English
The surname 'Houser' is of English origin. It is a variant of the name 'House', derived from the Old English word 'hus'. In the Middle Ages the majority of the population lived in cottages or huts rather than houses, and in most cases this name probably indicates someone who had some connection with the largest and most important building of the settlement, either a religious 'house' or simply the local 'great house'. In some cases it may indicate a 'householder', someone who owned his own dwelling as opposed to being a tenant. It is also a relatively respelling of the name 'Howes'. Public and Civil registry archive's confirm that the surname 'Houser' and or it's variant's, date as far back as the thirteenth century were a 'Geoffrey de la House', from the county of Hertfordshire, England, is recorded on the Hundred Rolls in 1273. The exact period of settlement in North America has not been definitely determined but Information extracted from Public and Civil registry archive's confirm that one of the first settlers was a certain 'James House', aged seventeen, a planter by trade, from Berwick on Tweed, England. He emigrated to North America in 1774, sailing from the Port of London aboard the ship named the 'Jamaica' on the twelfth of December 1774, arriving in Jamaica on the nineteenth of December of the same. Today, 'Houser' is the 'One thousand four hundred and thirtieth' most common surname in North America.