Show ContentsHartness History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The chronicles of the Hartness family show that the name was first used in the Scottish/English Borderlands by the Strathclyde-Britons. It was a name for a person who lived in Dumfries. Some believe that the surname Hartness is derived from the Old English words here, which means army, and næss, which means headland or cape.

Early Origins of the Hartness family

The surname Hartness was first found in Dumfriesshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Dhùn Phris), a Southern area, bordering on England that today forms part of the Dumfries and Galloway Council Area, where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Hartness family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hartness research. Another 68 words (5 lines of text) covering the year 1890 is included under the topic Early Hartness History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hartness Spelling Variations

The origin of rules governing the spelling of names and even words is a very recent innovation. Before that, words and names were spelled according to sound, and, therefore, often appeared under several different spelling variations in a single document. Hartness has been spelled Harkness, Harkniss, Harckness, Hackness, Herkness and many more.

Early Notables of the Hartness family

More information is included under the topic Early Hartness Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hartness Ranking

In the United States, the name Hartness is the 15,809th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Ireland Migration of the Hartness family to Ireland

Some of the Hartness family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 63 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Hartness migration to the United States +

The persecution faced in their homeland left many Scots with little to do but sail for the colonies of North America. There they found land, freedom, opportunity, and nations in the making. They fought for their freedom in the American War of Independence, or traveled north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. In both cases, they made enormous contributions to the formation of those great nations. Among them:

Hartness Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • William Hartness, aged 28, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1805 2
  • George Hartness, who arrived in New York, NY in 1816 2
  • Johanna Hartness, aged 26, who landed in New York in 1854 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Hartness (post 1700) +

  • Major-General Harlan Nelson Hartness (1898-1986), American Commanding General 4th Division (1950-1953) 3
  • James Hartness (1861-1934), American inventor, mechanical engineer and entrepreneur as well as Governor of Vermont from 1921 to 1923


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  3. Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2012, March 9) Harlan Hartness. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Hartness/Harlan_Nelson/USA.html


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