Show ContentsTillotson History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Tillotson family

The surname Tillotson was first found in Cheshire at Tilston, a village and a civil parish that was anciently the site of the Roman town Bovium, which was on the Roman road between Chester and Wroxeter. By the time of the Conquest, the village was known as Tilleston which was the spelling used in the Domesday Book of 1086. At that time, the lands were held by Eynion de Tilston, and was granted to him by Hugh Lupus, the nephew of King William I. [1]

It is presumed that the village was so named having derived from an Old English personal name + "stan" as in the "stone of a man called Tilli or Tilla." [2]

Early History of the Tillotson family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Tillotson research. Another 105 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1576, 1630, 1634, 1635, 1639, 1655, 1659, 1672, 1676, 1691, 1694, 1695, 1704 and 1738 are included under the topic Early Tillotson History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Tillotson Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Tilston, Tillston, Tillstone, Tilson, Tillson, Tillstone, Tillotson, Dilson, Dillson, Dilsen and many more.

Early Notables of the Tillotson family

Distinguished members of the family include

  • John Tillotson (1630-1694), from Sowerby, Yorkshire, an English clergyman, Dean of Canterbury in 1672, Archbishop of Canterbury (1691-1694.) After his death, his widow received 2500 guineas for his ma...

Tillotson Ranking

In the United States, the name Tillotson is the 7,237th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. [3]

Ireland Migration of the Tillotson family to Ireland

Some of the Tillotson family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 50 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Tillotson migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Tillotson Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • John Tillotson, who landed in Rowley, Massachusetts in 1648 [4]
Tillotson Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • John Tillotson who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1853

Contemporary Notables of the name Tillotson (post 1700) +

  • Robert Livingston Tillotson (1786-1878), American lawyer and politician, Secretary of State of New York (1816-1817)
  • Peter S. Tillotson (b. 1936), American basketball player
  • Neil Tillotson (1898-2001), American inventor of the modern latex balloon and latex gloves
  • Thaddeus "Thad" Asa Tillotson (1940-2012), American Major League Baseball relief pitcher
  • Thomas Tillotson (1750-1832), American politician, Secretary of State of New York (1801-1806) and (1807-1808)
  • Mary Tillotson, American broadcast journalist
  • Johnny Tillotson (b. 1939), American singer and songwriter
  • Ira Tillotson, American politician, Member of New York State Assembly from Tompkins County, 1833 [5]
  • George I. Tillotson, American politician, Member of Michigan Prohibition Party State Central Committee, 1887 [5]
  • David F. Tillotson, American Republican politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from Wisconsin 4th District, 1962 [5]
  • ... (Another 13 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)


  1. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  2. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  3. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  4. 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)
  5. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 19) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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