This is a list of surnames in which the description contains the keyword animal.
Best 1English Derived from Middle English beste meaning "beast", an occupational name for a keeper of animals or a nickname for someone who acted like a beast. A famous bearer of this surname was soccer legend George Best (1946-2005).
DarbyEnglish From the name of the English town Derby, derived from Old Norse djúr "animal" and býr "farm, settlement".
FoxEnglish From the name of the animal. It was originally a nickname for a person with red hair or a crafty person.
KalbGerman Occupational name meaning "calf (animal)" in German.
KinnunenFinnish Possibly derived from the Finnish dialectal word kinni meaning "animal skin, fur", borrowed from Swedish skinn.
LambEnglish From the name of the animal, perhaps a nickname for a shy person.
Pender 1English From Middle English pind "to pen up". This was an occupational name for someone who penned animals.
Penn 2English Occupational name for a person who kept penned animals, from Old English penn.
PoundEnglish Occupational name for a person who kept animals, from Old English pund"animal enclosure".
SkinnerEnglish Occupational name for a person who skinned animals, from Old Norse skinn.
TannerEnglish Occupational name for a person who tanned animal hides, from Old English tannian "to tan", itself from Late Latin and possibly ultimately of Celtic origin.
TiraboschiItalian Possibly of Lombardic origin meaning "shepherd" (from Old German tior "animal" and bursa "boy"). This surname is typical of Lombardy.
VarelaSpanish Derived from Spanish vara"stick". It may have originally been given to one who used a stick in his line of work, for example an animal herder.
Warren 1English Denoted a person who lived near a warren, from Norman French warrene meaning "animal enclosure" (of Germanic origin).