Recorded in many forms as shown below, this is an early medieval English surname, but of French and Germanic origins. However spelt it is one of the patronymic forms of the medieval male given name 'Roger'. The Normans introduced Roger into England after the Conquest of 1066 as 'Rogier', which was adopted from the Germanic 'Rodger', and was composed of the elements 'hrod', meaning renown, and 'geri, a spear. The equivalent Old Norse name 'Hrodthgeirr' reinforced the form of the name in Normandy. The substitution of 'H' for 'R' as the initial in the English variants of 'Roger' reflect the difficulty encountered by English people in pronouncing the Norman French 'R' sound. Early examples as a given name are recorded as Hogge, and later as Hodge and thence to Hod and Hot as in the Fines Court records of Lincolnshire in 1208. The modern spellings include Hodge, Hodges, Hodgeson, Hodgson, Hodgett, Hodgetts, and the dialectals Hatson, Hotson, Hootson and Houtson. Early recording examples include Ricardus Hoge in the Poll Tax rolls of Yorkshire in 1379, William Hodges listed in the Suffolk Subsidy Rolls of 1524, Agnes Hodgett in the Marriage License lists of London for the year 1577, and Mary Hotson, who married Edward Smith at St Botolphs Bishopgate, on November 20th 1724. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alicia Hogges. This was dated 1327, in the Subsidy Rolls of Somerset, during the reign of King Edward 11, known as 'Edward of Caernafon', 1307 - 1327. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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