Hen History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Hen is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Hen family once lived in the parish of Heene, which is now part of Worthing in the county of Sussex. The surname Hen belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxon habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. The surname Hen may also be derived from the personal name Henry.

Early Origins of the Hen family

The surname Hen was first found in Sussex, where evidence suggests they held a family seat before the Norman Conquest in 1066.

Early History of the Hen family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hen research. Another 108 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1273, 1639, 1673, 1675 and 1708 are included under the topic Early Hen History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hen 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 Hen family name include Hen, Henn, Henne, Heene, Hene and others.

Early Notables of the Hen family

Distinguished members of the family include

Hugh Henn, page of the bedchamber to James I and Charles I, and later appointed Keeper of the Queen's Garden, Greenwich in 1639

Migration of the Hen family to Ireland

Some of the Hen family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 33 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hen 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 Hen surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Hen Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Johan Nickel Hen, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1744 1
Leonhart Hen, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1749 1
Barbara, John and Nicholas Hen to Charles Town [Charleston], South Carolina in 1764
Philip Hen, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1765 1
Simon Hen, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1765 1
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Hen Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Paul Carl Hen to Philadelphia in 1803 with his wife, William Henne, who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1835

Citations +

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)