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.
HollandsworthEnglish (British, Rare) Possibly an alternative spelling of Hollingsworth. Likely named after the town of Holisurde(1000s AD)/Holinewurth(1200s)/Hollingworth(Present) The town's name means "holly enclosure"
HolleyEnglish English (chiefly Yorkshire) topographic name from Middle English holing, holi(e) ‘holly tree’. Compare Hollen.
HollierEnglish, French Occupational name for a male brothel keeper, from a dissimilated variant of Old French horier "pimp", which was the agent noun of hore "whore, prostitute". Hollier was probably also used as an abusive nickname in Middle English and Old French.... [more]
HollifieldEnglish habitational name from a minor place called as "the holy field" (Old English holegn "holy" and feld "open country") perhaps Holyfield in Waltham Holy Cross (Essex) or less likely for linguistic reasons Hellifield (Yorkshire).
HollingsheadEnglish Habitational name from a lost place in County Durham called Hollingside or Holmside, from Old English hole(g)n "holly" and sīde "hillside, slope"; there is a Hollingside Lane on the southern outskirts of Durham city... [more]
HollingworthEnglish Habitational name for a person from the village in Greater Manchester and other villages as such, all derived from Old English holen "holly" and worþ "enclosure". Leta Stetter Hollingworth (1886-1939) was an American psychologist, educator, and feminist.
HollisEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived where holly trees grew.
HollisterEnglish English: occupational name for a brothelkeeper; originally a feminine form of Hollier.
HolloboneEnglish Common surname in the southeast England, predominantly Sussex
HollywoodEnglish Habitational name from any of various farms or hamlets in England called Hollywood such as one in Sandon and Burston (Staffordshire) perhaps named with Middle English holegn "holly" and wudu "wood".
HolmanEnglish Uncertain etymology. Could be a topographic name derived from Old English holh "hollow, hole" or holm, which can mean either "holly" or "small island" (see Holme), combined with man "man, person"... [more]
HolterEnglish, German, Norwegian Derived from English holt meaning "small wood". A topographic name for someone who lived near a small wooden area, as well as a habitational name from a place named with that element.
HolyfieldEnglish, Scottish Although the Scottish surname is known to derive from the Medieval Latin word "olifantus," meaning "elephant," its origins as a surname are quite uncertain. ... He was one of the many Anglo-Norman nobles that were invited northward by the early Norman kings of Scotland.
HolyoakEnglish Habitational name from Holy Oakes (Leicestershire) or else a topographic name from residence near a "holy oak" (or "gospel oak") from Middle English holy "holy" and oke "oak" (from Old English halig and ac).
HoneyballEnglish From Honeyball, a medieval personal name of uncertain origin: perhaps an alteration of Annabel, or alternatively from a Germanic compound name meaning literally "bear-cub brave" (i.e. deriving from the elements hun "warrior, bear cub" and bald "bold, brave").
HoodEnglish, Scottish, Irish English and Scottish: metonymic occupational name for a maker of hoods or a nickname for someone who wore a distinctive hood, from Middle English hod(de), hood, hud ‘hood’. Some early examples with prepositions seem to be topographic names, referring to a place where there was a hood-shaped hill or a natural shelter or overhang, providing protection from the elements... [more]
HookEnglish This surname is derived from a geographical locality. "at the hook," from residence in the bend or sudden turn of a lane or valley.
HornbyEnglish A habitational name from locations called Hornby in northern England, though predominantly associated with Lancashire. Derived from the Norse horni meaning "horn" and býr meaning "farm" or "settlement".
HornerEnglish 1 English, Scottish, German, and Dutch: from Horn 1 with the agent suffix -er; an occupational name for someone who made or sold small articles made of horn, a metonymic occupational name for someone who played a musical instrument made from the horn of an animal, or a topographic name for someone who lived at a ‘horn’ of land.... [more]
HornsbyEnglish A habitational name from Cumbria, derived from the Norse Ormr meaning "serpent" and býr meaning "farm". Similar in form to Hornby, Hornsby is a widespread surname in northern England.
HorntonEnglish (Rare, Archaic) Derived from the surname Horton or perhaps used to describe a horn maker meaning “maker of horns.”
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]
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]
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-).
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".
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]
HowleyEnglish, Irish English habitational name from Howley in Warrington (Lancashire) or Howley in Morley (Yorkshire). The Lancashire name also appears as Hooley and Wholey while the Yorkshire placename comes from Old English hofe "ground ivy... [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.
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".
HubbleEnglish From the Norman personal name Hubald, composed of the Germanic elements hug "heart, mind, spirit" and bald "bold, brave".
HuckEnglish From the medieval personal name Hucke, which was probably descended from the Old English personal name Ucca or Hucca, perhaps a shortened form of Uhtræd influenced by a medieval form of Hugh... [more]
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.
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
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.
HungateEnglish A habitational name from Old English hund,'hound', and Old Norse gata, 'gate'.
HungerfordEnglish From the name of a settlement in Berkshire, England, derived from Old English hungor "hunger, famine" and ford "ford, river crossing".
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-).
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.
HusseyEnglish, Irish As an English surname, it comes from two distinct sources. It is either of Norman origin, derived from Houssaye, the name of an area in Seine-Maritime which ultimately derives from Old French hous "holly"; or it is from a Middle English nickname given to a woman who was the mistress of a household, from an alteration of husewif "housewife"... [more]
HussieEnglish, Irish Variant of Hussey. A notable bearer is American webcomic author/artist Andrew Hussie (1979-).
HutchEnglish From the medieval personal name Huche, a pet form of Hugh.
HuttonEnglish, Scottish Scottish and northern English habitational name from any of the numerous places so called from Old English hoh ‘ridge’, ‘spur’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’.
HuxEnglish Means "insult, scorn" in Old English. This is used in Popular Culture by First Order General Armitage Hux, played by Domhnall Gleeson in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
HuxfordEnglish Habitational name from a place in Devon called Huxford (preserved in the name of Huxford Farm), from the Old English personal name Hōcc or the Old English word hōc ‘hook or angle of land’ + ford ‘ford’.
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.
IddendenEnglish (Rare) Iden as a village name is to be found in both the counties of Kent and Sussex, and describes a pasture, or strictly speaking an area within a marsh suitable for pasture. The origination is the pre 6th century phrase ig-denn with ig meaning an island... [more]
IddonEnglish From the Old Norse female personal name Idunn, literally probably "perform love" (cf. Idony).
IdenEnglish Habitational name from a place called Iden Green in Benenden, Kent, or Iden Manor in Staplehurst, Kent, or from Iden in East Sussex. All these places are named in Old English as meaning "pasture by the yew trees", from ig meaning "yew" + denn meaning "pasture".
IlesEnglish (British), French English (mainly Somerset and Gloucestershire): topographic name from Anglo-Norman French isle ‘island’ (Latin insula) or a habitational name from a place in England or northern France named with this element.
ImpeyEnglish From Impey, the name of various places in England, derived from Old English *imphaga, *imphæg "sapling enclosure". Alternatively it could have indicated a person who lived near an enclosure of young trees.
InchbaldEnglish From the medieval male personal name Ingebald, brought into England by the Normans but ultimately of Germanic origin and meaning literally "brave Ingel" (Ingel was a different form of Engel - a shortened form of various Germanic compound personal names (e.g. Engelbert and Engelhard) that begin with Engel-; the two main sources of that were Angel "Angle" (the name of the Germanic people) and Ingal, an extended form of Ing (the name of a Germanic god)).
IndEnglish (?) Meaning deweller at the end of a villiage (Gypsy)
IngEnglish From the name of a former district in Essex, possibly derived from Old English ing "meadow, water meadow", or from ge "district, region" combined with the suffix -ing. Alternatively, it could derive from the given name Inge.
InglestonEnglish (British) Ingleston is an exceptionally rare surname and seems to be posessed by a single family who much grew larger in the 19th century. ... [more]
InglisEnglish (British), Scottish Originates from the Scots word for English as in a person of English origin. Around 1395 after a dual, the family name became connected to the Scottish clan Douglas as a sept, or a follower, of the clan... [more]
IngoldsbyEnglish Habitational name from Ingoldsby in Lincolnshire, named from the Old Norse personal name Ingjaldr + bý meaning "farmstead", "settlement".
InmanEnglish (British) Anglo-Saxon in Origin. Occupational surname given to a person who "tended a lodge or an inn". Surname first found in Lancashire, England.
IrelandEnglish, Scottish Ethnic name for someone from Ireland, Old English Iraland. The country gets its name from the genitive case of Old English Iras "Irishmen" and land "land". The stem Ir- is taken from the Celtic name for Ireland, Èriu, earlier Everiu... [more]
IretonEnglish Habitational name from either of two places in Derbyshire called Ireton, or one in North Yorkshire called Irton. All of these are named from the genitive case of Old Norse Íri ‘Irishmen’ (see Ireland) + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’.... [more]
IronmongerEnglish From Middle English ire(n)mongere, er(n)mongere meaning "ironmonger; dealer in household goods".
IronsEnglish English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Airaines in Somme, so named from Latin harenas (accusative case) ‘sands’. The form of the name has been altered as a result of folk etymology, an association of the name with the metal... [more]
IronsideEnglish Possibly from Middle English irenside (Old English iren ‘iron’ + side ‘side’), a nickname for an iron-clad warrior.
IshamEnglish The name of a village in Northamptonshire, England from the Celtic name of a local river Ise and the Anglo-Saxon term for a small settlement or homestead -ham.