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Wheat History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Suggested Reading Citations

Wheat History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Wheat family

The surname Wheat was first found in Norfolk, where the name appeared in the mid-12th century. The Wheat name has several possible origins. The most obvious is that it is a metonymic occupational name and that the first bearer was a wheat farmer. Another possibility is that it was originally a nickname for someone who ate a lot of wheat or who bore some resemblance to wheat, perhaps in hair color. Still another possibility is that the name is completely unrelated to wheat, coming instead from the old English word hwoet, which meant active, bold or brave.

Early History of the Wheat family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wheat research. Another 69 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1157, 1180, 1249, 1327, 1484, 1563, 1633, 1667, 1690, 1693, 1695, 1708, 1717, 1721, 1722, 1727, 1746, 1846 and 1944 are included under the topic Early Wheat History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wheat Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Wheat, Wheate, Whate, Weate, Weet, Wete and others.

Early Notables of the Wheat family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

Sir Thomas Wheate, 1st Baronet (1667-1721), an English politician, Member of Parliament for Woodstock (1690-1695) and (1708-1721), Storekeeper of the Ordnance (1717-1721.) His son, Sir Thomas Wheate...
One of the two had the house remodelled with a Georgian elevation of seven bays. In 1746, Sir Thomas died without a male heir and the baronetcy passed to his brother Sir George Wheate, 3rd Baronet. Th...

Wheat Ranking

In the United States, the name Wheat is the 2,571^st most popular surname with an estimated 12,435 people with that name. 1

Wheat migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Wheat Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Joshua Wheat, aged 17, from Surrey, who arrived in New England aboard the ship "Elizabeth" in 1635, bound for Concord 2
Moses Wheat, who landed in New England in 1642 2
Moses Wheat, who arrived there seven years later, in 1642

Wheat Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Thomas Wheat, who landed in Mobile, Ala in 1787 2

Wheat migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Wheat Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Solo Wheat, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1760

Wheat migration to Australia +

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

Wheat Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. William Wheat, English convict who was convicted in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Camden" on 21st September 1832, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 3
Mr. William Wheat, English convict who was convicted in Stafford, Staffordshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Belgravia" on 4th April 1866, arriving in Western Australia 4

Wheat 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:

Wheat Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Thomas Wheat, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Gertrude" in 1863 5
Mr. Thomas Wheat, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Gertrude" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 9th February 1863 6

Contemporary Notables of the name Wheat (post 1700) +

Sheila D. Wheat, American singer of jazz, theater and gospel inspiration
Natasha Wheat (b. 1981), American artist
William Howard Wheat (1879-1944), U.S. Representative from Illinois
Roy Mitchell Wheat (1947-1967), United States Marine who posthumously received the Medal of Honor
Alfred Adams Wheat (1867-1943), United States federal judge
DeJuan Shontez Wheat (b. 1973), American professional basketball player
Leroy William Wheat (1929-2008), American professional right-handed pitcher
McKinley Davis Wheat (1893-1979), American Major League Baseball catcher
Ken Wheat (b. 1950), American screenwriter, producer and director
David "Buck" Wheat (1922-1985), American folk and jazz musician, songwriter and recording artist
... (Another 4 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 2nd December 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/camden
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 30th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/belgravia
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 12th December 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html