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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Dutch and German : from a Germanic personal name, Halidher, composed of the elements halið ‘hero’ + hari, heri ‘army’, or from another personal name, Hildher, composed of the elements hild ‘strife’, ‘battle’ + the same second element.
  • Dutch and North German : topographic name for someone living on a slope, from Middle Dutch helldinge ‘slanting surface’. Compare Halder.
  • English : from an agent derivative of Old English healdan ‘to hold’, hence a name denoting an occupier or tenant. Compare Holder.
  • English : variant of Hilder.
  • English : possibly a variant of Elder, with the addition of an inorganic initial H-.

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