Wiktionary

Hugh

English

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Etymology

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From the Old French aristocratic and saint's name Hughe, brought to England by Normans, from a short form of Germanic names beginning with Proto-Germanic *hugiz (“heart, mind”), such as Hubert. Cognate with Old English hyġe (“mind, spirit, intellect”). More at high, how.

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Hugh

  1. A male given name from the Germanic languages.
    • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
      I will rather trust a Fleming with my butter, Parson Hugh the Welshman with my cheese, an Irishman with my aqua-vitae bottle, or a thief to walk my ambling gelding, than my wife with herself.
    • 1600, Thomas Dekker, The Shoemaker's Holiday:
      Cold's the wind, and wet's the rain, / Saint Hugh be our good speed. / Ill is the weather that bringeth no gain, / Nor helps good hearts in need.
    • 1894, W. H. Miller, J. Mcaulauy, W. Stevens, The Leisure Hour, Richard Jones, page 651:
      "You are engaged to Mr. Harden, I suppose?" "Yes, Mr. Harden. I call him Hugh, his second name. I like the name of Hugh. The exquisite long vowel pleases me―Hugh! Hugh!".
    • 1996, Ian Rankin, Let It Bleed, Thorndike Press, published 2000, →ISBN, page 68:
      Hugh McAnally was universally known as "Wee Shug". He didn't know why people called Hugh always ended up nicknamed Shug.
    • 2011, Hughie Boy Levoy, Chicago Kid, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 151:
      What I had noticed all of my young life, from as early as five years old, was that very few people outside my family knew how to pronounce my name―or spell it. "Hue, Hug, Huge, Huh, Hugo. Everything but my name, HUGH!" - - - I grew up thinking that I was the only Hugh in the world, and all my life I'll be meeting people who will have trouble pronouncing my name.
  2. (rare compared to given name) A surname originating as a patronymic.

Usage notes

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  • Has been used as a transliteration of Aodh, and of other Gaelic names, in Scotland and Ireland.
  • Popular given name in medieval England, partly due to the fame of Saint Hugh, bishop of Lincoln. In quiet use today, more common in the U.K. and Ireland than in the U.S.A.
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surnames

Translations

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See also

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Scots

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Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Hugh

  1. a male given name, equivalent to English Hugh

Derived terms

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