Sunday, November 9, 2008

HAM Surname Counties of Origin in Virginia





I have uploaded a You Tube video of the Counties of Origin of the HAM Surname in Virginia prior to 1800. From the book "A Short History of the HAM Surname in Virginia & NC." A 3.5 minute video, about 5 MB in size.

Not all counties are included here. For example, counties are not included that were once in Virginia but now are in present day West Virginia. But, it does give a quick overview of the migration pattern for the HAM surname in Virginia prior to 1800. Lists names of first inhabitants with the surname HAM(/M/ES) by County.


In a few cases, I had to make a judgment call on which person to list. For example, Joseph HAM arrived in 1621 in Elizabeth City County, but died in York County. Or, for example, John HAM died in Stafford County in 1739, but Elizabeth HAM is the first to appear in Stafford County in the book (1716), so Elizabeth was listed in the video. Another example would be Jerome HAM, who first held land in Charles City County, but lived in York County.


Therefore, a few adjustments were made in order for the video
to make better sense.


The HAM Surname Counties of Origin in Virginia

You Tube video




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2 comments:

Mitzi Hammond Perkins said...

The use of writing instruments influenced what was written in early times. Many names were abbreviated in written records. Is there possibility that your Ham Hamm Hamn is an abbreviation of Hammond/Hammon etc?
Mitzi Hammond Perkins TX

Odon said...

Hello Mitzi,

The HAM surname is very ancient, and for early Virginia, has origins in Europe. The use of the word dates back another thousand years, and surnames began to be used about 700 years ago.

The word "ham" means a homestead, and the variations originally were meant to specify surrounding features. For example, "Hammond" would mean "home by the mound."

So, "ham" is not an abbreviation, but rather a variation (in order to better describe the specific location).

For more, see my web page at:

http://home.earthlink.net/~odoniv/HamCountry/HAM_DNA_Project/HAM_DNA_Origins.html