The name ‘Shiells originates from England. It is derived from the metonymic occupational name for an armourer. It is also a habitational name from places in Northumberland, County Durham (now both in Tyne and Wear) called respectively North and South ‘shields’, derived from the Middle English word ‘schele’ meaning shed, hut, shelter (from the Old English word ‘sceol’). It is also a topographic name for someone who lived near the shallow part of a river, from the Old English word ‘scieldu’ meaning shallows, a derivative of ‘sceald’ meaning shallow. Some examples of the surname are topographic names, derived directly from the vacabulary word Compiled information from Historical and Private archive’s has confirmed that the surname ‘Shield’ and or it’s variant’s, dates as far back as the 14th century were a ‘Willelmus de Scheles’, from the county of Yorkshire, England, is recorded in 1379. The exact period of settlement in North America has not been definately determined but Information extracted from Public and Civil registry archive’s confirm that one of the first settlers was a certain ‘Martin Shield’,…
Coat of arms: Gules a lion pa…