Frequency: (227)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
English: habitational name from Howgill in Sedbergh or from Hugill, Cumbria. Howgill is named from Old Norse hol ‘hollow’ + gil ‘ravine’; Hugill probably takes its name from Old Norse hór ‘high’ + geil ‘ravine’.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
