Howlett
A surname most commonly understood as a diminutive of Hugh, meaning “little Hugh” or “son of Hugh.”
The #6,355 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 57,559 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Howlett is generally explained as a double diminutive of Hugh, formed from medieval short forms such as How or Hew plus the diminutive ending -let. In that sense, it means something like “little Hugh” or “young Hugh.” Some older writers also linked it to similar forms built from the same personal name, including Hewlett and Hewett.
History
The name appears in English records by the late medieval and early modern periods, with forms such as Howlet and Howlett used interchangeably. The cited surname dictionaries treat it as part of a wider family of Hugh-based surnames found across England, and it also appears in Irish surname lists as a recorded name in places such as Cork. Modern usage is chiefly English-language, though the name spread to other English-speaking countries through migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source oddly glossed Howlett as “a night-bird, an owl,” but that is a folk-style association rather than the surname’s real origin.
From the historical record
“Euhttl, high, exalted. HOWLETT. A night-bird, an owl HUBAND. Anciently Hubaude, from Hugh, and laude, bold — 60 Id Hugh. HUBBARD. (Anglo-Saxon.) A corruption of Hubert, i. e., bright form, fair hope. HUBBELL. Local. From Hubba, a Danish chief, and hiU — Hubba's-hill or Hubhill. Hub means a heap or a lump, and may…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names