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There's a lot of information on line about the Childers family.

Here's a link to a web page that explains the Crest: http://www.childers-childress.com/familyhistory.html (the explanation is in the left margin).

The origin of the name is kind of obscure: I always thought that it came from the Crusades and meant "belonging to the children." There may still be some credence to this, since in Middle English "childer" was the spelling of Modern English "children" and you could make a word possessive by adding an "s"--so "childers" would be the same as our modern "children's."

Here's a theory that the name is descended from the Kings "Childeric" and another theory.

Fom http://www.childers-childress.com/clarencechildress.html
Garland K. Childress wrote an article he entitled "A Brief History of The Surname Childress," for the April, 1987 issue of the Childress Chatter Newsletter, which reads:
"The name Childers, also spelled Childers, Childress, Childres, and Childrey, is an ancient English-Anglo-Saxon name that probably has its origin in the old German language, one of the forerunners of our standard American English of today. The first hint of a name similar to our present spelling is to be found in the Frankish name of Childeric 1,leader of the Germanic tribe of Franks of A. D. 458 - 481."

The Lives of The Kings and Queens of France by Rene de La Croix duc de Castries, written in 1908, provides an excellent account of the Childerics, and their Frankish descendants from A. D. 450 - 751.

As I read this fascinating history, I contemplated the possibility that these ancient Gauls may have made up an ancestor pool, from which our modern version of the Childress name evolved.

The question, then, comes to mind: What's in a name?, When a search through the dusty pages of history turns one up with such a familiar ring, the importance of a name becomes clear. It is like a steady handle for the researcher, on his road back through history.

The question, then, comes to mind: What's in a name?, When a search through the dusty pages of history turns one up with such a familiar ring, the importance of a name becomes clear. It is like a steady handle for the researcher, on his road back through history.

That Rufus Green Childress ever pondered the possibility that his Civil War skirmishes related, in some remote way, to the tribal battles that the Childerics waged, is doubtful. It is not out of place, however, to review the history of these little kings, Childeric 1, Childeric 11, and Childeric 111, with the spirit of kinship for all warriors, who risked their lives in battle.

Childeric I - 450-481.
Pharamond thought to be the ancestor of Frankish kings, sired Clodion who begat Merovius the general officer who helped repel the Huns from Gaul; who was the father of Childeric I.

The dusty and worn pages of ancient history reveal very little about Childeric 1. But the little tribal king had his day, as proven by the discovery of his grave at Tournai in 1653. He had been laid to rest, with the royal trappings of his jewels, his arms, and his signet ring, inscribed with the name, "Childerici Regis," in the year A. D. 481. The translation of his name: Childe means battle, ric means ruler in the Germanic tongue. As a "Battle Ruler" at the age of twenty-three, it is likely that Childeric 1 died in battle.

That same fate appears to have befallen his son Clovis, Clovis' son Childebert, Childebert's son, Thibert, and down the line for almost 200 years, when Childeric II appeared in 656.

In A. D. 742 Childeric III was brought from his cloister to serve as king, but was soon replaced by Pepin who sent Childeric 111 back to his convent, where he lived out his life.

Bertha, the daughter of Charibert, who was the king of Paris and the great grandson of Childeric 1, married King Ethelbert. Their daughter, Ethelburga, married King Edwin of Northumbria, England in 625. King Edwin died in battle in 633 while in his late teens. This family of Northumbria, the Franks, Britons, Scots and Picts, lasted for two hundred years.

Then there's this from www.childers-childress.com/afamilyalbum.html
The name Childers—later Childress—an ancient English surname of somewhat doubtful origin, means literally "son of Childer," the final being an abbreviation of the genitive son.
The name appears in ancient English and early American records in the various forms of Childher, Childres, Childris, Chiuldrus, Childrass, Childras, Childer, Childress and Childers, of which the last two are the spelling most frequently found in America in modern times.