[Surname] Re: HOLLENBECK :meaning and origin?
by Anon. (guest)
8/19/2004, 2:24 PM
Holle, cf. modern Hohle, means 'hollow, depression in the landscape', something like that. Beck, cf. modern Bach, means 'brook'. So this is originally the name of a small stream, I guess one with higher and steeper banks than usual.
Later, towns were named after the streams that ran near them. There are 4 or 5 places with this name in Germany and Austria.
After that, people from these towns started to use it as a surname.