Horatio Explained
Horatio is an English male given name, an Italianized form[1] of the ancient Roman Latin nomen (name) Horatius, from the Roman gens (clan) Horatia. The modern Italian form is Orazio, the modern Spanish form Horacio. It appears to have been first used in England in 1565, in the Tudor era during which the Italian Renaissance movement had started to influence English culture. The name Horace is another related name from the same Latin source.
History
Prominent English-language examples of the name "Horatio" include:Horatio de Vere, 1st Baron Vere of Tilbury (1565–1635), an English military leader, was one of the earliest English holders of the name, born 34 years before Shakespeare invented the character Horatio in his 1599/1601 play Hamlet. He was a grandfather of Horatio Townshend, 1st Viscount Townshend (1630–1687), whose son Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend (a ward of Col. Robert Walpole (1650–1700) of Houghton Hall in Norfolk) married Dorothy Walpole, one of the latter's daughters and a sister of Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole (1678–1757) (and of Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (1676–1745), the Prime Minister). The name Horatio was subsequently much used by the Walpole family and by the 1st Baron Walpole's illustrious younger cousin Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758–1805), his father's great-great grandson, born one year after 1st Baron Walpole's death. The 1st Baron Walpole's son, Horatio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, 2nd Baron Walpole (1723–1809) served as a godfather at the christening of Admiral Horatio Nelson in 1758, who for that reason, as was common, was given his name.[2] The Admiral died without issue, but his great-nephew Horatio Nelson, 3rd Earl Nelson (1823–1913) (born with the surname "Bolton", eventual heir and great-nephew of the Admiral's elder brother William Nelson, 1st Earl Nelson, heir of the Admiral) carried on the name.
People
Born 16th century
Born 17th century
Born 18th century
- Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (1717–1797), commonly known as Horace Walpole, English author, art historian, antiquarian and politician
- Horatio Sharpe (1718–1790), 22nd Proprietary Governor of Maryland
- Horatio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (1723–1809), British politician, son of the 1st baron Walpole
- Horatio Gates (c. 1727–1806), American general
- Horatio Mann (1744–1814), English politician
- Horatio Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford (1752–1822), English politician, son of the 1st earl
- Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (1758–1805), British admiral
- Horatio Seymour (Vermont politician) (1778–1857), United States senator from Vermont
- Horatio Walpole, 3rd Earl of Orford (1783–1858), British politician, son of the 2nd earl
- Horatio Chriesman (1797–1878) American surveyor, mayor in Mexican Texas and participant in the Texas Revolution.
Born 19th century
- Horatio Thomas Austin (1801–1865), British Royal Navy officer and arctic explorer
- Horatio Ross (1801–1886), Scottish sportsman and pioneering amateur photographer
- Horatio Allen (1802–1889), American civil engineer and inventor
- Horatio Potter (1802–1887), Episcopal bishop in the Diocese of New York
- Horatio Greenough (1805–1852), American sculptor
- Horatio Bridge (1806–1893), American naval commodore
- Horatio McCulloch (1806–1867), Scottish landscape painter
- Horatio Beck (1810–1872), American politician from Maryland
- Horatio Seymour (1810–1886), American politician, 18th governor of New York
- Horatio King (1811–1897), American politician, Postmaster General of the United States
- Horatio Wills (1811–1861), Australian pastoralist and politician
- Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (third creation) (1813–1894), British politician, son of the 3rd earl
- Horatio Hale (1817–1896), American-Canadian ethnologist, philologist and businessman
- Horatio Wright (1820–1899), American engineer and American Civil War Union Army General
- Horatio Spafford (1828–1888), lawyer, hymn writer
- Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832–1899), American author
- Horatio Davies (1842–1912), London businessman, politician and magistrate
- Horatio Frederick Phillips (1845–1924), early aviation pioneer from the United Kingdom
- Horatio J. Homer (1848–1923), Boston's first African-American police officer
- Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850–1916), British field marshal
- Horatio Brown (1854–1926), Scottish historian
- Horatio Earle (1855–1935), American road advocate
- Horatio Hocken (1857–1937), Canadian politician, social reformer and a founder of what became the Toronto Star newspaper
- Horatio Walker (1858–1938), Canadian painter
- Horatio Bottomley (1860–1932), English swindler, publisher and politician
- Horatio Torromé (1861–1920), British/Argentinian figure skater
- Horatio Caro (1862–1920), English chess player
- Horatio Parker (1863–1919), American composer
- Horatio Dresser (1866–1945), New Thought religious leader and author
- Horatio Nelson Jackson (1872–1955), American automobile pioneer and physician
- Horatio Barber (1875–1964), early British aviation pioneer
Born 20th century
- Horatio Luro (1901–1991), American thoroughbred horse racing trainer
- Horatio Clare (born 1973), British author
- Horatio Sanz (born 1974), Chilean-born American comedian
Fictional characters
- Cap'n Turbot, a main character in the TV show PAW Patrol, whose first name is "Horatio"
- Admiral Lord Horatio D'Ascoyne, character played by Alec Guinness in the movie Kind Hearts and Coronets
- Horatio 2.0, a robotic tarsier in the TV series The Nutshack
- Horatio Blass, character in novel, No Fixed Address
- Horatio Caine, police lieutenant in the television series CSI: Miami
- Horatio (Hamlet), a character in the play Hamlet (1599/1601) by William Shakespeare
- Horatio Hellpop, character in the comic book series Nexus
- Horatio Hornblower, naval hero in the novels of C. S. Forester
- Horatio Magellan Crunch, the mascot of Cap'n Crunch cereal
- Horatio Peter McCallister, a fictional character from the animated sitcom The Simpsons
- Horatio the Elephant, muppet on Sesame Street
- Horatio Carlin, a character in Watch Dogs 2
- Horatio, the founder of the Horatio faction in the strategy game Endless Space
- Horatio, the protagonist in Pit People
See also
References
- Compare Marco/Marcus, Costantino/Constantinus, Julio/Julius, etc
- Pettigrew, Thomas, Memoirs of the Life of Vice-Admiral, Lord Viscount Nelson, K. B., Duke of Bronté, London, 1849, p.1
