Show ContentsHungate History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Hungate family

The surname Hungate was first found in Yorkshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed. But Saxon surnames survived and the family name was first referenced in the 13th century when they held estates in that shire.

Early History of the Hungate family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hungate research. Another 149 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1455, 1476, 1487, 1510, 1600, 1617, 1619, 1643, 1655, 1661, 1682, 1683, 1685, 1686, 1690, 1710, 1740 and 1749 are included under the topic Early Hungate History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hungate 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 Hungate family name include Hungate, Hungatt, Hongate, Hongatt, Hungett, Hungete, Hongett, Hangett, Hangate and many more.

Early Notables of the Hungate family

Distinguished members of the family include

Hungate Ranking

In the United States, the name Hungate is the 16,887th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. [1]


United States Hungate 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 Hungate surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Hungate Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Nich Hungate, who landed in Virginia in 1705 [2]

Contemporary Notables of the name Hungate (post 1700) +

  • William Leonard Hungate (b. 1922), American Senate Representative from Missouri (1964-1977)
  • David Hungate, American bass player noted as a member of Los Angeles area rock band Toto from 1977-1982
  • Jay W Hungate, American sculptor
  • Bruce A Hungate Ph.D., American Associate Professor of Ecosystem Ecology at Northern Arizona University
  • William Leonard Hungate (1922-2007), American Democratic Party politician, U.S. Representative from Missouri 9th District, 1964-77; U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri, 1979-92 [3]
  • John H. Hungate, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Illinois, 1884 [3]


  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. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 7) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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