Hotham
surname · Latin script
Recorded as a female name· opposite-gender records fall within measured source noise
Hotham is a surname written in the Latin script, with more bearers in China than in any other country. In Isle of Man it is the 41st most common surname. Recorded meaning: The inclusion of Hotham's sons among David's mighty men is seen by some as a testament to faithful parenting and the multi-generational impact of loyalty to God's anointed king.
- GBUnited Kingdom≈1 in 195K(inferred from the name graph)
- USUnited States1 in 937K
- IMIsle of Man≈1 in 3.1K
carrying the name, as counted by its national register where one exists and as Mondonomo estimates it elsewhere (marked ≈ and "est." on hover). Where a country counts another spelling of the name rather than Hotham itself, the figure is that spelling’s, and it is named. One hue, darker where it is more common; hover a country for its figure.
- China (inferred from the name graph)
- 2 (measured from records)
- Sources
- 112 (measured from records)
- ≈1 in 3.1K (inferred from the name graph)
≈4,300 people, est.
recorded for this name
Highest-authority source
Isle of Man, est.
measured from records inferred from the name graph
Spellings & scripts(measured from records)
One other spelling is counted as the same name:
Locally spelled หอธรรม in TH Thailand.
Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.
Meaning & origin(measured from records)
The inclusion of Hotham's sons among David's mighty men is seen by some as a testament to faithful parenting and the multi-generational impact of loyalty to God's anointed king. It illustrates the unifying reach of the Davidic kingdom, incorporating people from various tribes and regions, which can be viewed as a foreshadowing of a messianic kingdom that transcends regional barriers.
Sources 1
- Biblical Names Compiled Database
Attested across 6 languages in the etymology graph.
Where in the world(measured from records)
Hotham counted together with the spellings and other-language forms grouped with it. Where a register counted another spelling, the row names it.
Sorted by bearers: national registers' counts, and Mondonomo's estimates (≈, est.) where no register counts.
| Country | Most common spelling | Sources | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN China | — | ≈4,300 est. | ≈1 in 323K | — | Hotham | 1 |
| US United States | — | 355 | 1 in 937K | 355 | Hotham | 112 |
| GB United Kingdom | — | ≈340 est. | ≈1 in 195K | — | Hotham | 97 |
| AU Australia | — | ≈160 est. | ≈1 in 158K | — | Hotham | 55 |
| TH Thailand | — | ≈110 est. | ≈1 in 640K | — | หอธรรม | 27 |
| IM Isle of Man | #41 | ≈30 est. | ≈1 in 3.1K | — | Hotham | 1 |
| NZ New Zealand | — | ≈21 est. | ≈1 in 231K | — | Hotham | 13 |
Exact figures are national registers' own counts, while figures marked ≈ and est. are Mondonomo’s estimates, counted from our sources and calibrated against those registers; hover one for how far to trust it in that country. A dash means neither exists.
Registers cited: Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2010. Figures without a register are Mondonomo estimates; see Methodology.
Country figures for a list of names, at full precision, are available under licence rather than by scraping this table (how that works).
Other recorded senses(measured from records)
Hotham is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.
The name Hotham is from the Hebrew word (chotham) meaning 'seal' or 'signet'. The etymology of the alternate name, Helem, is uncertain, though some sources suggest meanings such as 'dream', 'hidden', or 'strength'.
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
Hotham is a biblical Hebrew name meaning "seal." In the Bible, he was the father of two of King David's famous mighty warriors, Shama and Jeiel, suggesting a legacy of strength and honor.
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
The name Hotham (Hebrew: חוֹתָם, Chotham) means "seal" or "signet ring".
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
In English, Usually from Hotham, East Riding of Yorkshire; first attested Robert de Hotham 1202 AssL. Sometimes from Holtham or Hougham, Lincolnshire.
as a nameA Dictionary of English Surnames
habitational name from Hotham in the East Riding of Yorkshire, named from a dative plural hodum of an Old English hod ‘shelter’.
as a nameDictionary of American Family Names
Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.
Notable people with this name(measured from records)
- John Hothamb. 1250medieval Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord High Treasurer, Lord Chancellor and Bishop of Ely
- Sir John Hotham, 1st Baronetb. 1589English politician
- Richard Hothamb. 1722British politician and businessman (1722-1799)
- William Hotham, 1st Baron Hothamb. 1736GBofficer in the British Royal Navy (1736-1813)
- Beaumont Hotham, 2nd Baron Hothamb. 1737Scottish judge and politician (1737-1814)
- Charles Hothamb. 1806GBLieutenant-governor of Victoria (1806-1855)
- Frederick Hothamb. 1844English cricketer (1844-1908)
- Greg Hothamb. 1956CACanadian ice hockey defenceman
- Scott Hothamb. 1984CACanadian ice hockey player
- Jazmin Hothamb. 2000NZnew Zealand rugby union player
The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).
Evidence(measured from records)
Attested in 10 sources across 3 countries.
| Country | Register | Year | Count | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2010 | 2010 | 355 | #57,372 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2000 | 2000 | 347 | #55,376 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2020 | 2020 | 331 | #64,820 |
| US United States | wru Name Dictionary — US surnames, Census 2010 subset (Khanna et al.) | — | — | — |
Reference works 4
- Dictionary of American Family Names
- The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland
- Wikipedia surname tokens
- Wikidata name items (native-script + romanized given/family names)
These works list the name; their figures are licensed and are not reproduced here.
Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the name Hotham mean, and where does it come from?
- The inclusion of Hotham's sons among David's mighty men is seen by some as a testament to faithful parenting and the multi-generational impact of loyalty to God's anointed king. Recorded by Biblical Names Compiled Database.
- In which country does Hotham have the most bearers?
- Mondonomo estimates about 4.3 thousand people named Hotham in China, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled hotham.
- How common is the name Hotham?
- In the United States, the national register counted 355 people named Hotham in 2010, about 1 in 937 thousand residents.
- How common is Hotham compared with other names?
- In Isle of Man, Hotham is the 41st most common surname of 521 surnames recorded there.
What do you want to know about Hotham?
Nobody replies to these one by one, but what readers ask decides what these pages answer next.
Query this name via API
curl https://api.mondonomo.ai/api/v1/name-graph/hothamThe same payload this page is built from: spellings and scripts, countries and languages, related names, and the registers that attest the form. Rate-limited for casual use; a free API key gives 1,000 requests a day, and bulk access is licensed separately.
About this data
measured from records inferred from the name graph machine-generated
These figures come from the data snapshot of and will change as it is rebuilt.
Statistics are aggregated from the Mondonomo name corpus; related names and etymology are inferred from the name graph; pronunciation and any machine-marked transliterations are model-generated. Read how the numbers are made, including their known failure modes, and where the data comes from.
Reference works we consult — surname dictionaries, official name registers, Wikidata and Wiktionary — are named directly, beside the claims they support. The per-country source counts also include datasets of person records: we publish how many there are and their authority tier, but not their names.
Cite this page Mondonomo, “Hotham” — the 41st most common surname in Isle of Man. Data snapshot 2026-10-10.