Holt (surname)
Holt is a surname.
Etymology
Holt is a surname and placename, of Proto-Germanic origin and meaning a small grove of trees, or copse, or "a wood". It comes into English from Anglo-Saxon (Wold) and is a near-synonym to "wood", which is also Anglo-Saxon. Those words are equivalent to the modern German words "Holz" and "Wald" respectively. It is also found in the Scandinavian languages in names or placenames, as Holt, or the more archaic Holdt and Holte in Danish; Holt in Norwegian and Icelandic, Hult or Hulte in Swedish, and even Hulti in Finnish (from Swedish). It is often used in combination with other words, such as Uhrenholdt ("ancient holt", a Danish last name taken from an estate) or Älghult ("elk holt"), a village and small art-glass factory in Småland, Sweden. In Sweden it is most common in and around Småland, including Älmhult, the site of IKEA store. Related German names include Holz, Holzman, Holzhauer, et al., and their anglicized equivalents which often insert a "t" between the "l" and the "z".
Notable people named Holt (including alternative spellings and derivations)
- Axel Petersson Döderhultarn (born Axel Petersson; 1868 – 1925); world-famous Swedish woodcarver, from village of Döderhult, Småland
- Jacob Holdt, Danish photojournalist who lived with and documented the lives of impoverished people, including minorities, in America
- Troels Holdt, Danish musician/composer; member of electropop group Nordstrøm; competed in the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2009
- Anne Holt, Norwegian crime novelist and lawyer
- Anders Nikolai Holte, accomplished Norwegian sea captain and navigator
- Arthur Holt (cricketer), (1911 – 1994), Hampshire cricketer and Southampton footballer
- Arthur Holt (politician), (1914 – 1995), English politician
- Benjamin Holt, machinery inventor, whose eponymous manufacturing company merged with another firm to become Caterpillar Inc.
- Bob Holt, several people
- Brian Van Holt, American actor
- Charles A. Holt, behavioral economist
- Charles C. Holt, professor at McCombs School of Business, Texas
- Chris Holt (ice hockey), goaltender
- Claire Holt, Australian actress
- Daniel Holt, Founder of OmegaQuest, Inc. and DoD worker
- David Holt (musician), American musician
- Edwin Holt, Harvard professor of philosophy and psychology
- Elinor Holt, voice actress
- Ernest William Lyons Holt,
- Gary Holt (footballer),
- Gary Holt (musician),
- Grant Holt, English footballer
- Hamilton Holt, former president of Rollins College
- Harold Holt, former Prime Minister of Australia
- Hazel Holt, British novelist
- Henry Holt (North Dakota politician), lieutenant governor
- Henry Holt (publisher), Baltimore, MD author; est. Henry Holt and Company; now Holt McDougal, part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Henry E. Holt, astronomer
- Henry H. Holt, Michigan politician, lieutenant governor
- Herbert Samuel Holt, former president of the Royal Bank of Canada
- Homer A. Holt, American politician
- Jack Holt (actor)
- Jack Holt (dinghy designer)
- James Alan Holt, British journalist and radio news reader
- Jefferson Holt, former manager of rock band R.E.M.
- Jennifer Holt, American actress
- Jim Holt (Arkansas politician)
- John Holt, various people, one of whom helped establish Holt Renfrew, the Canadian department store
- Joseph Holt, American judge
- Joseph Holt (rebel) United Irish general
- Knut Holte, a retired Norwegian footballer
- Kolbjørn Holthe, Norwegian violinist; current artistic leader of the Tromsø Symphony Orchestra
- Amoene van Haersolte, (née Van Holthe tot Echten); Dutch noblewoman and author; winner of first P. C. Hooft Award
- Ole Kristian Holthe, Norwegian, former director of Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
- Kåre Holt, Norwegian author
- Kristin Holt, television personality
- Lester Holt, American news journalist
- Luther Emmett Holt, pediatrician
- Marjorie Holt, United States representative from Maryland
- Melvin Holt, American actor
- Michael Holt (author)
- Michael Holt (musician)
- Michael Holt (snooker player)
- Mister Terrific (Michael Holt), fictional character in the DC Universe
- Orrin Holt, United States representative from Connecticut
- Patti LaBelle, (born Patricia Louise Holte) American singer and actress
- Peter Holt, American businessman
- Pierce Holt, American football player
- Randy Holt, Canadian ice hockey player
- Ric Holt, Canadian computer scientist
- Rush D. Holt, Jr., a U.S. Representative from New Jersey
- Rush D. Holt, Sr., a U.S. Senator from West Virginia
- Sam B. Holt, American college basketball coach
- Sandrine Holt, model and actress
- Seth Holt, British film director and producer
- Simeon ten Holt, Dutch composer
- Simma Holt, Canadian journalist and politician
- Simon Holt, British composer
- Steve Holt, several people
- Søren Uhrenholdt, Danish immigrant to the US, and early conservationist; Uhrenholdt Memorial State Forest, in Wisconsin named after him
- Terrence Holt, American football player; younger brother of Torry Holt
- Thomas Michael Holt, textile manufacturer, whose eponymous company eventually became part of Burlington Industries
- Tim Holt, American actor
- Tim Holt (statistician)
- Tom Holt, British novelist
- Tor Håkon Holte, Norwegian Olympic cross country skier; gold at the 1985 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
- Torry Holt, American football player; older brother of Terrence Holt
- Victor Holt, American basketball player
- Victoria Holt, pseudonym of Eleanor Alice Burford Hibbert, British author
- William Holt, several people
- Bertil Hult, Swedish; founded international education company EF Education First; Hult International Business School is named for him
- Johan Hultin, noted Swedish-American pathologist
- Karl Hult, Swedish biochemist and researcher. Professor emeritus at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
- Karl-Erik Hult, (1936–2010), Swedish footballer and manager
- Kurt Hultin, Swedish architect; helped design Kronprinsen (The Crown Prince) in 1964, Sweden's first high-rise, in the city of Malmö
- Nils Hult, commissioner who helped create the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, in Eugene, Oregon
- Ragnar Hult, (1857–1899) important Finnish botanist and plant geographer
- John Langford-Holt, British Member of Parliament
- Laura Pendergest-Holt, a Chief Investment Officer with Stanford Financial Group
- Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, Norwegian Olympic cross-country skier; won gold medal in sprint, 2007 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
- Tess Uriza Holthe, Filipino-American writer of US bestselling novel When the Elephants Dance (2002), and The Five-Forty-Five To Cannes
Places with name Holt (or derivative forms)
- Diepholz town and capital of the district of Diepholz, in Lower Saxony, Germany
- Döderhult, parish in Oskarshamn Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden; Misterhult is a nearby parish
- Oskarshamn City, was earlier called Döderhultsvik (orig. Duderhultevik), after the nearby bay, which is still called Döderhultsvik (vik=bay)
- Holte, northern suburb of Metropolitan Copenhagen, Rudersdal municipality, Denmark; it has a town-hall designed by Arne Jacobsen
- Holt Fleet, village in the Malvern Hills District in the county of Worcestershire, England
- Holt, market town and civil parish in the county of Norfolk, England
- Holt is a medieval market town in Wrexham Borough, Wales; site of medieval Holt Castle
- Hultsfred, seat of Hultsfred Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden;
- (The Hultsfred Festival a world-re-known popular music festival in Hultsfred; started 1986, it was cancelled in 2010 for financial reasons)
- Hult, a village in Eksjö Municipality, Jönköping County, Sweden, with around 473 inhabitants
- Reykholt, Iceland (reyk=smoke); home of Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241) historian, politician, poet; recorded of Old Norse culture
- Råshult village, Kronoberg County, Småland, Sweden; birthplace of Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné), father of modern taxonomy (1707)
- Stenbrohult, the parrish in which Råshult is located
- Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock, town in the district of Gütersloh in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
- Skálholt (Old Icelandic: Skálaholt) important historical site in southeast Iceland. From 1056 - 1785, one of Iceland's two episcopal sees
- Älmhult Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden; birthplace of Ingvar Kamprad (IKEA founder); the first IKEA was built in Älmhult
See also
This page lists people with the surname Holt.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.