrossen.
3. In North America this name has absorbed examples of cognate names from other languages, such as French Lacroix.
![sample coat of arms [full]](http://the-red-thread.net/genealogy/bailey-stationary.jpeg "The Red Thread Coat of Arms")
Sample Coat of Arms - Full
http://genforum.genealogy.com/cross
