indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Type Surname (from given name, from occupation & from location)
Other Forms FormsHelms (English, Dutch), Helmm (German)
Meaning & History
from Old English helm "protection covering" (in later northern English dialects "cattle shelter barn"). The name may be topographic for someone who lived by or worked at a barn or habitational from a place so named such as Helme in Meltham (Yorkshire). metonymic occupational name for a maker of helmets from Middle High German Middle Dutch helm. Or from a medieval personal name Helm a short form of any of various compound names formed with helm "helmet".