Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
HelblingGerman (Swiss) Meaning "half penny" or a cheap /stingy man Know surname in Germany andSwitzerland. Helblings were French Huguenot
HeldGerman, Jewish, Dutch Means "hero" in German, ultimately derived from Middle High German helt. This name was bestowed upon a person either in its literal meaning or else in an ironic sense.
HeldeEstonian Helde is an Estonian surname meaning "big-hearted".
HelderDutch, German, Upper German, English 1. Dutch and German: from a Germanic personal name Halidher, composed of the elements haliò “hero” + hari, heri “army”, or from another personal name, Hildher, composed of the elements hild “strife”, “battle” + the same second element... [more]
HelferGerman Metonymic occupational name for an assistant of some kind, or nickname for a helpful person, from Middle High German hëlfære, German Helfer 'helper', 'assistant'.
HelgrindPopular Culture Helgrind is the surname of a King in the fictional series, "Mianite".
HelkEstonian Helk is an Estonian surname meaning "lustre" and "sparkle".
HellandNorwegian The Old Norse name element -land meaning "country, land" combined with either Old Norse hella "flat rock" or hellir "cave". ... [more]
HellatEstonian Hellat is an Estonian surname derived from "hellalt", meaning "affectionately".
HellbomSwedish From Swedish häll, a type of flat rock, and bom "barrier, boom".
HellenbrandGerman Derived from germanic: hildtja = battle, brandt = sword, or prandt = burning wood/torch. Other view: Hilda is the Nordic Queen of the Underworld, Goddes of Death, so Sword/Torch of Hilda.... [more]
HellerGerman Nickname from the small medieval coin known as the häller or heller, named for the city it was first minted (in 1208) at, Hall am Kocher (currently called Schwäbisch Hall).
HelmEnglish, Dutch, German 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)... [more]
HelmsleyEnglish This English habitational name originates with the North Yorkshire village of Helmsley, named with the Old English personal name Helm and leah, meaning 'clearing'.
HeloSyrian, Lebanese Helo is Americanized from the name Helou which means "sweet". Origin around year 1717 from El Helou. Tribal name from Helou Massive a mountain in the Syrian, later Lebanon country. Mentioned in the narratives of the first Crusade.
HelstromScandinavian From a place called Helstrom, meaning a house (or shelter) by a river, from the pre 7th century Olde Norse "hiamlr- straumr".
HelthonGothic "Unique" in Norse Mythology, German variant of Hilton
HeltonEnglish (American) Habitational name from Helton in Cumbria, named in Old English probably with helde "slope" and tun "farmstead, settlement", or possibly a variant of Hilton... [more]
HemingwayEnglish Probably from the name of an unidentified minor place near the village of Southowram in West Yorkshire, England, derived from the Old English given name Hemma combined with weg meaning "way, road, path"... [more]
HemsleyEnglish English: habitational name from either of two places in North Yorkshire called Helmsley. The names are of different etymologies: the one near Rievaulx Abbey is from the Old English personal name Helm + Old English leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’, whereas Upper Helmsley, near York, is from the Old English personal name Hemele + Old English eg ‘island’, and had the form Hemelsey till at least the 14th century
HemsworthEnglish Habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire, England, meaning "Hymel's enclosure".
HenaresSpanish Derived from the Celtic form of "brave". Also is the name of many towns (Alcala de Henares, Espinosa de Henares, Tortola de Henares...) and a river
HenceGerman, English, Welsh An American spelling variant of Hentz derived from a German nickname for Hans or Heinrich or from an English habitation name found in Staffordshire or Shropshire and meaning "road or path" in Welsh.
HendaiaBasque (Rare) From the name of a commune (Hendaye in French) in southwestern France, of uncertain etymology. Possibly from Basque handi "big, large, great" and ibi "ford" or ibai "river", though this structure would not be grammatically correct... [more]
HengstGerman, Dutch metonymic occupational name for someone who worked with or bred horses or a nickname for a brave strong man from Middle High German and Middle Dutch hengest "stallion" also "gelding" derived from Old Germanic hangist "stallion"... [more]
HenleyEnglish, Irish, German (Anglicized) English: habitational name from any of the various places so called. Most, for example those in Oxfordshire, Suffolk, and Warwickshire, are named with Old English héan (the weak dative case of heah ‘high’, originally used after a preposition and article) + Old English leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’... [more]
HensleyEnglish Probably a habitational name from either of two places in Devon: Hensley in East Worlington, which is named with the Old English personal name Heahmund and Old English leah "(woodland) clearing", or Hensleigh in Tiverton, which is named from Old English hengest "stallion" (or the Old English personal name Hengest) and leah... [more]
HenvilleWelsh Derived from the name of an ancestor meaning "Son of Anwyl"
HenwoodEnglish Habitational name from any of various places so named, as for example Henwood in Cornwall, in Linkinhorne parish, which is named from Old English henn 'hen', 'wild bird' + wudu 'wood', or Hen Wood in Wootton, Oxfordshire
HenzaOkinawan (Rare) From Okinawan 平安座 (Henza) meaning "Henza", an island in the city of Uruma in the prefecture of Okinawa in Japan.
HerbarthGerman, Norman References Old Norse Deity "Odin" being one of the "Son's of Odin". Remember that the Geats became the Ostrogoths through the Denmark pass--referenced in Beowulf. Or, it means "Warrior of the Bearded One", perhaps a King... [more]
HerbolsheimerGerman Habitational name for someone from either of two places called Herbolzheim, in Baden and Bavaria.
HerbstGerman, Jewish Nickname from Middle High German herbest "harvest". The modern German word herbst has come to mean "fall" the time of year when the harvest takes place... [more]
HerbsterGerman Occupational name for a grape picker or vintner from Middle High German herbest "(grape) harvest".
HercigonjaCroatian Derived from Herzogin, a German title meaning "duchess".
HerdDutch Comes from Middle Dutch hert, herte ‘hart’, ‘stag’; probably a nickname for someone who was fleet of foot, or a habitational name for someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of a deer; variant of Heard.
HerderGerman An occupational surname in reference to herding animals. The anglicized pronounciation is "Her-der", but is Germanically pronounced, "Herr-der".
HerediaSpanish Habitational name from any of various places in Basque Country called Heredia, probably derived from Latin heredium meaning "hereditary estate".
HerefordEnglish Habitational name from Hereford in Herefordshire, or Harford in Devon and Goucestershire, all named from Old English here "army" + ford "ford".
HeringhSlovak Heringh, no history known, people having these surnames in Slovakia belong to the same family, very untypical for this region - Slovakia in the middle of Europe.
HeritageEnglish (Rare) English status name for someone who inherited land from an ancestor, rather than by feudal gift from an overlord, from Middle English, Old French (h)eritage ‘inherited property’ (Late Latin heritagium, from heres ‘heir’).
HermèsFrench Either a topographic name for someone who lived in a deserted spot or on a patch of waste land from Occitan erm "desert waste" (from Greek erēmia) and the topographic suffix -ès, or from the given name Hermès.
HerndonEnglish Habitational name from a lost or unidentified place, possibly derived from Old English hyrne "corner, angle, nook" and dun "hill, mountain". Alternatively, it could derive from an older form of the toponym Harrowden, composed of hearg "temple, altar, pile of stones" and dun "hill".
HernerGerman Denoted someone hailing from the city Herne in Germany.
HernesEstonian Hernes is an Estonian surname meaning "pea".
HeroldEnglish, Dutch, German From the given name Herold. This was the surname of David Herold, one of the conspirators in the Abraham Lincoln assassination plot.
HeronFrench, Caribbean Either derived from the given name Heron, or given to someone who resembled a heron bird.
HerrickIrish Anglicized form of Irish Ó hEirc "descendant of Erc", a byname meaning "speckled, spotted".
HerridgeEnglish habitational name from Herridges in Pauntley (Gloucestershire) or Highridge in King's Nympton (Devon). The Gloucestershire placename may derive from Old English hæg "fence enclosure" and hrycg "ridge" or while the Devon placename comes from an uncertain initial element and Old English hrycg.
HerringGerman, English, Dutch, Scottish Occupational name for a fisherman, someone who caught or sold herring, or perhaps someone known for eating herring. It could have also been a nickname from the medieval phrase "to like neither herring nor barrel", meaning something of little value.
HerringtonEnglish habitational name from Herrington in County Durham, England
HerrmanGerman Herrman is of ancient German origin. It is derived from a Germanic personal name made up of the elements heri meaning "army," and man meaning "man." Herrman was first found in Prussia, where the name emerged in medieval times as one of the notable families of the region.
HerschbachGerman From the name of two municipalities in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. A notable bearer is the American chemist Dudley R. Herschbach (1932-).
HertzelGerman The ancestral home of the Hertzel family is in the German province of Bavaria. Hertzel is a German nickname surname. Such names came from eke-names, or added names, that described their initial bearer through reference to a physical characteristic or other attribute... [more]
HervéFrench, Breton From the Breton given name Hervé or from the ancient Germanic personal name Hariwig, composed of the elements hari "army" and wig "battle"... [more]
HerzlGerman, Jewish Variant of Hertz. It was notably borne by the Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, writer and political activist Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), who is considered the founder of the modern Zionist movement.
HessGerman Habitational name from Hesse, a German state. It can also derive from the personal name Hesso, a short form of Matthäus, Hendrick, or a name containing the element hadu "battle, strife".
HestonEnglish, Irish Derived from Heston, a suburban area in West London (historically in Middlesex), or Histon, a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. It is either named with Old English hǣs meaning "brushwood" and tūn meaning "farmstead, settlement, estate", or from hyse "shoot, tendril, son, youth" and tūn... [more]
HettiarachchiSinhalese From Sinhala හෙට්ටි (hetti) referring to the Chetty caste (primarily composed of merchants and traders) combined with the colonial-era title ආරච්චි (arachchi) used to denote a village headman or leader.