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Hoff
North German Dutch and Danish: topographic name or status name for the owner of a farm or an occupational name for someone who worked on the main farm in a community from Middle High and Low German hof ‘farmstead manor farm’ or a habitational name from any of the many places called with this word. Compare Hof Hofer and Hoffmann and also Huff . Norwegian: habitational name from any of numerous farmsteads named Hov from Old Norse hof ‘sacrificial temple’. Compare Huff . English: variant of Hough .
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Hoffman
German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): status name for a steward on a farm or estate from German Hof(f) ‘farm manor farm courtyard’ + Mann ‘man’. Originally this was a status name for a farmer who owned his own land as opposed to holding it by rent or feudal obligation but the name soon came to denote the manager or steward of a manor farm in which sense it is frequent also among Jews since many Jews held managerial positions on non-Jewish estates. This form of the surname is also established in many other parts of Europe notably in France (Alsace and Lorraine) Poland Denmark Hungary Czechia and the Netherlands. Compare Hofman Hofmann Homann and Huffman .
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022