Hollister

H4O1L1L1I1S1T1E1R1

proper noun

A surname.

OriginOld French holier →
Less commonScrabble 12
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

proper nounHollister (countable and uncountable, plural Hollisters)

plural Hollisters

  1. countableuncountableA surname.
  2. A placename:
    1. countableuncountableA city, the county seat of San Benito County, California, United States.
    2. countableuncountableA city and town in Idaho, United States.
    3. countableuncountableA city in Missouri, United States.
    4. countableuncountableA town in Oklahoma, United States.

Origin

  1. Old Frenchholier“adulterer, lecher”
  2. EnglishHollister

The surname is a feminine derivative of Hollier, itself from Old French holier (“adulterer, lecher”), in this case extended to refer to a female brothel-keeper, (i.e. a madam). The originally feminine occupational suffix -ster has given rise to many such personal names which today might instead be either masculine or ungendered altogether. For example, from masculine dyer, came both formerly feminine variants Dyster and Dexter; from masculine weaver/webber, came the formerly feminine Webster, among others.

More words from Old French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Hollister. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hollister

MLA

“Hollister.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hollister. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Hollister,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hollister.

Source: Hollister on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.