Holt is a surname and placename, of Proto-Germanic origin and meaning a small wood or grove of trees.
[citation needed] The word is also found in Scandinavian placenames and in surnames derived from them: in Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic as Holt (or the more archaic Danish Holdt and Holte); in Swedish as Hult or Hulte; and even in Finnish as Hulti (a loanword from Swedish).
In Sweden it is most commonly found in and around Småland, including Älmhult, the location of the first IKEA store.
[citation needed] Another spelling of the name is "Hoult", more commonly found in the north of England than in the south.
Related German names include Holz, Holzman, Holzhauer, et al., and their anglicized equivalents which often insert a "t" between the "l" and the "z".