This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the holt,' from residence thereby; a wood, a grove, a shaw.

'Now they hye to the holte.'

Morte Arthure (Halliwell).

Henry de la Holte, Worcestershire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

William del Holt, Yorkshire, ibid.

William atte Holte, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Walter atte Holte, Somerset, 1 Edward III: ibid.

(English and Scandinavian) Dweller at a Wood; Wooded Hill [Middle English Old English holt-Old Norse holt] ac hie on holt búgon. (but they into the wood turned) Beówulf, 5190.

Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes.— Chaucer, Cant. Tales, Prol. 5-7.

Away then hyed the heire of Linne Oer hill and holt and moore and fenne.— ‘The Heir of Linne’: Percy’s Reliques.

William del Holt.—Hundred Rolls Ralph atte Holt.—Parl. Writs.

“Wood” in Old English. Compare “Hout” in Afrikaans.

(English) Dweller by the wood or copse; one who came from Holt (wood), the name of various places in England.

Halliwell says a grove, or small forest. On the South Downs generally, if not always, it is a small hanging wood. See other definitions in English Surn. i. 75. Leo says copse or wood, corresponding with the German holz. The H.R. forms are De, De la, Del, and Le Holt. There are towns and places specifically named Holt in Norfolk, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, and Leicestershire.

Local. A small hanging wood, from Hultz, Dutch, a wood; a peaked hill covered with wood; a grove of trees around a house.

A location name in Norfolk Or from the Dutch, Holt; A. Holter; from the Danish, Holte, Holde; from the German, Holdt; a personal name.

Holt: is the same as the German Holz, a wood or copse: Bergholt in Essex. Holt is a surname in Yorkshire. Becomes “shot” in composition occasionally, as Aldershot, Sparshot.

The Holts, of Bucks, are, for the most part, gathered together in and around Aylesbury. The name occurred as Le Holt in the county six centuries ago, and also in the eastern counties of Norfolk, Essex, and Kent (H. R.). Lancashire is also another great home of the name of Holt, which also extends into Cheshire.

The name of Holt has been for centuries associated with dignity and opulence in the parish of Rochdale. Stubley House was an early residence of the family, but from 1640 to 1713, when they were warm adherents of the Stuarts, the Holts lived at Castleton Hall; the Holts of Holt Farm, Standish, in the 17th century, may have been a branch (B.). Thomas Holt and Robert Holte, whose respective estates were valued at £1,000 per annum, were amongst the Lancashire gentlemen selected for the Knighthood of the Royal Oak by Charles II., an Order, however, that was never founded (B.). The Holts of Bucks are referred to under that county. Holt is a common place - name in England, especially in the midland counties.