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Berg means mountain in the case of a toponymic or heraldic (in the broadest sense as many German surnames seem to refer to the kind of image used on pub signs) surname, but if from a personal name more probably a feminine theme meaning "protection/refuge" (cf. the vb bergen - save, shelter). In this case I'm guessing Hugen is dialect word, or a rendering of a low-German dialect, and would be related to standard German hohen "high", as in einem hohen berg (it's not uncommon for such a declined version of a name to be standardised); or a declined version of the personal name theme Hug-/Huge- "thought, mind" (this would be unusual and seems very doubtful though as this declension of Huge is Scandinavian -Norse and Gothic- and rarely used). The existence of 4 castles in Alsace, Bavaria and Austria all named Hohenberg supports the idea that Hugenberg is a low-German cognate or adaptation. (It's also possible this is a rendering by a non-Saxon of the Upper Saxon pronunciation - one Hohenberg castle is close to the border with the Free State of Saxony - but this also supposes the central 'h' of Hohen was still a hard /ch/ at the time as in Sächsisch/"Säggsisch" 'verzichten wir "gonsegwend of harde Gonsonanden"...denn die braucht der Sachse nicht in seinem Alphabet.')

This message was edited 10/8/2020, 9:49 AM