LASCELLES
Lascelles is a surname of English, French and Germanic provenance, carried by a family whose lineage can be traced back to the Norman invasion of England in 1066. The name is associated with a locational origin from a small settlement in the Orne department of northern France, and later transferred into the aristocratic fabric of Britain.
The Old French element l’Ansel or l’Anselme forms the basis of the English surname. These forms are in turn derived from the Germanic personal name Anselm, composed of ans, ‘god’, and helm, ‘helmet’ or ‘protection’. Consequently, the surname may be interpreted as ‘God’s protection’ or ‘helmet of God’.
In Norman French, the place name La Celles referred to a hermit’s cell, from the Latin cella meaning a small room. The village of Lacelle in Orne gave rise to the locational surname Lascelles. Following the Norman conquest, members of the original family were granted land in England and adopted the toponymic surname.
The earliest documented bearer of the name in England is Roger de Lascelles, who held land in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire around 1130. A record dated circa 1150 names Peter de Laceles as a tenant of the Abbey of Rievaulx in Yorkshire, during the reign of King Stephen.
Church registers in London provide further attestations of the name. In 1584 Margaret Lessells was christened at St. Peter’s, Westcheap. In 1692 Elizabeth Lascelles was christened at St. Antholin’s, Budge Row, and in 1695 Edmond Lascelles married Mary Applebury. These entries illustrate the name’s presence in the capital during the early modern period.
In the early eighteenth century Edward Lascelles (1740–1820) was created the first Earl of Harewood in 1812. The earldom remained in the family for eight generations, during which the holders acquired extensive estates in Yorkshire and played an influential role in British society. The seventh Earl was a senior member of the Royal Family when he married Princess Mary, granddaughter of King George V, and he attended the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles in 2008.
In contemporary times the surname is most common in the United Kingdom, where an estimated five thousand British nationals bear it. In the North of England, particularly in Yorkshire and Northallerton, the name continues to be associated with former landowning families. Global distribution records show the name in Canada (notably Quebec), in France (especially the Deux Sèvres department), and in Australia and New Zealand (primarily the Murray and Wellington regions). It also appears in the United States in modest numbers.
Variants of the surname reflect the linguistic shifts that occurred over time: Lacelles, Laceils, La Selle, Lascelle, Lasceles, Lasselle, Lessell and others. Related surnames include Lacy, de Lacy, La Casse, Case, Lace, Lester and Lassels.
Typical given names associated with the Lascelles surname
Male
- Andrew
- Bill
- David
- Dean
- James
- John
- Mark
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
- Thomas
- William
Female
- Claire
- Fiona
- Helen
- Irene
- Jane
- Janet
- Margaret
- Mary
- Michelle
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Lascelles in...
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Morse
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There are approximately 623 people named Lascelles in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around ten in a million people in Britain are named Lascelles.
Famous people named Lascelles
- Alan Lascelles - Army officer and courtier (1887 to 1981)
- George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood - Noble (1923 to 2011)
- Jamaal Lascelles - Football player
- Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood - Peer (1882 to 1947)
- David Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood - Hereditary peer and film and television producer
- Gerald David Lascelles - Younger son of Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood (1924 to 1998)
- Alexander Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles - Noble
- James Lascelles - Musician
- Henry Lascelles, 5th Earl of Harewood - Noble (1846 to 1929)
- Jeremy Lascelles - Noble
- Angela Lascelles - Former wife of The Hon. Gerald Lascelles (1919 to 2007)
- Frank Lascelles - Pageant master and artist (1875 to 1934)
- Kendrew Lascelles - -born actor, performer and writer from South Africa
- Alfred Lascelles - Sri Lankan judge (1857 to 1952)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.