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.