House
A surname that usually began as a topographic or occupational name for someone living or working at a house or great house.
The #844 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,530 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Lower’s dictionary gives House mainly as a name connected with Old English and later English words for a house, suggesting a person associated with a house in some way. In practice, that could mean someone who lived by a notable house or dwelling, or someone attached to a manor or household as a servant. Some older writers also floated a different idea from a Germanic word meaning a fortress or stronghold, but the English “house” explanation is the more natural one.
History
House is an old English surname and remains fairly common in the United States. Like many simple topographic names, it could arise independently in more than one place, so not every family named House will share the same ancestral origin. The name is also familiar in place-name form and in compounds such as Hobhouse, which Lower mentions alongside it.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Lower specifically discusses House alongside Hobhouse in his surname notes, showing that even a very everyday word could become a fixed hereditary surname.
From the historical record
“house, Hobhouse. HOUSE. See remarks in Eng. Surn, i. 75. 1. It is probably the A-Sax. Uvsa, a domestic servant. 2. Or, perhaps, Su. Goth. 1ms, arx, a castle. HOUSEGO. Apparently the old Germ, personal name Husicho. Ferguson. HOUSEHOLD. A hold Is a fortress, or any thing held out. Hence Household may signity a…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named House
- Gregory House (b. 1959)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.