Hughes Name Meaning & Origin

1) A patronymic surname meaning "son of Hugh." The given name Hugh is a Germanic name meaning "heart/mind," often after Saint Hugh.

2) Possibly a modern form of the ancient Irish name "O'HAY."

Hughes is the 83rd most popular surname in the United States. Hughes is even more popular in England, coming in as the 18th most common surname.

Surname Origin

English

Alternate Surname Spellings

HUGH, HUGHE

Genealogy Resources for the Surname Hughes

100 Most Common U.S. Surnames & Their Meanings
Smith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census?

HUGHES Family Genealogy Forum
Search this popular genealogy forum for the Hughes surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Hughes query.

FamilySearch - HUGHES Genealogy
Find records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Hughes surname and its variations.

HUGHES Surname & Family Mailing Lists
RootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Hughes surname.

Cousin Connect - HUGHES Genealogy Queries
Read or post genealogy queries for the surname Hughes, and sign up for free notification when new Hughes queries are added.

DistantCousin.com - HUGHES Genealogy & Family History
Free databases and genealogy links for the last name Hughes.

Source

Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.

Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005.

Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004.

Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.

Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.

Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.