HAMPSHIRE
The surname Hampshire is a locational name of English origin that is recorded in the British Isles.
The etymological affinity of the name derives from the Old-English elements ham, meaning “homestead” or “village”, and scir, meaning “shire” or “district”. Consequently the surname is believed to have arisen in the early medieval period to identify a person who hailed from the county of Hampshire in England.
In addition to the county of Hampshire, the name finds possible relation to Hallamshire in the West Riding of Yorkshire, an ancient lordship that corresponds to the modern parishes of Sheffield and Ecclesfield. The place was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as “Hallum” and in the Yorkshire Charters of 1161 as “Halumsira”. In both instances the name is composed of the Old-English word halum – the dative plural of hall, meaning rock or stone – combined with scir, denoting a district or administrative division. The county of Hampshire itself is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 755 as “Hamtunscir”, reflecting the Old-English hamm (river land or water meadow), tun (settlement) and scir (district). The name of the county was later associated with the town of Hampton, now known as Southampton.
Early documentary evidence of the surname appears in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Individuals recorded include Thomas de Hallumschire in Yorkshire in 1296, John Hamschyer in Yorkshire in 1507 and Thomas Hamshere in Kent in 1523. A notable entry from the early seventeenth century notes the marriage of Jone Hampshire to James Harryson at St. Andrew by the Wardrobe in London on 12 May 1613. The earliest documented spelling of the name is found in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex, where a Robert Hamptessire is listed in 1296 during the reign of King Edward I, known as the Hammer of the Scots (1272‑1307).
Thus the surname Hampshire remains a distinctly English locational name whose historical roots are firmly anchored in the geographic and linguistic heritage of the British Isles.
Typical given names associated with the Hampshire surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
Female
- Alison
- Claire
- Elizabeth
- Jane
- Karen
- Louise
- Margaret
- Nicola
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Susan
- Victoria
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Hampshire in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 2,993 people named Hampshire in the UK. That makes it roughly the 3,002nd most common surname in Britain. Around 46 in a million people in Britain are named Hampshire.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Hampshire
- Emily Hampshire - Canadian actress
- Keith Hampshire - Singer
- Stuart Hampshire - Philosopher, literary critic and university administrator (1914 to 2004)
- Ryan Hampshire - Rugby league player
- David Hampshire - Racecar driver (1917 to 1990)
- John Hampshire - Test and County cricketer, umpire (1941 to 2017)
- John Hampshire - County cricketer (1913 to 1997)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.