Stacey Coat of Arms / Stacey Family Crest
The surname of STACEY was a baptismal name ‘the son of Eustace’ from the nicknames Stace and Stacekin. An ancient, although now forgotten personal name. The name was brought into England in the wake of the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the earliest name on record of the name appears to be Roger Stace who was documented in the year 1273 in County Huntingdonshire. Stacekinus de Burnes of County Kent, was documented during the reign of Edward I (1279-1307).
Robertus Stasy of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Robert Stace, registered at Oxford University in the year 1552. The name has many variant spellings which include Stace, Stacy and Stacye.
Following the Crusades in Europe a need was felt for a second name as those of gentler blood realized that it added prestige and advantage to their status. At first the coat of arms was a practical matter which served a function on the battlefield and in tournaments. With his helmet covering his face, and armour encasing the knight from head to foot, the only means of identification for his followers, was the insignia painted on his shield, and embroidered on his surcoat, the draped and flowing garment worn over the armour.
Many factors contributed to the establishment of a surname system. For generations after the Norman Conquest of 1066 a very few dynasts and magnates passed on hereditary surnames, but the main of the population, with a wide choice of first-names out of Celtic, Old English, Norman and Latin, avoided ambiguity without the need for a second name.
As society became more stabilized, there was property to leave in wills, the towns and villages grew and the labels that had served to distinguish a handful of folk in a friendly village were not adequate for a teeming slum where perhaps most of the householders were engaged in the same monotonous trade, so not even their occupations could distinguish them, and some first names were gaining a tiresome popularity, especially Thomas after 1170.
The hereditary principle in surnames gained currency first in the South, and the poorer folk were slower to apply it. By the 14th century however, most of the population had acquired a second name. The associated arms are recorded in Sir Bernard Burkes General Armory. Ulster King of Arms in 1884.