From theOld French aristocratic and saint's nameHughe, brought to England by Normans, from a short form ofGermanic names beginning withProto-Germanic*hugiz(“heart, mind”), such asHubert. Cognate withOld Englishhyġe(“mind, spirit, intellect”). More athigh,how.
Hugh
- A malegiven name from the Germanic languages.
c.1597 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act II, scene ii]:I will rather trust a Fleming with my butter, ParsonHugh the Welshman with my cheese, an Irishman with my aqua-vitae bottle, or a thief to walk my ambling gelding, than my wife with herself.
1600,Thomas Dekker,The Shoemaker's Holiday:Cold's the wind, and wet's the rain, / SaintHugh be our good speed. / Ill is the weather that bringeth no gain, / Nor helps good hearts in need.
1894, W. H. Miller, J. Mcaulauy, W. Stevens,The Leisure Hour, Richard Jones, page651:"You are engaged to Mr. Harden, I suppose?" "Yes, Mr. Harden. I call himHugh, his second name. I like the name ofHugh. The exquisite long vowel pleases me―Hugh! Hugh!".
1996,Ian Rankin,Let It Bleed, Thorndike Press, published2000,→ISBN, page68:Hugh McAnally was universally known as "Wee Shug". He didn't know why people calledHugh always ended up nicknamed Shug.
2011, Hughie Boy Levoy,Chicago Kid, Xlibris Corporation,→ISBN, page151:What I had noticed all of my young life, from as early as five years old, was that very few people outside my family knew how to pronounce my name―or spell it. "Hue, Hug, Huge, Huh, Hugo. Everything but my name,HUGH!" - - - I grew up thinking that I was the onlyHugh in the world, and all my life I'll be meeting people who will have trouble pronouncing my name.
- (rare compared to given name)Asurname originating as a patronymic.
- Has been used as a transliteration ofAodh, and of other Gaelic names, in Scotland and Ireland.
- Popular given name in medieval England, partly due to the fame ofSaint Hugh, bishop of Lincoln. In quiet use today, more common in the U.K. and Ireland than in the U.S.A.
Hugh
- a malegiven name, equivalent to EnglishHugh
