Place
Hurst surname meaning
An English topographic or habitational surname from Old English hyrst, “wooded hill” or thicket, or from places named Hurst or Hirst.
The short story
Hurst is chiefly an English topographic surname for someone who lived by a wood or wooded hill, from Middle English hurst / hirst (Old English hyrst). It is also habitational from places so named, including Hurst in several counties and Hirst in Yorkshire or Northumberland. Hirst, Hearst, and Herst are spelling variants of the same landscape word. Irish and German lookalikes exist, but they do not overturn the English wooded-hill lead for most US bearers. Place is high confidence for the catalog.
Also seen as: Hurst, Hirst, Hearst, Herst
Sources used
- Ancestry / DAFN surname meaning for Hurst (hyrst wooded hill; place-names)
- Geneanet DAFN entry for Hurst (English topographic and habitational routes)
- Names2020_LastNames_RaceHispanic_Top1000.xlsx (2020 Census)