Origin and popularity of the name CHANCELLOR

Origin

Chancellor : English and Scottish: status name for a secretary or administrative official from Old French chancelier Late Latin cancellarius ‘usher (in a law court)’. The King's Chancellor was one of the highest officials in the land but the term was also used to denote the holder of a variety of offices in the medieval world such as the secretary or record keeper in a minor manorial household. In some cases the name undoubtedly originated as a nickname or as an occupational name for someone in the service of such an official.

Kanzler : German: from Middle High German kanzeler ‘head of a (medieval) chancellery’ (from Latin cancellarius) hence a status name or a nickname for someone in the employ of a chancellor.

Kensler : Americanized form of German Kenzler from Middle High German kenzeler kanzelære ‘chancellor’ hence an occupational name for a chancellor (of a law office) or more likely a nickname for someone in his service.

Scrope : of uncertain origin. Tengvik suggests derivation from the Old Scandinavian personal name Skrópi (of doubtful etymology but compare Old Scandinavian skrópa-maðr ‘hypocrite’ containing the genitive plural form of skrópar ‘sham hypocrisy’). It is possible but not certain that this personal name forms the first element of the Notts place-name Scrooby. Otherwise there is no evidence for its currency in England or more relevantly in Normandy. Richards Castle (in Herefs and Shrops) was apparently named after Richard Scrope who held estates in Herefs and Worcs in 1066 and was a Norman favourite of Edward the Confessor. The Scrope family whose name is traditionally pronounced /skru:p/ was politically important in medieval England and acquired estates in Lincs (Barton on Humber) NR Yorks (Castle Bolton) and in ER Yorks (Flotmanby). Richard (le) Scrope of Bolton in Wensleydale was Lord Chancellor in the reign of Richard II. The use of le and de in the surname suggesting either a nickname or a locative name must be treated with caution because these were often added gratuitously to Anglo-Norman surnames as a sign of high social status.

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Last name frequency

Geographic distribution of the 5,825 individuals with the name CHANCELLOR on Geneanet.

This last name in the family trees

See below the Geneanet members' family trees which contain the last name CHANCELLOR