Family name origins & meanings
- German : habitational name typical of the Ruhr region and Westphalia, from any of several places so named there; also frequent as a topographical name, especially as the name of the east-west trade route that ran north of the central German mountain range from the Rhine to the Elbe, the Hellweg, ostensibly from elements literally meaning ‘light way’. However, the real etymology remains unclear; for one possibility, see Hellwege.
- Dutch : variant of Hellwege or Helwig.