HIBBSEnglish This possibly derived from a medieval diminutive, similar to Hobbs for Robert.
HICKEnglish From 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-.
HIDDLESTONEnglish, Scottish Habitational name from a place called Huddleston in Yorkshire, England. The place name was derived from the Old English personal name HUDEL.
HIGGINBOTHAMEnglish Habitational 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]
HIGGINSEnglish Patronymic from the medieval personal name Higgin, a pet form of HICK.
HIGGINSONEnglish Patronymic from the medieval personal name Higgin, a pet form of HICK.
HILBERTEnglish, French, Dutch, German English, French, Dutch, and German: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements hild ‘strife’, ‘battle’ + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’.
HILLIARDEnglish English: from the Norman female personal name Hildiarde, HILDEGARD, composed of the Germanic elements hild ‘strife’, ‘battle’ + gard ‘fortress’, ‘stronghold’... [more]
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".
HINDEnglish, Scottish English (central and northern): nickname for a gentle or timid person, from Middle English, Old English hind ‘female deer’.... [more]
HINDLEYEnglish English (Lancashire): habitational name from a place near Manchester, so named from Old English hind ‘female deer’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.
HINGSTONEnglish The 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]
HINTONEnglish (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.
HODGSONEnglish (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.
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]
HOLCOMBEnglish Habitational 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".
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.
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]
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]
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.
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.
HOOKHAMEnglish This surname may derive from Old English hóc meaning "hook, angle" and hám meaning "village, hamlet, dwelling."
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".
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.”
HORVITZEnglish (American) Surname of Richard Steven Horvitz, a voice actor in Angry Beavers, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and Invader Zim.
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.
HOTALINGEnglish (American) Americanized spelling of Dutch Hoogteijling, an indirect occupational name for a productive farmer, from hoogh ‘high’ + teling ‘cultivation’, ‘breeding’.
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]
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.
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".
HUBBARDEnglish Variant of HUBERT. "Old Mother Hubbard" is a traditional nursery rhyme. This was additionally borne by American author and religious leader L. Ronald Hubbard (1911-1986), the founder of the Church of Scientology.
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".
HUCKABYEnglish Means "person from Huccaby", Devon (perhaps "crooked river-bend"), or "person from Uckerby", Yorkshire ("Úkyrri's or Útkári's farmstead").
HUNGATEEnglish A habitational name from Old English hund,'hound', and Old Norse gata, 'gate'.
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.
HUTCHINSEnglish Southern English patronymic from the medieval personal name Hutchin, 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’.
HYATTEnglish English (mainly London and Surrey): possibly a topographic name from Middle English hegh, hie ‘high’ + yate ‘gate’. ... [more]
HYDEEnglish Topographic name for someone living on (and farming) a hide of land, Old English hī(gi)d. This was a variable measure of land, differing from place to place and time to time, and seems from the etymology to have been originally fixed as the amount necessary to support one (extended) family (Old English hīgan, hīwan "household")... [more]
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)).
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.
IREDELLEnglish An English name originating in Anglo-Saxon England. Originally found in an area that was referred to as Airedale, which refers to those who lived in the valley of the river Aire in the counties of Yorkshire and Cumberland.
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]
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]
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.
ISLEYEnglish Of Old English origin, derived from a place named Hesli, meaning "a hazel wood or grove".
IVESEnglish Means "son of Ive", a medieval male personal name, brought into England by the Normans but ultimately of Germanic origin, a shortened form of any of a range of compound names beginning with īv "yew" (cf... [more]
IVEYAnglo-Saxon, English Anglo-Saxon: Ivey is a variant of the Anglo-Saxon baptismal name Ive. It is the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of "Son of Ive".... [more]
IVORYEnglish Habitational name from Ivry-la-Bataille in Eure, northern France.
JACKSEnglish Possibly derived as a diminutive of the given name JACK. A famous bearer is Canadian singer-songwriter Terry Jacks, best known for his 1974 single 'Seasons in the Sun.'
JACOBIJewish, English, Dutch, German From the Latin genitive Jacobi ‘(son) of Jacob’, Latinized form of English Jacobs and Jacobson or North German Jakobs(en) and Jacobs(en).
JADEEnglish, French From the given name JADE. It could also indicate someone with jade green eyes.
JADWINEnglish "Jadwin" is said to mean "friend of a stonecutter" (Anglo-Saxon jad "stonecutter" + win or "friend.")
JAGGEREnglish English (West Yorkshire): occupational name from Middle English jagger ‘carter’, ‘peddler’, an agent derivative of Middle English jag ‘pack’, ‘load’ (of unknown origin). ... [more]
JANEWAYEnglish Derived from Middle English Janaways, the name for someone from the city of Genoa, Italy. A notable fictional bearer is Kathryn Janeway, the captain of starship USS Voyager on the TV-series 'Star Trek: Voyager' (1995-2001).
JAYEnglish, French Nickname from Middle English, Old French jay(e), gai "jay (the bird)", probably referring to an idle chatterer or a showy person, although the jay was also noted for its thieving habits.
JAYCOXEnglish A patronymic surname from a pet form of the given name JACK.
JAYDENEnglish Surname of the fictional character Norman Jayden, a character from the video game Heavy Rain.
JEFFREYEnglish From a Norman personal name that appears in Middle English as Geffrey and in Old French as Je(u)froi. Some authorities regard this as no more than a palatalized form of GODFREY, but early forms such as Galfridus and Gaufridus point to a first element from Germanic gala "to sing" or gawi "region, territory"... [more]
JENKSEnglish, Welsh English (also found in Wales) patronymic from the Middle English personal name Jenk, a back-formation from JENKIN with the removal of the supposed Anglo-Norman French diminutive suffix -in.
JESSELEnglish From a pet-form of Jessop (a medieval male personal name - a different form of JOSEPH). A literary bearer is Miss Jessel, the governess who has charge of the two troubled and enigmatic children in Henry James's ghost story 'The Turn of the Screw' (1898).
JESSIEEnglish Possibly a variant of Jessey, an occupational name for someone making jesses (a short strap fastened around the leg of a bird used in falconry).
JOBEnglish, French, German, Hungarian English, French, German, and Hungarian from the personal name IYOV or JOB, borne by a Biblical character, the central figure in the Book of Job, who was tormented by God and yet refused to forswear Him... [more]
JOCELYNEnglish Another of the names brought to England in the eleventh century by the Normans, and mentioned in the Domesday Book. Originally a masculine name only.