HAILESScottish, English Scottish habitational name from Hailes in Lothian, originally in East Lothian, named from the Middle English genitive or plural form of hall ‘hall’. ... [more]
HAIRFIELDEnglish Probably 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’.
HALLIWELLEnglish Northern 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).
HALLMARKEnglish From Middle English halfmark ‘half a mark’, probably a nickname or status name for someone who paid this sum in rent.
HALLOWEnglish English: 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’.
HALLOWELLEnglish The 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".
HALLWELLEnglish Related to Halliwell, this surname means "Lives by the Holy Spring"
HALPRINEnglish Halprin is the last name of the main character the book called Ashfall by Mike Mullin.
HAMEnglish, German, Scottish, Anglo-Saxon Anglo-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.
HAMEREnglish, German From 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.
HAMMERGerman, English, Jewish From 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.
HANNAMEnglish Habitational 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.
HARBINEnglish This 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]
HARBOUREnglish Variant of French ARBOUR or a metonymic occupational name for a keeper of a lodging house, from Old English herebeorg "shelter, lodging".
HARDACREEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of poor, stony land, from Middle English hard "hard, difficult" and aker "cultivated land" (Old English æcer), or a habitational name from Hardacre, a place in Clapham, West Yorkshire, which has this etymology.
HARDLEYEnglish The name comes from when a family lived in the village of Hartley which was in several English counties including Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Kent, Lancashire, York and Northumberland. This place-name was originally derived from the Old English words hart which means a stag and lea which means a wood or clearing.
HARKAWAYEnglish From a sporting phrase used to guide and incite hunting dogs.
HARKEREnglish (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]
HARKNESSScottish, English (British), Northern Irish Apparently 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]
HARLESSEnglish, German English: 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.
HARLINEnglish English surname transferred to forename use, from the Norman French personal name Herluin, meaning "noble friend" or "noble warrior."
HARMEREnglish (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.
HARTFORDEnglish Habitational 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’.
HARTLEYEnglish Habitational name for someone originally from any of various locations in England named Hartley, from Old English heorot meaning "hart" or "stag, deer" and leah meaning "woodland, clearing".
HARTONEnglish This surname is a habitational one, denoting someone who lived in a village in County Durham or in North Yorkshire.... [more]
HARTWELLEnglish Habitational name from places in Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, and Staffordshire called Hartwell, from Old English heorot ‘stag’, ‘hart’ + wella ‘spring’, ‘stream’... [more]
HARVARDEnglish From 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]
HARWOODEnglish, Scots Habitation 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]
HASLEYEnglish Habitational 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’.
HASSALLEnglish Means "person from Hassall", Cheshire ("witch's corner of land").
HASTINGSEnglish, Scottish Habitational 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]
HATCHEnglish English (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]
HATCHEREnglish Southern 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.
HAVELOCKEnglish From 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).
HAVERFORDWelsh, English Haverford's name is derived from the name of the town of Haverfordwest in Wales, UK
HAWLEYEnglish, Scottish Means "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.
HAWTREYEnglish (British) It is the surname of Mr. Hawtrey from the book The Boy In The Dress, by David Walliams. Hawtrey means "To succeed".
HAYEnglish, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Frisian Scottish 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]
HAYCOCKEnglish English (West Midlands): from a medieval personal name, a pet form of HAY, formed with the Middle English hypocoristic suffix -cok (see COCKE).
HAYFORDEnglish English 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’.
HAYLINGEnglish Either (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).
HAYLOCKEnglish English surname of uncertain origin, possibly from the Old English given name Hægluc, a diminutive of the unrecorded name *Hægel, found in various place names... [more]
HAYTHORNTHWAITEEnglish (British) Derived from the Old English word haguthorn, which means "hawthorn". Originated in the township of Hawthorn, parish of Easington, County Durham circa 1155.
HAYWORTHEnglish English: 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).
HAZARDEnglish, French, Dutch Nickname 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]
HAZELDENEnglish Means "person from Hazelden", the name of various places in England ("valley growing with hazel trees").
HAZELTINEEnglish This unusual surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname from any of the various places that get their name from the Olde English pre 7th century “hoesel”, hazel and “-denut”, a valley, for example Heselden in Durham and, Hasselden in Sussex.
HAZELTONEnglish Hazel 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.
HAZELWOODEnglish Habitational 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.
HAZLETTEnglish (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.
HEADLEEEnglish (Rare) The Anglo-Saxon name Headlee comes from when the family resided in one of a variety of similarly-named places. Headley in Hampshire is the oldest. The surname Headlee belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxon habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.
HEALEYEnglish Habitational 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.
HEARDEnglish Occupational name for a tender of animals, normally a cowherd or shepherd, from Middle English herde (Old English hi(e)rde).
HEATHCOTEEnglish English 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’.
HEDDLEEnglish Famous bearer is William Heddle Nash (1894-1961), the English lyric tenor.
HEDGEEnglish Topographic 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.
HELLIWELLEnglish From various place names in United Kingdom. Derived from Olde English elements of "halig" meaning holy, and "waella", a spring.
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'.
HELTONEnglish Habitational name from Helton in Cumbria, named in Old English probably with helde "slope" and tun "farmstead, settlement", or possibly a variant of HILTON... [more]
HEMBEREnglish From the West Country area near Bristol.
HEMSLEYEnglish English: 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
HEMSWORTHEnglish Habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire, England, meaning "Hymel's enclosure".
HENCEGerman, English, Welsh An 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.
HENLEYEnglish, 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]
HENSLEYEnglish Probably 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]
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’).
HERNDONEnglish From Herne, a cottage, and den, a valley. The cottage in the valley.
HEROLDEnglish, Dutch, German From the given name HEROLD. This was the surname of David Herold, one of the conspirators in the Abraham Lincoln assassination plot.
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]
HINDLEEnglish Habitational name from a place in the parish of Whalley, Lancashire, so called from the same first element + Old English hyll 'hill'.
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.
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]
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]