Surname Höh - Meaning and Origin
all surnames with 'H'
Höh: What does the surname Höh mean?
The surname Höh is a German toponymic surname indicating that the family originated or lived in a höh (a hill or hillock). The word is derived from the Old High German hohen, which means "high" or "hill." The surname is said to originally have been derived from East Friesland and parts of Lower Saxony near the border of the Netherlands.
Höh is one of the oldest known German surnames, found in records as far back as the 14th century. Over time, the spelling has varied, with documented versions including Hohen, Hoen, Hoin, Heh, Hey, Heyen, and Hullen. It is sometimes found as an Anglicized surname, such as Hoe, or Hu.
The Höh surname was carried by several prominent figures, particularly in the fields of politics and the military. One notable example is Wolfgang G. Höh, a former Austrian army officer who served as governor of Styria from 1938 to 1945.
Höh is still found in Germany today, as well as areas of Europe where German settlement occurred such as Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, and even Belarus. It is a relatively rare surname worldwide, but comparatively more common in Germany.
Order DNA origin analysisHöh: Where does the name Höh come from?
The last name Höh is a fairly uncommon last name that is primarily found throughout Central Europe. It is especially common throughout Bavaria, which is a region in Germany located near the Czech Republic and Austria.
In Austria, the Höh name is the 78th-most-common surname. In Germany, it is the 234th-most-common surname. In Czech Republic, the last name Höh is a variant spelling of the Czech surname Hof which is the 34th-most-common surname. In Poland, the last name is spelled Heg and is the 2,502nd-most-common surname. In Slovakia, the surname is spelled Chib, and is the 162nd-most-common surname.
The surname can also be found in certain parts of the United States, Canada, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina due to German or Eastern European immigrants who moved to these countries in past centuries. It is also present in other German-speaking countries such as Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Belgium, though its spelling may very slightly due to regional differences.
The English origin of the Hag name is most likely from Norse or Anglo-Saxon roots, specimens of which appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086. The root word Haga meant “enclosed plot of land” or “area surrounded by a fence”. The associated names Hag, Hagen, and Hagan can all be traced back to this root word.
In conclusion, the last name Höh originate from Central Europe and is most commonly found in German-speaking countries such as Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. That said, it can be found in other parts of the world due to immigration patterns and regional variations in spelling.
Variations of the surname Höh
The surname Höh is a German surname with likely origins from the Middle High German word ‘hoh’, meaning “rugged upland” or “elevated land”, and thus likely referring to someone living atop a hill or mountain. It is an uncommon name, with several different variants, spellings and related surnames.
The simplest and most common variants of the Höh surname are Hoeh and Hohe. These are almost entirely interchangeable, as both are phonetically identical- they just differ in spelling. Hoeh is more commonly found in the United States, while Hohe is more frequently encountered in Germany.
The Höh surname can also be spelled with an umlaut, such as Höh. In addition to this, the surname can be found as both a single name and a hyphenated name, such as Hoeh-Heinemann.
Related surnames include the Polish surname Gawrzyński, which is believed to have derived from the German surname GawerHein (i.e. Hohein). Other related German surnames include Hohenhausen and Höhner.
Finally, the surname Hohe can also be found as a Jewish-German surname, as part of the Ashkenazic pronunciation variant Hoeh. This could be a variant of the Germanic Hohen name or could simply be a variation of the German surname Höh.
Famous people with the name Höh
- Markus Höh: German football goalkeeper who has made over 100 appearances for FC Kaiserslautern, Erzgebirge Aue, and Bayer Leverkusen
- Tom Höh: German actor who has starred in films such as Lola Rennt, Mit 36 Sternen um die Welt, and From Berlin to Mozambique
- Helmut Höh: mathematician and professor from Germany who has written several textbooks and journal articles on advanced mathematics
- Timo Höh: German Handball player who competed professionally with SG Flensburg-Handewitt
- Paul Höh: German illustrator and comic artist who has published several graphic novels and comic book series
- Jutta Höh: German international rower who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Maria Höh: German singer and songwriter who has released a number of albums and performed for audiences around the world
- Max Höh: German tennis player who has featured in various Grand Slam tournaments
- Salma Höh: German entrepreneur and investor who is well-known in the business world
- Phillip Höh: German contemporary artist who has exhibited his works in galleries across Europe and beyond