Horst

Family name origins & meanings

• North German and Dutch : topographic name from Middle Low German hurst, Middle Dutch horst ‘undergrowth’, ‘brushwood’, ‘wild place’. More specifically, the term was also used to denote a crow’s or similar large bird’s nest, a raised area in surrounding marshland, or an area of uncleared woodland, all of which meanings could have contributed to the surname.
• North German and Dutch : habitational name from any of numerous places named with this word.