HelmeyerGerman, Dutch, Danish Derived from Middle Dutch meier "bailiff, steward; tenant farmer" and an uncertain first element.
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'.
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]
HerbsterGerman Occupational name for a grape picker or vintner from Middle High German herbest "(grape) harvest".
HerefordEnglish Habitational name from Hereford in Herefordshire, or Harford in Devon and Goucestershire, all named from Old English here "army" + ford "ford".
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’).
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.
HershlagJewish, Yiddish This is the original surname of Israeli-born American actress Natalie Portman (1981-), birth name Neta-Lee Hershlag.
HeureauxFrench (Caribbean) Possibly from French heureux "happy, lucky, good", denoting a happy person. Ulises Heureaux (1845-1899) was the 22nd, 26th, and 27th president of the Dominican Republic
HiemstraWest Frisian, Dutch Derived from West Frisian hiem "home" or the related Dutch Low Saxon hiem "farmstead, homestead" combined with the habitational suffix -stra.
HietamaaFinnish Finnish. (hieta) meaning, “fine-sand” combined with (maa) meaning, “country.”
HiiekiviEstonian Hiiekivi is an Estonia surname, derived from the pre-Christian "hiie", a sacred location, and "kivi" meaning "stone".
HiielaidEstonian Hiielaid is an Estonian surname meaning "grove islet".
HiieleppEstonian Hiielepp is an Estonian surname derived from "hiis" (a sacred grove) alder".
HiiemetsEstonian Hiiemets is an Estonian surname meaning "sacred grove forest".
HiiesaluEstonian Hiiesalu is an Estonian surname derived from the pre-Christian "hiie" (a sacred location), and "salu" ("grove").
HijikataJapanese From 泥 (hiji) meaning "mud, mire," more often written as 土, from tsuchi meaning "earth, soil, dirt, mud," and 方 (kata) meaning "direction, way" or, more rarely, 片 (kata) meaning "one (of a pair); incomplete, fragmentary" (cognate with 方).... [more]
HildrethNorman English (Durham): of Norman origin, a variant of the male personal name Hildred (ancient Germanic Hild(i)rad, from hild 'battle' and rād 'counsel'). German: from the ancient Germanic personal name composed of hild 'fight, battle' + rāt 'counsel'.
HilevichBelarusian Derived from the Belarusian word гіль (hiĺ) meaning "bullfinch" (a name given to two groups of passerine birds) in Belarusian.
HilfikerGerman (Swiss) Altered spelling of Hilfinger, patronymic derivative of the personal name Hilfo, Helfo, a short form of a Germanic personal name based on helfe 'helper'.
HillegasGerman German: Variant of Hillegass from a variant of the Germanic personal name Hildegaud, composed of hild ‘strife’, ‘battle’ + got, of uncertain meaning (perhaps the same word as Goth).
HillfairUkrainian A fair someone. One who does a fair thing. Hill is which lives on a hill, other meanings of a fine hill, good for agriculture, hillfair as a fair hill.
HilliardEnglish English: from the Norman female personal name Hildiarde, Hildegard, composed of the Germanic elements hild ‘strife’, ‘battle’ + gard ‘fortress’, ‘stronghold’... [more]
HillikerGerman The last name of Dance Moms star, Kalani Hilliker.
HinckleyEnglish From the name of a place in Leicestershire meaning "Hynca's wood", from the Old English byname Hynca, derivative of hún "bear cub", and leah "woodland, clearing".
HingstonEnglish From any of several towns named Hinxton or Hingston, varyingly meaning "Hengist’s hill" (from hengest "stallion" and dun "hill, mountain") or "hind’s stone" (from hind "female deer" and stan "stone").
HintzellGerman (Rare) Variant from name Hintz which was popular in Saxony and Hessen. Name later used in German Prussia. The name Hintz originates as a short form of the personal name Heinrich.
HisaishiJapanese Hisa means "long time ago, lasting" and ishi means "stone".
HisamaruJapanese Hisa means "long time, long time ago, longetivity" and maru means "circle, round".
HisamotoJapanese From Japanese 久 (hisa) meaning "long time ago" and 本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin".
HisamuraJapanese From Japanese 久 (hisa) meaning "long time ago" and 村 (mura) meaning "town, village".
HisanagaJapanese From Japanese 久 (hisa) meaning "long time ago" and 永 (naga) meaning "perpetual, eternal".
HisatomiJapanese Hisa means "long time ago" and tomi means "wealth, abundance".
HisatomiJapanese From Japanese 久 (hisa) meaning "long time ago" and 富 or 冨 (tomi) meaning "wealth, abundance".
HisazomeJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 久 (hisa) meaning "long time" and 染 (zome), the joining continuative form of 染める (someru) meaning "to dye", referring to the process of dying for a long time.
HitchensEnglish The name Hitchens has a rich and ancient history. It is an Anglo-Saxon name that was originally derived from the baptismal name Richard. As the naming tradition grew in Europe baptismal names began to be introduced in many countries.
HoaglandAmerican American form of Scandinavian topographical surnames, such as Swedish Högland or Norwegian Haugland, both essentially meaning "high land".
HofstedeDutch Means "farmstead, property; farmhouse with land" in Dutch, a compound of Old Dutch hof "yard, court" and stat "place, location, abode, town".
HolbrookEnglish, German (Anglicized) English: habitational name from any of various places, for example in Derbyshire, Dorset, and Suffolk, so called from Old English hol ‘hollow’, ‘sunken’ + broc ‘stream’. ... [more]
HolladayEnglish English: from Old English haligdæg ‘holy day’, ‘religious festival’. The reasons why this word should have become a surname are not clear; probably it was used as a byname for one born on a religious festival day.
HollidayScottish An ancient Scottish name that was first used by the Strathclyde-Briton people of the Scottish/English Borderlands. It is a name for someone who lived near the mountain called Holy Day in the country of Annandale.
HolsteinGerman habitational name from the province of Holstein long disputed between Germany and Denmark. This gets its name from holsten the dative plural originally used after a preposition of holst from Middle Low German holt-sate "dweller in the woods" (from Middle Low German holt "wood" and satesete "tenant")... [more]
HolthausGerman North German: topographic name for someone who lived by a copse (a small group of trees), from Middle Low German holt ‘small wood’ + haus ‘house’.
HolzbergGerman Habitational name from any of various places called Holzberg for example in Hesse and Silesia.
HolzheimGerman The meaning of Holzheim is " wood home". Holz=wood and heim=home. ... [more]
HolzklauGerman From Middle High German holz ‘wood’ + a derivative of klūben ‘to pick up, gather, steal’. It means "wood thief" but it was probably more likely used as nickname for someone who gathered wood
HoneckerGerman Erich Honecker was the leader of the GDR from 1971 to 1989.
HoneggerSwiss Arthur Honegger (10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer, and a member of Les Six, a group of composers associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie. His most famous work is "Pacific 231".
HornæusSwedish (Archaic) Probably a latinization of Härnösand, a city in Västernorrland County, Sweden. A notable bearer was Swedish priest Laurentius (Lars) Christophori Hornæus (born as Lars Christoffersson in 1645 in Härnösand)... [more]
HoromonaMoriori This was not only a last name but a first name. This was one of the last names of the last full blooded Moriori named Tame Horomona Rehe (Tommy Solomon).
HoseasonEnglish Means "son of Hosea", a personal name that was originally probably Osie, a pet-form of Oswald, but came to be associated with the biblical personal name Hosea.
HoseasonEnglish The roots of the Hoseason family name are in ancient Scotland with the Viking settlers. Hoseason was derived from the name Aassi, which is a Old Norse form of the Old English personal name Oswald, which means divine power... [more]
HoseasonEnglish The roots of the Hoseason family name are in ancient Scotland with the Viking settlers. Hoseason was derived from the name Aassi, which is a Old Norse form of the Old English personal name Oswald, which means divine power... [more]
HosodakiJapanese (Rare) Hoso (細) means "fine/thin", Daki (滝) means "waterfall". Daki is a variant of Taki and it changed the T to D due to rendaku. See also Hosotaki
HotoharaJapanese From 蛍 (hoto, hotaru) meaning "firefly" and 原 (hara) meaning "plain, field".
HoughtonEnglish English habitational name from any of the various places so called. The majority, with examples in at least fourteen counties, get the name from Old English hoh ‘ridge’, ‘spur’ (literally ‘heel’) + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’... [more]
HousemanEnglish Referred to a man who lived or worked in a house, as opposed to a smaller hut (see House). Famous bearers of this name include Romanian-British-American actor John Houseman (1902-1988; real name Jacques Haussmann), Argentine soccer player René Houseman (1953-2018) and Canadian actor Tyson Houseman (1990-).
HowladerBengali From a Bengali word meaning "land owner", itself derived from Arabic حول (hawl) meaning "power, might, strength" and the Persian suffix دار (dar) indicating ownership.
HradeckýmCzech Hradecký refers to someone from the city of Hradec Králové in the Czech Republic. A famous bearer is Finnish-Slovak soccer goalkeeper Lukáš Hradecký (1989-).
HuckabeeEnglish This surname originated as a habitational name, derived from Huccaby in Devon, England; this place name is derived from two Old English elements: the first, woh, meaning "crooked"; the second, byge, meaning "river bend".... [more]
HudspethEnglish English (northeastern counties): unexplained. Compare Hedgepeth.
HufnagelGerman Metonymic occupational name for a farrier from Middle High German hufnagel "horseshoe nail" (literally "hoof nail"). Derived from huof "hoof" and nagal "nail".
HuguenotFrench Meaning uncertain. It could be denoted as a French Protestant who held the Reformed tradition of Protestantism, possibly derived from Middle French eiguenot "Swiss confederate", from Swiss republican Besançon Hugues, or a diminutive form of Hugues, from the same person... [more]
HuidobroSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the Castilian municipality of Los Altos.
HuizingaWest Frisian, Dutch Habitational name from Huizinge, a town in Groningen, Netherlands, possibly derived from Old Frisian hūs "house" and dinge "newly cultivated lands"... [more]
HumboldtGerman (?) Derived from the Germanic given name Hunibald. Notable bearers of this surname were Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), a Prussian naturalist, geographer, explorer and polymath, and his brother Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835), a linguist, philosopher and diplomat.
HusemannGerman Epithet for a servant or an administrator who worked at a great house, from Middle Low German hus ‘house’ (see House 1, Huse) + man ‘man’.
IbarguenBasque Proper, non-Castilianized form of Ibargüen; it indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the municipality of Zeanuri.
IbbotsonEnglish Diminutive form ("son of" or little) of Hibbs, itself a patronymic, from a diminutive of Hibbert, which derives from a Norman personal name, "Hil(de)bert", composed of the Germanic elements "hild", battle, and "berht" famous.