Hamilton


Select Hamilton Surname Genealogy

The Hamiltons were Scots who rose to be a leading family in Scotland in the 17th century.  Their forebear was Walter de Hameldone who owned property near Paisley in Renfrewshire in 1294.  He was Anglo-Norman by origin.  These Hamiltons had taken their name from the now deserted village of Hamilton in Leicestershire through which they had passed on the way to Scotland.  The name Hamilton comes from the Old English hamel meaning "crooked" and dun "hill." 

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Scotland.  The Hamiltons were viewed as the most important of the Lowland Scottish families, aspiring at one time even to the Scottish throne.  Their chief is still considered the premier Duke of Scotland.  Hamilton Palace in Hamilton, Lanarkshire has been the family seat from 1695.  There are several branches of the family, the most notable being the Hamiltons of Abercorn (once of Cadzow), Dalzell, and Innerwick.  Some lines descend from illegitimate sons.

Many Hamiltons in Scotland may in fact have derived their name from the town rather than from the family. The surname is the 29th most common in Scotland today. 

Ireland.  The Hamiltons brought their name to Ireland, taking lands and titles there in the 17th and 18th centuries.  Hamilton may also have displaced Hamill in a few cases and been used as an anglicization of the Cork name O'hUrmholtaigh.

America.  Alexander Hamilton, the first US Secretary of the Treasury who famously died in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804, was in fact born out of wedlock in the British West Indies.  His father James Hamilton was the fourth son of a Scottish laird in Ayrshire.  Alexander's grandson, also called Alexander, was a general in the Civil War.

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James, Duke of Hamilton, was Charles I's supporter in Scotland during the Civil War.  Like his King he was tried and executed in 1649.
Alexander Hamilton was an early 18th century Scottish privateer who wrote an account of his experiences in 1727, A New Account of the East Indies.
Alexander Hamilton was the first US Secretary of the Treasury in 1789.
George Hamilton was an early 19th century Canadian merchant and politician who founded the city of Hamilton in Ontario.
Willie Hamilton was the Scots anti-monarchy MP for Fife in the 1950's and 1960's.
Lewis Hamilton is the British challenger for the F1 motor racing championship (he won it in 2008).

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  • 38,000 in the UK (most numerous in Belfast)
  • 61,000 in America (most numerous in Texas)
  • 43,000 elsewhere (most numerous in Australia)

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For other surnames check the companion selectsurname.com site where there are to be found the history and genealogy for more than 500 surnames.

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