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GROSVENOR EnglishEnglish surname of Norman origin meaning ‘the master huntsman’. Derived from Le Grand Veneur, this title was held by Hugh d'Avranches who accompanied William the Conqueror in the Norman invasion of England in 1066.
GROVE EnglishName for someone who lived by a grove or thicket, Middle English
grove, Old English
graf.
GRUNDY EnglishProbably a Middle English metathesized form of the Old French personal name
Gondri,
Gundric (see
Gundry).
GRYLLS English (Rare)There was an old and distinguished family of Grylls of Tavistock (Devon) and Lanreath (Cornwall) in the 17th century; two high sheriffs of the county then bore the name. The manor of Gryils (commonly mispronounced Garles), near the rocks called the Gryils or Garles, from which they probably derive their name, is in the parish of Lesneweth in that county.
GUDGEON Englishfrom Middle English gojon, gogen, Old French gougon ‘gudgeon’ (the fish) (Latin gobio, genitive gobionis), applied as a nickname or perhaps as a metonymic occupational name for a seller of these fish...
[more] GUEST EnglishNickname for a stranger or newcomer to a community, from Middle English g(h)est meaning "guest", "visitor" (from Old Norse gestr, absorbing the cognate Old English giest).
GULLICK EnglishFrom the Middle English personal name
Gullake, a descendant of Old English
Gūthlāc, literally "battle-sport".
GULLIVER EnglishFrom a medieval nickname for a greedy person (from Old French
goulafre "glutton"). Jonathan Swift used it in his satire 'Gulliver's Travels' (1726), about the shipwrecked ship's surgeon Lemuel Gulliver, whose adventures "offer opportunities for a wide-ranging and often savage lampooning of human stupidity and vice."
GUMM EnglishFrom a nickname or byname from Middle English
gome, Old English
guma "man".
GUNDRY EnglishFrom
Gondri,
Gundric, an Old French personal name introduced to Britain by the Normans, composed of the Germanic elements
gund "battle" and
rīc "power(ful)".
GUPPY EnglishEnglish habitational name from a place in Wootton Fitzpaine, Dorset, Gupehegh in Middle English. This is named with the Old English personal name
Guppa (a short form of
Guðbeorht "battle bright") + (ge)
hæg "enclosure"...
[more] GUY EnglishOccupational name for a guide, Old French
gui (a derivative of
gui(d)er "to guide", of Germanic origin).
GUY English, FrenchFrom a French form of the Germanic personal name
Wido, which is of uncertain origin. This name was popular among the Normans in the forms
Wi,
Why as well as in the rest of France in the form
Guy.
HACKNEY English, ScottishHabitational name from Hackney in Greater London, named from an Old English personal name
Haca (genitive
Hacan) combined with
ēg "island, dry ground in marshland".
HACKNEY English, ScottishFrom Middle English
hakenei (Old French
haquenée), an ambling horse, especially one considered suitable for women to ride; perhaps therefore a metonymic occupational name for a stablehand...
[more] HADDON EnglishDerived from the Old English word had meaning "heathland" and the Old English suffix -don meaning "hill"; hence, the "heathland hill" or the "heather-covered hill"....
[more] HADLEY EnglishA habitational name from either a place named Hadley, or a place named Hadleigh. The first is named from the Old English personal name
Hadda +
lēah (means ‘wood’, ‘(woodland) clearing’), and the other three are from Old English
hǣð (meaning ‘heathland’, ‘heather') +
lēah.
HAILES Scottish, EnglishScottish habitational name from Hailes in Lothian, originally in East Lothian, named from the Middle English genitive or plural form of
hall ‘hall’. ...
[more] HAIRFIELD EnglishProbably a variant of Harefield, a habitational name from a place so named, for example the one Greater London or Harefield in Selling, Kent, which are both apparently named from Old English here ‘army’ + feld ‘open country’.
HALLEY EnglishLocation name combining the elements
hall as in "large house" and
lee meaning "field or clearing."
HALLIWELL EnglishNorthern English (Lancashire) habitational name from a place near Manchester called Halliwell, from Old English
halig ‘holy’ +
well(a) ‘well’, ‘spring’, or from any of the numerous other places named with these elements (see
Hollowell).
HALLMARK EnglishFrom Middle English halfmark ‘half a mark’, probably a nickname or status name for someone who paid this sum in rent.
HALLOW EnglishEnglish: topographic name from Middle English
hal(l)owes ‘nooks’, ‘hollows’, from Old English
halh (see
Hale). In some cases the name may be genitive, rather than plural, in form, with the sense ‘relative or servant of the dweller in the nook’.
HALLOWELL EnglishThe ancestors of the name Hallowell date back to the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Hallowell family lived near a holy spring having derived from the Old English terms
halli, which meant "holy", and
welle, which meant "spring".
HALLWELL EnglishRelated to Halliwell, this surname means "Lives by the Holy Spring"
HALPRIN EnglishHalprin is the last name of the main character the book called Ashfall by Mike Mullin.
HAM English, German, Scottish, Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxon meaning the home stead, many places in England. One who came from Hamm in North-Rhine Westphalia, or one who came from Ham in Caithness Scotland's most northerly county. In Scotland this surname devires from the Norse word "Hami", meaning homestead.
HAMER English, GermanFrom the town of Hamer in Lancashire from the old english word
Hamor combining "Rock" and "Crag". It is also used in Germany and other places in Europe, possibly meaning a maker of Hammers.
HAMILL EnglishNickname for a scarred or maimed person, from Middle English, Old English
hamel "mutilated", "crooked".
HAMLIN EnglishFrom an Old English word meaning "home" or "homestead" and a diminutive suffix
-lin.
HAMMER German, English, JewishFrom Middle High German
hamer, Yiddish
hamer, a metonymic occupational name for a maker or user of hammers, for example in a forge, or nickname for a forceful person.
HANNAM EnglishHabitational name from a place called Hanham in Gloucestershire, which was originally Old English Hānum, dative plural of hān ‘rock’, hence ‘(place) at the rocks’. The ending -ham is by analogy with other place names with this very common unstressed ending.
HARBIN EnglishThis surname is of Anglo-Saxon origins, and is derived from the personal names Rabin, Robin, and Robert. It has the English prefix 'har', which means gray....
[more] HARBOUR EnglishVariant of French
Arbour or a metonymic occupational name for a keeper of a lodging house, from Old English
herebeorg "shelter, lodging".
HARKAWAY EnglishFrom a sporting phrase used to guide and incite hunting dogs.
HARKER English (British)English (mainly northeastern England and West Yorkshire): habitational name from either of two places in Cumbria, or from one in the parish of Halsall, near Ormskirk, Lancashire. The Cumbrian places are probably named from Middle English hart ‘male deer’ + kerr ‘marshland’...
[more] HARKNESS Scottish, English (British), Northern IrishApparently a habitational name from an unidentified place (perhaps in the area of Annandale, with which the surname is connected in early records), probably so called from the Old English personal name
Hereca (a derivative of the various compound names with the first element
here ‘army’) + Old English
næss ‘headland’, ‘cape’...
[more] HARLESS English, GermanEnglish: probably a variant spelling of
Arliss, a nickname from Middle English
earles ‘earless’, probably denoting someone who was deaf rather than one literally without ears.
HARLIN EnglishEnglish surname transferred to forename use, from the Norman French personal name
Herluin, meaning "noble friend" or "noble warrior."
HARMER English (British)Meaning, of the Army or man of Armor, from the battle at Normandy, France. It was formerly a French last name Haremere after the battle at Normandy it moved on to England where it was shortened to Harmer.
HAROLD English, Norman, GermanEnglish from the Old English personal name
Hereweald, its Old Norse equivalent
Haraldr, or the Continental form
Herold introduced to Britain by the Normans. These all go back to a Germanic personal name composed of the elements
heri,
hari ‘army’ +
wald ‘rule’, which is attested in Europe from an early date; the Roman historian
Tacitus records a certain
Cariovalda, chief of the Germanic tribe of the Batavi, as early as the 1st century ad...
[more] HARROW EnglishMeans "person from Harrow", the district of northwest Greater London, or various places of the same name in Scotland ("heathen shrine").
HARTFORD EnglishHabitational name from Hertford, or from either of two places called Hartford, in Cheshire and Cumbria; all are named with Old English heorot ‘hart’ + ford ‘ford’.
HARTLEY English, ScottishDerived from the Old English words meaning
heorot meaning "hart" and
leah meaning "clearing". Also from Scottish
Ó hArtghaile meaning "descendant of Artghal".
Hartley is also an English given name.
HARTON EnglishThis surname is a habitational one, denoting someone who lived in a village in County Durham or in North Yorkshire....
[more] HARTWELL EnglishHabitational name from places in Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, and Staffordshire called Hartwell, from Old English
heorot ‘stag’, ‘hart’ +
wella ‘spring’, ‘stream’...
[more] HARVARD EnglishFrom the Old English given name
Hereweard, composed of the elements
here "army" and
weard "guard", which was borne by an 11th-century thane of Lincolnshire, leader of resistance to the advancing Normans...
[more] HARWOOD English, ScotsHabitation name found especially along the border areas of England and Scotland, from the Old English elements
har meaning "gray" or
hara referring to the animals called "hares" plus
wudu for "wood"...
[more] HASLEY EnglishHabitational name of uncertain origin. The surname is common in London, and may be derived from Alsa (formerly Assey) in Stanstead Mountfitchet, Essex (recorded as Alsiesheye in 1268). nother possible source is Halsway in Somerset, named from Old English
hals ‘neck’ +
weg ‘way’, ‘road’.
HASSALL EnglishMeans "person from Hassall", Cheshire ("witch's corner of land").
HASTINGS English, ScottishHabitational name from Hastings, a place in Sussex, on the south coast of England, near which the English army was defeated by the Normans in 1066. It is named from Old English
H?stingas ‘people of H?sta’...
[more] HATCH EnglishEnglish (mainly Hampshire and Berkshire): topographic name from Middle English hacche ‘gate’, Old English hæcc (see Hatcher). In some cases the surname is habitational, from one of the many places named with this word...
[more] HATCHER EnglishSouthern English: topographic name for someone who lived by a gate, from Middle English hacche (Old English hæcc) + the agent suffix -er. This normally denoted a gate marking the entrance to a forest or other enclosed piece of land, sometimes a floodgate or sluice-gate.
HAVELOCK EnglishFrom the Middle English male personal name
Havelok, from Old Norse
Hafleikr, literally "sea sport". It was borne by the British general Sir Henry Havelock (1795-1857).
HAVERFORD Welsh, EnglishHaverford's name is derived from the name of the town of Haverfordwest in Wales, UK
HAWLEY English, ScottishMeans "hedged meadow". It comes from the English word
haw, meaning "hedge", and Saxon word
leg, meaning "meadow". The first name
Hawley has the same meaning.
HAWTREY English (British)It is the surname of Mr. Hawtrey from the book The Boy In The Dress, by David Walliams. Hawtrey means "To succeed".
HAY English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, FrisianScottish and English: topographic name for someone who lived by an enclosure, Middle English
hay(e),
heye(Old English
(ge)hæg, which after the Norman Conquest became confused with the related Old French term
haye ‘hedge’, of Germanic origin)...
[more] HAYCOCK EnglishEnglish (West Midlands): from a medieval personal name, a pet form of
Hay, formed with the Middle English hypocoristic suffix -cok (see
Cocke).
HAYFORD EnglishEnglish habitational name from several places called Heyford in Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, or Hayford in Buckfastleigh, Devon, all named with Old English
heg ‘hay’ +
ford ‘ford’.
HAYLING EnglishEither (i) "person from Hayling", Hampshire ("settlement of Hægel's people"); or (ii) from the Old Welsh personal name
Heilyn, literally "cup-bearer" (see also
Palin).
HAYLOCK EnglishEnglish surname of uncertain origin, possibly from the Old English given name
Hægluc, a diminutive of the unrecorded name *
Hægel, found in various place names. Alternatively it could be a topographic surname originally referring to a person who lived on or near a hillock (i.e. a small hill; compare
Hillock).
HAYWORTH EnglishEnglish: habitational name from Haywards Heath in Sussex, which was named in Old English as ‘enclosure with a hedge’, from hege ‘hedge’ + worð ‘enclosure’. The modern form, with its affix, arose much later on (Mills gives an example from 1544).
HAZARD English, French, DutchNickname for an inveterate gambler or a brave or foolhardy man prepared to run risks, from Middle English, Old French
hasard, Middle Dutch
hasaert (derived from Old French) "game of chance", later used metaphorically of other uncertain enterprises...
[more] HAZELDEN EnglishMeans "person from Hazelden", the name of various places in England ("valley growing with hazel trees").
HAZELTON EnglishHazel is referring to hazel trees, while ton is from old english tun meaning enclosure, so an enclosure of hazel trees, or an orchard of hazel trees.
HAZELWOOD EnglishHabitational name from any of various places, for example in Devon, Derbyshire, Suffolk, Surrey, and West Yorkshire, so called from Old English hæsel (or Old Norse hesli) ‘hazel (tree)’ + wudu ‘wood’; or a topographic name from this term.
HAZLETT English (British)Topographic name for someone who lived by a hazel copse, Old English hæslett (a derivative of hæsel ‘hazel’). habitational name from Hazelhead or Hazlehead in Lancashire and West Yorkshire, derived from Old English hæsel ‘hazel’ + heafod ‘head’, here in the sense of ‘hill’; also a topographic name of similar etymological origin.
HEALEY EnglishHabitational surname for a person from Healey near Manchester, derived from Old English
heah "high" +
leah "wood", "clearing". There are various other places in northern England, such as Northumberland and Yorkshire, with the same name and etymology, and they may also have contributed to the surname.
HEARD EnglishOccupational name for a tender of animals, normally a cowherd or shepherd, from Middle English
herde (Old English
hi(e)rde).
HEATHCOTE EnglishEnglish habitational name from any of various places called Heathcote, for example in Derbyshire and Warwickshire, from Old English
h?ð ‘heathland’, ‘heather’ +
cot ‘cottage’, ‘dwelling’.
HEDDLE EnglishFamous bearer is William Heddle Nash (1894-1961), the English lyric tenor.
HEDGE EnglishTopographic name for someone who lived by a hedge, Middle English
hegg(e). In the early Middle Ages, hedges were not merely dividers between fields, but had an important defensive function when planted around a settlement or enclosure.
HELLIWELL EnglishFrom various place names in United Kingdom. Derived from Olde English elements of "halig" meaning holy, and "waella", a spring.
HELMSLEY EnglishThis English habitational name originates with the North Yorkshire village of Helmsley, named with the Old English personal name
Helm and
leah, meaning 'clearing'.
HELTON EnglishHabitational name from Helton in Cumbria, named in Old English probably with
helde "slope" and
tun "farmstead, settlement", or possibly a variant of
Hilton. This is a common name in TN, KY, OH, TX, and GA.
HEMMINGS EnglishDerived from the given name
HEMMING. It is the last name of the band member of Five Seconds of Summer (5sos), Luke Hemmings.
HEMSLEY EnglishEnglish: 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
HENCE German, English, WelshAn 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.
HENDRYX EnglishThis name was derived from
Hendrix and means "home ruler". This name is the 25841st most popular surname in the US.
HENLEY English, 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] HENNI EnglishA name coined by the contributor of this name, to describe himself HENSLEY EnglishProbably a habitational name from either of two places in Devon: Hensley in East Worlington, which is named with the Old English personal name
Heahmund + Old English
leah ‘(woodland) clearing’, or Hensleigh in Tiverton, which is named from Old English
hengest ‘stallion’ (or the Old English personal name
Hengest) +
leah...
[more] HEREFORD EnglishHabitational name from Hereford in Herefordshire, or Harford in Devon and Goucestershire, all named from Old English
here "army" +
ford "ford".
HERITAGE English (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’).
HERNDON EnglishFrom Herne, a cottage, and den, a valley. The cottage in the valley.
HESTER EnglishThis surname is derived from a given name, which is the Latin form of Esther.
HIBBS EnglishThis possibly derived from a medieval diminutive, similar to Hobbs for Robert.
HICK EnglishFrom the medieval personal name
HICKE. The substitution of H- as the initial resulted from the inability of the English to cope with the velar Norman R-.
HIDDLESTON English, ScottishHabitational name from a place called Huddleston in Yorkshire, England. The place name was derived from the Old English personal name
HUDEL.
HIGGINBOTHAM EnglishHabitational name from a place in Lancashire now known as Oakenbottom. The history of the place name is somewhat confused, but it is probably composed of the Old English elements
ǣcen or
ācen "oaken" and
botme "broad valley"...
[more] HILBERT English, French, Dutch, GermanEnglish, French, Dutch, and German: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements hild ‘strife’, ‘battle’ + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’.
HILLIARD EnglishEnglish: from the Norman female personal name
Hildiarde,
Hildegard, composed of the Germanic elements
hild ‘strife’, ‘battle’ +
gard ‘fortress’, ‘stronghold’. The surname has been in Ireland since the 17th century.
HINCKLEY EnglishFrom 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".
HIND English, ScottishEnglish (central and northern): nickname for a gentle or timid person, from Middle English, Old English
hind ‘female deer’....
[more] HINDLEY EnglishEnglish (Lancashire): habitational name from a place near Manchester, so named from Old English
hind ‘female deer’ +
leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.
HINGSTON EnglishThe distribution of the Hingston surname appears to be based around the South Hams area of Devon. The English Place Name Society volumes for Devon give the best indication of the source of the name...
[more] HINTON English (Archaic)Comes from Old English
heah meaning "high" and
tun meaning "enclosure" or "settlement." A notable person with the surname is female author S.E Hinton.
HOCKENHULL EnglishThis indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of Tarvin, Cheshire West and Chester.
HODGE EnglishNickname from Middle English
hodge "hog", which occurs as a dialect variant of
hogge, for example in Cheshire place names.
HODGSON English (British)English patronymic form of the personal name Hodge, a pet form of Rodger. The surname in most cases originated in the North Yorskire Dales, where it is still common to the present day.
HOGG EnglishAn occupational name for someone who herded swine.
HOLBROOK English, 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] HOLCOMB EnglishHabitational name from any of various places, for example in Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Oxfordshire, and Somerset, so named from Old English hol meaning "hollow", "sunken", "deep" + cumb meaning "valley".
HOLE EnglishTopographic name for someone who lived by a depression or low-lying spot, from Old English
holh "hole, hollow, depression".
HOLLADAY EnglishEnglish: 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.
HOLLEY EnglishEnglish (chiefly Yorkshire) topographic name from Middle English
holing,
holi(e) ‘holly tree’. Compare
Hollen.
HOLLIER English, FrenchOccupational 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] HOLLINGSHEAD EnglishHabitational 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] HOLLIS EnglishTopographic name for someone who lived where holly trees grew.
HOLTER English, German, NorwegianDerived 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.