Where does the name Hoyer come from?

We are often asked where Hoyer's name comes from. Hoyer is the maiden name of my maternal great grandmother (Hoyer's Great Great Grandmother, Ruth Hoyer.) However, there is a UK connection to the name as well. The Hoyers came from Scotland, from the Isle of Hoy. We will be visiting the Isle of Hoy this August to see it and show Hoyer where his name and family came from all those years ago. Here is a picture of the Isle of Hoy below. Here is a great website that has a lot of wonderful information about Hoy: http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/hoy/hoy/

I will be updating with more information about our Scotland trip in the upcoming weeks! We leave on August 21.
Hoy is the second largest of the islands that form Orkney. It is about 10 miles long and five miles wide and is roughly rectangular in shape, not counting the tail of South Walls at its south east end. Having said that, the B9047, which runs from near the north west end of Hoy to near the south west end of South Walls, is 20 miles long, so this is not an island who's size should be underestimated.

The name comes from the Old Norse for "High Island", (Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300.) an indication that Hoy differs in character from all the other islands making up the archipelago.