howe

H4O1W4E1
UK/haʊ/

proper noun

An English topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived by a small hill.

OriginMiddle English hoʒe ← Old English hoh ← Old Norse haugr →
Less commonScrabble 10
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Meanings

howe1

nounhowe (plural howes)

plural howes

  1. alternativeAlternative form of how (a tumulus, a bowl barrow).

Howe2

proper nounHowe (countable and uncountable, plural Howes)

plural Howes

  1. countableuncountableAn English topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived by a small hill.
  2. countableuncountableA male given name transferred from the surname.

    Then there is the striking example of Howe Browne, the Marquess of Sligo, the former governor of Jamaica.

    2021 April 30, Alex Renton, “Alex Renton on exposing transatlantic slave traders – in his own family”, in The Times, London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC
    2 more examples

    The plot tells the story of two New York bankers, Keene and Swift, the former having a daughter and the latter a son. Howe Swift, Jr., played by Mr. Rogers, has been educated abroad.

    1909 November 11, “Max Rogers in ‘Young Turk’: Klaw & Erlanger Present a New Musical Play at Atlantic City”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC

    Surviving, besides his brother, are a widow, the former Jennie Teele, and a son Howe Coolidge Amee, a Cambridge lawyer.

    1932 September 16, “John Amee, Friend of Harvard Men, Dead […]”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
  3. countableuncountableA small village and civil parish (without a council) in South Norfolk district, Norfolk, England (OS grid ref TM2799).
  4. countableuncountableA small village and civil parish (without a council) in North Yorkshire, England, previously in Hambleton district (OS grid ref SE3580).
  5. countableuncountableA scattered settlement in Caithness, Highland council area, Scotland (OS grid ref ND3061).
  6. A number of places in the United States:
    1. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Butte County, Idaho.
    2. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community and census-designated place in LaGrange County, Indiana.
    3. countableuncountableA neighbourhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
    4. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Nemaha County, Nebraska.
    5. countableuncountableA town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma.
    6. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania.
    7. countableuncountableA town in Grayson County, Texas.
    8. countableuncountableThree townships, in Pennsylvania (2), and North Dakota, listed under Howe Township.

Origin

  1. Old Norsehaugr“hill”
  2. Old Englishhoh“hock, heel”
  3. Middle Englishhoʒe“steep ridge”
  4. EnglishHowe

* As an English surname, from Middle English hoʒe (“steep ridge”), a late variant of hōge, dative case of Old English hoh (“hock, heel”), with likely influence from Old Norse haugr (“hill”). * Also as an English surname, variant of Hugh, pronounced to rhyme with how. * As a Norwegian surname, Americanized from Hove, from the dative singular of Old Norse hof (“place of worship”). * As an Irish surname, variant of Haugh; also a variant of Hoey. * As a Chinese surname, variant romanization of 侯, see also Hou. * Also as a Chinese surname, possibly from Cantonese form of the names 豪 (háo), 浩, and 昊 (hào).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Old Norse

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

WeHo
Cite this entry
APA

howe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/howe

MLA

“howe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/howe. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “howe,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/howe.

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