Hull surname meaning
An English multi-origin surname: Middle English Hulle (pet form of Hugh), a hill dweller (hyll), or habitational from Kingston upon Hull.
Confidence: Disputed. More than one origin is plausible, or sources disagree. We show the conflict rather than pick a cute answer.
The short story
Hull gathers several English origins under one short spelling. One stream is the Middle English personal name Hulle, a pet form of Hugh or of diminutives such as Hulin. Another is topographic or habitational from Middle English hulle, “hill,” a western and Midland form of Old English hyll that often standardized as Hill. A third points to Kingston upon Hull in East Yorkshire, named from the river Hull. Hulls is a genitival or plural form. Place is the broadest lead for the hill and city senses, but the competing Hugh stream keeps confidence disputed.
Also seen as: Hull, Hulle, Hulls
- Geneanet / DAFN entry for Hull (Hulle/Hugh; hill; Kingston upon Hull)
- Ancestry surname meaning for Hull (personal name, hill, and Hull city streams)
- Names2020_LastNames_RaceHispanic_Top1000.xlsx (2020 Census)