Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
HosnerGerman Occupational name for a knitter of hose (garments for the legs), from the plural form of Middle High German hose + the agent suffix -er (see Hose 3).
HosodaJapanese From 細 (hoso) meaning "fine, thin, slender, narrow" and 田 (ta) meaning "rice paddy, field".
HosodaJapanese From Japanese 細 (hoso) meaning "thin, fine, slender" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
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
HostetlerGerman The name itself comes from the word Hostet or Hochstatt meaning "high place". Thus Hostetler is someone living in a high place or on high ground.
HotalingEnglish (American) Americanized spelling of Dutch Hoogteijling, an indirect occupational name for a productive farmer, from hoogh ‘high’ + teling ‘cultivation’, ‘breeding’.
HotzGerman (Swiss), German Of debated origin and meaning; theories include a habitional name for someone from the Hotzenwald, a derivation from any given name containing the Germanic name element hadu "battle, combat" and a derivation from the verb hotzen "to swing, to sway, to tremble".
HoughEnglish English: habitational name from any of various places, for example in Cheshire and Derbyshire, so named from Old English hoh ‘spur of a hill’ (literally ‘heel’). This widespread surname is especially common in Lancashire... [more]
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]
HoujouJapanese From Japanese 北 (hou) meaning "north" and 條 or 条 (jou) meaning "article".
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-).
HouttemanFlemish (Dutchified) Flemish. Houtteman. Meaning: Woodsman. Our ancestors were wardens of the woods, protecting them for the king and royal family.
HovdaNorwegian Habitational name from the many farmsteads in Norway named Hovda. Derived from Old Norse hófði "rounded peak", itself derived from Old Norse hofuð "head".
HowarthEnglish "From a hedged estate", from Old English haga ("hedge, haw") and worð ("farm, estate"). Likely originating from the Yorkshire village of the same name. Common in Lancashire and recorded from at least 1518, as Howorthe, with an earlier version of Hauewrth in Gouerton dated 1317 recorded in the Neubotle charters.
HowcroftEnglish Means "enclosed field on a hill". Derived from the words haugr "hill", of Norse origin, and croft "enclosed field"
HowdyshellAmerican, German Americanized (i.e., Anglicized) form of the Swiss German Haudenschild, which originated as a nickname for a ferocious soldier, literally meaning "hack the shield" from Middle High German houwen "to chop or hack" (imperative houw) combined with den (accusative form of the definite article) and schilt "shield".
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.
HowlettEnglish The name Howlett was brought to England in the great wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. It comes from the Norman personal name Hugh. Howlett was a baptismal name which means the son of Hugh... [more]
HoxieEnglish They were first found in the settlement of Hawkshaw in the county of Lancashire. The surname Hoxie belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxon habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.
HoyEnglish Metonymic occupational name for a sailor, from Middle Dutch hoey "cargo ship".
HoyaSpanish is a habitational (local) name, taken on from any of several place names, such as from Hoyos in Cáceres province, or Hoyos in Ávila province. These place names come from the Spanish words "hoyo," meaning "pit," or "hole."
HøyerDanish A surname relatively common in Denmark, derived from the Old Norse word haugr, meaning "mound, cairn, hill". Alternatively, meaning can be traced back to the old Germanic personal name Hucger, a compound consisting of hug- "heart, mind, spirit" and geirr "spear".
HoylandEnglish, Norwegian English (South Yorkshire): habitational name from any of various places in South Yorkshire named with Old English hoh ‘hill spur’ + land ‘(cultivated) land’. ... [more]
HoyleWelsh, English Derived from Old English holh meaning "hole". It is thought to have originally been a name for someone who lived in a round hollow or near a pit.
HoytEnglish Generally a topographical name for someone who lived on a hill or other high ground. As such Hoyt is related to words such as heights or high. Hoyt is also possibly a nickname for a tall, thin person where the original meaning is said to be "long stick".
HrachGerman (Austrian, Rare), Czech (Rare) Originated in the Czech-speaking region of Bohemia in Austria, pre-1900. From Czech hrách, meaning "pea." Given either to a very short man or to a gardener.
HrdinaCzech, Slovak Hrdina is a Czech and Slovak surname meaning "hero". Two notable bearers are Jan Hrdina, and Jiří Hrdina, both are ice hockey players.
HubenGerman The roots of the distinguished German surname Huben lie in the kingdom of Bavaria. The name is derived from the Middle High German word "huober," meaning "owner of a patch of farmland." The term "Hube" was used to denote a 40-acre hide of farmland... [more]
HuberMaltese Not to be confused with the German surname.
HübschGerman Nickname from Middle High German hübesch 'courtly', 'polite', 'refined', 'agreeable', German hübsch.
HuckEnglish, Dutch From the medieval male personal name Hucke, which was probably descended from the Old English personal name Ucca or Hucca, perhaps a shortened form of Ūhtrǣd, literally "dawn-power".
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]
HuckabyEnglish Means "person from Huccaby", Devon (perhaps "crooked river-bend"), or "person from Uckerby", Yorkshire ("Úkyrri's or Útkári's farmstead").
HuckleberryEnglish From the name of the variety of shrubs (genus Vaccinium) or the berries that grow on them. This is also the anglicized form of the German surname Hackelberg.
HufnagelGerman Metonymic occupational name for a farrier from Middle High German hufnagel "horseshoe nail" (literally "hoof nail"). Derived from huof "hoof" and nagal "nail".
HugoFrench Victor Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He was also the writer of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' and 'Les Misérables'.
HuismanDutch Dutch cognate of Houseman. Famous bearers include actor Michiel Huisman (1981-), television host and musician Henny Huisman (1951-) and speed skater Sjoerd Huisman (1986-2013), all from the Netherlands.
HuitemaDutch The name is believed to come from the Dutch word 'hout', meaning wood. Thus, this was a name often given to woodcutters.
HulbertEnglish 1 English and German: from a Germanic personal name, Holbert, Hulbert, composed of the elements hold, huld ‘friendly’, ‘gracious’ + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’.... [more]
HulkeEnglish a nickname for a person who literally "towed" ships and barges
HullEstonian Hull is an Estonian surname meaning "loon" (Gavia).
HullerEnglish Topographical name for a 'dweller by a hill', deriving from the Old English pre 7th Century 'hyll' a hill, or in this instance 'atte hulle', at the hill.
HumbertGerman, Dutch, French From a Germanic personal name composed of the elements hun "Hun, giant" or hun "bear cub" and berht "bright, famous". This was particularly popular in the Netherlands and North Germany during the Middle Ages as a result of the fame of a 7th-century St... [more]
HumbleEnglish Nickname for a meek or lowly person, from Middle English, Old French (h)umble (Latin humilis "lowly", a derivative of humus "ground").
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.
HummerGerman, English Hummer is the German word for 'Lobster' in English. It is also the name of a vehicle- the 'Hummer'!
HumperdinckGerman (?), Literature From the German surname Humperdinck. As a surname it was born by the composer Engelbert Humperdinck. As a first name it was used for the villain Prince Humperdinck in William Goldman's novel The Princess Bride.
HunleyEnglish (American) English: variant of Hundley, which also has English origins (Worcestershire and Herefordshire): possibly a variant of Huntley or a habitational name from a lost Hundley, and Hanley.... [more]
HunnamEnglish Variant form of Hannam. A famous bearer is the English actor and screenwriter Charlie Hunnam (1980-).
HunsbergerGerman Habitational name for someone from a place called Hunsberg or Huntsberg.
HuntEstonian Hunt is an Estonian surname meaning "wolf".
HuntingtonEnglish English: habitational name from any of several places so called, named with the genitive plural huntena of Old English hunta ‘hunter’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’ or dun ‘hill’ (the forms in -ton and -don having become inextricably confused)... [more]
HuntleyEnglish, Scottish Habitational name from a place in Gloucestershire, so named from Old English hunta 'hunter' (perhaps a byname (see Hunt) + leah 'wood', 'clearing'). Scottish: habitational name from a lost place called Huntlie in Berwickshire (Borders), with the same etymology as in 1.
HuntressEnglish From huntress, referring to a female hunter.
HuntzingerGerman Habitational name for someone from Hintschingen, earlier Huntzingen.
HunyadiHungarian A name of a noble family of Hungary. The Regent John Hunyadi had this last name.
HuoChinese From Chinese 霍 (huò) referring to the ancient state of Huo, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now the city of Huozhou in Shanxi province.