Hugh

//hjuː// name

name ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A male given name from the Germanic languages.

    "I will rather trust a Fleming with my butter, Parson Hugh 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."

  2. 2
    A surname originating as a patronymic.

Example

More examples

"Leonardo DiCaprio won the Oscar for best actor for his role as Hugh Glass in The Revenant."

Etymology

From the Old French aristocratic and saint's name Hughe, brought to England by Normans, from a short form of Germanic names beginning with Proto-Germanic *hugiz (“heart, mind”), such as Hubert. Cognate with Old English hyġe (“mind, spirit, intellect”). More at high, how.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.