A Dutch, German and English surname, Herring comes from the Old French term ‘hareng’ and the Old English term of ‘hering’ which both refer to the herring fish. It came to mean a person who catch or sold this fish. The spelling variations for Herring include Hering and Herrin. In England the Herring surname began in the Oxfordshire region. From there Herring families are found in most of England and parts of Wales. The higher populations with the Herring name are found in Yorkshire, Durham, the city of London and Norfolk. In Scotland the Herring family name is strongest in Renfrewshire, Angus, Roxburghshire, West Lothian, and Inverness-shire counties. Within the United States the Herring families originated in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia. Famous: Caroline Herring (singer and songwriter), Art Herring (professional baseball player), James Red Herring (professional boxer), Robert Herring (founder of Herco technology and Wealth TV), Will Herring (professional football player), James V. Herring (artist), Corey Herring (professional basketball player) and Augustus Moore Herring (pioneer aviation flyer of a compressed-air powered aircraft in 1898).