Horst Family History

North German and Dutch: topographic name from Middle Low German hurst Middle Dutch horst ‘undergrowth brushwood wild place’. More specifically the term was also used to denote a crow's or similar large bird's nest a raised area in surrounding marshland or an area of uncleared woodland all of which meanings could have contributed to the surname.

This surname is also a habitational name from any of numerous places called with this word. Compare Hurst.