Hovey
An English surname that likely began as a short form of a personal name such as Hugh or a related medieval nickname form.
The #6,840 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 62,664 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hovey is generally treated as a variant or reduced form of an older personal-name surname rather than a name with one fixed literal meaning. The most likely background is a medieval pet form or altered spelling from a name like Hugh, or from a similar Anglo-Norman given name that later produced several spellings in English records. Because early surname spellings were fluid, Hovey has accumulated forms that can look close to How-, Hov-, or Huv- names without always sharing the same origin.
History
The name appears in records with several spellings, which is typical of surnames that stabilized late. In English-speaking countries it became established as a family name rather than staying a mere nickname form, and it is now especially familiar in the United States. The historical excerpts provided only show the surname as a listed form, not a full etymological explanation, so the origin remains somewhat tentative.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same surname spelling can hide more than one family line, because Hovey-like forms often arose from loose medieval spelling practices rather than a single standardized source.
From the historical record
“HOOLEY, HOPPENHAUS, HoRAN, HoRKHEIMER, HoRM, HORR, HORRIGAN, HoSACK, IIoSKINS, HoSMER, HoUD- LETTE, HOURAN, HoUSEBERGER, HoVEY, HoWARTH, Howes, Howie, Hoxie, Hoyle, Hoynes, Hoyt, HUBBE, HUBER, HuBNER, HuCKINS ; HuLBURT, HuRL-”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)