This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Hugh.' It would be impossible to overrate the influence of Hugh (Middle English Hew in North, How in South) on our English nomenclature. Thousands of people owe their nominal existence to it. It had pet and diminutive forms of every guise, as in Hewett and Howitt, Hewlett and Howlett, Hewling and Howling, Huggin and Huckin, Houchin and Howchin, Hutchins and Hutchinson, and many others. Hugh had an early start, for it is found in considerable strength in Domesday. St. Hugh of Cluny, St. Hugh of Grenoble, St. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, above all, the infant martyr, St. Hugh of Lincoln, said to have been crucified by the Jews about 1250, all gave impetus to the use of it. It became popular in Wales, and Hughes and Pugh (ap-Hugh) were the result.

Edde fil. Hugh, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Richard Hewes. Valor Ecclesiasticus.

Richard Hewes. Calendar of Proceedings in Chancery, temp. Elizabeth I.

John Hughe, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

(1) An early Teutonic personal name, from OHG. hugu (OSax. hugi, MHG. huge), mind, spirit, thought. In Old French the name became Hugue and Hugues (the -s paragogic), with diminutives Hugot, Huguet, Hugon, Huot, Huet, Huon, Hue, and Hue. In DR, the name is common as Hugo, and later it became a favorite personal name in England as Hugh(e, Hew(e, Huw(e. In Scots the most common form was Hew, which see, with affectionate diminutive Hughie. Howioun off ffodyrgame (Fotheringham) is mentioned in a vernacular writ dated 1391 (Roxburghe, p. 13), and in a Latin writ of later date the same person is mentioned as Hugo de Fothyrngham. Hye de Simpring appears in the reign of David I (Kelso, 272). William, son of Hugh, burgess of Aberdeen, was one of the witnesses to a charter by Fergus, earl of Buchan, c. 1189—99 (RAA., I, p. 57). (2) Hugh is the accepted English equivalent of Gaelic Aodh although there is no connection between the words either in origin or meaning. (3) in Argyllshire Hugh is recognized as the English equivalent of Eochann, which see. (4) in the north and northwest Hugh is used as an Englishing of Uisdeann, which see.

'son of Hugh,' which see. It is not very common.

(Teutonic) Mind,Thought, Soul [Old Teutonic Hugi, Hugo (Anglo-Saxon Hyge-), Latinized Hugo (genit. Hugonis), Gallicized Hugue and (with paragogic-s) Hugues, Anglicized Hugh, Hew, &c.-O.Sax.hugi = O.H.Ger. hugi, hugu = Old Norse hugi, hug-r (Dano-Norwegian hu) = Gothic ga)hugd-s-Old English hyge, mind, &c.] Hugo is the mod. German form: Huge, the Norwegian formerly Hugues is much more frequent in France than Hugue. Hugo is very common in Domesday Book. Hugh(e, Hew(e, Huwe are the Middle English forms.

(Celtic) the Cymric Hu = Bold, Daring [Welsh hu, hy] But under hu, ‘what is apt to pervade,’ Pughe says: ‘A mythical name devised by the Welsh bards of the Middle Ages’— Hu Gadarn [the mighty] In Ireland Hugh is frequently for an original Irish Aedh, Aodh: v. MacKay.

(English) confused with Hew(e1, q.v.

This is a form of Mac Aodha very numerous in Connacht and west Ulster. The Co. Galway sept is a branch of the O’Flahertys. IF 185; Map Gal; Plate XVI

(Welsh, English) The son of Hugh (spirit).

This Norman Christian name, though of rare occurrence in its simple form, has furnished a host of derivatives, some of which would hardly be supposed to be of such origin. Who at first sight would take the five surnames, Fitzhugh, Pugh, Mackay, Hoey, and Huson, to be identical in meaning? Yet this is the case; for Fitzhugh is the A.-Norman rendering of 'Filius Hugonis,' the son of Hugh; Pugh is a contraction of the Welsh Ap-Hugh, the son of Hugh; Mackay, of the Gaelic Mac-Aiodh, the son of Hugh; Hoey is the same name deprived of its Mac; and Huson is clearly Hughson, the son of Hugh. Huggins, Higgins, Hutchins, Hitchins, Hutchinson, Hugginson, Hewet, Hewetson, Howitt, Howis, Howison, Huggett, Hoggins, as well as Hughes, Hughson, Hewson, and probably many other names, are diminutives and patronymics of Hugh, the soft, and of Hugo, the hard, form. See more, where necessary, under the respective names.

From Hugh, the personal name. See Hugo.

The son of Hugh. Aventinus derives Hugh from Haugen, that is, slasher or cutter. Alfred, in the year 900, used Hugh to denote comfort. Hugh in the Gaelic, is Aoidh, which signifies affability, a guest, a stranger. Hu suggests the idea of elevation; Ho, Hu, highness.

Hughes. —Very frequent in North Wales and fairly numerous in South Wales, Herefordshire, and Shropshire. Advancing into England in a south - east direction towards the metropolis, it has obtained a firm hold in Wilts, whilst Hants and Oxfordshire contain its outposts.

The surname Hughes derives from the first name Hugh and means ‘dependant of Hugh’.

The first name Hugh is of Old German origin and comes originally from the first name Hugo, which means ‘heart or mind’. The name Hugo also appears in Latin (almost certainly from the same source) where it became corrupted to Hewe and Howe. Both of these names, as well as Hugo, now appear as variant surnames.

The variants Hew, Hewes, Hews and Hewson often come from a different root-the Middle English word ‘hewe’ meaning ‘maidservant’.

The surname Hughes is found all over England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, though it appears in its greatest concentrations in North Wales. Here it may well have Gaelic origins, as does the name when it occurs in those parts of Scotland and Ireland that have remained relatively free from English influence. In these cases, Hughes is descended from the Irish Gaelic first name Aodh and the Scottish Gaelic names Eoghann (in Argyllshire) and Uisdeann (in the remote north-west). In Ireland the names Hugh and MacHugh (son of Hugh) are the equivalent of the Scottish name MacKay. In Wales the name Hughes has sometimes become Pugh, Hew, or Haw.

All in all, there are nearly one hundred variations of the surname Hughes in present use. These include the first syllable varying from ‘Hew-’ to ‘Huw-’ to ‘Hu-’, and suffixes ranging from ‘-son’, ‘-kin’ and ‘-man’ through to ‘-in’, ‘-on’, ‘-et’ and ‘-ot’. Many of these variations stem from the widespread popularity of the first name Hugo after the Norman Conquest. As such, the name appears in the 1066 Domesday Book records for Huntingdonshire and Suffolk, though by 1084 in the Geld Roll (part of the Domesday Book) the name appeared more recognisably as Willelmus filius Hugonis. The name achieved further popularity through St Hugh of Avalon, who was Prior of Witham and Bishop of Lincoln at the turn of the thirteenth century.

The common pet form of Hugh was Hud, hence the surnames Hudd, Hudson and Hudsmith (from Hudsmough, ‘Hugh’s brother-in-law’).

British showman Edwin Hughes (1813—67) originated the word ‘circus’ in its entertainment sense, with ‘Hughes’ Great Mammoth Equestrian Circus’, which pioneered the use of wild animals, such as elephants, in harness.

‘John Hughes won’t save you’ was a derisory World War I expression applied to prospective British draftees. Hughes, a greengrocer, was tried and convicted for concocting a scheme to save men from serving in the army.

Tom Brown’s School Days was written by Thomas Hughes (1822—96) as an affectionate tribute to his own Rugby school days.

All those who wear hearing aids are indebted to British professor David Edward Hughes (1831—1900) whose experiments in the transmission properties of carbon fibres were critical to the development of the hearing aid as well as to that of microphones. He also invented the earliest telegraphic teleprinter. His very substantial fortune was bequeathed to London hospitals.

American Peter Cooper Hewitt (1861—1921) invented the mercury vapour lamp and a remarkable early version of the helicopter (1918).

Noted English navigator and explorer Henry Hudson (d. 1611) reached America on his third attempt to find the legendary Northwest Passage to the Orient. After cruising off Newfoundland he explored the coast of what is now New England, then proceeded as far south as Delaware Bay. Along the way he discovered the New York river that now bears his name. A fourth voyage took him to what is now Hudson’s Bay where his ship was frozen in, the crew rebelled and he was set adrift. It is probable he perished in his namesake.

There are no name-related towns or major geographic features in the United Kingdom. Australia has a town called Hughes, and there are 2 such towns in the United States as well as a Hughes Springs and a Hughesville. Canada has a Hughes river in Manitoba.

With about 176,000 namesakes Hughes is the 21st most popular surname in England and Wales. There are over 9,000 Hughes’s in Scotland where it is 76th in popularity, while in Ireland an estimated 16,000 Hughes’s makes it the 34th most popular surname there. Hughes is notably popular in and around Liverpool where an estimated one in about 135 families bears the name. In descending numerical order Cardiff, Birmingham and Manchester are other Hughes strongholds. Around the world Hughes’s are most common in Canberra (one in 676 families), Auckland (one in 944) and Wellington (one in 949). The United States has more Hughes’s than the entire population of Derby-an estimated total of just over 243,000 makes this their 76th most popular surname.