HOWEY
Howey is a surname that traces its roots to the English and Germanic linguistic traditions of the British Isles. The earliest known personal name associated with the surname is the Old English Hugie, a diminutive of Hugh. The element hug means “heart” or “mind” and the element wig means “war”, so the name was originally a nickname for someone who was brave or possessed a strong spirit. Over the centuries it evolved into a hereditary family name that was passed down through successive generations.
In Scotland the name appears as Howie or Howey and is linked to the now‑lost estate of “The lands of How” in Ayrshire. Scholars believe the place name derived from the ancient British word hoh, which describes a hollow or deep valley. The suffix -ie or -y is a common Scottish and North England diminutive, so the surname was likely interpreted as “Little How”. Early records of the name include John Howy, a servant of the Earl of Cassilis in 1526, and Robert Howie, Principal of Marischal College in Aberdeen in 1590. In 1625 Archibald Howey was elected a burgess of Glasgow, while the writer John Howie (1736–1793) produced the standard work The Scots Worthies in 1774. The Ayrshire Howeys have a tradition of descent from Flemish weavers who fled persecution; although this claim is not conclusively proven, it is noted in historical accounts.
In England the surname is often considered toponymic. The place called Hougenai in Cumberland, recorded on the Domesday Map of 1086, is believed to be the source. The name is composed of the old personal names Houa or Hwa combined with the Anglo‑Saxon word -eg, meaning “island”; thus the original bearers of the name were inhabitants of an island. Documentary evidence shows the surname established itself in Cumberland by the late 12th century and later spread to surrounding counties. A similar habitational origin is found in North Yorkshire, where individuals such as Roger de Howey and Adam of Howey appear in 15th‑ and 16th‑century records.
Because of its many orthographic variants—Howie, Howey, Howiey, Howie, Howe, Howwy, Hewey, Lowey, Horey, and Orey—the surname has been described both as a patronymic and a toponymic name. The diversity of spellings reflects the influence of Latin, French‑Norman, and Old English documents over the centuries, as well as the regional pronunciation of the initial h, which was sometimes omitted in the 14th‑ and 15th‑century records.
Following the great migrations of the 19th and 20th centuries, Howey families settled in North America, Australasia and New Zealand. In the United States the name is currently ranked as the 2,078th most common surname, with a noticeable concentration in the South and Midwest. Canada, Australia and New Zealand also record the surname, often in its Howie or Howey forms. Throughout the British Isles and abroad, the surname remains a testament to the linguistic blending of Old English, Germanic and Norman influences that shaped modern English nomenclature.
Typical given names associated with the Howey surname
Male
- Andrew
- Charles
- Christopher
- Colin
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Richard
- Robert
- Stephen
Female
- Amanda
- Deborah
- Elizabeth
- Helen
- Jean
- Jessica
- Joan
- Karin
- Margaret
- Mary
- Nora
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Howey in...
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There are approximately 840 people named Howey in the UK. That makes it roughly the 8,462nd most common surname in Britain. Around 13 in a million people in Britain are named Howey.
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Howey
- Steve Howey - American actor
- Steve Howey - Football player
- Lee Howey - Football player
- Kate Howey - Judoka
- Peter Howey - Football player
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.