Hough
A surname usually tied to a place name, ultimately from a word for a hill, spur, or mound.
The #2,345 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 19,856 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hough is generally a locational surname from places called Hough, a name found in English field and settlement names. The place-name element goes back to an old word for a hill, mound, or projecting piece of land, related to forms such as haugh/halgh/how in regional English usage. In some cases the surname may simply mean someone who lived at or near such a rise in the landscape.
History
The name is well established in northern England, especially in Cheshire and neighboring counties, where Hough and related place-name forms are common. 19th-century surname writers also linked it with spellings such as Halgh and How, treating them as regional variants of the same landscape element. In the United States, Hough was carried over by English immigrants and later spread beyond its original regional base.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books often grouped Hough with a whole family of northern place-name spellings, which is why you may see it discussed alongside names like Featherstonhaugh and Greenhalgh.
From the historical record
“York. HOUGH. A township in Cheshire. HOUGHTON. Parishes and places in cos. Lancaster, Cumberland, Hunts, Hants, York, Northampton, Northumb., iSTorfolk, Bedford, Durham, Dorset, Leicester, &c. HOULE. See Howell and Hoole. HOUND. 1. A-Sax. hund, a hunting dog. A Gilbert le Hund is found in H.R. 2. The designation of…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom