Hugh (given Name)

Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name '' Hugues'', itself the Old French variant of ''Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic given names beginning in the element '' hug-'' "mind, spirit" (Old English '' hyġe'').

The Germanic name is on record beginning in the 8th century, in variants ''Chugo, Hugo, Huc, Ucho, Ugu, Uogo, Ogo, Ougo,'' etc. The name's popularity in the Middle Ages ultimately derives from its use by Frankish nobility, beginning with Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris Hugh the Great (898–956) .
The Old French form was adopted into English from the Norman period (e.g. Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury d. 1098; Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester, d. 1101).

The spelling ''Hugh'' in English is from the Picard variant spelling ''Hughes'', where the orthography ''-gh-'' takes the role of ''-gu-'' in standard French, i.e. to express the phoneme /g/ as opposed to the affricate /ʒ/ taken by the grapheme ''g'' before front vowels (as in Italian).
The modern English pronunciation /hjuː/ is influenced by the Norman variant form ''Hue'' (/hyː/, /yː/), now only a surname, mainly from Normandy.

The Old High German name ''Hugo'' was adopted as third declension nominative into Middle Latin (''Hugo, Hugonis'');
in English, however, historical figures of the continental Middle Ages are conventionally given the name in its modern English spelling, as in
Hugh Capet (941–996), Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), Hugh of Cluny (1024–1109), Hugh of Châteauneuf (1053–1132), etc.

Modern variants of the name include German ''Hugo'' and ''Uwe'', Dutch '' Huig'', Frisian '' Hauke'', Welsh ''Huw'', Italian ''Ugo''.

In the tradition of anglicisation of Gaelic names by using similar-sounding, but etymologically unrelated replacements, ''Hugh'' also serves as a replacement for '' Aodh'' and '' Ùisdean'' (see Hughes (surname), Hughes (given name)).

People

* Hugh D. Auchincloss (1897-1976), American stockbroker and lawyer, stepfather of Gore Vidal and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
* Hugh Beaumont (born 1909), American Actor
* Hugh M. Bland (1898–1967), Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court
* Hugh Bonneville (born 1963), English actor
* Hugh Cornwell (born 1949), English musician, guitarist
* Hugh Dancy (born 1975), English actor
* Hugh Dane (1942–2018), American actor
* Hugh Edmund Peter de Mel (1907-1992), Sri Lankan Sinhala politician
* Hugh Downs (1921–2020), American broadcaster and announcer
* Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (born 1965), English chef, broadcaster and campaigner
* Warnakulasuriya Ichchampullige Hugh Fernando (1916-1993), Sri Lankan Sinhala politician
* Hugh Norman Gregory Fernando (1910-1976), Chief Justice of Sri Lanka from 1966-1973
* Hughie Gallacher (1903-1957), Scottish footballer
* Hugh Glass (1783-1833), American frontiersman
* Hugh Grant (born 1960), English actor
* Hugh Griffith (1912-1980), Welsh actor
* Hugh Hefner (1926–2017), American adult magazine publisher
* Hugh Herbert (1885–1952), American motion picture comedian
* Hugh Hopper (1945–2009), English musician, bassist
* Hugh Jackman (born 1968), Australian actor
* Hugh Lane (1875–1915), Irish aviators
* Hugh Laurie (born 1959), English actor
* Hugh McDowell (1953–2018), English cellist, member of Electric Light Orchestra
* Hugh McElhenny (born 1928), American football (gridiron) player
* Hugh O'Brian (1925–2016), American actor
* Hugh Paddick (1915–2000), English actor
* Hugh G. Parker, Jr. (1934–2007), American architect
* Hugh Robertson (basketball) (born 1989), American basketball player
* Hugh Thornton (American football) (born 1991), American football player
* Hugh Shelley Meehan (born 1999)
* Hugh Walpole (1884–1941), English novelist
* Hugh E. Wright (1879–1940), French-English actor

See also

*Hugh (disambiguation)
* Page titles beginning with "Hugh"
*Huginn
* Hyglac

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hugh (Given Name)
English masculine given names
Masculine given names

ro:Hugo
ru:Гуго