Horta History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

The Anglo-Saxon name Horta comes from when the family resided in one of the many places called Horton; settlements of this name are particularly common in Yorkshire. The surname Horta belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxon habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.

There are two possible origins of the name: "dirty or muddy farmstead," from the Old English "horu" + "tun" and "hill frequented by harts or stags," from the Old English "heorot" + "dun." 1

Early Origins of the Horta family

The surname Horta was first found in the West Riding of Yorkshire at Thornton, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Bradford, wapentake of Morley. "Thornton Hall, the property of the Horton family, an ancient quadrangular structure of great size, and formerly of considerable importance, is now occupied as farm-buildings and cottages." 2

Over in Horton, in Northumberland another branch of the family was found. "Possessions were anciently held here by the knightly family of Horton," 2 and at Horton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, more early records of the family were found. "In the reign of Henry II., the manor was granted by Robert de Lacy to the ancestor of the Hortons." 2

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had the following entries for the family: Thomas de Horton in Devon; William de Horton in Kent; and Adam de Horton in Cambridgeshire. The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed: Emma de Horton; and Dionisia de Horton. 3

Some of the family were found in Scotland in early times: "Pieres de Hortone of Edinburghshire who rendered homage in 1296 derived his name from one of the many places named Horton in England, perhaps from one of the three places of the name in Yorkshire." 4

Early History of the Horta family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Horta research. Another 235 words (17 lines of text) covering the years 1210, 1296, 1603, 1649, 1660, 1673, 1696, 1714, 1756, 1764, 1784, 1806, 1821, 1823 and 1841 are included under the topic Early Horta History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Horta Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Horta has been recorded under many different variations, including Horton, Horten and others.

Early Notables of the Horta family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Thomas Horton D.D. (died 1673), an English clergyman, Professor of Divinity at Gresham College in London, and President of Queens' College, Cambridge. 5Major Thomas Horton (1603-1649) was an English soldier in the parliamentary army during the English Civil War from Gumley, Leicestershire. Horton was granted the confiscated lands of a deposed Royalist and was Commissioner of...
Another 63 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Horta Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Horta Ranking

In the United States, the name Horta is the 9,683^rd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 6

Horta migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Horta or a variant listed above:

Horta Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Antonio Horta, aged 26, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1827 7

Contemporary Notables of the name Horta (post 1700) +

Silvio Horta (b. 1974), American writer and producer
Alberto Jorge Jerez Horta (1927-2023), Chilean lawyer and politician, he served in the Chamber of Deputies from 1961 to 1969 and the Senate from 1969 to 1973
João José Gago Horta (1943-2022), Portuguese politician, member of the Social Democratic Party, he served in the Assembly of the Republic from 2002 to 2005
Adolfo Horta (b. 1957), Cuban retired boxer
Victor Horta (1861-1947), Baron Horta, a Belgian architect and designer

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, 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)
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
"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)