The story
* As a north German surname, from the obsolete noun hol (“bog, cave”), related to the modern adjective hohl (“hollow”) (English hole). * Also as a German surname (Hölle), variant of Hoelle, itself related to the noun Hölle (“hell”). * As a Dutch surname, from an obsolete adjective related to hou (“favorable, loyal”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.