 The term may have been a combined reference to the Swiss politician Besançon Hugues (died 1532) and the religiously conflicted nature of Swiss republicanism in his time.It used a derogatory pun on the name "Hugues" by way of the Dutch word "Huisgenoten" (literally "housemates"), referring to the connotations of a somewhat related word in German "Eidgenosse" ("Confederate" in the sense of "a citizen of one of the states of the Swiss Confederacy").<ref name="EB11">"Encyclopædia Britannica", 11th ed, Frank Puaux, "Huguenot"</ref>

Geneva was John Calvin's adopted home and the centre of the Calvinist movement.In Geneva, Hugues, though Catholic, was a leader of the "Confederate Party", so called because it favoured independence from the Duke of Savoy.