Hankey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The origins of the name Hankey are from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It is derived from Haneca, an Old English personal name. Patronymic surnames arose out of the vernacular and religious given name traditions. The vernacular or regional naming tradition is the oldest and most pervasive type of patronymic surname. According to this custom, names were originally composed of vocabulary elements from the local language. Vernacular names that were derived from ancient Germanic personal names have cognates in most European languages. For example, the court of Charlemagne (742-814) was Christian and Latin-speaking, but the Frankish dialect of Old German was commonly used for personal names. Vernacular names were widespread throughout Normandy. Accordingly, many typical English and French names are in fact, originally of Germanic origin and often have cognates in other European countries.

Alternatively, the name could have been "a modification of Hankin, the nickname or diminutive of Randolph, prevalent in some of the oldest families of Cheshire. The existing families of this surname derive from that county, and the name was borne there in the rank of gentry in the XV. century." 1 Another source agrees: "variant of Hankin. All the same a spot must be looked for in Cheshire, styled Hankey, which may have given birth to a local surname." 2

Early Origins of the Hankey family

The surname Hankey was first found in Cheshire in the village of Churton where it was found "in the beginning of the 16th century." 3 "The Hankeys were seated here for many generations." 4

Early records in Cheshire revealed: Jonn Hanky, of Churton in 1533, according to Earwaker's East Cheshire; and the Wills of Chester listed Hugh Hankey, of Churton in 1562 and Robert Hankey, of Darnell in 1610. 2

Early History of the Hankey family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hankey research. Another 104 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1761 and 1770 are included under the topic Early Hankey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hankey 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 Hankey family name include Hankey, Hankie, Hanky and others.

Early Notables of the Hankey family

Notables of the family at this time include

Sir Henry Hankey of London

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

Hankey Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

John Hankey, who settled in Carolina in 1724
John Hankey, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1765 5

Hankey Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Arthur B. Hankey, aged 37, who arrived in New York in 1893 aboard the ship "Lucania" from Liverpool, England 6
A.B. Hankey, aged 27, who arrived in New York City in 1894 aboard the ship "Majestic (1890)" from Liverpool & Queenstown 6

Hankey Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Caroline Raynolds Hankey, who arrived in New York in 1906 aboard the ship "Baltic" from Liverpool, Queenstown 6
James Parsons Hankey, aged 48, who arrived in New York in 1908 aboard the ship "Caledonia" from Havre, France 6
Edward Bernard Hankey, aged 33, originally from London, England, who arrived in New York in 1908 aboard the ship "Adriatic" from Southampton, England 6
Ernest Robert Hankey, aged 38, originally from New Castle, England, who arrived in New York in 1919 aboard the ship "Carmania" from Liverpool, England 6
Elizabeth Hankey, aged 29, originally from New Castle, England, who arrived in New York in 1919 aboard the ship "Carmania" from Liverpool, England 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Hankey migration to Australia +

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

Hankey Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. James Hankey, English convict who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Atlas" on 16th January 1816, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7
Mr. Tobias Hankey, (b. 1815), aged 33, Cornish labourer from Gwennap, Cornwall, UK departing from Plymouth on 17th August 1848 aboard the ship "Aurora" arriving in Port Henry, Geelong, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 7th December 1848 8
Mrs. Elizabeth Hankey, (b. 1818), aged 30, Cornish house keeper from Gwennap, Cornwall, UK departing from Plymouth on 17th August 1848 aboard the ship "Aurora" arriving in Port Henry, Geelong, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 7th December 1848 8
Mr. James Hankey, (b. 1838), aged 10, Cornish settler from Gwennap, Cornwall, UK departing from Plymouth on 17th August 1848 aboard the ship "Aurora" arriving in Port Henry, Geelong, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 7th December 1848 8
Mr. Tobias Hankey, (b. 1840), aged 8, Cornish settler from Gwennap, Cornwall, UK departing from Plymouth on 17th August 1848 aboard the ship "Aurora" arriving in Port Henry, Geelong, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 7th December 1848 8
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Hankey (post 1700) +

Mark Hankey, American Black Reel Award nominated producer
Don Robert Hankey (b. 1943), American billionaire businessman, founder of the Hankey Group
Philip Z. Hankey, American Republican politician, Candidate for Connecticut State House of Representatives from New London, 1912 9
Frederick Alers Hankey (1833-1892), English banker and Conservative politician
Albert Edward Hankey (1914-1998), English footballer who played from 1935 to 1950
Reginald Hankey (1832-1886), English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1853 to 1860
Edward "Ted" Hankey (b. 1968), nicknamed "The Count", an English professional Darts player, two-time World Professional Darts Champion
Cyril Patrick Hankey (1951-1969), English prelate, Dean of Ely
Donald Robin Alers Hankey (b. 1938), 3rd Baron Hankey, English peer
Arabella Katherine Hankey (1834-1911), English missionary & nurse, best known for authoring the poem The Old, Old Story which were inspiration for the hymns "Tell me the old, old story" and "I Love to Tell the Story"
... (Another 7 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, 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)
Ellis Island Search retrieved 15th November 2022. Retrieved from https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger-result
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 14th July 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/atlas
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retreived 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_australia_victoria.pdf
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 9) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html