Hugh

H4U1G2H4
/hjuː/

proper noun

A male given name from the Germanic languages.

CommonScrabble 11

Meanings

proper noun
  1. A male given name from the Germanic languages.

    Hugh McAnally was universally known as "Wee Shug". He didn't know why people called Hugh always ended up nicknamed Shug.

    1996, Ian Rankin, Let It Bleed, Thorndike Press, published 2000, →ISBN, page 68
    5 more examples

    I will rather trust a Fleming with my butter, Parson Hugh the Welshman with my cheese, an Irishman with my aqua-vitae bottle, or a thief to walk my ambling gelding, than my wife with herself.

    c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]

    Cold's the wind, and wet's the rain, / Saint Hugh be our good speed. / Ill is the weather that bringeth no gain, / Nor helps good hearts in need.

    1600, Thomas Dekker, The Shoemaker's Holiday

    "You are engaged to Mr. Harden, I suppose?" "Yes, Mr. Harden. I call him Hugh, his second name. I like the name of Hugh. The exquisite long vowel pleases me―Hugh! Hugh!".

    1894, W. H. Miller, J. Mcaulauy, W. Stevens, The Leisure Hour, Richard Jones, page 651

    What I had noticed all of my young life, from as early as five years old, was that very few people outside my family knew how to pronounce my name―or spell it. "Hue, Hug, Huge, Huh, Hugo. Everything but my name, HUGH!" - - - I grew up thinking that I was the only Hugh in the world, and all my life I'll be meeting people who will have trouble pronouncing my name.

    2011, Hughie Boy Levoy, Chicago Kid, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 151

    "To be frank, at first I thought it was a joke," Hugh Hurwitz, who served as acting director of the BOP between May 2018 and August 2019, told the BBC.

    2025 July 17, Bernd Debusmann Jr, “Trump wants to reopen Alcatraz as a prison - could it happen?”, in BBC
  2. rare compared to given nameA surname originating as a patronymic.

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*hugiz“heart, mind”
  2. EnglishHugh

From the Old French aristocratic and saint's name Hughe, brought to England by Normans, from a short form of Germanic names beginning with Proto-Germanic *hugiz (“heart, mind”), such as Hubert. Cognate with Old English hyġe (“mind, spirit, intellect”). More at high, how.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bengali হিউ
  • হিউ (hiu)male given name
Bulgarian Хю
  • Хю (Hju)male given name
Catalan Hug
  • Hugmale given name
Chinese Mandarin 休
  • 休 (Xiū)male given name
Czech Hugo
  • Hugomale given name
Danish Hugo
  • Hugomale given name
Esperanto Hugo
  • Hugomale given name
Finnish Huugo
  • Huugomale given name
French Hugues
  • Huguesmale given name
German Hugo
  • Hugomale given name
Greek Ούγος
  • Ούγος (Oúgos)male given name
Hungarian Hugó
  • Hugómale given name
Irish Aodh
  • Aodhmale given name
Italian Ugo
  • Ugomale given name
Latin Hugo
  • Hugomale given name
Latvian Uģis
  • Uģismale given name
Norwegian Hugo
  • Hugomale given name
Persian هوگو
  • هوگو (hogo)male given name
Polish Hugo, Hugon
  • Hugomale given name
  • Hugonmale given name
Portuguese Hugo
  • Hugomale given name
Russian Хью, Гуго
  • Хью (Xʹju)male given name
  • Гуго (Gugo)male given name
Spanish Hugo
  • Hugomale given name
Swedish Hugo
  • Hugomale given name
Welsh Huw
  • Huwmale given name

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with Hugh

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

Cite this entry
APA

Hugh. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hugh

MLA

“Hugh.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hugh. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Hugh,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hugh.

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