Houk History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland
Scotland

The Anglo-Saxon name Houk comes from when the family resided in Dorset at Hooke, a parish, in the union of Beaminster, hundred of Eggerton, Bridport division. Hooke is also a chapelry, in the parish of Snaith, union of Goole, Lower division of the wapentake of Osgoldcross in the West Ridig of Yorkshire and Hook is a hamlet, in the parish and union of Kingston-Upon-Thames, First division of the hundred of Kingston in Surrey. 1

"Many localities in England bear the name of "the Hook," an expression which is doubtless topographical, though its precise derivation is not known. It is probably allied to the Teutonic hoe, hoh, hoch, Sec., all meaning a hill or elevated place. The surname was written in the XIV. cent. atte Hooke, and this by crasis sometimes became Tooke. It may be mentioned that Hoke, as a personal name, occurs in Saxon times. " 2

The name typically means "place at the hook of land, or bend in a river or hill." 3

Early Origins of the Houk family

The surname Houk was first found in Devon where one of the first records of the name was found in 1050-71 in a reference of Old English Bynames of Devon. Later in the Assize Rolls of Lincolnshire, the Latin form of the name, Hervicus and Richard Hoc were listed in 1218. By 1230, the Pipe Rolls of Berkshire had listed John Hook, the first listing of the name as it is more commonly spelt today. 4

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included: Reginald de le Hoke, Wiltshire, Walter del Hoke, Gloucestershire, and Love del Hok, Oxfordshire. 5

In Somerset, Robert de Hok, Richard atte Hoke, and Robert atte Houk were all listed there 1 Edward III (during the first year of King Edward III's reign). 6

Later, the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 included: Margareta del Hoke, webester, Alexander de Hok, and Willelmus de Hok. 5

To the north in Scotland, "William de Huk was in charge of Thomas Galloway, 1296 and Adam de Huke, was a tenant in "vill" of Moffet, 1376. 7

Early History of the Houk family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Houk research. Another 149 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1270, 1275, 1296, 1417, 1575, 1580, 1600, 1618, 1620, 1628, 1635, 1636, 1640, 1642, 1649, 1653, 1655, 1658, 1664, 1672, 1674, 1677, 1681, 1703, 1712, 1716, 1738, 1763 and 1796 are included under the topic Early Houk History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Houk Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Houk has been recorded under many different variations, including Hook, Hooke, Hoke and others.

Early Notables of the Houk family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Reverend Thomas Huyck DCL (died 1575), Chancellor of the Diocese of London; Sir Richard Hook of Scotland; and Humphrey Hooke (1580-1658), a Member of Parliament for Bristol (1640-1642), who supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War.William Hook (1600-1677), was a Puritan divine, "said to have been born of respectable parents in Hampshire in 1600; perhaps he was one of the Hooks of Bramshott in that county. He became commoner of Trinity College, Oxford, in 1618, and graduated B.A. in 1620." 8Robert Hooke, FRS (1635-1703), was an English natural...
Another 97 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Houk Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Houk Ranking

In the United States, the name Houk is the 5,542^nd most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 9

Migration of the Houk family to Ireland

Some of the Houk family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 182 words (13 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Houk migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Houk or a variant listed above:

Houk Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Efree Houk, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1732 10
Hans Jerick Houk, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1733 10
Jerick Houk, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1733 10
Jacob Houk, who arrived in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania in 1764 10

Houk Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Emanuel Houk, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1834 10
Nicholas Houk, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1836 10
Eramus Houk, who landed in Mississippi in 1844 10
George Emanuel Houk, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1856 10

Contemporary Notables of the name Houk (post 1700) +

Theodore W. Houk, American physician in Seattle, Washington, one of the first to use penicillin in the Pacific North West, Director of medical education at Providence Hospital in Seattle
Ralph George Houk (1919-2010), nicknamed The Major, an American catcher, coach, manager, and front office executive in Major League Baseball, six-times World Series champion
Leonidas Campbell Houk (1836-1891), American politician, Member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee (1879-1891)
Kendall Newcomb Houk (b. 1943), American professor of chemistry, Saul Winstein Chair in Organic Chemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles
John Chiles Houk (1860-1923), American politician, Member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee (1891-1895)
George Washington Houk (1825-1894), American lawyer and politician, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio (1891-1894)
George Washington Houk (1825-1894), American Democratic Party politician, Member of Ohio State House of Representatives from Montgomery County, 1851-52; Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Ohio, 1876 11
Fred C. Houk, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Tennessee, 1924 11
Evelyn Houk, American Democratic Party politician, Postmaster at Brazil, Indiana, 1944-46 11
Charles Houk, American politician, Candidate for Michigan State Senate 26th District, 1902 11
... (Another 10 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.
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
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 14) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html