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Surname Etymology and Meaning of HUGH

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Name meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

1. English: from the Old French personal name Hu(gh)e, introduced to Britain by the Normans. This is in origin a short form of any of the various Germanic compound names with the first element hug ‘heart’, ‘mind’, ‘spirit’. Compare, for example, Howard 1, Hubble, and Hubert. It was a popular personal name among the Normans in England, partly due to the fame of St. Hugh of Lincoln (1140–1200), who was born in Burgundy and who established the first Carthusian monastery in England.
2. In Ireland and Scotland this name has been widely used as an equivalent of Celtic Aodh ‘fire’, the source of many Irish surnames (see for example McCoy).

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)