Helm Family History
Helm Name Meaning
English (Lancashire): from Old English helm ‘protection covering’ (in later northern English dialects ‘cattle shelter barn’). The name may be topographic for someone who lived by or worked at a barn or habitational from a place so named such as Helme in Meltham (Yorkshire). English: variant of Elm with prosthetic H-. German and Dutch: metonymic occupational name for a maker of helmets from Middle High German Middle Dutch helm. German and Dutch: from a medieval personal name a short form of any of various compound names formed with helm ‘helmet’. Compare e.g. Helmbrecht . Dutch (Van der Helm): from one of several houses so named because of a helmet depicted on a signboard. Jewish (Ashkenazic): artificial name from German Helm ‘helmet’.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022