Hopken History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The history of the Hopken name began with the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from the name Hobb, a pet form of the personal name Robert. This name was supplemented by the common diminutive suffix -kin. Thus, the original form of the surname Hopken was Hobbe-kin. 1

Early Origins of the Hopken family

The surname Hopken was first found in Oxfordshire at Swalcliffe where a family of this name has resided since the 13th century and had nineteen proprietors who had the personal name of John. 1

However, the earliest record of the name was found in the Latin form of Hobekinus in the Curia Regis Rolls of Staffordshire in 1224. William Hobkyn and Richard Hobkyn were both listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327, while the Subsidy Rolls of Staffordshire of the same year list William Hopkyn and John Hopkynes. 2

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list Nicholas Hobekyn and Roger Hobekyn in Cambridgeshire and later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Agnes Hobkyn-wyf. 3

Early History of the Hopken family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hopken research. Another 72 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1544, 1563, 1570, 1581, 1594, 1600, 1612, 1620, 1623, 1624, 1626, 1627, 1644, 1647, 1657, 1660, 1664, 1666, 1670, 1674, 1681, 1682, 1690, 1700 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Hopken History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hopken 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 Hopken family name include Hopkins, Habbagan, Hopkin, Hopkines, Hopkyns and many more.

Early Notables of the Hopken family

Notables of this surname at this time include: John Hopkins (d. 1570), part-translator, with Thomas Sternhold and others, of the famous metrical version of the Psalms, was admitted B.A. at Oxford in 1544. 4Richard Hopkins (d. 1594?), was a Catholic exile, born of 'genteel parents,' and at about seventeen years of age became a commoner of St. Alban's Hall, Oxford, where he was residing in 1563. 4Edward Hopkins (1600-1657), was an English colonist, politician, and Governor of the Connecticut Colony, founder of the New Haven and Connecticut colonies, politically active in the administration of Oliver Cromwell.William Hopkins, was a British sheriff...
Another 154 words (11 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hopken Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Hopken family to Ireland

Some of the Hopken family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 182 words (13 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hopken migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, 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 Hopken surname or a spelling variation of the name include :

Hopken Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Martin Hopken, who landed in North America in 1832-1849 5

The Hopken 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: Inter primos
Motto Translation: Among the first

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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)