Jago's of The World Unite
Welcome to the Jago Family History
Project. This will be an ongoing project, that, hopefully, with your
help, will become a large resource and information exchange
for those researching their Jago lineage, and for those who just
have an interest in the origins and history of the Jago surname. As you
can see, this site is very much in it's infancy at the moment, but I
hope to start adding bits and pieces over the coming weeks and months.
To get things moving, I'd like to start with a few basics and try to
dispel one or two misconceptions:
Jago shares the same root as James, Iago, Jack and many others, i.e., Jacob and indeed, is the Cornish language form of the name James.
It is estimated that currently, in the United Kingdom there are less than 2000 people with the surname Jago.
The surname Jago is currently ranked as the 3758th most popular surname in the UK.
It is estimated that there are only 531 people with the surname in the United States (or less than 0.001 of the population) , and 688 in Australia (or 42 Jago's for every 1 million people).
There are some variants to the spelling of the surname such as Jagoe, Jeggo, Lago, and Iago. The Jeggo surname is almost exclusively traceable to a single family living in and around the parish of Gosfield, Essex. I suspect that the mis-spelling comes from the pronunciation of a Cornish or Devon accented forebear. Iago is the Welsh variant of the name. It is probable that the variants of Jagoe, and Lago are merely spelling mistakes or the result of mis-transcriptions (in other words, deviants rather than variants)
It is thought that the surname originated in Wales from the name Iago. Geoffrey of Monmouth, an eminent historian of the 12th Century, states that Jago was a legendary King of the Britons, preceded by Sisillius I and succeeded by Kimarcus.
Jago's are found all around the world but the name is predominantly found in the South West counties of England, more specifically in Plymouth and Cornwall
Jago as a first name is recorded as Jago filius Ytel in The Pipe Rolls of Herefordshire in 1185, but the first recorded use as a surname is that of William Jeago, a witness, mentioned in the Assize Court Rolls of Shropshire in 1221.
Further recordings include one Thomas Jagoo, in 1524, in The Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk.
Church records show that one Jellion, daughter of John and Jane Jago, was christened on May 29th 1568 at St. Sampson (otherwise known as Golant), Cornwall; John, son of John Jagoe, who was christened on April 3rd 1571 also at St. Sampson. A John Jago married Margaret Griffen on March 29th 1608 in Kensington, Middlesex.
A Coat of Arms was granted to a Jago family (they are only ever granted to one family and it's descendants, and are not applicable to everyone who bears the name) which consists of a gold shield with a black chevron between three crosses-crosslet (as shown at the top of this page). The chevron signifies protection and has often been granted in arms as a reward to one who has achieved some notable enterprise. It has sometimes been given to those who have built churches or fortresses, or who have accomplished some work of Faithful Service.
Although many scholars believe there is a shared ancestry between the Cornish Celts, the Basques of Northern Spain and France, and the Celts of Breton in France, there is no evidence to suggest that the name Jago came to Cornwall from shipwrecked survivors of the Spanish Armada in 1588. In fact, there are no records of any ships from that particular fleet being shipwrecked off the coasts of Cornwall. As is shown above, the name was already established in England hundreds of years before the Armada set sail. (There is, however, a case for "shipwrecked Spaniards" being the reason that there are pockets of Jago's spread up and down the West coast of Ireland.) This notwithstanding, there are some intriguing connotations between the name Jago and various Hispanic place names; St. Jago is a variation of St.James, the patron saint of Spain (Santiago, Santiago de Compostela etc), Spanish Town, Jamaica was also known as St.Jago (or Santiago) de la Vega, and the capital of the Cape Verde Islands - Santiago, was known as St.Jago at the time of Charles Darwin's visits.
So what is a one name study
Research and results
Jago shares the same root as James, Iago, Jack and many others, i.e., Jacob and indeed, is the Cornish language form of the name James.
It is estimated that currently, in the United Kingdom there are less than 2000 people with the surname Jago.
The surname Jago is currently ranked as the 3758th most popular surname in the UK.
It is estimated that there are only 531 people with the surname in the United States (or less than 0.001 of the population) , and 688 in Australia (or 42 Jago's for every 1 million people).
There are some variants to the spelling of the surname such as Jagoe, Jeggo, Lago, and Iago. The Jeggo surname is almost exclusively traceable to a single family living in and around the parish of Gosfield, Essex. I suspect that the mis-spelling comes from the pronunciation of a Cornish or Devon accented forebear. Iago is the Welsh variant of the name. It is probable that the variants of Jagoe, and Lago are merely spelling mistakes or the result of mis-transcriptions (in other words, deviants rather than variants)
It is thought that the surname originated in Wales from the name Iago. Geoffrey of Monmouth, an eminent historian of the 12th Century, states that Jago was a legendary King of the Britons, preceded by Sisillius I and succeeded by Kimarcus.
Jago's are found all around the world but the name is predominantly found in the South West counties of England, more specifically in Plymouth and Cornwall
Jago as a first name is recorded as Jago filius Ytel in The Pipe Rolls of Herefordshire in 1185, but the first recorded use as a surname is that of William Jeago, a witness, mentioned in the Assize Court Rolls of Shropshire in 1221.
Further recordings include one Thomas Jagoo, in 1524, in The Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk.
Church records show that one Jellion, daughter of John and Jane Jago, was christened on May 29th 1568 at St. Sampson (otherwise known as Golant), Cornwall; John, son of John Jagoe, who was christened on April 3rd 1571 also at St. Sampson. A John Jago married Margaret Griffen on March 29th 1608 in Kensington, Middlesex.
A Coat of Arms was granted to a Jago family (they are only ever granted to one family and it's descendants, and are not applicable to everyone who bears the name) which consists of a gold shield with a black chevron between three crosses-crosslet (as shown at the top of this page). The chevron signifies protection and has often been granted in arms as a reward to one who has achieved some notable enterprise. It has sometimes been given to those who have built churches or fortresses, or who have accomplished some work of Faithful Service.
Although many scholars believe there is a shared ancestry between the Cornish Celts, the Basques of Northern Spain and France, and the Celts of Breton in France, there is no evidence to suggest that the name Jago came to Cornwall from shipwrecked survivors of the Spanish Armada in 1588. In fact, there are no records of any ships from that particular fleet being shipwrecked off the coasts of Cornwall. As is shown above, the name was already established in England hundreds of years before the Armada set sail. (There is, however, a case for "shipwrecked Spaniards" being the reason that there are pockets of Jago's spread up and down the West coast of Ireland.) This notwithstanding, there are some intriguing connotations between the name Jago and various Hispanic place names; St. Jago is a variation of St.James, the patron saint of Spain (Santiago, Santiago de Compostela etc), Spanish Town, Jamaica was also known as St.Jago (or Santiago) de la Vega, and the capital of the Cape Verde Islands - Santiago, was known as St.Jago at the time of Charles Darwin's visits.
As a first step, I shall be looking at Jago families from Devon & Cornwall specifically, and then broadening my search to include the UK, Ireland and then overseas. This is a large undertaking, and will be a steep learning curve for me. Over the course of time I will be updating this website to include the latest news of my research. If anyone is interested in any aspect of researching Jago families, I would be very happy to hear from you. Please email me at the following:
jagoonenamestudyproject @ yahoo . co . uk (NB - please remove the spaces - these were inserted to prevent spammers. Many thanks)
So what is a one name study
Research and results