What country does the name Hathaway originate from? I think its either England or Ireland but am not sure?

Question

What country does the name Hathaway originate from? I think its either England or Ireland but am not sure?

Answer 1

This is what www.ancestry.com has to say about the name,

Hathaway Name Meaning and History

English (mainly central southern England and South Wales):

topographic name for someone who lived by a path across a heath, from Middle English hathe ‘heath’ + weye ‘way’.

from an (apparently rare) Old English female personal name, Heaðuwig, composed of the elements heaðu ‘strife’, ‘contention’ + wig ‘war’.

hope this helps.

Answer 2

I am pretty sure that Hathaway is an English surname. I am putting a link to the Hathaway family message board where you can find out quite a bit.

http://genforum.genealogy.com/hathaway/

Answer 3

Hathaway is English

Answer 4

English

houseofnames.com

There is an interesting coat of arms on file for at least one family with that name

Answer 5

Hathaway is an English derivation of Hattaway, Hadaway; Hathway;

3 early Hathaways immigrated from England to America  in the  1600's: Nicholas, from whom the largest group descends, Arthur, and the line we call William of Virginia.  We hope you will enjoy exploring our collections and research on the Hathaways of America.

Answer 6

Since William Shakespeare was married to Anne Hathaway, the name is very much of English origin--or more specifically, according to Ancestry.com, from South Central English and South Wales.

Answer 7

This is  an English topographic name for someone who lived by a path across a heath, from Middle English hathe ‘heath’ + weye ‘way’.