The surname variants Yahw, Yaugh, Yawe, Yawll, Yeah, Yeau, Yeawwe, Yee, Yeoe, Yew, Yewe (and its variant Iwe), Yewes (and its variant Hewes), Yeogh, Yo, Yoa, Yoahw, Yoo, Yowe, Yowde and Yowwe are not included in the list of variants registered with the Guild of One-name Studies, but they are included in this study.
Spellings within the same family are not always consistent, so searching by surname is not always reliable. For example:
– When Thomas and Mary baptised a daughter Margery at Clawton in 1674 her surname was recorded as Yea in the register. But when Margery married Frances Westlake in the same parish in 1703 her surname was recorded as Yawe.
– Robert and Elizabeth baptised six children at Watchet between 1730 and 1740: for the first two their surname is recorded as Yew and for the remaining three it is recorded as Yaw.
– Tamar King married Philip Yea at Templeton in 1719, but when she re-married as a widow at Puddington in 1723 her surname is recorded as Yeo.
– The parish register for Bampton records the baptism of Joseph Henry Yaw on 1 April 1888 but his birth had been registered (Tiverton, first quarter of 1888) as Joseph Henry Yeo.
– Lucy Ellen Yeo married in Barry in 1923, but her birth had been registered in 1876 as Lucy Ellen Yaw.
The surname Yohe might also be a Yeo variant: see Thomas James Yohe.
The surname de Ou might also be related. There appear to be no occurrences in modern times, but there is an 11th-century reference [note 1].
David Yea was a churchwarden at Templeton in the early 18th century. He donated a bell to the parish church, on which the inscription reads ‘Davd Yia Ch. Warden 1724′ – this spelling variant is unlikely to be of significance.
The surname Yeold from a 1605 burial at Bodmin might be a transcription error.
Also unlikely to be of significance is the spelling from the 1624 baptism record for Christian Yea at Wiveliscombe: she was recorded as Chrystian Yae. Similarly, Yea and Yae are both used in the will of Richard Yea of Wiveliscombe, proved in 1549. See also Research by Mike Darch and David Yaw.
It has been suggested at your-family-history.com that Aye, Eye and Iye are also variants of Yeo – though it seems more likely that they are transcription errors.
The surname Youe (sometimes spelt with an accent, Youé) does not appear to be a variant of Yeo.
The following variants are excluded from the study:
– The surname Van Yea or Vanyea in the United States
– The forename Yaw from Ghana, often given to boys born on a Thursday
– The surname Yaw in Scotland
– The surname Yaw in the United States, which appears to be a variant of an unrelated German surname – see Germany?
– The surnames Yeo (sometimes written as Yang), Yeoh, Yee and Yaw found in families of Chinese and Korean origin in many parts of the world
– The surnames Yoe and Yohe from Pennsylvania, which appear to be variants of an unrelated German surname – see Pennsylvania.
The surname Yeo in Mexico is included, even though it might be a variant of a Spanish surname – see Mexico.
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Note
1. In The History of Devonshire: From the Earliest Period to the Present (Robert Jennings, London, 1829, p.56) the reverend Thomas Moore states that the manor of Whitstone was given by William the Conqueror to William de Ou, and was afterwards possessed by John de Powderham.