Howe as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Howe

What is the meaning of the name Howe ?

The baby name Howe is a Male name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced /haʊ/ (HOW) — sometimes pronounced /hoʊ/ (HOH).

Howe is English in Origin.

Howe is an English surname-turned-given name with roots in Old Norse haugr “mound, barrow” and Old English hoh “heel-shaped ridge, spur of land.” As a topographic term, it marked someone living by a hill or burial mound, and it appears in many place-names across England, especially in the North and East. Related spellings include How, Hough, and Howes; in Scots dialect howe can also mean a hollow or valley, adding a nuanced hill-or-hollow landscape sense.

As a first name, Howe surfaced in Britain and 19th-century America through the custom of using ancestral surnames as given names. It remains rare, reading crisp and understated. Notable bearers of the surname, such as Admiral Lord Richard Howe, reformer Julia Ward Howe, and the Earls Howe, helped keep the name recognizable. Usage skews masculine but is broadly unisex. Possible nickname: Howie. Overall meaning: dweller by the hill or barrow.