Guild of One-Name Studies
One-name studies, Genealogy
Study: Howcutt
Variants: Howcott
Category: 3 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is well under way on a global basis.
Guild hosted website: howcutt.one-name-mwp1.net
Contact: Mr Francis Howcutt
The Howcutt One-Name study started in 1964, growing from a search for my own ancestors and relatives. It embraces people of all shades with the Howcutt or Howcott surname - most of them live in England, the USA or Scotland.
The registered variant of the name is Howcott. This was the spelling most widely used in England before about 1700, after when the spelling Howcutt has generally been adopted. With few exceptions, references to Howcutt have not been found in America but Howcott is still used, as are other apparently associated surnames such as Hocutt (which are not included in this particular study).
The origin of Howcutt & Howcott is not known.
One possibility is evolution from another surname. Harcourt was found in the latter part of the Middle Ages in south Leicestershire where Howcotts later emerged and people with the name Aucott lived in the vicinity of Coventry.
Alternatively, Howcutt/Howcott may have been inspired by the name of a place such as Holcot or Hulcote (both in Northamptonshire), Hulcote (Bedfordshire) or Hulcott (Buckinghamshire).
About 130 people with the Howcutt surname live in the British Isles.
Fewer than 100 with the Howcott surname live in the United States.
The earliest records of people with the surname are from south Leicestershire and Coventry, some of whose members reached London by the early 17th century. It has been established that descendants of the Leicestershire Howcutts arrived at Brixworth, Northamptonshire about 1720 and that others moved into Leicester itself around 1800. During the 19th and 20th centuries, family members have moved from Brixworth to an assortment of places in the British Isles and beyond.
A member of the Coventry branch moved to Lichfield about 1670. It was almost certainly two of his sons who arrived in Chowan county, North Carolina around 1700, some of their descendants moving on to Mississippi, Memphis and New Orleans during the 19th century. In 1860, two people with the surname held a total of 42 individuals in North Carolina and Mississippi as slaves; these include the forebears of most present-day Americans with the Howcott surname.
The vast majority of people who currently have the Howcutt or Howcott surname live in England, USA or Scotland.