Researching William Chaney
Dig into the past of William Chaney using the links below. We hope you find this information useful!
![]() | Did you know that in the 1881 UK census there were 626 people with the Chaney surname? In that year Chaney was ranked number 2953 for popularity in the UK. |

The name William means "resolute guardian" and is of German origin.
Records of William Chaney on Ancestry
Ancestry is a major source of information if you are filling out the detail of William Chaney in your family tree. Many large databases are available to search covering from births, deaths and marriages, military records, census records and immigration records with many other smaller collections too. Free trials are normally available and are a good way to fill out a lot of your tree quickly.
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Ancestry.com Global records search results for William Chaney. |
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Ancestry.com US records search results for William Chaney. |
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Ancestry.co.uk UK records search results for William Chaney. |
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Ancestry.ca Canadian records search results for William Chaney. |
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Ancestry.com.au Australian records search results for William Chaney. |
DNA
Sometimes you can run into a brick wall in your tree and you just don't have enough evidence to make that next step back in time. If you are lucky then you may find some previously undiscovered Chaney ancestors. Additionally, the modern DNA test can give you a breakdown of your ethnic mix - you may be surprised at the results!
Have you reached a brick wall in your Chaney Tree?
Birth, Death and Marriage Records for William Chaney and the Chaney Family History
Birth, Death and Marriage records are often the best method of making the links to the Chaney Genealogy that will form part of your family tree. Although records vary from country to country, they are normally the most formal record of a person's relations. From the sources listed below it will be possible to locate a birth record and, from that record, a birth certificate may be obtainable which is likely to list the names of the parents, therefore taking you back another generation. A marriage certificate may also list the names of the respective fathers of the bride and groom which may then help you to find them earlier in life on a census record enabling you to fill out more detail in the Chaney family tree.
Look at Parish Records for William Chaney at Find My Past.
Check out for the UK registered births, marriages and deaths of William Chaney using the FreeBMD database.
Check out Genealogy Bank for William Chaney records.
Check out MyHeritage for William Chaney information.
Investigate the LDS Database for records about William Chaney.
Research the Chaney surname using fold3 Military Archives and view images of original Chaney Military records.
![]() | Did you know that there are currently 961 people with the Chaney surname in the UK? Chaney is now ranked number 3139 for popularity in the UK. |
Chaney Genealogy Databases
Another way to build your tree quickly is to use the research other people have already done. This can help to confirm or refute your own deductions - however, be wary of taking this data at face value as other researchers may not have been as meticulous as you. Always try to back up deductions with some definitive sources rather than relying too heavily on others.
Look at the WikiTree database for user contributed records for William Chaney.
Study MyTrees for information on the Chaney family and people looking to contact living Chaney relations.
Explore One Great Family for Chaney records submitted by people who are already researching the Chaney Family Tree.
Find William Chaney from Ireland on findmypast.ie
Chaney Forums
There are a number of forums which are dedicated to rearching particular surnames. These can be good places to share your findings and also to tap into the knowledge that others may already have. These can sometimes be a good way of finding living relations as these tend not to show up on the other sources of information for privacy reasons.
Research the Chaney surname using Genealogy.com forums .
![]() | Did you know that there are currently 42535 people with the Chaney surname in the USA? Chaney is ranked number 143 for popularity in the USA. |
Miscellaneous Chaney Databases
Explore the Ellis Island Database for information on William Chaney. This database contains over 25 million immigration records detailing passengers arriving in the United States of America.
Some Famous People called William Chaney
William Chaney
William Albert Chaney (December 23, 1922 – March 13, 2013) was an American historian of Anglo-Saxon England. Chaney spent his career at Lawrence University, where he taught from 1952 until his death; he held the George McKendree Steele endowed chair in history from 1962 until his official retirement in 1999, and the chair of the history department from 1968 to 1971. Chaney's studies focused on the conversion from paganism to Christianity, and sacral kingship, and culminated in his 1970 book The Cult of Kingship in Anglo-Saxon England: The Transition from Paganism to Christianity.
Chaney was born in California and at 16 was graduated valedictorian of his high school class. He completed both his Bachelor of Arts and Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley. Chaney was awarded two fellowships from Berkeley, and made a fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows. The awards allowed him to spend time at Harvard and Princeton, and in Europe—the start to what would become 49 trips to the continent over the course of his career. As a 29 year old in 1952, Chaney both received his doctorate and began teaching at Lawrence. He said later that "I thought I would stay two or three years to see what a liberal arts college was like", but then "fell in love with the place", and never left.
Lawrence's longest-serving professor, Chaney was a popular presence on campus, and an institution. A "Chaney course" was considered a rite of passage for many students, and by the time of his retirement, 80% of all living alumni had passed through the college during his tenure. For more than four decades, Chaney hosted a "salon" three or four days a week at his apartment, where students would gather for conversation and classical music. He was known as an engaging speaker, and conducted scores of lectures at Lawrence and in the broader community.
Source: William Chaney, Wikipedia, The Free EncyclopediaOther names that sound a bit like Chaney
Family names can get corrupted over time, particularly where literacy was not as good. The following list contains some names that have similar sounds so you may want to also look at one or two of the more likely possibilites.
Caen Caghan Cagney Cahan Cahani Cahen Cahn Cahoon Cahoone Caime Caimi Cain Caine Cainey Cam Cambeau Cambo Camboia Came Camey Camm Camou Camuy Cana Cane Caneo Caney Cann Canna Cannaway Canney Cannoy Canny Cano Canoy Caughan Caughen Caumo Cayen Caynhooe Ceney Chaigne Chaim Chain Chainey Cham Chamney Chan Chaugham Cheaney Cheeney Cheine Chen Chenay Chenaye Chene Cheney Cheyenne Cheyne Cheyney Chiene Chin China Chine Chinn Chiono Choma Chowen Chown Chowne Chumney Chuney Chunn Chwenn Ciani Cianni Cigno Cima Cina Cino Cioni Coan Coen Cohan Cohane Cohani Cohen Cohn Com Comb Combe Combi Comboy Comby Come Comeau Comee Comi Commo Como Con Cona Conaghy Conahy Conaway Cone Coneau Conew Coney Conmee Conn Connah Connaway Conneau Connew Connow Connue Conway Cooknoe Coom Coomb Coombe Coome Coomo Coon Cooney Couen Coughan Coumbe Couwehowen Cowan Cowen Cowham Cowin Cowmbe Cown Cowne Coyne Cuen Cuene Cueni Cuiney Cumbe Cumbee Cumbie Cumbo Cumby Cumm Cumo Cunah Cuneio Cuneo Cunha Cunio Cunnah Cunney Cunnow Cunow Cuny Cuomo Cynowa Czene Tchayan





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