"named, called" (archaic), from levelled past participle of Middle English highte, from Old English hatte "I am called" (passive of hatan "to call, name, command") merged with heht "called," active past tense of the same verb. Hatte was the only survival in Old English of the old Germanic synthetic passive tense. The word is related to Old Norse heita, Dutch heten, German heißen, Gothic haitan "to call, be called, command" (see cite).