Hughes (surname)


Hughes is an English language surname, usually of Irish and Welsh origin.

Origins

Hughes is an Anglicized spelling of the Welsh and Irish patronymic surname. The surname may also derive from the etymologically unrelated Picard variant Hugh of the Germanic name Hugo.
In Wales and other areas of Brythonic Britain, the surname derives from the personal name "Hu" or "Huw", meaning "fire" or "inspiration". At the British Census of 1881, the relative frequency of the surname Hughes was highest on the Welsh island of Ynys Môn, followed by Gwynedd, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Meirionydd, Montgomeryshire, Ceredigion, Radnorshire and Carmarthenshire.
In Ireland, the surname evolved from the ancient Irish name of Ó hAodha, for a grandson/descendant of Aodh, they separated from the descendants of the Leochán. Aodh was frequently Anglicized as Hugh, with Ó hAodha, in turn, being Anglicized as Hughes or Hayes. "Hughes" is often found in the province of Ulster, being especially common in counties Armagh, Tyrone, Monaghan, Donegal and Fermanagh. It was the 34th most common name in all of Ireland in Matheson's 1890 census of Ireland, and the 44th most common surname in Ireland in the 1992–1997 period. Outside of Ulster, the surname Hughes is also commonly found in counties Wexford, Galway and Cork.
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