VadeboncœurFrench (Quebec) From the French phrase va de bon cœur meaning "go with a good (merry) heart". This was a secondary surname, common among soldiers in colonial French Canada, which has been adopted as a principal surname.
Van HalenDutch Habitational name for a person from the villages Hoog en Laaghalen in the Dutch province of Drenthe or Halen near Hasselt in Belgian Limburg. Famous bearers include Dutch-born American musicians Eddie Van Halen (1955-2020) and his brother Alex Van Halen (1953-) of the rock band Van Halen... [more]
VarnellEnglish Variant of Farnell. This form originated in southwestern England, where the change from F to V arose from the voicing of F that was characteristic of this area in Middle English.
VarneyEnglish From the French place name Vernay, derived from Gaulish verno- "alder" and the locative suffix -acum. A fictional bearer is the vampire Sir Francis Varney, the title character of the mid-19th-century gothic horror story Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood.
VeneziaItalian, Judeo-Italian Habitational name from the city of Venice or from the region of Venetia, both of which are called Venezia in Italian.
VenizelosGreek From the baptismal name Benizelos, which is already in existence since the 16th century in Athens. Uncertain etymology, most likely to be of Italian origin, (Bene + angelo, the good angel, ie Evangelos)... [more]
VenzorMexican Northern Mexican surname, possibly of Native American origin.
VoronovRussian Patronymic derived from Russian ворон (voron) meaning "raven".
VoulgarisGreek From Greek Βούλγαρος (Voulgaros) meaning "Bulgarian, person from Bulgaria".
VouvaliGreek From Greek βούβαλις (vouvalis) meaning "antelope" or βούβαλος (vouvalos) "buffalo".
WakasugiJapanese From Japanese 若 (waka) meaning "young" and 杉 (sugi) meaning "cedar".
WaldorfGerman Habitational name from any of at least three places so called, derived from Old High German wald "forest" and dorf "village, settlement"... [more]
WalpoleEnglish Originally indicated a person from either of two places by this name in Norfolk and Suffolk (see Walpole). Famous bearers of the surname include Robert Walpole (1676-1745), the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, and his youngest son, the writer Horace Walpole (1717-1797)... [more]
WannellEnglish English surname which was derived from a medieval nickname, from Middle English wann "wan, pale" (see Wann) and a diminutive suffix.... [more]
WarderEnglish Weard ora. Place name in Wilshire. Became Wardour ( see castle & village). Became Warder.
WashburnEnglish Northern English topographic name for someone living on the banks of the Washburn river in West Yorkshire, so named from the Old English personal name Walc + Old English burna ‘stream’... [more]
WeerasingheSinhalese Means "brave lion", derived from Sanskrit वीर (vira) meaning "hero, man, brave" and सिंह (sinha) meaning "lion".
WeiChinese From Chinese 卫 (wèi) meaning "guard, protect".
WeinstockGerman, Jewish English variant of the German surname Wenstock, an occupational name for a producer or seller of wine, from German Weinstock "grapevine" (also compare Wein).... [more]
WeldEnglish Meant "one who lives in or near a forest (or in a deforested upland area)", from Middle English wold "forest" or "cleared upland". A famous bearer is American actress Tuesday Weld (1943-).
WeltyGerman (Swiss) From a Swiss German diminutive of the German given name Walther. A literary bearer was the American writer Eudora Welty (1909-2001).
WheelwrightEnglish Occupational name for someone who made or fitted wheels and wheeled vehicles, from Old English hwēol and wyrhta. Also compare Wheeler.
WhitbyEnglish English surname which was from either of two place names, that of a port in North Yorkshire (which comes from the Old Norse elements hvítr "white" (or Hvíti, a byname derived from it) combined with býr "farm") or a place in Cheshire (from Old English hwit "white" (i.e., "stone-built") and burh "fortress").
WilbrahamEnglish Denoted a person hailing from Wilbraham in Cambridgeshire, England. The place name itself means "Wilburg's homestead or estate" in Old English, Wilburg or Wilburga allegedly referring to a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon princess who was given the lands later called Wilbraham by her father, King Penda of Mercia.
WycherleyEnglish Derived from a place name apparently meaning "elm-wood clearing" from Old English wice and leah. A famous bearer was the dramatist William Wycherley (1640-1715).
ZaleEnglish, Polish (Anglicized) Possibly from a Polish surname, the meaning of which is uncertain (it may have been a variant of the surname Zalas which originally indicated one who lived "on the other side of the wood", from za "beyond" and las "forest").