Shale One-Name Study

(Click on picture to enlarge) Shale Ices

Shale
One-Name Study

Topics

About the Shale One-Name Study
Variants
Origin of the surname
Historical occurrences
Frequency of the name
Distribution of the name
Data
Contact Details

About the Shale One-Name Study

I became interested in the Shale surname, which is my paternal grandmother's surname, with a surfeit of Shales in the Midlands. In an effort to untangle my own family line, I began collecting all instances of the name. And so a One Name Study grew.

Variants

The registered surname is Shale, with variants Shail and Shayle. Also each is found with an added s, as in Shales, Shails, Shailes.

Origin of the surname

Some surname dictionaries give the meaning for Shail as to shamble or stumble. Others, from ME Shale (shell) as in phrase 'valyed not a schale' not worth a shell.

I think, the name has more prosaic origins. Probably geographical, a heap of shale rocks.

Historical occurrences

A few Shales of note:

Charles Shales (1670-1734) a goldsmith and banker. He married the daughter of a baronet and seemed to be a very litigious person.

Tom A Shales (1864-1953) a London based vaudeville and theatre comic actor.

His brother Edward Shales (1861-1926) was a London stage manager for over 20 years.

Tom Shales (1944- ) is the American Pullitzer prize-winning critic and newspaper writer.

Original Shales sired a breed of trotting horses.

Frequency of the name

The numbers and frequencies of Shale and variants name in England & Wales in 2002 were:

SHALE 539 =10719

SHALES 221 =19986

SHAIL 186 =22345

SHAILES 261 =17964

SHAYLE 116 =30189

Combining all the variants, the ONS gives a total of 1230.39 living people and 46 305 since the start of parish registers in the sixteenth century.

Distribution of the name

In Britain the surname spellings have localised into specific geographical areas. Shail/es are south west particularly Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset. Shale for the Midlands. Shales in the east especially Norfolk and Lincolnshire. London, of course, has all of them.

There is evidence of limited migration to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In North America, there seem to be concentrations of Shails in Illinois, Utah, Missouri and Pennsylvania, and Ontario Canada.

Further research is ongoing.

Data

GRO Indexes from 1837-2004 have been recorded. Grants of probate since 1858 in England and Wales. Census records 1841-1901 England and Wales. IGI, various BMD certificates earlier probates, and parish records.

Many are assembled into extended families.

I am always looking for more Shale information, wherever in the world they occur. And I will try to help provide more information where I can.

Contact details

For further information, contact:

Mrs Bernadette Siebert
35 Rimutaka Place,
Titirangi,
Auckland
1007
New Zealand
E-mail:

This page last updated 8 March 2008.