From the Old English hide, a measure of land large enough to support one household — an English name that put down deep Irish roots.
English Origin · Root meaning ‘a hide of land’
Hyde comes from the Old English hid, the ‘hide’ — a unit of land reckoned sufficient to support one household, and so a name first given to whoever held or worked that measure of ground. The family arrived in Ireland among English settlers, most notably in Connacht.
Its most famous bearer took the Irish form de hÍde: Douglas Hyde, scholar, founder of the Gaelic League, and first President of Ireland — an English name that became, in one life, a founding voice of the Irish state.
Irish form: de hÍde
