Herkunft & Geschichte

Topographic surname derived from an English place name, likely Hamilton in Leicestershire (Old English 'hamel' = crooked + 'dun' = hill: 'crooked hill'). Walter fitz Gilbert de Hameldone arrived in Scotland in the early fourteenth century and sided with Robert the Bruce, receiving lands in Lanarkshire that became the Hamilton heartland. The Dukes of Hamilton became among the most powerful nobles in Scotland, giving the name its strong Lanarkshire association and explaining the town of Hamilton itself. The surname is now widespread across central Scotland and has spread extensively through the Scottish-American and Scottish-Caribbean diaspora.