Origin
Hugh : 1: English Welsh and Scottish (of Norman origin): from the Old French personal name Hue from ancient Germanic Hugo (ultimately derived from hugi- ‘mind spirit’). This was a very popular name in England after the Norman Conquest partly due to the reputation of Saint Hugh of Lincoln (1140–1200) who was born in Burgundy and who established the first Carthusian monastery in England.2: Scottish and Irish: adopted as an Anglicized form of the Gaelic personal name Aodh a derivative of a Gaelic word meaning ‘fire’. See Hughes.3: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surnames 邱 and 丘 based on their Hakka pronunciation; see Qiu 1 and 2.
Dupe : variant of Jupe; compare Christener Jupe 1633 Jo. Dupe 1668 in IGI (Salisbury Wilts); John Jupe 1703 John Dupe 1705 in IGI (Ebbesbourne Wake Wilts); John Jupe 1719 John Dupe 1728 in IGI (Bosham Sussex); John Jupe 1737 Hugh Dupe 1741 in IGI (Pentridge Dorset).
Fitch : English:: 1: from Old French fiche perhaps ‘pointed implement for fixing or transfixing something or someone’ (such as a lance?) a derivative of Old French fichier ‘to fix fasten pin on stick into pierce’. Compare Modern French fiche ‘peg pin’. Reaney remarks that ‘as Hugh Malet is said to have abandoned for a time his nickname ‘little hammer’ in favor of Fichet (see Mallet) fiche must have been used of a pointed weapon a spear or lance and Fitch and Fitchett (see Fitchett) of a spearman or a knight famous for his exploits with the lance’. Use of Fiche as a personal name is possibly implied by diminutive personal name forms such as Fechet (see Fitchett) and Fechel attested in Fechel de Fercalahn 1225–50. The latter is perhaps the source of the now extinct English surname Fetchell.2: occasionally a variant of Fitz.
Fitzhugh : English (Northamptonshire): from Anglo-Norman French fi(t)z ‘son’ (see Fitz) + the personal name Hugh (see Hugh) ‘son of Hugh’.
Hewell : English (London):: 1: from the Middle English personal name Hu(g)hel a pet form of Hugh. See Hugh and compare Hewlett.2: variant of Ewell with prosthetic H-.
Hewitt : English:: 1: from the Middle English personal name Hewet Huet Hughet Howet pet forms of Hugh (Middle English Hewe Hue; see Hugh and compare Hew). The spelling Hughet stood for both Huet and the synonymous Huget; see Huggett. This surname has also been established in Ireland since the 14th century.2: habitational name from Hewitts in Chelsfield or Hewitts in Willesborough (both Kent) both named from Old English hīewett ‘cutting’ denoting a place where trees had been cut down. Here there lived families called de la Hewatte (1270) de la hewett (1301) and atte Hewete (1338). The name may also be topographic for someone who lived in a newly made clearing in a wood.
Higg : variant of Hick with voicing of the final consonant.from Middle English Higge as a pet form of Hugh. See Higson.
Higginson : English (Lancashire): patronymic meaning ‘son of Higgin’ in Lancashire a Middle English pet form of Hugh but elsewhere probably also of Richard (see Hick).
Higgs : English:: 1: variant of Hicks with voicing of -k-.2: variant of Higg itself from Middle English Higge (a pet form of Hugh) with genitival or post-medieval excrescent -s. Compare Higson.
Hood : 1: English and Scottish: nickname from Middle English hod hood hodde ‘hood’ either for someone who wore a hood (like the medieval folk hero Robin Hood) or who made and sold hoods. In Kent and Sussex the name may sometimes have been confused with Hoad.2: English: from the Middle English personal name Hod(e) a variant of Ode or Odd with prosthetic H-; see Ott and Oates and compare Hodson 2.3: English and Scottish: variant of Hudd from the Middle English personal name Hudde Hutte which could represent Old English Hud(d)a or its ancient Germanic equivalent Hud(d)o but is more likely from Anglo-Norman French Hud(de) a pet form of Hugh.4: English: habitational name from Hood in Rattery (Devon) from Old English hōd ‘hood’ probably referring to a hood-shaped hill.5: Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hUid ‘descendant of Ud’ a personal name of uncertain derivation. This was the name of an Ulster family who were bards to the O'Neills of Clandeboy and was later altered to Mac hUid. Compare Mahood.6: In some cases also an Americanized form of French Houde.
Houliston : from Howliston in Stow (Midlothian). The place-name (Howelotestone 1336-7 in Bain Howleistoun 1593 in Great Seal of Scotland) appears to be from a diminutive of the name Hugh in the possessive case + tūn ‘farm village’.
Howard : 1: English: of Norman origin from the Middle English personal names Huward (also Howard) and Heward from Old French Huard (itself from ancient Germanic Hugihard hugi- ‘mind understanding spirit’ + hard- ‘hardy bold’). As Hugh appears in Middle English as both How and Hew this is the definite origin of Heward and a source of Howard. This surname is also very common among African Americans. See Hugh.2: English: from the Middle English personal name Haward or Howard usually an Anglicized form of Old Danish Hāwarth (Old Norse Hávarthr from há ‘high’ + varthr ‘guard guardian warden’). Alternation between Haward and Howard may have led to later confusion with Hayward.3: English: occasionally a variant of Ewart 2.4: Irish: variant of Fogarty from Ó hÓghairt a shortened form of Ó hÓgartaigh a name derived from a lenited form of Ó Fógartaigh.5: Irish: variant of Ivers from Ó hÍomhair which was also Anglicized as O'Hure and Hever. Compare McIver.
Howlett : English: from the Middle English personal name Hu(gh)elot a double diminutive of Hugh Hue (see Hugh) formed with the suffixes -el + -ot. This Anglo-Norman name has also been established in Ireland (Wexford) since the 13th century where it has been Gaelicized as Húiléid.
Huart : 1: as a Channel Islands name from the Old French personal name Huart which is either identical in origin with Howard (1) or a pet form of Old French Hue (equivalent of Hugh). 2: variant of Heward; see Howard (1).
Huban : from the personal name Hugh (Old French Hue Middle English Hewe; see Hugh) + Middle English barn ‘child’. Compare Goodban.
Huband : English (Worcestershire and Warwickshire): variant of Huban with excrescent -d from the personal name Hugh (Old French Hue Middle English Hewe) + Middle English barn ‘child’. See Hugh.
Hubby : 1: English (Middlesex): probably a variant of Huby a habitational name from Huby (North Yorkshire) or Huby in Weeton (Yorkshire). The North Yorkshire placename derives from Old English hōh ‘heel spur of land’ + Old Norse bȳ ‘farmstead village’ while the Yorkshire placename comes from the personal name Hugh (see Hugh) + Old Norse bȳ.2: Possibly an altered form of German Hubbe a short form of Hubert. In the US it is found mainly in TX and IN.
Huck : 1: English: from the Middle English personal name Hucke or Hugge. Some examples (especially in northern England) may represent Old English (H)ucca a pet form of Ūhtrǣd. By the late 13th century however this personal name had probably fallen out of use and Hukke and Hug(ge) will usually have been variant pronunciations of Hugh or its pet forms Hukin and Hugin. See Hugh and Huggins and compare Higson.2: English: variant of Hook.3: German (also Hück): topographic name from a term meaning ‘bog’ also ‘corner’ or a habitational name from Huck in North Rhine-Westphalia. Compare Hux.4: German (also Hück): from a pet form of the personal name Hugo.5: Germanized form of Sorbian Hujk: nickname from a pet form of Lower Sorbian huj ‘uncle’ (see Huy).
Huckman : from the Middle English personal name Huk(e)man or Hug(e)man representing either an unrecorded Old English *(H)ucmann *(H)ugmann a pet form of Old English names in Uht- such as Ūhtrǣd or a variant of Middle Dutch Hugheman a pet form of Hugh. See Human and compare Huck and Hug.
Hudsmith : from the Middle English personal name Hudde (a pet form of Hugh see Hudd) + Middle English maugh mough ‘kinsman by marriage brother-in-law son-in-law’. Compare Watmough and Cuthbert Hodgemaght Hodgemaughthe 1545–6 in Norwich Wills (see Hodge) where like Huddesmawth (1464) final -gh is alternatively pronounced as -th. The genitival form Huddesmauth *Huddesmouth was altered to Hudsmith through folk etymology.
Hug : 2: English: from Middle English Hugge either an Anglicized form of Old French Hugues (see Hugh) or else a shortened form of one of the common Old French pet forms of Hugh (see Huggins and Huggett).3: English: variant of Huck with voicing of /k/ to /g/.1: German and Dutch: from the personal name Hug or Hugo an equivalent of English Hugh.
Human : 1: English: from the Middle English personal name Hugheman also spelled Hugeman Hiweman Howeman and Huweman a Middle Dutch pet form of Hugh with the hypocoristic suffix -man. The name was probably introduced to Britain by Flemings after the Norman Conquest. Compare Hugh.2: English: occupational name denoting a ‘servant of Hugh’ (see Hugh).3: Perhaps an altered form of German Homann.
Huson : English: patronymic from the personal name Hugh Hue (see Hugh) + -son.
Jaram : 1: possibly a variant of Yarham (from Yarm NR Yorks) with substitution of J- for Y-. Redmonds Dictionary of Yorks Surnames cites the following examples from York: Hugh de Jarum (1322) John de Jarum (1384) John de Jarum (1401) John Jarom (1456) and William Jarrom (1527). 2: alternatively a variant of Jerome.
Nodder : apparently from Middle English *nodder ‘one who nods (the head)’ perhaps alluding to a nervous tick or to a sleepy disposition or to an exaggerated gesture of assent. Redmonds Dictionary of Yorks Surnames notes that Hugh le Nodder of Brierley (WR Yorks) regularly acted as attorney to the Neville family at the Wakefield manor court.
O'Hea : from O hAodha ‘descendant of Aodh’ a frequent ancient Irish personal name usually explained as being from a word meaning ‘fire’. It was pronounced ‘ay’ ‘ee’ or ‘oo’ and anglicized as Hugh. Compare McCoy McKay McHugh. It is also anglicized as Gee Hayes and Hughes.
Painter : 1: English: from Middle English peintour painter peintir penter pointour (Old French peintour paintour) ‘painter of images (on walls screens shields etc.) colorist (of statues figurines chests etc.) artist’. In the Middle Ages the walls of both great and minor churches were covered with painted decorations and Reaney and Wilson note that in 1308 Hugh le Peyntour and Peter the Pavier were employed ‘making and painting the pavement’ at Saint Stephen's Chapel Westminster. The name is widespread in England.2: Americanized form of German Bender. Compare Bainter.3: Germanized or Americanized form of Slovenian Pajntar or Panjtar topographic names from the field name Pajnta or Na Pajnti which is derived from Middle High German biunt(e) ‘fenced agricultural land’ (compare German Paintner) or perhaps from Bavarian Middle High German pant ‘band’ (compare Panter 4).4: In some cases also an American shortened form (or a very rare German variant) of South German Paintner a cognate of 3 above.
Percy : English (of Norman origin):: 1: nickname from Old French percehaie ‘pierce hedge’ (Old French percer ‘to pierce penetrate’ + haie ‘hedge fence’) perhaps with the sense of someone breaking into an enclosure. Percehaie is the name of one of the sons of the foxes Renart and Hermeline in the medieval French epic Roman de Renart whose earliest known version is from the 1170s. The surname is older than that but it may originate in a nickname for the fox as ‘enclosure piercer’ perhaps amounting to ‘chicken thief’.2: habitational name from any of several places called Percy in Calvados Eure and Manche; William de Perci the Domesday tenant-in-chief and under-tenant of Hugh Earl of Chester came from either Percy-en-Auge (Eure) or Percy (Manche).
Pragnell : possibly an irregular development of the male given name Paganel (see Pannell) avoiding perhaps unwelcome association with pagan. It is first found in Wilts and in the 14th century we also find Walter Pagenhulle 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Devizes Wilts) and Geoffrey Pangnelle 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Aldbourne Wilts). There were also Pannells in the same county at the same time: Hugh Paynelle 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Purton Wilts) and John Panelle 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Bishopstone by Salisbury Wilts). Compare Prangley.
Pryke : from Middle English prik(k)e prick(e) ‘point spike goad’ (the forms prig(g)e prighe show voicing of -k- and there is a palatalized form priche) probably used for a maker seller or user of such items including pointed weapons. Compare Hamo Pricchere 1175 in Pipe Rolls (Dorset); William Priker 1256 in Assize Rolls (Northumb); Hugh le Prichere 1327 in Subsidy Rolls (Essex); compare also Prickman.
Pugh : Welsh: Anglicized form of the patronymic ap Hugh ‘son of Hugh’ (see Hughes).
Pye : 1: English (north-West Midlands Lancashire Yorkshire and Norfolk): nickname from Middle English (Old French) pie ‘magpie’ which could be given to someone who wore black and white clothing had grey-streaked dark hair or had a loud chattering voice and impertinent behaviour or was cunning or sly. The uncomplimentary senses derive from the bird's behavior and are recorded uses of the word in Middle English and early Modern English.2: English: occasionally perhaps a topographic or habitational name referring to a house or inn named Pie ‘magpie’. There were two London taverns so named but whether these gave rise to a hereditary surname is not known. Surnames derived from house and inn signs are rare in English.3: English (of Norman origin): nickname from Anglo-Norman French and Middle English pie ‘merciful compassionate kind’ a variant of Old French Anglo-Norman French piu peu; see Pew (2).4: Welsh English (Herefordshire): apparently an Anglicized a shortened form of Welsh ap Hugh ap Hew ap Huw ‘son of Hugh’. The Welsh patronymic was normally shortened to Pugh and Pew 1 but in this case it seems that the diphthong in /piu/ has been simplified to /pi:/ spelled Pye and Pie becoming pronounced in early Modern English as /pai/. The change might have been made on the analogy of Pye the Anglo-Norman French name in 3 above as a variant of Pew 2. Alternatively since this gentry family seems to be English or Anglo-Norman in origin perhaps their name was the name in 3 above but it was mistakenly re-interpreted as a variant of Welsh Pugh a relatively frequent surname in Herefordshire through Welsh immigration.
Sowler : from Middle English soue-halere ‘sow-gelder one who castrates swine’ (Old English sugu sū ‘sow female swine’ + an agent derivative of hǣlan ‘to castrate’). Compare Hugh le Hoghalere 1341 in Thuresson (Essex) in which the first element is Middle English hog ‘hog’ and Henricus Geldesowe 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Worcs) in which the first element is from Middle English gelden ‘to castrate’.alternatively if there is no connection between the medieval and post-medieval bearers possibly a variant of Soller.
Starkin : perhaps from an unrecorded Old French personal name *Starkin a pet form of Continental Germanic names beginning in Stark- ‘strong’ such as Starc(w)ulf and Starcher both of which appear in 1086 as names of Domesday Book tenants in E Anglia: Starcolf (Norfolk) and Starker (Suffolk). However no medieval evidence for Starkin as a given name or a surname has been found unless Hugh Tarchin 1307 in Subsidy Rolls (Ware Herts) bears a variant of this name in which initial S- has been lost.an alternative possibility is a derivation from an unrecorded Middle English *starking ‘strong one’ (see Stark) but in the absence of any medieval evidence this is highly conjectural.perhaps a variant of Starkey with -in substituted for -ey. Compare John Starkey 1603 in IGI (Smallburgh Norfolk) who is recorded a couple of miles from Jhon Starkin 1580 in IGI (Sloley Norfolk); and JohesStarkie 1561 Prudence Starkin 1612 in IGI (Thaxted Essex). Starkey is also found in Herts though not in the same parishes as Starkin: Tho. Starkey 1572 in IGI (Aldenham Herts); Henrici Starkey 1621 in IGI (Hatfield Herts). However it is perhaps more likely that Starkey in these E Midland names is a variant of Starkin in (i) with loss of final -n.
Watmough : from the Middle English personal name Wat a pet form of Walter and Middle English maugh mough ‘kinsman by marriage brother-in-law son-in-law’. See Mowe (1) and compare Robert Waltersmaghe 1305 in Black. In origin it was mainly a Lancs surname that spread eastwards and southwards in post-medieval times. Redmonds Dictionary of Yorks Surnames notes that in 1634 Joshua Watmough of London granted land to a man from Bradford (WR Yorks) and was described as ‘a younger son of Hugh Watmough late of Bury’ (Lancs).
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain, ©2021, University of the West of England
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
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