A name that means modesty.
Hishmeh is an attribute surname: a family named for a valued quality. Here is where it comes from, and how to say it.
The name Hishmeh comes from the Arabic word حشمة (ḥishmah), meaning modesty and decency.
حشمة: modesty, decency.
Many of the oldest family names are attribute names: a household known, and then named, for a quality it was seen to hold. Hishmeh belongs to that tradition. The word itself is old Arabic and long predates the family's own history; what the record preserves is its meaning, carried quietly in the name ever since.
How to say it
Say the first syllable like “hish” (to rhyme with wish), then a short, soft “meh.” The weight sits firmly on the first syllable and the ending stays quiet. Some branches soften that ending closer to “may” than “meh”; both are the same name. In Arabic, حشمة is ḥishmah, with a breathy ḥ that English speakers usually render as a plain “h.”
A Christian family of Ramallah
The Hishmeh of these pages are a Christian family of Ramallah, in the hills of Palestine. The name arrived in Ramallah in 1775 and, in the generations since, traveled far beyond it. You can read that story in Ramallah & Our Origins and From Ramallah to the World.
A note on spelling
Because the name is transliterated from Arabic into other alphabets, small spelling differences can appear across passports, church records, and immigration papers, and across branches and generations. They are variations on a single name, not different families. The spelling this family uses is Hishmeh.
Have a question about the name we have not answered here? See our frequently asked questions.