Show ContentsHairs History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Hairs Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Etymology of Hairs

What does the name Hairs mean?

The surname Hairs was most likely originally a nickname for someone hare-like, perhaps a fast runner. It comes from the Old English word "hara," meaning "a hare" 1 or could be "a nickname for speed or timidity" or from "dweller on the stony-ground," from the Old English word hær.2

Early Origins of the Hairs family

The surname Hairs was first found in Surrey, where Walter le Hare was on record in 1166, and again in 1171 in the Pipe Rolls for that County. 2

Later some of the family branched to Stow-Bardolph in Norfolk where "the lands are the property of Sir Thomas Hare, Bart., whose seat, Stow Hall, is a handsome mansion finely situated. The church is chiefly in the later English style, with a square embattled tower; on the north side of the chancel is the mausoleum of the Hare family, in which are many splendid monuments." 3

John le Hare was listed in the Pipe Rolls for Norfolk in 1197 and Ralph del Hare was found in the Subsidy Rolls for Bedfordshire in 1309. 2

Other early records include: Hugh le Hare, who was listed in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 for Oxfordshire. 1

Early History of the Hairs family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hairs research. Another 90 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1197, 1309, 1484, 1539, 1540, 1557, 1601, 1602, 1606, 1611, 1636, 1667, 1668, 1671, 1707, 1708 and 1740 are included under the topic Early Hairs History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hairs 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 Hairs family name include Hare, Hares, Hair and others.

Early Notables of the Hairs family

Sir Nicholas Hare of Bruisyard, Suffolk (c.1484-1557), Speaker of the House of Commons of England between 1539 and 1540; Hugh Hare, 1st Baron Coleraine (1606-1667), an English courtier; and Henry Hare, 2nd Baron Coleraine (1636-1708), an English politician and antiquary from Totteridge, Hertfordshire. Francis Hare (1671-1740), was Bishop of Chichester, born on 1 Nov. 1671 and was son of Richard Hare, the descendant of a family which had...
Another 68 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hairs Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Hairs family to Ireland

Some of the Hairs family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 38 words (3 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

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

Hairs Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Jacob Hairs, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1748 4

Hairs migration to Australia +

Hairs Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Mr. John Hairs, English convict who was convicted in Salford, Manchester, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "Barossa" on 27th August 1841, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5
  • Ann Hairs, aged 33, a dairy maid, who arrived in South Australia in 1849 aboard the ship "Himalaya" 6
  • Mr. James Hairs, (b. 1865), aged 23, Cornish settler travelling aboard the ship "Taroba" arriving in Queensland, Australia on 17th August 1888 7
  1. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  2. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  3. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  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. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 24th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/barossa
  6. State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) The HIMALAYA 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849Himalaya.htm
  7. Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retreived 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_australia_queensland.pdf

Houseofnames.com on Facebook