Hartsfield History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The Irish name Hartsfield was originally written in a Gaelic form as O'h-Airt, which connotes a descendant of Art. 1

Specifically, the family claim descent through "Art Eanfhear, who is number 81 on the 'Line of Heremon," and son of the Monarch Conn of the Hundred Battles." He was at times called "The Solitary," as he was the only one of his father's sons that survived; his two brothers Conla Ruadh and Crionna, having been slain by their uncles. His grief was so strong that in some writings, he was referred to as "Art, the Melancholy." 2

The name literally means "a bear, a stone; noble, great, generous; hardness." 3

Early Origins of the Hartsfield family

The surname Hartsfield was first found in County Meath (Irish: An Mhí) anciently part of the kingdom of Brega, located in Eastern Ireland, in the province of Leinster, where they were of the southern Ui Neill. Before the Anglo-Norman invasion of the 12th century, their chiefs were known as the lords of Teffia.

Early History of the Hartsfield family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hartsfield research. Another 117 words (8 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hartsfield History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hartsfield Spelling Variations

Within the archives researched, many different spelling variations of the surname Hartsfield were found. These included One reason for the many variations is that scribes and church officials often spelled an individual's name as it sounded. This imprecise method often led to many versions. Hart, O'Hart, Harte, MacArt, McArt, MacCart, McCart and many more.

Early Notables of the Hartsfield family

Another 36 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hartsfield Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hartsfield Ranking

In the United States, the name Hartsfield is the 6,598^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 4

Migration of the Hartsfield family

To escape the religious and political discrimination they experienced primarily at the hands of the English, thousands of Irish left their homeland in the 19th century. These migrants typically settled in communities throughout the East Coast of North America, but also joined the wagon trains moving out to the Midwest. Ironically, when the American War of Independence began, many Irish settlers took the side of England, and at the war's conclusion moved north to Canada. These United Empire Loyalists, were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Other Irish immigrants settled in Newfoundland, the Ottawa Valley, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, however, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America and Australia. Many of those numbers, however, did not live through the long sea passage. These Irish settlers to North America were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. Irish settlers made an inestimable contribution to the building of the New World. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the Irish name Hartsfield or a variant listed above, including: Daniel Hart who settled in Virginia in 1640; along with Elizabeth Hart in 1654; Henry Hart in 1637; James Hart in 1653; John Hart in 1635; Mary Hart in 1635.

Contemporary Notables of the name Hartsfield (post 1700) +

Phill Hartsfield (1932-2010), American sword and knifemaker based in Garden Grove, California
Roy Thomas Hartsfield (1925-2011), American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager
William Berry Hartsfield Sr., (1890-1971), American politician, 49th and 51st Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, the longest-serving mayor of Altanta
Henry Warren "Hank" Hartsfield Jr. (1933-2014), United States Air Force officer and a USAF and NASA astronaut with 483 hours in space 5

The Hartsfield 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: Fortis et fideliter
Motto Translation: Brave and faithful.

Citations +

MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
O'Hart, John, Irish Pedigrees 5th Edition in 2 Volumes. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1976. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0737-4)
MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families Their Names, Arms and Origins 4th Edition. Dublin: Irish Academic, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2364-7)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
NASA Astronauts Homepage. (Retrieved 2010, September 27) Henry Hartsfield. Retrieved from http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/hartsfield-hw.html