I was wondering how far back and where is the origin that Heckethorn came from

Question

I would like to know more about where my family's from such as France and how far back like 1700??? Or what thanks

Answer 1

It exists in its German form Heckedorn in the 18th century Moravian Church in the US. Perhaps focusing on church records from that denomination can help you further.

Addendum: Just found this: https://books.google.com/books?id=PaQyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA412&lpg=PA412&dq=heckedorn&source=bl&ots=61dDOwe2of&sig=xq-Azdk_Fu2JsbCVAMpKBlBR6-Y&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj20tiJ2InMAhXKwiYKHYjOArg4ChDoAQgqMAQ#v=onepage&q=heckedorn&f=false

Seems these Heckedorns came from Switzerland.

 

Answer 2

Hi Denise!

I just added the tag "Heckathorn", one of my gt-gt-gt grandmothers, so here I am, over a year and a half after your question!

My Heckathorn family (which seems to be most, if not all, of them in the US - although the surname spelling varies slightly among them) has some pretty incredible researchers. They have found that the Heckathorns came to Philadelphia from Alsace (a German-speaking region of France, on the German border) in 1751, and from Switzerland before that, traced back to the early 1600s. It's a German surname, and its authentic German form is "Heckendorn". "Hecken" means "bush", and "dorn" means "thorn", and it refers to a specific kind of plant with nice flowers.

See Heckathorn-13, for example.