HUME
Hume is a surname of dual origins, both English and Scottish, with roots that stretch back to the Viking Age and the Old Norse language. The name is believed to have entered the British Isles with the arrival of Norse settlers, who brought with them personal names such as Holm or Holme, meaning “island” or “river meadow”. Over time, the name evolved into the forms that are recorded in historical documents.
The Scottish connection to the name derives from the medieval locality known as Hume in Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders. The place name itself was taken from the Old English word hum, which denotes a low‑lying land, a grassy plain or a hill. The name is therefore toponymic, indicating that its earliest bearers were either born or lived in this area. The first documented figure bearing this name was William de Home, around 1170, and later on appears Alexander de Hume, a witness to the Charter of the lands of Drumgrey in 1408, and a conservator of the truce between Scotland and England in 1451.
In England, the surname is linked to a number of places in Lancashire, Cheshire and Staffordshire called Hulme. These toponyms were derived from the Old Danish word hulm or the Old Norse holmr, meaning a small island or a piece of flat land surrounded by streams. The earliest recorded instances in England appear in the latter half of the twelfth century; Geoffrey de Hulm is mentioned in the 1202 Pipe Rolls of Lancashire, and a John de Hulm is recorded in the Assize Court Rolls of Lancashire in 1260.
Notable bearers of the surname include the renowned Scottish philosopher David Hume, and later figures such as Sir Alec Douglas‑Home, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and John Hume, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in Northern Ireland. These individuals illustrate the spread and prominence of the name beyond its original Scottish Borders roots.
Today, the surname Hume is most commonly found in the United Kingdom, and it has spread widely to other English‑speaking countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States. The name survives in several variant spellings, which all share the same origin, including Home, Homes, Humes, Hum, Hoome, Hoomey and Hoom. In addition, related surnames such as Holmes, Holme and Holm are also derived from the same Old Norse or Old English roots. While some surnames that are phonetically similar, such as Heim or Haim, may have independent origins, they are historically separate from the British Hume lineage.
Typical given names associated with the Hume surname
Male
- Alan
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Paul
- Robert
- Thomas
- William
Female
- Alison
- Catherine
- Elizabeth
- Heather
- Jacqueline
- Karen
- Margaret
- Mary
- Maureen
- Michelle
- Nicola
- Patricia
- 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 Hume in...
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There are approximately 7,237 people named Hume in the UK. That makes it roughly the 1,298th most common surname in Britain. Around 111 in a million people in Britain are named Hume.
Origin: Celtic
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: Scotland
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: Gaelic
Famous people named Hume
- David Hume - Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian (1711 to 1776)
- John Hume - SDLP politician from Northern Ireland
- Allan Octavian Hume - Civil servant, political reformer and naturalist (1829 to 1912)
- Iain Hume - Canadian soccer player
- Benita Hume - Actress (1906 to 1967)
- Kirsty Hume - Model
- Gary Hume - Artist
- Denver Hume - Football player
- Fergus Hume - Writer (1859 to 1932)
- Alan Hume - Cinematographer (1924 to 2010)
- Marion Hume - Fashion journalist
- Joseph Hume - Scottish surgeon and Radical politician (1777 to 1855)
- Donald C. Hume - Badminton player (1907 to 1986)
- Marjorie Hume - Actress (1900 to 1)
- Ivor Noël Hume - Archaeologist (1927 to 2017)
- Julian P. Hume - Paleontologist
- Patrick Hume, 1st Earl of Marchmont - Scottish politician and noble (1641 to 1724)
- John Basil Hume - (1893 to 1974)
- Ian Hume - Football player
- James Deacon Hume - Economist (1774 to 1842)
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.