[2][3] The name represents the Scandinavian Hjalti or Hialti,[4] but may instead have resulted from confusion with the Helt[us] found in Heltvilla, modern Héauville.

[5] Alternatively, the eponymous Hiallt may be legendary: Hauteville (Altavilla) means simply "high estate".

According to Goffredo Malaterra's chronicle, Aubrey or Alverardus, the fourth son by Tancred's second wife, remained behind in Normandy.

About the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, a certain Alverardus or Aluericus Hautville is mentioned as having previously held lands in Compton Martin, Somerset, England.

His kinsman Ralf de Hauville is mentioned in the Domesday Book as a tenant-in-chief in Burbage and Wolfhall in Wiltshire.