JaukGerman (Austrian) The meaning of the name Jauk is similar to the word "acre" in English. It is a measure word for how much land an ox can plough in one day. People with the surname Jauk are likely to have descended from farmers... [more]
JaunzemeLatvian Feminine form of Jaunzems, a Latvian occupational surname meaning "new farmer", composed of jauns meaning "new" and zeme meaning "land" (compare zemlja).
JavertLiterature The name of the policeman in Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables." His name was taken from the word Javert, which means "to pursue relentlessly."... [more]
JaworekPolish Most likely comes from the last name Javorski meaning someone from "Jawor".
JaworskiPolish, Jewish Habitational name for someone from any of numerous places named Jawory or Jaworze, named with Polish jawor meaning "maple", "sycamore".
JayEnglish, French Nickname from Middle English, Old French jay(e), gai "jay (the bird)", probably referring to an idle chatterer or a showy person, although the jay was also noted for its thieving habits.
JayakodySinhalese Derived from Sanskrit जय (jaya) meaning "victory, conquest" combined with Sinhala කොඩිය (kodiya) meaning "flag, banner" (ultimately from Tamil கொடி (koti)).
JaynesEnglish (British) The Jaynes surname is a patronymic name created from the personal name Jan, which was a Middle English variant of the name John, or as "son of Jan.
JazayeriPersian Derived from Persian جزایر (jazâyir) meaning "islands", of Arabic origin.
JeanpetitFrench Means "little Jean" from Old French petit "small" and the given name Jean, originally a nickname for a small man called Jean (or applied ironically to a large man), or a distinguishing epithet for the younger of two men named Jean.... [more]
JeffreyEnglish From a Norman personal name that appears in Middle English as Geffrey and in Old French as Je(u)froi. Some authorities regard this as no more than a palatalized form of Godfrey, but early forms such as Galfridus and Gaufridus point to a first element from Germanic gala "to sing" or gawi "region, territory"... [more]
JegličSlovene "The Slovenian word for the Carniolan primrose." This name would likely have been given to people who inhabited the meadows of northwestern Slovenia where this flower is endemic.
JehleHebrew Jehle-Romanov surname was given name of monarchical leaders over the areas of eastern Eurasia known as Russia and all Russia's yet upon revolution family erroneously reported all dead. Most family of Alexander died while remaining in Russia, while those whom escaped circa 1880 survived... [more]
JelušićCroatian The first ever appearance recorded to this date was even before the Turkish men (Ottoman) broke into the Kingdom of Croatia (around 13. century).... [more]
JendoubiArabic (Maghrebi) From Jendouba, the name of a large city in northwestern Tunisia. The name itself is derived from Berber (Tamazight) jen meaning "market" and douba meaning "wheat".
JenksEnglish, Welsh English (also found in Wales) patronymic from the Middle English personal name Jenk, a back-formation from Jenkin with the removal of the supposed Anglo-Norman French diminutive suffix -in.
JereFrench Derived from the personal name Jerome, which is derived from the Greek name Hieronymos, meaning “sacred name.” Jerome was a saint who was known for translating the Bible into Latin.
JesselEnglish From a pet-form of Jessop (a medieval male personal name - a different form of Joseph). A literary bearer is Miss Jessel, the governess who has charge of the two troubled and enigmatic children in Henry James's ghost story 'The Turn of the Screw' (1898).
JessieEnglish Possibly a variant of Jessey, an occupational name for someone making jesses (a short strap fastened around the leg of a bird used in falconry).
JeterFrench (Huguenot), German Jeter is a French and German surname. It is the last name of former New York Yankees baseball player, Derek Jeter. It's also the last name of Carmelita Jeter, an American sprinter who specializes in the 100 meter sprint.
JewsonEnglish (British) A patronymic (also potentially matronymic) surname that means "the son of Jull", coming from the element Jull, a diminutive form of the personal name Julian or Juette from Iovis, the Roman god of thunder and the sky combined with the suffix of son.