Tilghman History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The history of the name Tilghman dates back to the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It is derived from a member of the family who worked as a farmer having been derived from the Old English word tilman, which means husbandman or farmer. [1] [2] Reaney postulates that the name could also have originated for the occupation "tile-man," as in "maker of tiles." [2]

"'Because there were so fewe tylmen, the erde (earth) lay untitled': Capgrave's Chron. sub. A.D. 1349." [3]

"Tilmon was the name of one of the English priests who accompanied the ill- fated Hewalds in their mission to the Continental Saxons A.D. 690." [4]

Early Origins of the Tilghman family

The surname Tilghman was first found in Gloucestershire where Alexander Tileman was listed in the Pipe Rolls of 1204. A few years later, Alan Tileman was recorded in Assize Rolls for Cambridgeshire in 1260. Early in the 14th century, Adam Titleman was found in the Subsidy Rolls for Yorkshire in 1301. [2]

We found only one record of the family in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, that of Geoffrey Tileman in Huntingdonshire and in London, the Munimenta Gildhallæ Londoniensis recorded Walter Tileman. [1]

Early History of the Tilghman family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Tilghman research. Another 45 words (3 lines of text) covering the years 1666, 1684, 1708, 1724 and 1734 are included under the topic Early Tilghman History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Tilghman Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Tilghman has undergone many spelling variations, including Tillman, Tilman, Tilmanstone, Tilghman, Tileman and others.

Early Notables of the Tilghman family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Peter Tillemans (1684-1734), Belgium-born, English painter and draughtsman, born at Antwerp in 1684, was son of a diamond-cutter, but studied landscape-painting when young. He was brother-in-law to Peter Casteels, and in 1708 the two young men...
Another 43 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Tilghman Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Tilghman Ranking

In the United States, the name Tilghman is the 8,430^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. [5]

Tilghman migration to the United States +

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Tilghman were among those contributors:

Tilghman Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Richard Tilghman, who arrived in Maryland in 1657 [6]
Samuel Tilghman, who arrived in Maryland in 1657 [6]
Jane Tilghman, who arrived in Maryland in 1666 [6]
Jean Tilghman, who landed in Maryland in 1666 [6]
Elizabeth Tilghman, who landed in Maryland in 1667 [6]

Tilghman Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William Tilghman, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1801 [6]

Contemporary Notables of the name Tilghman (post 1700) +

General Lloyd Tilghman (1816-1863), American railroad construction engineer and a Confederate general in the American Civil War, killed at the Battle of Champion Hill
Lieutenant Colonel Tench Tilghman (1744-1786), American officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary war, aide de camp to General George Washington
Matthew Tilghman (1718-1790), American planter and Revolutionary leader who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776
George Hammond Tilghman (1896-1943), American teacher who served as the headmaster at the Morristown School, New Jersey
Shirley Marie Tilghman (b. 1946), American academic, President of Princeton University
William Matthew "Bill" Tilghman (1854-1924), American lawman and gunslinger in the Old West, known for his apprehension of Bill Doolin gang and as a Member of The Three Guardsmen of Oklahoma
Benjamin Chew Tilghman (1821-1901), American soldier and inventor of the process of sandblasting
William Tilghman (1756-1827), American lawyer, jurist and statesman from Maryland
Carl L. Tilghman, American politician, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, 1976-77 [7]
Barrie Parsons Tilghman, American Democratic Party politician, Mayor of Salisbury, Maryland, 1998-; Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Maryland, 2008 [7]
... (Another 16 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

The Tilghman Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Spes alit agricolam
Motto Translation: Hope nourishes the farmer.

Citations +

Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. 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 2015, October 22) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html