Behind the Name
the etymology and history of surnames
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Eads
Usage: English, Scottish
Extra: Statistics
Means "son of Adam or Eda". Eda is a medieval short form of Edith.

Earl
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
From the aristocratic title, which derives from Old English eorl, which means "nobleman, warrior".

Earls
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Variant of Earl.

Earlson
Usage: English
Means "son of Earl".

Easom
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Variant of Eason.

Eason
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Variant of Eads.

Eaton
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Name for someone who lived near a river or low land, from Old English ea "river", "low-lying land" combined with tun "town", "settlement".

Eberhardt
Usage: German
Extra: Statistics
Derived from the given name Eberhard.

Ebner (1)
Usage: German
Extra: Statistics
Means "dweller on a flat piece of land" from the Middle High German eben(e).

Ebner (2)
Usage: German
Extra: Statistics
Means "judge, arbiter" from the Middle High German ebenœre.

Eccleston
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Means "from Eccleston, England". Eccleston means "church in an enclosure".

Ecclestone
Usage: English
Variant of Eccleston.

Echevarría
Usage: Spanish
A variant of Echeverría.

Echeverría
Usage: Spanish
Derived from the Basque place name Etxeberria, which itself is derived from Basque etxe "house", berri "new".

Eckstein
Usage: German
Extra: Statistics
From German eck meaning "corner" and stein meaning "stone".

Edison
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
The meaning is "son of Edward". Borne by American inventor Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931).

Edwards
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Derived from the given name Edward.

Edwardson
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Means "son of Edward".

Eerkens
Usage: Dutch
Variant of Erkens.

Egger
Usage: German
Means "a plow man" from eggen "to dig".

Eichel
Usage: German
Extra: Statistics
Means "acorn" in German.

Eikenboom
Usage: Dutch
From the Dutch word for "oak tree", eik meaning "oak" and boom meaning "tree".

Eilerts
Usage: German
Derived from the given name Eilert.

Einarsson
Usage: Swedish
Means "son of Einar".

Ek
Usage: Swedish
Extra: Statistics
Means "oak" in Swedish.

Eklund
Usage: Swedish
Name composed of the elements ek "oak" and lund "grove".

Ekmekçi
Usage: Turkish
Means "baker" in Turkish.

El-Amin
Usage: Arabic
Extra: Statistics
Means "the truthful" from the Arabic amin.

Eld
Usage: Swedish
Extra: Statistics
Old Norse eldr, modern Swedish eld = "fire".

Elder
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Derived from Old English ealdra meaning "older", used to distinguish two people who had the same name.

Eldridge
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Derived from the middle English given name Eldric, a variant of Aldrick.

Elena
Usage: Italian
Extra: Statistics
Derived from the given name Elena.

El-Ghazzawy
Usage: Arabic
Means "the one from Gaza, Palestine".

El-Hashem
Usage: Arabic
Means "the crusher" from the Arabic hashim.

Elizondo
Usage: Spanish
Means "a person who lives close to a church" from Basque eleiza "church", ondo "near".

Elliot
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Derived from the given name Elias.

Ellison
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
A patronymic form of the English name Ellis, from the medieval given name Elis, a vernacular form of Elijah.

Ellisson
Usage: English
Variant of Ellison.

Elliston
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Variant of Ellison.

Ellsworth
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
A habitational surname for a person from Elsworth, Cambridgeshire.

Elmersen
Usage: Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Variant of Elmerson.

Elmerson
Usage: English, Norwegian, Swedish
Means "son of Elmer".

Elmerssen
Usage: Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Variant of Elmerson.

Elmersson
Usage: Norwegian, Swedish
Variant of Elmerson.

El-Mofty
Usage: Arabic
It means "the Mufti" (which refers to a legal expert, or the one with the fatwa).

Mufti is a Muslim legal advisor consulted in applying a religious law.

Fatwa is an Islamic religious decree issued by the ulama.

ulama is the body of scholars who are authorities on muslim religion & law.

Ely
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
From the name of a town in eastern England meaning "eel district".

Elzinga
Usage: Dutch
Extra: Statistics
From a place name, probably Elsing in Drente. In Dutch the noun els means "alder tree".

Emerson
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Means "son of Emery". This surname was borne by Ralph Waldo Emerson, a 19th-century American poet and author who wrote about transcendentalism.

Émile
Usage: French
Extra: Statistics
Derived from the given name Émile.

Endicott
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Means "from the end cottage".

Engberg
Usage: Swedish
Extra: Statistics
Means "meadow hill" in Swedish.

Engel
Usage: German
Extra: Statistics
Derived from a German first name starting with Engel-, for example Engelbert.

English
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Denoted a person who was of English heritage. It was used to distinguish people who lived in border areas (for example, near Wales or Scotland). It was also used to distinguish an Anglo-Saxon from a Norman.

Engman
Usage: Swedish
Extra: Statistics
Derived from Swedish eng meaning "meadow".

Engström
Usage: Swedish
Extra: Statistics
Derived from Swedish äng "meadow", ström "stream".

Enns
Usage: German
Extra: Statistics
Derived from a short form of the German first name Anselm.

Episcopo
Usage: Italian
Means "bishop" in Italian.

Erckens
Usage: Dutch
Variant of Erkens.

Erdos
Usage: Hungarian
Extra: Statistics
Occupational name that means "forester" in Hungarian.

Erickson
Usage: Norwegian
Extra: Statistics
Norwegian form of Ericson.

Ericson
Usage: English, Swedish
Extra: Statistics
Means "son of Eric".

Eriksen
Usage: Danish, Scandinavian
Extra: Statistics
Means "son of Erik".

Eriksson
Usage: Swedish
Extra: Statistics
Means "son of Erik".

Erkens
Usage: Dutch
Derived from the (male) given name Erk, which means "ruler of the law".

Ermacora
Usage: Italian
From the old given name Ermacora. Regional of northeastern Italy (Friuli region).

Erős
Usage: Hungarian
Extra: Statistics
Means "strong" in Hungarian.

Escamilla
Usage: Spanish
Derived from the name of the town Escamilla in the Gualadajara province of Spain.

Escárcega
Usage: Spanish
Extra: Statistics
Derived from the Basque place name Eskarzaga, which itself is derived from Basque hazkar "maple".

Escarrŕ
Usage: Spanish
Catalan meaning "left-handed".

Esparza
Usage: Spanish
Derived from the Basque place name Espartza, a town in the province of Navarre.

Espenson
Usage: English
Means "son of Espen". Espen is a Norwegian given name, which means "divine bear".

Espina
Usage: Spanish
Extra: Statistics
Means "thorn", a name for someone who lived near a thorn bush.

Espino
Usage: Spanish
Extra: Statistics
Variant of Espina.

Espinosa
Usage: Spanish, Jewish
Extra: Statistics
From the Spanish espinoso, meaning "thorny", ultimately from Latin spîna and spînosus, respectively meaning "spine" and "full of spines/spiny". Occasionally used as a Sephardic Jewish surname.

Espinoza
Usage: Spanish
A spelling variant of Espinosa used mainly in the countries in South America.

Esposito
Usage: Italian
Extra: Statistics
Means "exposed" in Italian and denoted an infant that was rescued after being abandoned by its parents.

Esser
Usage: German
Extra: Statistics
Means "cartwright" from Middle Old German asse "axle".

Essert
Usage: German
A variant of Esser.

Estéves
Usage: Portuguese
Extra: Statistics
Means "son of Estévăo".

Estévez
Usage: Spanish
Extra: Statistics
Means "son of Esteban".

Eszes
Usage: Hungarian
Means "wise, clever" in Hungarian.

Ethans
Usage: English
Derived from the given name Ethan.

Ethanson
Usage: English
Means "son of Ethan".

Etxebarria
Usage: Basque
Means "new house" in Basque.

Eustis
Usage: English, French
Extra: Statistics
Derived from the given name Eustace.

Evangelista
Usage: Italian
Extra: Statistics
Means "evangelist" in Italian. A famous bearer of this name is top model Linda Evangelista.

Evans
Usage: Welsh
Extra: Statistics
Derived from the given name Evan.

Evanson
Usage: English
Extra: Statistics
Means "son of Evan".

Evered
Usage: English
From the given name Everard.

Everhart
Usage: German
Extra: Statistics
A variant of Eberhardt.

Evers
Usage: Dutch
Extra: Statistics
Means "son of Evert".

Ezra
Usage: Jewish
From the given name Ezra.

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