Hawthorne
A surname meaning “at the hawthorn tree,” originally used for someone who lived near hawthorn hedges or a notable hawthorn.
The #2,167 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,424 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hawthorne comes from the hawthorn tree, named in Old English from haga or hagathorn, meaning the thorn of a hedge or enclosure. The surname was used for someone living by a hawthorn tree, hedge, or other marked natural feature. Early spelling often varied between Hawthorn and Hawthorne, with the final -e appearing as a later spelling habit.
History
The name is well established in England and also crossed early to North America. One New England family traditionally wrote the name Hathorne in the 17th century before later standardizing it as Hawthorne. The surname also appears in Irish and Scottish records, though there it is usually an imported English name rather than a distinct native Gaelic form.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The famous American author Nathaniel Hawthorne was born Nathaniel Hathorne; he later added the w to his surname.
From the historical record
“highminded, surlie, disdainfull, arrogant." Cotgr. HAWTHORNE. Hawthorn, a township m the parish of Easington, co. Durham, memorable for the fifty shipwrecks which happened there on Nov. 5, 1824. Hie New England family of this name left this country in or before 1G34, and until recently ■wrote themselves Hathorne.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom