Show ContentsOdis History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Odis is one of the thousands of new names that the Norman Conquest brought to England in 1066. It is a name for a on a heath, or perhaps in Hoath, in Kent. [1] The place-name and the surname are derived from the Old English word hoth (with a long o), which means heath. The surname means "dweller at the heath," while the place-name means "place at the heath." Hoath was recorded as La Hathe at some point in the 13th century. [2]

Early Origins of the Odis family

The surname Odis was first found in Sussex. "A hoad in the South means a heathy or rough ground. In Sussex many names of places which comprise the syllable hoth or heath have had it corrupted by the peasantry to hoad, and thus Hothly and Roeheath become Hoadly and Roehoad. " [3]

Early feudal rolls provided the king of the time a method of cataloguing holdings for taxation, but today they provide a glimpse into the wide surname spellings in use at that time: John del Hoth was listed in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1275 in Norfolk; and Simon atte Hothe was found in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1296 and also in the Assize Rolls for Kent in 1317. [2]

Early History of the Odis family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Odis research. Another 70 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1300, 1643, 1655, 1659, 1662, 1676, 1705, 1706, 1757 and 1761 are included under the topic Early Odis History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Odis Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Hoad, Hoath, O'Hode, Oade, Oades, Oadt, Odo and others.

Early Notables of the Odis family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Samuel Hoadly (1643-1705), schoolmaster and writer of educational books, was born 30 Sept. 1643 at Guildford, New England, whither his parents had fled at the outbreak of the great rebellion. In 1655 his parents returned to Great Britain and settled in Edinburgh, where Samuel was educated, matriculating in...
Another 55 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Odis Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ireland Migration of the Odis family to Ireland

Some of the Odis family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 39 words (3 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 Odis family

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Odis name or one of its variants: John Hoadley who settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1632; Nicholas Hoad, who settled in New England in 1680; as well as Martin Oadt, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1738..


Contemporary Notables of the name Odis (post 1700) +

  • Odis Echols Jr., American Democratic Party politician, Member of New Mexico State Senate 14th District, 1967-72 [4]
  • Odis H. Richmond Sr., American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Arkansas, 1972 [5]


The Odis Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Veritas et patria
Motto Translation: Truth and faith.


  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. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  4. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 28) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
  5. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 21) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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