holte

Holte is a name that appears in several European contexts as both a place name and a surname. The root is the old word holt, meaning a small wood or grove, and the form Holte typically reflects woodland origins in the landscape at the time of naming. As a surname, Holte occurs in English-speaking countries and in Scandinavia, often as a variant of Holt or as a toponymic surname derived from a place called Holte.

Geography: In Germany, Holte refers to a locality within the municipality of Holte-Stukenbrock in the district of Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia. The municipality was formed through 20th-century administrative reforms by merging the villages of Holte and Stukenbrock. The name also appears in other historic or minor localities in the region, again indicating woodland associations. In Europe more broadly, Holte can be found in village names and street names, reflecting similar forest-related origins. In Dutch and English contexts, the spelling Holte is sometimes encountered as a regional variant of Holt.

Notable people: The surname Holte is borne by various individuals across fields such as academia, sports, and the arts, but it is not associated with a single universally prominent figure.

See also: Holt, Holten, and other disambiguation pages for similar place names and variant spellings.