Hathaway

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A surname of English origin, borne by various people including a famous film actress and Shakespeare's wife
2. A family name of English origin, carried by notable figures such as a Hollywood film actress and the spouse of the playwright Shakespeare
3. An English family name, held by individuals like a well-known screen actress and the wife of the dramatist William Shakespeare

Etymology: The surname "Hathaway" is most famous as the maiden name of Anne Hathaway, William Shakespeare's wife, but its origins are older and less certain than its association with the playwright suggests. Its most likely source is a topographic name for someone who lived beside a path across a heath. Combining Old English "hǣþ", meaning heath or untilled land, with "weġ", meaning way, the name describes a dweller by a heathland track. A second possibility is quite different. The name may instead come from a personal name recorded in Old English as Heaþuwig, built from "heaþu", meaning strife or contention, and "wīg", meaning war. That name is a close relative of the German "Hedwig", and a surname formed from it would have meant "son of Heaþuwig." Both explanations are old and both fit the surviving spellings, so the name is best understood as an English surname with two possible roots rather than one settled origin.