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The Hance family has been involved in American history for centuries. The majority of Hance family members in the United States of America identify the homeland of their ancestors as being from the British Isles; however, other members of the Hance family trace their ancestry to France, the Low Countries, and Germany. Mainland Europe was certainly involved in sending Hances to the New World! Each of these Hance families possibly have a common ancestor and DNA can tell us the whole story!
"Hance" surname meaning from Ancestry.com:
- English: variant of Hann with genitival or post-medieval -s plural form of Hand or a variant of Annis with prosthetic H-. Altered form of English Hains.
- French: adaptation of German Hans.
Etymology and Origin of "Hance" from House of Names:
- "The Hance family name is linked to the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. Their name comes from the baptismal name for the 'son of John'. The given name John was originally derived from the Dutch 'Hans or Han'. Alternatively, the name could be 'a nickname or sign-name (Old English hand, a hand)'."
- "The surname Hance was first found in Cheshire where the name first appeared as a forename in the Assize Rolls of 1288, Honde Cottrell. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1279 included Richard Hand in Bedfordshire and later Robert Hind was found in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1296. Walter Handes was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for Warwickshire in 1332. In Yorkshire, The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls had a wide variety of entries: Hanse et uxor ejus; Matilda Han-wyfe; Thomas Hand; and Laurence Hande."
From the Internet Surname Database (SurnameDB) on the last name "Hance":
- "This interesting and unusual surname is of early medieval English origin, and is from the medieval given name 'Han(n)', which is usually a short form of Johan, from the Hebrew name 'Yochanan', meaning Jehovah has favoured (me with a son), or may Jehovah favour (this child). However, in some cases, the name may be from the personal name Henry, which is composed of the Germanic elements 'haim, heim', home, and 'ric', power, and even from Randolph, which is also from a Germanic personal name, composed of the elements 'rand', rim (of a shield), shield and 'wolf', wolf. The modern surname can be found as Hann, Han and Hane, and the patronymics include Hance, Hanson and Hansom. Among the recordings from London Church Registers include: the marriage of Joseph Hann and Mary Luis, on October 31st 1706, at St. James's, Dukes Place; and the christening of Henry, son of Thomas and Elennor Hann, in July 1750 at St. Anne's, Soho, Westminster. The marriage was also recorded in London of Frederick Hann and Frances Taylor, on November 10th 1816, at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Hannesone, which was dated 1379, in the 'Records of the Borough of Nottingham', during the reign of King Richard 11, known as 'Richard of Bordeaux', 1377 - 1399. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to 'develop' often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling."