LABRIOLA ItalianOriginally indicated a person from the town of Abriola in southern Italy.
LACHANCE FrenchMeans "chance, luck" in French, a nickname for a lucky person.
LACHAPELLE FrenchMeans "the chapel" in French, most likely used to denote a person who lived by a church or a chapel.
LACY EnglishDerived from
Lassy, the name of a town in Normandy. The name of the town was Gaulish in origin, perhaps deriving from a personal name that was Latinized as
Lascius.
LAGANÀ ItalianOccupational name for a greengrocer, meaning "vegetables" in southern Italian dialects, ultimately from Greek
λαχανον (lachanon).
LAGORIO ItalianFrom a nickname derived from Ligurian
lagö, referring to a type of lizard, the European green lizard. This little reptile is respected because it supposedly protects against vipers.
LAGUARDIA ItalianOccupational name meaning "sentry, sentinel" in Italian, also a locative name referring to a person who lived near a watchtower. Fiorello Laguardia (1882-1947) was the first mayor of New York of Italian origin.
LAGUNOV RussianPatronymic name derived from Russian
лагун (lagun) meaning "water barrel". It was used to denote the descendants of a person who made water barrels.
LAMA ItalianDerived from the name place
Lama, common in Italy.
LAMAR French, EnglishOriginally from a place name in Normandy, derived from Old French
la mare meaning "the pool".
LAMON ItalianFrom the name of the village of Lamon near the city of Belluno in Veneto, Italy.
LANDAU German, JewishDerived from the town of Landau in the Palatinate region of Germany, of Old High German origin meaning "land valley".
LANE (1) EnglishOriginally designated one who lived by a lane, a narrow way between fences or hedges, later used of any narrow pathway, including one between houses in a town.
LANE (2) FrenchDerived from a French word meaning "wool", designating one who worked in the wool trade.
LANE (3) IrishFrom Irish
Ó Luain meaning "descendant of Luan", a given name meaning "warrior".
LANGBROEK DutchFrom the name of a small town in the province of Utrecht, Holland, derived from
lang means "wide" and
broek means "meadow".
LANGDON EnglishDerived from various places names, of Old English origin meaning "long hill" (effectively "ridge").
LANGLEY (1) EnglishFrom any of the various places with this name, all derived from Old English
lang "long" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
LÁNÍK CzechDerived from Czech
lán, a measure of land equal to approximately 18 hectares. The name loosely translates as "farmer" and is considered a Moravian equivalent of
Sedlák.
LANTOS HungarianMeans "minstrel, bard, lutist" in Hungarian, from
lant meaning "lute".
LAPOINTE FrenchMeans "point (of a lance)" in French, possibly a nickname for a soldier.
LATERZA ItalianFrom the name of the town of Laterza near Taranto in Apulia. It is typical of southern Italy.
LAUKKANEN FinnishFrom a nickname for a person who took big steps, from Finnish
laukka meaning "canter, gallop".
LAURITO ItalianFrom the name of the town of Laurito, near Salerno in the area of Naples.
LAVIGNE FrenchMeans "the vineyard" in French, referring to a person who lived close to a vineyard, or was from the town of Lavigny.
LAVOIE FrenchMeans "the road, the lane" in French, a name for someone who lived close to a road.
LAWRENCE EnglishDerived from the given name
LAURENCE (1). Famous bearers include revolutionary T. E. Lawrence (1888-1935) and author D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930).
LAYTON EnglishDerived from the name of English towns, meaning "town with a leek garden" in Old English.
LEACH EnglishOriginally indicated a person who was a physician, from the medieval practice of using leeches to bleed people of ills.
LEAVITT EnglishFrom the name of various places called Livet in Normandy, France. They are possibly of Gaulish origin.
LEBEAU FrenchNickname for a handsome person, from French
le "the" and
beau "beautiful, handsome".
LEBLANC FrenchMeans "the white", from French
blanc "white". The name referred to a person who was pale or whose hair was blond.
LECCE ItalianOriginally indicated a person from Lecce, southern Italy. The town was known as
Licea or
Litium in Latin, earlier
Lupiae.
LÉCUYER FrenchFrom French
écuyer meaning "squire, shield-bearer".
LEDFORD EnglishFrom the name of English places called
Lydford, derived from
hlud meaning "loud, noisy" and
ford meaning "ford, river crossing".
LEE (1) EnglishOriginally given to a person who lived on or near a
leah, Old English meaning "woodland, clearing".
LEEUWENHOEK DutchMeans "lion's corner" in Dutch. The first bearer of this name lived on the corner (Dutch
hoek) of the Lion's Gate (Dutch
Leeuwenpoort) in the city of Delft.
LEFÈVRE FrenchOccupational name meaning "blacksmith" in Old French, derived from Latin
faber.
LEHMANN GermanFrom Middle High German
lehenman meaning "vassal, liege man".
LEHR GermanFrom Old High German
loh meaning "meadow, clearing".
LEITNER GermanReferred to one who lived on a hillside, from Middle High German
lite "slope".
LEITZKE GermanEither from
Leitzkau, the name of a town in Saxony-Anhalt, or from a diminutive of the given name
Leutz, a variant of
LUTZ.
LEMAIRE FrenchMeans "the mayor" in French. It was a title given to a town official, or else a nickname for someone who was pompous and officious.
LÉMIEUX FrenchDerived from the place name
Leymieux, a town in the Rhône-Alpes region of France.
LENNON IrishAnglicized form of the Irish name
Ó Leannáin, which means "descendant of Leannán". The given name
Leannán means "lover". The name was borne by the musician John Lennon (1940-1980).
LENNOX ScottishFrom the name of a district in Scotland, called
Leamhnachd in Gaelic, possibly meaning "place of elms".
LENZ GermanFrom a nickname meaning "springtime" in German.
LESLIE ScottishFrom a Scottish clan name, earlier
Lesselyn, derived from a place name in Aberdeenshire, itself probably from Gaelic
leas celyn meaning "garden of holly".
LEWIS (1) EnglishDerived from the given name
LEWIS. The author C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) was a bearer of this surname.
LI (1) ChineseFrom Chinese
李 (lǐ) meaning "plum, plum tree". This was the surname of Chinese emperors of the Tang dynasty.
LIAO ChineseFrom Chinese
廖 (liào) referring to the ancient state of Liao, which was located in present-day Henan province.
LINCOLN EnglishOriginally indicated that the bearer was from the English city of Lincoln, called
Lindum Colonia by the Romans, derived from Brythonic
lindo "lake, pool" and Latin
colonia "colony". A famous bearer was Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), president of the United States during the American Civil War.
LINDGREN SwedishFrom Swedish
lind "linden tree" and
gren "branch". A famous bearer of this name was Swedish author Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002).
LINNA FinnishMeans "castle" in Finnish. A famous namesake is Väinö Linna (1920-1992), Finnish author of 'The Unknown Soldier'.
LINTON EnglishOriginally from place names meaning either "flax town" or "linden tree town" in Old English.
LINWOOD EnglishOriginally from place names meaning "linden tree forest" in Old English.
LIS PolishMeans "fox" in Polish, a nickname for a sly person.
LISTER ScottishAnglicized form of the Gaelic
Mac an Fleisdeir meaning "son of the arrow maker".
LITHGOW ScottishHabitation name meaning derived from Celtic roots meaning "pool hollow". A famous bearer of this name is actor John Lithgow (1945-).
LITTLE EnglishMeaning simply "little", it was originally a nickname given to a short person.
LIU ChineseFrom Chinese
刘 (liú) meaning "kill, destroy". This was the surname of Chinese emperors of the Han dynasty.
LLOYD WelshOriginally a nickname from the Welsh word
llwyd meaning "grey".
LOCATELLI ItalianFrom Locatello, a town in Lombardy, northern Italy, near the city of Bergamo.
LOGAN ScottishFrom a Scottish place name meaning "little hollow", derived from Gaelic
lag "hollow, pit".
LOMAN DutchFrom various place names in the Netherlands, derived from Old Dutch
loh meaning "meadow, clearing".
LOMBARDI ItalianOriginally indicated someone who came from the Lombardy region of northern Italy, which was named for the Lombards, a Germanic tribe who invaded in the 6th century.
LONDON EnglishFrom the name of the capital city of the United Kingdom, the meaning of which is uncertain.
LONG EnglishOriginally a nickname for a person who had long limbs or who was tall.
LONGSTAFF EnglishOccupational name for an official who was equipped with a ceremonial staff, or a nickname for a tall person.
LOVE EnglishFrom the Old English given name
Lufu meaning "love".
LOWELL EnglishFrom a nickname derived from a Norman French
lou meaning "wolf" and a diminutive suffix.
LOYOLA Spanish, BasqueFrom the name of a place name near the town of Azpeitia in the Basque Country of Spain, derived from Basque
loi meaning "mud". This was the birthplace of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the founder of Jesuits.
LU ChineseFrom Chinese
吕 (lǚ) meaning "musical note" and also referring to the former state of Lu, which was situated in what is now Henan province.
LUM EnglishFrom the name of towns in England called
Lumb, probably from Old English
lum "pool".
LUND Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, EnglishIndicated a person who lived near a grove of trees, from Old Norse
lundr meaning "grove". There are towns in Sweden and Britain called Lund.
LUZZATTO ItalianFrom an Italian form of
Lusatia, a region of eastern Germany.
LYNCH IrishFrom Irish
Ó Loingsigh meaning "descendant of Loingseach", a given name meaning "mariner".
LYNDON EnglishOriginally from a place name meaning "linden tree hill" in Old English.
LYNE ScottishHabitational name for someone who lived in places of this name in Scotland.
LYNN EnglishFrom the name of a town in Norfolk (King's Lynn), derived from Welsh
llyn meaning "lake".
LYON (1) English, FrenchOriginally denoted a person from the city of Lyon in central France, originally Latin
Lugdunum, of Gaulish origin meaning "hill fort of
LUGUS". It could also denote a person from the small town of Lyons-la-Forêt in Normandy.