HamelFrench topographic name for someone who lived and worked at an outlying farm dependent on the main village Old French hamel (a diminutive from an ancient Germanic element cognate with Old English ham "homestead"); or a habitational name from (Le) Hamel the name of several places in the northern part of France named with this word.
HässliGerman (Swiss), French (Rare) Swiss German diminutive form of Haas. This is a French surname via Alsace-Lorraine. A notable bearer is French footballer (soccer player) Eric Hassli (1981-).
HasteEnglish, French Derived from Old French haste meaning "(roasting) spit" (ultimately from Latin hasta "spear, lance, pike"), an occupational name for a seller of roast meat or a servant who turned the spit to cook meat.
HazardEnglish, French Nickname for an inveterate gambler, a crafty person, or a brave or foolhardy man prepared to run risks, from Middle English hasard via Old French hasart "dice game, game of chance", later used metaphorically of other uncertain enterprises... [more]
HerbarthGerman, Norman References Old Norse Deity "Odin" being one of the "Son's of Odin". Remember that the Geats became the Ostrogoths through the Denmark pass--referenced in Beowulf. Or, it means "Warrior of the Bearded One", perhaps a King... [more]
HermèsFrench Either a topographic name for someone who lived in a deserted spot or on a patch of waste land from Occitan erm "desert waste" (from Greek erēmia) and the topographic suffix -ès, or from the given name Hermès.
HeronFrench, Caribbean Either derived from the given name Heron, or given to someone who resembled a heron bird.
HervéFrench, Breton From the Breton given name Hervé or from the ancient Germanic personal name Hariwig, composed of the elements hari "army" and wig "battle"... [more]
HeureauxFrench (Caribbean) Possibly from French heureux "happy, lucky, good". Ulises Heureaux (1845-1899) was the 22nd, 26th, and 27th president of the Dominican Republic
HildrethNorman English (Durham): of Norman origin, a variant of the male personal name Hildred (ancient Germanic Hild(i)rad, from hild 'battle' and rād 'counsel'). German: from the ancient Germanic personal name composed of hild 'fight, battle' + rāt 'counsel'.
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]
HommeNorwegian, French Habitational surname "small valley" from Old Norse hvammr, variant of French Hommet
HoudinFrench Variant of Bodin , a pet form of Bodo, a short form of any of various ancient Germanic personal names with the element bod ‘messenger’.... [more]
HoudiniFrench Originated as a stage name. He chose it as an homage to the French magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin.
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'.
HuguenotFrench Meaning uncertain. It could be denoted as a French Protestant who held the Reformed tradition of Protestantism, possibly derived from Middle French eiguenot "Swiss confederate", from Swiss republican Besançon Hugues, or a diminutive form of Hugues, from the same person... [more]
HuvalFrench (Cajun) The Huval name has historically been labeled German or Acadian (Cajun), however, recently more information has been discovered that shows the Huvals came directly from France.... [more]