Holt is a surname and placename, of Proto-Germanic origin and meaning a small wood or grove of trees. It derives from the Old English word holt and is a near-synonym of "wold" (from Old English wald), originally denoting a forested upland. Those words are cognates of the modern German words "Holz" and "Wald" respectively.
The word is also found in Scandinavian placenames and in surnames derived from them: in Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic as Holt (or the more archaic Danish Holdt and Holte); in Swedish as Hult or Hulte; and even in Finnish as Hulti (a loanword from Swedish). It is often used in combination with other words, as in Uhrenholdt ("ancient holt", a Danish last name taken from that of an estate) or Älghult ("elk holt"), a village and the site of a small art-glass factory in Småland, Sweden. In Sweden it is most commonly found in and around Småland, including Älmhult, the location of the first IKEA store.
Another spelling of the name is "Hoult", more commonly found in the north of England than in the south, indicating that it is more likely in this case to be derived directly from Old Norse.
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 (born 1947), 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 (born 1958), Norwegian crime novelist and lawyer
Anders Holte (1849–1937), accomplished Norwegian sea captain and navigator
Andrew Holt (disambiguation), several people
Arthur Holt (sportsman) (1911–1994), Hampshire cricketer and Southampton footballer
Arthur Holt (politician) (1914–1995), English politician
Benjamin Holt (1849–1920), American machinery inventor, whose eponymous manufacturing company merged with another firm to become Caterpillar Inc.
Bob Holt (disambiguation), several people
Brian Van Holt (born 1969), American actor
Charles A. Holt, behavioral economist
Charles C. Holt (1921–2010), professor at McCombs School of Business, Texas
Chris Holt (ice hockey) (born 1985), goaltender
Claire Holt (born 1988), Australian actress
David Holt (musician) (born 1946), American musician
Edwin Holt (1873–1946), Harvard professor of philosophy and psychology
Elinor Holt, voice actress
Ernest William Lyons Holt (1864–1922)
Gary Holt (footballer) (born 1973)
Gary Holt (musician) (born 1964)
Gene Holt, American sculptor
Gerald Robert Holt, former Senior Vice President of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
Grant Holt (born 1981), English footballer
Hamilton Holt (1872–1951), former president of Rollins College
Harold Holt (1908–1967), Prime Minister of Australia
Harold Holt (impresario) (1885–1953), South African-English impresario
Hazel Holt (1928–2015), British novelist
Helen F. Holt (1913–2015), American politician
Henry Holt (North Dakota politician) (1887–1944), lieutenant governor
Henry Holt (publisher), Baltimore, MD author; est. Henry Holt and Company; now Holt McDougal, part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Henry E. Holt (born 1929), astronomer
Henry H. Holt (1831–1898), Michigan politician, lieutenant governor
Herbert Samuel Holt (1856–1941), former president of the Royal Bank of Canada
Homer A. Holt (1898–1975), American politician
Jack Holt (actor) (1888–1951)
Jack Holt (dinghy designer) (1912–1995)
James Alan Holt (born 1982), British journalist and radio news reader
Jeffery Holt, International acclaimed lawyer and author
Jefferson Holt, former manager of rock band R.E.M.
Jennifer Holt (1920–1997), American actress
Jim Holt (Arkansas politician) (born 1965)
JoBea Way Holt (born 1954), planetary scientist
John Holt (disambiguation), various people, one of whom helped establish Holt Renfrew, the Canadian department store
Joseph Holt (1807–1894), American judge
Joseph Holt (rebel) (1756–1826), United Irish general
Knut Holte (born 1967), 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
Kåre Holt (1916–1997), Norwegian author
Kristin Holt, television personality
Lester Holt (born 1959), American news journalist
Luther Emmett Holt (1855–1924), pediatrician
Marjorie Holt (born 1920), United States representative from Maryland
Michael Holt (author) (born 1929)
Michael Holt (musician) (born 1968)
Michael Holt (snooker player) (born 1978)
Mike Holt (1931–2008), South African boxer of the 1950s and '60s (birth name Antione Michael Holthausen)
Mister Terrific (Michael Holt), fictional character in the DC Universe
Nancy Holt (1938–2014), American artist
Olivia Holt (born 1997), American actress
Orrin Holt (1792–1855), United States representative from Connecticut
Patti LaBelle (born Patricia Louise Holte, born 1944), American singer and actress
Peter Holt (born 1948), American businessman
Pierce Holt (born 1962), American football player
Randy Holt (born 1953), Canadian ice hockey player
Ric Holt, Canadian computer scientist
Robert Holt (1913–1985), American academic author
Rod Holt (born 1934), American computer engineer (Apple II)
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 (1902–?), American college basketball coach
Sandrine Holt (born 1972), model and actress
Seth Holt (1923–1971), British film director and producer
Simeon ten Holt (1923–2012), Dutch composer
Simma Holt (1922–2015), Canadian journalist and politician
Simon Holt (born 1958), British composer
Steve Holt (disambiguation), several people
Søren Uhrenholdt, Danish immigrant to the US, and early conservationist; Uhrenholdt Memorial State Forest, in Wisconsin named after him
Terrence Holt (born 1980), American football player; younger brother of Torry Holt
Terrence Holt (writer), American writer
Thomas Michael Holt (1831–1896), textile manufacturer, whose eponymous company eventually became part of Burlington Industries
Tim Holt (1919–1973), American actor
Tim Holt (statistician) (born 1943)
Tom Holt (born 1961), British novelist
Tor Håkon Holte (born 1958), Norwegian Olympic cross country skier; gold at the 1985 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
Torry Holt (born 1976), American football player; older brother of Terrence Holt
Victor Holt (1908–1988), American basketball player
Victoria Holt, pseudonym of Eleanor Alice Burford Hibbert, British author
William Holt (disambiguation), several people
Bertil Hult, Swedish; founded international education company EF Education First; Hult International Business School is named for him
Johan Hultin (born 1925), 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 (1916–1993), British Member of Parliament
Laura Pendergest-Holt (born 1973), former chief investment officer of Stanford Financial Group who plead guilty for her role in a US$7 billion Ponzi scheme
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
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)
Holt is a village in east Dorset, England, two miles north of Wimborne Minster.
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 Carl 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
