Hill History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Hill

What does the name Hill mean?

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