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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • French : nickname from haut ‘high’ (Latin altus plus initial h said to be due to the influence of Frankish hoh), usually denoting a haughty or proud person, and occasionally a tall man.
  • North German : metonymic occupational name for a hat maker, from Middle Low German hōt ‘hat’.
  • German (southern and central) and Jewish (Ashkenazic) : metonymic occupational name for a dealer in skins, from Middle High German hūt, hout, German Haut ‘skin’, ‘hide’.

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