Hortman History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

Hortman is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived in one of the many places called Horton; settlements of this name are particularly common in Yorkshire. The surname Hortman belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxon habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.

There are two possible origins of the name: "dirty or muddy farmstead," from the Old English "horu" + "tun" and "hill frequented by harts or stags," from the Old English "heorot" + "dun." 1

Early Origins of the Hortman family

The surname Hortman was first found in the West Riding of Yorkshire at Thornton, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Bradford, wapentake of Morley. "Thornton Hall, the property of the Horton family, an ancient quadrangular structure of great size, and formerly of considerable importance, is now occupied as farm-buildings and cottages." 2

Over in Horton, in Northumberland another branch of the family was found. "Possessions were anciently held here by the knightly family of Horton," 2 and at Horton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, more early records of the family were found. "In the reign of Henry II., the manor was granted by Robert de Lacy to the ancestor of the Hortons." 2

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had the following entries for the family: Thomas de Horton in Devon; William de Horton in Kent; and Adam de Horton in Cambridgeshire. The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed: Emma de Horton; and Dionisia de Horton. 3

Some of the family were found in Scotland in early times: "Pieres de Hortone of Edinburghshire who rendered homage in 1296 derived his name from one of the many places named Horton in England, perhaps from one of the three places of the name in Yorkshire." 4

Early History of the Hortman family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hortman research. Another 235 words (17 lines of text) covering the years 1210, 1296, 1603, 1649, 1660, 1673, 1696, 1714, 1756, 1764, 1784, 1806, 1821, 1823 and 1841 are included under the topic Early Hortman History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hortman Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Hortman family name include Horton, Horten and others.

Early Notables of the Hortman family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Thomas Horton D.D. (died 1673), an English clergyman, Professor of Divinity at Gresham College in London, and President of Queens' College, Cambridge. 5Major Thomas Horton (1603-1649) was an English soldier in the parliamentary army during the English Civil War from Gumley, Leicestershire. Horton was granted the confiscated lands of a deposed Royalist and was Commissioner of...
Another 63 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hortman Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hortman migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Hortman surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Hortman Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Philip Hortman, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1772 6

Hortman Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Mr. Heinr. Hortman, aged 64, who arrived in New Orleans in 1845 aboard the ship "Agnes"

Hortman Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Martha Hortman, aged 26, who landed in America, in 1910
Harry H. Hortman, aged 21, who immigrated to New York, in 1920
Victor Hortman, aged 26, who immigrated to the United States, in 1921
Henry Hortman, aged 30, who settled in America, in 1922

Contemporary Notables of the name Hortman (post 1700) +

Edward Hortman, American football player for the 1891 West Virginia Mountaineers
Doug Hortman, American owner of The Marshalls, a former professional indoor football team based out of Dayton, Ohio
Alton Monroe "Al" Hortman Jr., American Republican candidate for the Mayor of Minden, Louisiana in 2010
Melissa Hortman (b. 1970), American politician, Minority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives (2017-), Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives (2005-)
Norman Hortman, Canadian pilot on the MacGregor Arctic Expedition in 1937, he disembarked at Sydney, Nova Scotia before proceeding further north

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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)