Anchetil de Greye

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Anchetil de Greye was a vassal of William the Conqueror who accompanied him in the Norman conquest of England.

Anchetil de Greye (rendered variously in different documents, e.g. "de Graye", "de Grei"; also "Anketil") is specifically named in the Domesday Book of 1086. The principal estate granted to Anchetil de Greye in England was called Redrefield (subsequently Rotherfield Greys) and the manor house, Greys Court, in Oxfordshire. He was the great grandfather of John de Gray, Bishop of Norwich, and the great great grandfather of Walter de Gray, Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England; and is regarded as the ancestor of all the Grey/Gray noble families in England.

Greye's origins in France are unclear. Some sources speculate a connection to the Croy family whose ancient estate and castle were in what was later called Picardy, and that "Greye" derived from "Croy". Others however believe that there was a connection to an estate in the vicinity of today's Graye-sur-Mer which would have been within the domain of William, and possibly also to an estate in the vicinity of the eastern French town of Gray. History records that the original Viking founder of Normandy, Rollo, made raids into the eastern part of France where the town of Gray is located. It is also possible that a family having some form of the name "Grey" held an estate called "Croy".

The etymology of the name "Greye/Grey/Gray" depends on which speculation is true. If "Croy", then it ultimately derives from either the French word for "cross" (croix) or "chalk" (OF croie), a reference perhaps to an element of the soil. If "Gray", then it derives either from the Gallo-Roman name "Gradus", cognate to the Celtic "Grady" which means "illustrious" or "noble", or from the Gallo-Roman name "Gratus" meaning "pleasing".

It is likely that Anchetil de Greye was of Viking ancestry in whole or in part since the given name Anchetil ("god-helmet") was a fairly common Norse-origin name in Normandy. The "Greye" in his name then was either simply a reference to his estate, or to his mixed Scandinavian-French ancestry which was also common in Normandy by the time of the invasion of England.