Skip to content

The surname Hugh

An English patronymic surname, carried by 1,271 people in the United States.

Pronounced /hjuː/ 1 syllable Soundex H200 Also a first name

Hugh: #20,780 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Hugh #20,780, 1,271 people Hugh: #20,780 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Hugh #20,780, 1,271 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Hugh is more common than 87.2% of them.

Origin

English origin

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.

Hugh is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,271 people named Hugh in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 242,915 Americans. That is down 1.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,293.

#20,780
rank among US surnames
1,271
people in 2010
0.4
per 100,000 Americans
-1.7%
change since 2000 (was #19,376)

Who is named Hugh

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

48% of people named Hugh identified as white (not Hispanic), 22% as Black (not Hispanic) and 21% as Asian and Pacific Islander.

  • White (not Hispanic) 48%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 22%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 21%
  • Two or more races 5.7%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.3%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Hugh

Hugh has the Soundex code H200, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code H200.

Other English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Hugh come from?
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.
How common is the surname Hugh?
1,271 people in the United States had the surname Hugh in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 242,915 Americans. It ranked 20,780th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Hugh?
In the 2010 Census, 48% of people named Hugh identified as white (not Hispanic), and 22% as Black (not Hispanic).
How do you pronounce Hugh?
Hugh is /hjuː/, one syllable.
What type of surname is Hugh?
Hugh is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Hugh getting more or less common?
Less common. 1,293 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,271 in 2010, down 1.7%.
Is Hugh also a first name?
Yes. Hugh is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.