Holliday
Usually a variant of Halliday, ultimately meaning “holiday” or “holy day,” though some forms may also reflect local spellings and sound changes.
The #1,748 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,067 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Holliday is generally treated as a spelling variant of Halliday. The name is usually linked to Middle English hol(i)day, meaning a holy day or feast day, from Old English hāligdæg. In some historical sources, the form is explained simply as a shortened or altered spelling of Halliday rather than as a separate independent surname.
History
The surname appears in English records in several spellings, including Holiday, Halliday, and Holliday. Nineteenth-century surname writers often grouped these forms together, treating Holliday as a variant produced by local pronunciation and spelling simplification. The name has long been established in Britain and later became common in the United States as well.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries sometimes noted Holliday alongside other time-based surnames such as Weekes and Day, because it derives from a calendar term.
From the historical record
“ship in Yorkshire, by tke suppression of W'. HOLLIDAY. See Halliday. HOL 161 HON”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom