Harvey surname meaning

Harvey comes chiefly from the Breton personal name Haerviu, introduced to Britain in the Middle Ages and later written Hervey or Harvey. The name is traditionally analyzed from elements for “battle” and “worthy” or “strong,” though translations of old personal names are not perfectly fixed. A surname formed from Harvey identifies a family through an ancestor’s given name; it does not mean that the bearer was personally warlike. Harvie and Hervey preserve regional and historical spellings, while Hervé is the French form. Parent’s name is the direct, high-confidence catalog type.