The English, Scottish, and Irish surname Holmes is a topographic name for someone who lived by a holly tree, from Middle English holm, a divergent development of Old English hole(g)n; meaning “Holly tree.” In Scotland the name Holmes is a habitational name from Holmes near Dundonald, or from a place so called in the barony of Inchestuir.  In Ireland Holmes is an anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Thomáis, Mac Thómais (see McComb). In part of western Ireland, Holmes is a variant of Cavish.