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The name Clevenger is Anglo-Saxon in origin. It was a name given to a person who worked with wood. The surname is derived from the Old English word cleofan which means to cleave or split.
The surname Clevenger was first found in Norfolk where some say they held a family seat well before the Norman Conquest in 1066 A.D.
Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Clevenger include Cleever, Cleaver, Clever, Kleever, Kleaver, Cleevar, Cleavar, Cliver, Cleiver, Clivar, Cleevor, Clearvor, Cleevare, Clevenger, Kleevare, Cleavare, Kleavare and many more.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Clevenger research. Another 389 words (28 lines of text) covering the years 1273, 1332, 1379, and 1790 are included under the topic Early Clevenger History in all our PDF Extended History products.
More information is included under the topic Early Clevenger Notables in all our PDF Extended History products.
Thousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Clevenger were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records: Henry Cleaver who settled in Barbados in 1680 with his servants; Thomas Cleaver settled in Maryland in 1775; Charles Cleaver settled in New England in 1744.
This page was last modified on 7 September 2015 at 18:59.