The surname George is of English, French and German origin. The name signifies ‘land worker’. It is derived from a Greek personal name, ‘Georgios’, from ‘georgos’, farmer; composed of the elements ‘ge’, earth, soil and ‘ergein’, to work, till; which was in use before the Norman Conquest. Its popularity increased at the time of the Crusades, which brought greater contact with the Orthodox Church, in which there was a thriving cult of an obscure saint of this name, supposedly martyred at Nicomedia in 303 A.D on the orders of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, although the authenticity of his very existance is doubtful. The popular legend in which the hero slays a dragon is a medieval Italian invention which caught the imagination of artists of the time. In 1348 Edward III founded the Order of the Garter under the patronage of St.George, and in 1415 his day was made a festival of the highest rank. He came to be regarded as the patron saint of England, but the real popularity of the name was due to the Hanoverian succession in the eighteenth century. “And pay no worship to the garish sun,” Romeo and Juliet. The na…
Coat of arms: Argent on a fesse between three doves volant azure as man…