Hill History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Hill is one of the many new names that came to England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Hill family lived near or on a hill. Hill, which was extremely popular and widely distributed in England, is a classic example of an English polygenetic surname, which is a surname that was developed in a number of different locations and adopted by various families independently. The name was originally derived from the Old English hyll, which simply meant hill or dweller by the hill. [1]

Early Origins of the Hill family

The surname Hill was first found in Worcestershire, where one line is descended from the De Montes of Castlemorton in Worcestershire. The manor of Hillend in Castlemorton, Worcester was likely built on land held by Odo de Monte, or Hill, in 1238-9. Richard Hill of Castlemorton is mentioned in 1383 and John Hill of Castlemorton in 1408-9. John Hill died about 1623 holding a “messuage” at Hillend, which then passed to his son Thomas. [2]

Other early records of the name include Gilbert del Hill, who was listed in the Pipe Rolls for Norfolk in 1191; William “attehil” (literally at the hill,) who was listed in 1260 in the Assize Rolls of Cornwall, and Simon Hille who was listed in the Rotuli Hundredorum for Worcestershire of 1273. [1]

Again in Cornwall, “the rectory of St. Keverne, which had been appropriated to the priory of Beaulieu in Hampshire, was afterward for many years in the family of Hill. About the middle of the last century, the great tithes were sold by this family to the occupiers of the several estates, for a term of 999 years.” [3]

Scotland was another ancient homeland for the family. In this case, the first record was William de la Hyll, son of Waldeve son of Aldewyn, who resigned lands in Mydilham in 1271. William o’ the Hill rendered homage to King Edward I of England in 1296 and in 1321 William de le Hille was received to the king of England’s peace.” It was Richard de Hulle (Hill), ‘a varlette of Scotland,’ who ‘stikked and killed’ Catarine Mortimer, ‘a damoisel of London,’ one of the inmates of the harem of David II in 1360.” [4]

Early History of the Hill family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hill research.

Hill Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person’s name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Hill, Hille, Hyll, Hills and others.

Early Notables of the Hill family (pre 1700)

Distinguished members of the family include John Hill (1589-1657), an English merchant and politician, Member of Parliament for Dorchester (1628-1629); Roger Hill (1605-1667), of Poundsford, Somerset, an English judge and Member of Parliament; Michael Hill (1672-1699), an English politician, Member of Parliament for Saltash (1692-1695), appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland in 1694; James Hill (died 1734), an English master mason in Cheltenham… 
Another 64 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hill Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hill World Ranking

In the United States, the name Hill is the 33^rd most popular surname with an estimated 465,069 people with that name. [5] However, in Canada, the name Hill is ranked the 73^rd most popular surname with an estimated 32,716 people with that name. [6] And in Newfoundland, Canada, the name Hill is the 441^st popular surname with an estimated 106 people with that name. [7] France ranks Hill as 6,613^rd with 1,000 – 1,500 people. [8] Australia ranks Hill as 31^stwith 48,017 people. [9] New Zealand ranks Hill as 41^st with 5,499 people. [10] The United Kingdom ranks Hill as 30^th with 105,702 people. [11] South Africa ranks Hill as 861^st with 8,118 people. [12]

 Migration of the Hill family to Ireland

Some of the Hill family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.

 Hill migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Hill or a variant listed above were: 

Hill Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

• Mr. Francis Hill, aged 22, who arrived in Virginia in 1619 aboard the ship “Bona Nova” [13]
• Mr. John Hill, aged 26, who arrived in Virginia in 1619 aboard the ship “Bona Nova” [13]
• Mr. Marmaduke Hill, aged 11, who arrived in Virginia in 1619 aboard the ship “Mary Gold” [13]
• Mrs. Jane Hill, aged 14, who arrived in Virginia in 1619 aboard the ship “Mary Gold” [13]
• Edward Hill, who settled in Virginia in 1623