English
The surname Herve is of English and Scottish origin. It is derived from the Breton personal name Haerviu, composed of the elements 'haer', battle, carnage and 'vy', worthy. The name was introduced into Britain by Bretons in the train of William the Conqueror and was originally an Old French name Herve, from the Old Breton Haerviu, meaning 'battle-worthy'. Herve, being the name of a Breton saint, is commonly derived by French etymologists from the Breton language. It was a great personal name that had not become so rare in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries that it could escape surnominal honours. On the contrary, it was still found as a fairly familiar personal name up to the fourteenth century. As a result no modern directory, wether in the United States or England, is without representatives of the surname, and in this manner it has secured immortality. The given name Harvey has been obsolete as a personal name for several centuries. The name dates back to the tenth century were a Herveus is recorded in historical archives. A modern form of the name first appears in the twelfth century with a William Hervy being recorded. One of the first fore fathers to bring this name to America is that of a Thomas Harvey, who left Kent, England, with his brother William and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1636. This name is the two hundredth and sixteenth most common surname in America.