HENRYSON EnglishMeans "son of
HENRY". A bearer of this surname was the poet Robert Henryson (1425-1500).
HEPBURN English, ScottishFrom northern English place names meaning "high burial mound" in Old English. It was borne by Mary Queen of Scot's infamous third husband, James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwall. Other famous bearers include the actresses Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) and Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).
HERSCHEL German, JewishDiminutive form of
HIRSCH (1) or
HIRSCH (2). A famous bearer was the British-German astronomer William Herschel (1738-1822), as well as his sister Caroline Herschel (1750-1848) and son John Herschel (1792-1871), also noted scientists.
HERTZ GermanDerived from Middle High German
herze meaning "heart", a nickname for a big-hearted person.
HERZOG GermanFrom a German title meaning "duke", a nickname for a person who either acted like a duke or worked in a duke's household.
HEXT EnglishFrom a nickname meaning "tallest" in Middle English. It is most common in the southwest of England in the county of Devon.
HICKEY IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Ó hÍcidhe meaning "descendant of the healer".
HIGGINS IrishFrom Irish
Ó hUiginn meaning "descendant of Uiginn".
Uiginn is a byname meaning "Viking".
HILL EnglishOriginally given to a person who lived on or near a hill, derived from Old English
hyll.
HILLAM EnglishFrom English places by this name, derived from Old English
hyll meaning "hill".
HILTON EnglishFrom various English place names derived from Old English
hyll "hill" and
tun "enclosure, town". Famous bearers of this name include the Hilton family of hotel heirs.
HIMURA JapaneseFrom Japanese
緋 (hi) meaning "scarlet, dark red" and
村 (mura) meaning "town, village".
HINES IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Ó hEidhin meaning "descendant of Eidhin", a given name or byname of unknown origin.
HIRSCH (1) GermanMeans "deer, hart" in German. This was a nickname for a person who resembled a deer in some way, or who raised or hunted deer.
HLAVÁČ CzechFrom a nickname for a person with an oddly-shaped head, derived from Czech
hlava "head".
HOBBES EnglishDerived from the medieval given name
HOB. A famous bearer of this name was British political philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the author of 'Leviathan'.
HOEDEMAKER DutchOccupational name for a hat maker, from Dutch
hoed "hat" and
maker "maker".
HOFER GermanOccupational name for a farmer, from German
Hof "farm", from Old High German
hof "house, estate, courtyard".
HOFMEISTER GermanMeans "master of the household", from Old High German
hof "house, estate, courtyard" and
meistar "master" (from Latin
magister).
HOGAN IrishFrom Irish
Ó hÓgáin meaning "descendant of Ógán". The given name
Ógán is a diminutive of
óg meaning "young".
HOGGARD EnglishOccupational name meaning "pig herder", from Old English
hogg "hog" and
hierde "herdsman, guardian".
HOLGUÍN SpanishPossibly from Spanish
holgar "to rest, to enjoy oneself".
HOLLAND (1) EnglishFrom various English places of this name, derived from Old English
hoh "point of land, heel" and
land "land".
HOLLINS EnglishReferred to someone living by a group of holly trees, from Old English
holegn.
HOLME English, ScottishReferred either to someone living by a small island (northern Middle English
holm, from Old Norse
holmr) or near a holly tree (Middle English
holm, from Old English
holegn).
HOLMES English, ScottishVariant of
HOLME. A famous fictional bearer was Sherlock Holmes, a detective in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's mystery stories beginning in 1887.
HOLST Danish, Low German, DutchOriginally referred to a person from the region of
HOLSTEIN between Germany and Denmark. A famous bearer of this name was the English composer Gustav Holst (1874-1934).
HOLZKNECHT GermanOccupational name for a forester's helper, from Old High German
holz "wood" and
kneht "servant, apprentice".
HOLZMANN GermanDerived from Old High German
holz "wood" and
man "man", a name for someone who lived close to a wood or worked with wood.
HOMEWOOD EnglishFrom various place names derived from Old English
ham meaning "home" and
wudu meaning "wood".
HONDA JapaneseFrom Japanese
本 (hon) meaning "root, origin, source" and
田 (ta) meaning "field".
HONEYCUTT EnglishDerived from the name of the English town of Hunnacott, derived from Old English
hunig "honey" or the given name
Huna combined with
cot "cottage".
HOOKER EnglishOriginally applied to one who lived near a river bend or corner of some natural feature, from Old English
hoc "angle, hook".
HOOPER EnglishOccupational name for someone who put the metal hoops around wooden barrels.
HOPE EnglishDerived from Middle English
hop meaning "small valley".
HOPPER EnglishOccupational name for an acrobat or a nickname for someone who was nervous or restless. A famous bearer was the American actor Dennis Hopper (1936-2010).
HORN English, German, Norwegian, DanishFrom the Germanic word
horn meaning "horn". This was an occupational name for one who carved objects out of horn or who played a horn, or a person who lived near a horn-shaped geographical feature, such as a mountain or a bend in a river.
HOROWITZ JewishFrom the German name of Hořovice, a town in the Czech Republic. Its name is derived from Czech
hora "mountain".
HORSFALL EnglishFrom a minor place in Yorkshire derived from Old English
hors "horse" and
fall "clearing".
HORTON EnglishFrom the names of various places in England, which are derived from Old English
horh "dirt, mud" and
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
HOUSE EnglishReferred to a person who lived or worked in a house, as opposed to a smaller hut.
HOWARD (2) EnglishOccupational name meaning "ewe herder", from Old English
eowu "ewe" and
hierde "herdsman, guardian".
HOWE EnglishName for one who lived on a hill, from Middle English
how "hill" (of Norse origin).
HRABĚ CzechMeans "count" in Czech, perhaps used to denote someone who worked for a count or acted like a count.
HRUŠKA CzechMeans "pear" in Czech, most likely used to denote a person who grew or sold pears.
HU ChineseFrom Chinese
胡 (hú) meaning "beard, whiskers, recklessly, wildly, barbarian".
HUBER GermanOccupational name for a farmer, derived from Old High German
huoba "plot of land, farm".
HUDDLESTON EnglishFrom the name of a town in the Yorkshire region of England, which means "Hudel's town" in Old English.
HUDNALL EnglishFrom various English place names, derived from the Old English given name
Huda combined with
halh "nook, recess".
HUERTA SpanishMeans "garden, orchard" in Spanish, ultimately from Latin
hortus.
HUFF EnglishMeans "spur of a hill", from Old English
hoh.
HUMMEL (2) German, DutchNickname for a busy person, from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch
hommel, Middle High German
hummel, all meaning "bee".
HUNTER English, ScottishOccupational name that referred to someone who hunted for a living, from Old English
hunta.
HURST EnglishOriginally a name for a person who lived near a thicket of trees, from Old English
hyrst "thicket".
HUXLEY EnglishFrom the name of a town in Cheshire. The final element is Old English
leah "woodland, clearing", while the first element might be
hux "insult, scorn". A famous bearer was the British author Aldous Huxley (1894-1963).
HUXTABLE EnglishDerived from the name of an English place meaning "hook post", from Old English
hoc "hook" and
stapol "post".
HYLAND (1) EnglishTopographic name meaning "high land", from Old English
heah and
land.
IBSEN DanishMeans "son of
IB". A famous bearer was the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906).
IGLESIAS SpanishFrom Spanish
iglesia meaning "church", from Latin
ecclesia (of Greek origin).
INGERSLEBEN GermanFrom the name of the town of Ingersleben, Germany, which meant "Inge's village".
INGHAM EnglishFrom the name of an English town, of Old English origin meaning "
INGA's homestead".
INOUE JapaneseMeans "above the well", from Japanese
井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit", an unwritten possessive marker
の (no), and
上 (ue) meaning "above, top, upper".
IONESCO RomanianVariant of
IONESCU. French-Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco (1909-1994), born
Ionescu, is a famous bearer of this surname.
IORDANOU GreekFrom the name of the Jordan river, which is from Hebrew
יָרַד (yarad) meaning "descend" or "flow down".
IRVING Scottish, EnglishOriginally derived from a Scottish place name (in North Ayrshire) meaning "green water".
ITOU JapaneseFrom Japanese
伊 (i) meaning "this" and
藤 (tou) meaning "wisteria". The final character may indicate a connection to the Fujiwara clan.
ITURBURUA BasqueMeans "by the fountain" in Basque, from
iturri "fountain, spring".
IYER TamilReferred to a person belonging to the Iyer subcaste of the larger Brahmin caste. The Iyer subcaste is traditionally devoted to the God Vishnu.
JACKSON EnglishMeans "son of
JACK". Famous bearers of this name are the American president Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) and the singer Michael Jackson (1958-2009).
JÄGER GermanMeans "hunter" in German, from Old High German
jagon meaning "to hunt".
JAIN Indian, Hindi, Marathi, GujaratiReferred to a person who followed the principles of Jainism, a religion practiced in India. Jains are the followers of Lord Mahavira (599-527 BC).
JANKOWSKI PolishHabitational name for a person from a town named
Jankowo or
Janków, all derived from the given name
JANEK.
JANOWSKI PolishHabitational name for a person from a town named
Janowo,
Janów or
Janowice, all derived from the given name
JAN (1).
JANVIER FrenchEither from the given name
JANVIER or the French word
janvier meaning "January", perhaps indicating a person who was baptized in that month.
JÄRVINEN FinnishDerived from Finnish
järvi meaning "lake". It is one of the most common surnames in Finland.
JASKÓLSKI PolishOriginally indicated a person from various Polish towns named
Jaskółki, derived from Polish
jaskółka "swallow (bird)".
JASO BasqueDerived from Basque
jats meaning "sorghum", a type of cereal grass.
JEDLIČKA CzechDerived from Czech
jedle meaning "fir tree", perhaps given to a person who lived near a prominent one.
JEFFERS EnglishPatronymic from the given name
JEFFREY. A famous bearer was poet Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962).
JEHLIČKA CzechFrom Czech
jehla meaning "needle", most likely borne by tailors in reference to their occupation.
JEKYLL EnglishDerived from the Breton given name
JUDICAËL. This name was used by Robert Louis Stevenson for the character of Dr Henry Jekyll in the book 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' (1886).
JELEN CzechFrom a nickname meaning "stag" in Czech.