Contents [hide]

Harve History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Harve History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France
Ireland

Harve is an ancient name whose history on English soil dates back to the wave of emigration that followed the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. The name comes from the Breton personal name Aeruiu or Haerviu. It is composed of the elements haer, which means battle or carnage, and vy, which means worthy. The name was commonly introduced to England in its Gallic form Hervé.1

"This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Harvey.' This great personal name had not become so rare in the 12th and 13th centuries that it could escape surnominal honours. On the contrary, it is still found as a fairly familiar personal name up to the beginning of the 14th century. " 2

Hervey or Hervaeus (d. 1131), was "bishop successively of Bangor and Ely, of Breton race, was a royal clerk, high in favour with William Rufus and confessor to Henry I. " 3

Early Origins of the Harve family

The surname Harve was first found in the Domesday Book of 1086 where the Latin form of the name, Herveus, was first used. Herueu de berruarius was also listed in Suffolk at that time. 4

Herueide Caster was recorded in Lincolnshire 1157-1163. Later in Suffolk, Willelmus filius Hervici was listed in the Feet of Fines of 1242 and William Hervi, Herevi was listed in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1196. William Hervy was found in the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1232 and later, Richard Herfu was found in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1327. 1

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 listed early spellings of the name as both a personal name and a surname: Harvey Dunnyng and Warin Hervi in Cambridgeshire; Robert filius Hervei in Lincolnshire; and Herveus le Gos, in Lincolnshire. 2

"As a family designation it appears in England in the XII. cent. Osbert de Hervey is styled, in the register of St. Edmundsbury, the son of Hervey. From him according to the Peerage sprang the Herveys, ennobled in England and Ireland, and also (in all probability, from the resemblance of their arms) the De Hervi's and Hervies of Aberdeenshire and other parts of Scotland." 5

Distribution of the surname throughout Britain is most interesting. "Well distributed over England south of a line drawn from Hull to Chester. North of that line its frequency abruptly ceases. It is best represented in Essex, Hants, and Kent, and then in Corwall, Devon, Staffordshire, Notts, Norfolk, and Suffolk. Its preference for the coast counties, especially those in the south - east of England from Kent to Norfolk, is to be remarked." 6

Early History of the Harve family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Harve research. Another 155 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1200, 1540, 1578, 1586, 1601, 1611, 1616, 1624, 1629, 1642, 1657, 1660, 1661, 1673, 1679, 1680 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Harve History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Harve Spelling Variations

Endless spelling variations are a prevailing characteristic of Norman surnames. Old and Middle English lacked any definite spelling rules, and the introduction of Norman French added an unfamiliar ingredient to the English linguistic stew. French and Latin, the languages of the court, also influenced spellings. Finally, Medieval scribes generally spelled words according to how they sounded, so one person was often referred to by different spellings in different documents. The name has been spelled Harvey, Hervey, Hervie, Harvie and others.

Early Notables of the Harve family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

William Harvey (1578-1657), an English physician, first to describe in detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the body by the heart
Edmund Harvey or Hervey (c.1601-1673), an English soldier and member of Parliament during the English Civil War, who sat as a commissioner at the Trial of King Charles I and helped to draw up the fina...

Migration of the Harve family to Ireland

Some of the Harve family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 107 words (8 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Harve migration to the United States +

To escape the political and religious persecution within England at the time, many English families left for the various British colonies abroad. The voyage was extremely difficult, though, and the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving. But for those who made it, the trip was most often worth it. Many of the families who arrived went on to make valuable contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families reveals a number of immigrants bearing the name Harve or a variant listed above:

Harve Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Margtt Harve, who arrived in Virginia in 1703 7

Harve Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Sarin Harve, aged 33, who arrived in Mobile, Ala in 1832 7
Catharine Harve, aged 7, who arrived in Mobile, Ala in 1832 7
Elizabeth Harve, aged 4, who landed in Mobile, Ala in 1832 7
Frances Harve, aged 28, who arrived in Mobile, Ala in 1832 7
Lica Harve, who landed in Mobile, Ala in 1832 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Harve Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Carl Harve, who landed in Wisconsin in 1927 7

Harve migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Harve Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Adolphe Harvé worked in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec in 1861

Contemporary Notables of the name Harve (post 1700) +

Rolland Harve Golden (1931-2019), American visual artist known mainly for his realism
Brigadier-General James Harve Johnson (1887-1964), American Commanding Officer Army Service Forces Training Center, Camp Lee, Virginia (1944-1946) 8
Harve E. Vaux, American politician, Mayor of Mt. Vernon, Washington, 1953 9
Harve Bendure, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Kansas, 1960
Harve Hagerman, American Republican politician, Candidate for West Virginia State House of Delegates from McDowell County, 1934 10
Harve G. Matherly, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Oklahoma, 1944 11

Citations +

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
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. 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)
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2012, March 30) James Johnson. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Johnson/James_Harve/USA.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 25) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 16) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 19) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html