English (Yorkshire): habitational name from a place called Hey.Dutch: topographic name for
someone who lived on a heath, Dutch hei, heide.German: metonymic occupational name for a grower or mower of
grass, from Middle High German höu ‘grass’, ‘hay’.North
German (Frisian) and Dutch: from a Germanic personal name formed with
hag ‘fence’, ‘enclosure’ as the first element.South
German: occupational name from Middle High German heie
‘ranger’, ‘warden’, ‘guard’ or a topographic name from Middle High
German haie ‘protected wood’.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
148,600
Historical Documents & Family Trees with Hey
The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry.co.uk.
You can find out where the majority of the Hey families were living before
they immigrated to the U.S and learn where to focus your search for foreign records.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival, and destination.