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Hooker History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Suggested Reading Citations

Hooker History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The Hooker name was coined by the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. Hooker was originally a name given to someone who worked as a person who made hooks or an agricultural worker who used hooks. The name Hooker was also applied to someone who lived near a bend or hill-spur. The surname Hooker is derived from the Old English word hoc, which means hook.

Early Origins of the Hooker family

The surname Hooker was first found in Norfolk, where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Hooker family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hooker research. Another 97 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1199, 1554, 1558 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Hooker History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hooker Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Hooker, Hookers and others.

Early Notables of the Hooker family

Notables of the family at this time include

Osbert Hooker of Norfolk

Hooker Ranking

In the United States, the name Hooker is the 1,670^th most popular surname with an estimated 17,409 people with that name. 1 However, in New Zealand, the name Hooker is ranked the 932^nd most popular surname with an estimated 800 people with that name. 2

Hooker migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Hooker Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Hooker, who settled in Virginia in 1623
Thomas Hooker, (1586-1647), prominent English colonial leader, who arrived in Boston, Massachusetts in 1633 aboard the ship "Griffin", he founded the Connecticut colony. 3
Mrs. Susannah Hooker, (nee Garbrand), who arrived in Boston aboard the ship "Griffin" in 1633, with husband Rev. Thomas 4
John Hooker, who arrived in Boston aboard the ship "Griffin" in 1633, with father Rev. Thomas 4
Joanna Hooker, who arrived in Boston aboard the ship "Griffin" in 1633, with father Rev. Thomas 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Hooker Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

George Wilhelm Hooker, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1753 3
Thomas Hooker, who settled in Maryland in 1774
Henry Hooker, who arrived in New York in 1785 3

Hooker Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Frederick Hooker, who arrived in Mississippi in 1836 3

Hooker migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Hooker Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Miss Sarah Hooker who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Burrell" on 31st December 1831, arriving in New South Wales 5
Mr. George Hooker who was convicted in Kent, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "England"on 31st March 1832, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 6
James Hooker, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Royal Admiral" in 1838 7
Rosa Hooker, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Royal Admiral" in 1838 7
Oliver Hooker, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Waterloo" in 1840 8
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Hooker migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Hooker Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

C Hooker, who landed in Auckland, New Zealand in 1840
Mrs Hooker, who landed in Auckland, New Zealand in 1841
Mr. John Hooker, (b. 1805), aged 35, Cornish blacksmith born in St. Just travelling from Plymouth aboard the ship "Timandra" arriving in New Plymouth, Taranaki, North Island, New Zealand on 24th February 1842 9
Mrs. Jane Hooker, (b. 1802), aged 38, Cornish settler born in St. Just travelling from Plymouth aboard the ship "Timandra" arriving in New Plymouth, Taranaki, North Island, New Zealand on 24th February 1842 9
Mr. Nathaniel Hooker, (b. 1830), aged 11, Cornish settler born in St. Just travelling from Plymouth aboard the ship "Timandra" arriving in New Plymouth, Taranaki, North Island, New Zealand on 24th February 1842 9
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Hooker migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 10

Hooker Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

John Hooker and his son settled in Barbados in 1678

Contemporary Notables of the name Hooker (post 1700) +

William Hooker (b. 1946), American jazz drummer and composer
John Lee Hooker (1917-2001), American Grammy Award winning blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist
Joseph Hooker (1817-1879), American Civil War Major General in the Union Army during the American Civil War
John Jay Hooker Jr. (1930-2016), American attorney, entrepreneur, political gadfly and Democratic nominee for Governor of Tennessee in 1970 and 1998
Edward Williams Hooker (1865-1915), American Republican politician, Member of Connecticut State House of Representatives from Hartford, 1907-08; Mayor of Hartford, Connecticut, 1908-10
Edward Hooker, American politician, Member of Connecticut State House of Representatives from Farmington, 1835, 1837-38
DeWitt Hooker, American politician, Representative from New York 27th District, 1892
David G. Hooker (1830-1888), American Democratic Party politician, Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1873
Cortez Perry Hooker (1814-1886), American politician, Member of Michigan State Senate 30th District, 1855
Charles Edward Hooker (1825-1914), American Democratic Party politician, Member of Mississippi State House of Representatives, 1859; Mississippi State Attorney General, 1865
... (Another 38 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Hooker family +

HMS Dorsetshire

George Frederick Crawford Hooker (d. 1945), British Lieutenant Engineer aboard the HMS Dorsetshire when she was struck by air bombers and sunk; he died in the sinking 11

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"Most Common Last Names in New Zealand." Forebears, https://forebears.io/new-zealand/surnames
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)
Pilgrim Ship's of 1600's Retrieved January 6th 2023, retrieved from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 5th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/burrell
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 26th April 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/england
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) ROYAL ADMIRAL 1838. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1838RoyalAdmiral.htm
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) WATERLOO 1840. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1840Waterloo.htm
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Force Z Survivors HMS Dorsetshire Crew List, (Retrieved 2018, February 13th), https://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listdorsetshirecrew.html