Helms
Usually a surname from Helms or Helm, meaning either a maker of helmets or a shortened form of a name beginning with Helm-.
The #1,493 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 12,892 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is best explained in more than one way. In English records, it can be an occupational name for a maker of helms or helmets, from Old French and Middle English forms such as heaume/helm. It can also be a shortened form of a personal name beginning with Helm-, a Germanic element meaning “helmet” or “protection.”
History
Early English surname collections treat Helms as a variant of Helme, and later writers note that it may sometimes be a shortened form of a Helm- personal name rather than an occupation. Because of that, the surname can have more than one independent origin. In the United States, Helms is well established and has been borne by several notable families and individuals, though the name itself is not especially rare in English-speaking countries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A medieval “helm” was not just any hat: it specifically meant a helmet, so the surname could originally point to an armor maker.
From the historical record
“son. HELMS. See Helme. HELPUSGOD. Tliis name, probably derived from the frequent use of a profane adjuration by the original bearer of it, and cognate with Godhelp, Godmefetch, God- behere, &c., is found in the Sussex Subsidy Eoll of 1296. Sussex Arch. Coll., vol. ii. HELSDON. Hellesden, a parish near Norwich.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom