Etymograph

English

Hoover

Hoover may come from German Huber.

  1. Germanc. 1650–presentHuberuncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1976Hoover

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Germanc. 1650–presentHuberuncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1976Hoover

Earliest quotation: 1976, Robert Leeson, The Demon Bike Rider: “I helped Mum tidy up and watched while she…”

The story

The surname is an anglicization of German Huber or Low German Hufer, originally designating a landowner or a prosperous small-scale farmer. The common noun and verb are taken from the brand name of one of the first vacuum cleaners (see hoover).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kewp- ‘to arch, bend, curve, vault’

cowl, hovel, 4 more

Today it means

name An American surname from German (shared by several famous people including J. Edgar Hoover and Herbert Hoover).

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / German Huber / Hoover

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