Show ContentsHughstum History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Hebrides islands and the west coast of Scotland are the ancestral home of the Hughstum family. Their name comes from the medieval Scottish given name Hugh. Hughstum is a patronymic surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. In general, patronyms were derived from either the first name of the father of the bearer, or from the names of famous religious and secular figures. By and large, surnames descending from one's father's name were the most common. The surname also came from the place called Houston, near Glasgow. In Old English, the name Houston, meant the settlement belonging to Hugh. 1

Early Origins of the Hughstum family

The surname Hughstum was first found in Renfrewshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Rinn Friù), a historic county of Scotland, today encompassing the Council Areas of Renfrew, East Renfrewshire, and Iverclyde, in the Strathclyde region of southwestern Scotland, where they were descended from a Scottish knight, Hugh de Paduinan, who in 1165 founded the town of Houston in that shire.

"The ancient family of Houston originally bore the name of Paduinan, from a place of that name in Lanarkshire. In the reign of Malcolm IV Baldwin de Bigre gave the lands of Kilpeter to Hugh de Paduinan, who appears as a witness to the foundation charter of the Abbey of Paisley between 1165-1173." 2

Early History of the Hughstum family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hughstum research. Another 323 words (23 lines of text) covering the years 1296, 1341, 1406, 1415, 1435, 1460, 1525, 1527, 1550, 1601, 1605, 1650, 1662, 1688, 1696, 1730 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Hughstum History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hughstum Spelling Variations

Medieval translation of Gaelic names could not be referred to as an accurate process. Spelling was not yet standardized, and names in documents from that era are riddled with spelling variations. Hughstum has been written as Houston, Houstown, Huston, Hueston, Hughston, Hughstone, Houstone, Houstowne, Houstoun, Huestoun, Huestown, Huestowne, Hughstoun, Hughstown, Hughstowne, MacHouston, MacHuston, MacCuiston, McCuiston and many more.

Early Notables of the Hughstum family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Sir Ludovick (or Louis) Houstoun of that Ilk (d.1662); Sir Patrick Houstoun of that Ilk, 1st Baronet, (d.1696); Sir John Houstoun of that Ilk, 2nd...
Another 33 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hughstum Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ireland Migration of the Hughstum family to Ireland

Some of the Hughstum family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 101 words (7 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Hughstum family

Ancestors of many of the Dalriadan families who crossed the Atlantic still live along the east coast of the United States and Canada. Some Scottish settlers arrived in Canada during the American War of Independence as United Empire Loyalists, while others stayed south to fight for a new nation. The descendants of Scottish settlers in both countries began to rediscover their heritage in the 19th and 20th centuries through Clan societies and highland games. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families has revealed a number of immigrants bearing the name Hughstum or a variant listed above: Alexander Houston settled in Grenada in 1776; James MacHouston settled in Georgia in 1734; Joseph McCuiston settled in Maryland in 1724; Thomas MacHuston settled in Virginia in 1655.



  1. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  2. 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)


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