A French Heraldic name and recorded in Riestapps Armorial General. The name may have Huguenot associations. The name is a semi descriptive nickname for a Verdier or Forester from the old French Verte, meaning "one who wears or works "in green". The Coat of Arms is a Red Cross on a gold field with three Birds in each quarter. Church recordings include Jacob Vertegans who married Judith Smith on January 7th 1777 at St. Martin Orgar and St. Clement Eastcheap, London. One E. Vertegan (aged 30 yrs.,) together with his wife M. (aged 30 yrs.,) sons Edward (aged 8 yrs.,) and George (aged 6 yrs.,) were famine emigrants who sailed from Liverpool aboard the Garrick bound for New York on the 15th of May 1847. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Vertegtan of Tournai, which was dated circa 1680, Paris, France, during the reign of King Louis X1V, "the Sun King" 1643 - 1715. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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