That Shustoke is the original source of many of the Hollyer and Hollier families is supported by the distribution of events from the IGI which radiate in density and time from that area.

By the start of parish registration, the name had however migrated to many surrounding counties and to London. But also by this time, the name occurs in several other areas and it is quite possible that the name arose separately in these instances. In particular, there is a very large group of Holliers in Somerset that flourishes after the mid 18th century in places such as Cheddar, Draycott, Burrington, and Blagdon. There was also a significant group using both the Hollyer and Hollier spelling in the Fordingbridge and New Forest area of Hampshire and across the Solent on the Isle of Wight. The main Holyer name arose in Kent after 1737, but there are earlier records from the 15th century to the name in both Kent and Sussex.

Despite these groups that might have arisen separately, the main group of Hollier/Hollyers started in North Warwickshire and spread out to nearby Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Worcestershire, westwards to Shropshire and then southwards to Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and maybe Berkshire. Northamptonshire is very poorly covered by the IGI, but there were Holliers at Weedon Bec and Aynho.

Other Hollier/Hollyers in places such as Wiltshire and Gloucestershire might have come from the north or the Somerset Holliers in the south. The Somerset group probably also spread into Dorset and Devon. In Gloucestershire, there was some name migration from the separate Hallier family at Wickwar.

By the 19th century, the big cities of London and Birmingham became magnets for the Holliers as with so many others. Analysing the births of the Hollier name variant between 1837 and 1899 shows that the 1025 births were concentrated into just 145 Registration Districts (RDs). The largest single group is the Somerset Holliers with 131 births in the Axbridge RD, 30 in Bedminster RD and 18 in Barton Regis, as they migrated towards Bristol. After that, the Birmingham and surrounding area accounts for 168 and the London area for another 160.

There are major groups at Hinckley, LEI (49) (the Sharnford and Hinckley families), Thame, OXF (44) (the Sydenham family), Shipston on Stour, WAR/WOR (21) (the Moreton in the Marsh family).

Other large RDs are: Highworth, WIL (28)(three families drawn from Somerset & Bristol towards the railway town of Swindon); Stourbridge, WOR (19)(George Hollier/Julia Spencer and descendants); Alcester, WAR (18)(the Studley families); Daventry, NTH (16)(the Weedon families); Woodstock OXF (13) and Banbury, OXF (11) (the Deddington group).

Prior to the 19th century, there was also a major group of Hollier/Hollyers in Berkshire at Reading, Binfield and Shinfield.

There are a number of Hollier families in Wales in the 19th century. Some descend from Henry Hollier of Cardiff, the Steward to the Marquess of Bute, whose family origins were from Barton under Needwood in Staffs, while others were migrants from the Somerset group of Holliers. One Hallier family in Wales (itself from their home county of Gloucestershire) was often recorded as Hollier.

Some of the Holliers in the Cheshire area (Nantwich RD) are connected with Olliers who changed their name.

Members of the Hollyer, Holyer and Hollier families have emigrated to many countries of the world. The earliest emigrants were enforced transportees to the USA in the mid 17th century. During the 19th century, families started to emigrate to seek a better life. Destinations include the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tanganika, India and even, for a while, Paraguay. In the USA, the names also arrived from other countries, in particular the Southern states Holliers are from France. Sometimes, foreign names were 'anglicised' to Hollyer, Holyer or Hollier on arrival.