American Submitted Surnames

American names are used in the United States. See also about American names.
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Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
AANENSON English (American, Anglicized)
Anglicized form of rare Norwegian surname Ånundson meaning "son of ÅNUND".
AARONS English
Means "Son of Aaron."
ABARROW English
At or near a barrow or tumulus.
ABBETT English
Variant of Abbott.
ABBOT English
Variant of Abbott.
ABBOTSON English
An English surname meaning "Son of Abbot"
ABBS English
Derived from the given name Abel.
ABELSON English
This name derives from the surname Abelson, meaning "son of Abel." Patronymic.
ABES English
This is likely derived from the given name Abe(1).
ABHORSON English
English surname meaning "executioner"
ABKE American (Rare)
Abke is an Americanized version of an unknown German surname.... [more]
ABLE English
Possibly from the English word able.
ABSALOM English, Jewish
Derived from the given name ABSALOM.
ABYSSUM American
Means "Abyss" in Latin.
ACCRINGTON English
Derived from the place Accrington.
ACE English, Norman, Medieval French
The surname Ace's origin is from a Norman and Old French personal name, Ace, Asse, from Germanic Frankish origin Azzo, Atso, a pet form of personal names containing adal ‘noble’ as a first element.
ACKERLEY English
Old English surname which came from a place name which meant "Oak meadow." See Ackley.
ACKERSON English
From the middle english word "aker" meaning field, basically means "son of the field"
ACKLEY English
From an Old English surname: a place name which meant "Oak meadow". A variation of this is: "dwells at the oak tree meadow". ... [more]
ACKROYD English
Topographic name from northern Middle English ake "oak" and royd "clearing".
ACTON English, Northern Irish
"Oak Town" in Old English. Parishes in Cheshire, Suffolk, Middlesex. There is also a place that bears this name in Ulster.
ACY English (Rare)
Possibly from the given name Ace.
ADALSON English
English surname meaning "Son of all"
ADDAMS English
Variant of Adams.
ADDINGTON English
Habitational name from any of various places named in Old English as Eaddingtun 'settlement associated with Eadda' or Æddingtun 'settlement associated with Æddi'.
ADDY English
From the personal name ADDY, a medieval diminutive of ADAM. It is therefore related to the surname ADDISON.
ADGATE English
Variant of Agate.
ADIE English, Scottish
From the personal name ADIE, a medieval pet form of ADAM.
ADISON English
A variation of Addison, which means "Son of Addy".
ADKINSON English
Variant of the surname Atkinson.
ADNEY English
Habitational name from Adeney in Shropshire, named in Old English as Eadwynna ey "island of a woman called Eadwynn". English: from a Middle English pet form of Adam. Forms such as Adenet, Adinot, Addy, and Adey are all well attested... [more]
AGLER English
From one or more Middle English personal names variously written Alger, Algar, Alcher, Aucher, etc. These represent a falling together of at least three different Continental Germanic and Old English names: Adalgar "noble spear" (Old English Æ{dh}elgār), Albgar "elf spear" (Old English Ælfgār), and Aldgar "old spear" (Old English (E)aldgār)... [more]
AGUILERA American (Hispanic)
Variant of Aguilar.
AHRENALDI English (Rare), English (American, Rare)
Possibly an Americanized version of Italian Arenaldi
AIDEN English
Derived from the first name AIDEN.
AIKMAN Dutch, English, Scottish
Originally a surname or a nickname meaning oak man.
AKEMON English
American variant of Aikman.
AKEY English
Possibly an Americanized form of German EICHE "oak".
AKINS Scottish, English, Northern Irish
Variant of Aikens, which is derived from the given name Aiken, a variant of the medieval diminutive Atkin (see Aitken).
AKRIDGE English
Possibly English, a habitational name from a place with a name meaning ‘oak ridge’, as for example Aikrigg in Cumbria (from Old Norse eik ‘oak’ + hryggr ‘ridge’), or any of the many places called Oakridge (from Old English āc + hrycg)... [more]
ALABASTER English
From the name of a whitish kind of gypsum used for vases, ornaments and busts, ultimately deriving from Greek alabastros, itself perhaps from Egyptian 'a-labaste "vessel of the goddess Bast"... [more]
ALANSON English
English surname meaning "son of Alan"
ALBANY Scottish, English (American)
From the title of the Dukes of Albany (House of Stuart), hence a name borne by their retainers. It is an infrequent surname in England and Scotland. The city of Albany, NY (formerly the Dutch settlement of Beverwijck or Fort Orange) was named for James Stuart, Duke of York and Albany; he was the brother of King Charles II and later king in his own right as James II... [more]
ALBRIGHT American
This name was originally Albrecht. It was changed by German imigrants to America in the 1600s.
ALCOCK English
From a diminutive of given names starting with Al-.
ALCOTT English
English: ostensibly a topographic name containing Middle English cott, cote ‘cottage’ (see Coates). In fact, however, it is generally if not always an alteration of Alcock, in part at least for euphemistic reasons.
ALDERMAN English
Status name from Middle English alderman, Old English ealdorman, "elder". In medieval England an alderman was a member of the governing body of a city or borough; also the head of a guild.
ALDERSON English (Modern)
Patronymic from the Middle English forename Alder, derived from two Old English names, Ealdhere ‘ancient army’ and Æ{dh}elhere ‘noble army’. Means "son of Aldert".
ALDRIDGE English
habitational name from a place in the West Midlands called Aldridge; it is recorded in Domesday Book as Alrewic, from Old English alor ‘alder’ + wīc ‘dwelling’, ‘farmstead’.
ALEXANDRA English (Rare)
Derived from the given name Alexandra
ALFORD English, Scottish
Habitation name found in Lincolnshire, Surrey and Somerset, England and Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The name can be derived by combining the Old English female personal name Ealdg- and -ford meaning "water crossing" or can mean "from the alder tree ford".
ALISTON English
Variant of Allerston, a habitational surname derived from a place so named in North Yorkshire.
ALLCOCK English
Means son of Allen or Alexander.
ALLEY English, French (Anglicized)
From a Middle English personal name, Alli, Alleye, as forms such as Johannes filius Alli (Norfolk, 1205) make clear. This is of Scandinavian origin, cognate with Old Danish Alli, Old Swedish Alle... [more]
ALLIN English
Variant spelling of Allen. Also a derivative of the Norman female name Adelina, based on Germanic adal, 'noble'.
ALLIS English
From the Middle English and Old French female personal name Alis (Alice), which, together with its diminutive Alison, was extremely popular in England in the Middle Ages. The personal name is of Germanic origin, brought to England from France by the Normans; it is a contracted form of Germanic Adalhaid(is), which is composed of the elements adal "noble" and haid "brilliance, beauty".
ALLISON English, Scottish
Patronymic from a Middle English male personal name, most likely ALLEN, but other possibilities include ELLIS or of a short form of ALEXANDER. ... [more]
ALLOWAY English
Means (i) "person from Alloway, Alloa or Alva", the name of various places in Scotland ("rocky plain"); or (ii) from the medieval male personal name Ailwi (from Old English Æthelwīg, literally "noble battle").
ALLRED English
From the Middle English personal name Alured, a form of ALFRED, which was sometimes written Alvred, especially in Old French texts.
ALMOND English
From the Middle English personal name Almund, from Old English Æ{dh}elmund, "noble protection" and variant of Allman, assimilated by folk etymology to the vocabulary word denoting the tree.
ALPERT English, Jewish, German, Dutch
A variant of the Jewish surname Heilprin or Halpern. In German and Dutch usage, it is derived from the given name Albert. One famous bearer is Richard Alpert from the ABC TV show LOST.
ALSON English
English surname meaning "son of all"
ALSOP English
Habitational name, now chiefly found in the Midlands, for a person from Alsop-en-le-Dale, a chapelry in the parish of Ashborne, Derbyshire. The place name itself meant "Ælle's valley" from the genitive of the Old English personal name Ælle and Old English hōp meaning "enclosed valley" (compare Hope).
ALVERSON English
Variant of Swedish Halvarsson or Alvarsson
ALVORD English
Derived from a variation of Ælfræd.
AMBER English
This surname may be derived from the River Amber, located in Derbyshire in England.... [more]
AMBROSE English
From the Late Latin name Ambrosius, which was derived from the Greek name Αμβροσιος (Ambrosios) meaning "immortal".
AMES English, German
English: from the Old French and Middle English personal name Amys, Amice, which is either directly from Latin amicus ‘friend’, used as a personal name, or via a Late Latin derivative of this, Amicius.... [more]
AMMER German, English (Rare)
This surname may be derived from Middle High German amer which means "bunting (as in the bird)." As such, it is used as a nickname for someone with a fine voice or someone who is a flamboyant dresser.... [more]
AMORY English, Norman
English from a Germanic personal name, Aimeri, composed of the elements haim ‘home’ + ric ‘power’. (The same elements constitute the etymology of Henry.) The name was introduced into England from France by the Normans... [more]
AMSDON English (Modern)
Unknown. Possibly a spelling variant of Amsden. Ancestry.com suggests probably a habitational name, from a reduced form of the Oxfordshire place name Ambrosden, which is composed of an Old English personal name Ambre + Old English dun ‘hill’... [more]
AMSLER American, German (Swiss)
As a Swiss German surname it is from the Swiss place name Amslen.
AMUNDSON English (American, Anglicized), Swedish (Rare)
Anglicized from or rare Swedish variant of AMUNDSEN.
AMYS English
From the given name AMIS. Compare with AMES. An early example using this spelling is Robert Amys of Cambridgeshire, England in 1273.
ANALUKA African American
The Analuka Family was founded... [more]
ANEY English
English surname of uncertain origin, though it has been suggested that this is an anglicized form of French Ané. Ané itself is said to be taken from a personal name, possibly a gallicized form of Asnar or Aznar, which may be derived from Latin asinarius meaning "keeper of asses, ass-driver", from asinus "ass".
ANGELSON English
Means son of Angel.
ANGUINO American, Spanish (Mexican)
Mexican-American last name
ANISTON English
"Town of Agnes, Agnes town"... [more]
ANN English
Habitational name from Abbots Ann in Hampshire, named for the stream that runs through it, which is most probably named with an ancient Welsh word meaning ‘water’.
ANNA English, Irish, Italian, Hungarian
Probably derived from the female first name ANNA.
ANSTEY English
Means "person from Anstey or Ansty", the name of numerous places in England (either "single track" or "steep track"). F. Anstey was the pen-name of British barrister and author Thomas Anstey Guthrie (1856-1934).
ANTHONY English
From the personal name ANTHONY.
APELTIA English (Rare)
Comes from the word "appellation" referring to the Appellation Mountains.
APLIN English
Probably a patronymic of the popular medieval English given name Abel. See also Appling.
APPLE English
From Middle English appel meaning "apple" (Old English æppel). An occupational name for a grower or seller of apples.
APPLEBEE English
Variant spelling of Appleby.
APPLEGARTH English, Scottish
Topographic name from northern Middle English applegarth meaning "apple orchard" (Old Norse apaldr meaning "apple tree" + gar{dh}r meaning "enclosure"), or a habitational name from a place so named, of which there are examples in Cumbria and North and East Yorkshire, as well as in the county of Dumfries.
APPLEGATE English
Extremely common variant of Applegarth, in which the less familiar final element has been assimilated to the northern Middle English word gate meaning "road" or to modern English gate.
APPLEWHITE English
Habitational name from a place named Applethwaite, from Old Norse apaldr ‘apple tree’ and þveit ‘meadow’. There are two or three such places in Cumbria; Applethwaite is also recorded as a surname from the 13th century in Suffolk, England, pointing to a possible lost place name there... [more]
ARABIA English (American)
Americanized form of French Arabie.
ARANDS English, Spanish
Anglicized version of a name given to residents of Aranda de Duero, a small town in the north of Spain.
ARCHIBALD English
From the personal name ARCHIBALD.
ARCHILA Arabic (Hispanicized, Rare), American (Hispanic, Rare)
Archila (Also written as “Archila”) means “the waterfall” in Arabic. Its origin are arabs and it comes from the word “Al-shilal” (الشلال). This last name is recognized in Levante and Mashrek and also common in Palestine, Lebanon and Siria... [more]
ARCHULETA Spanish, English
Castilianized form of Basque Aretxuloeta, a topographic name meaning "oak hollow".
ARDELLA African American
Derivative of Arden, popularized by the poem of the same name by Langston Hughes, the most well-known Black poet of the Harlem Renaissance. Meaning is "garden dweller."... [more]
ARDEN English
From various English place names, which were derived from a Celtic word meaning "high".... [more]
AREND American
From the given name AREND.
ARISEN English (Modern)
From a Dutch surname that means "son of Aris". In The Netherlands, this name is never used as a first name, since Dutch law strictly prohibits the use of surnames as first names. Therefore, if this name is indeed sometimes used as a first name in the United States (where it *is* allowed to use surnames as first names), one should classify Arisen as an (American-)English first name.
ARLEN American
Of uncertain origin. Possibly a form of the German name Erlen or a Gaelic name meaning "pledge" or "oath".
ARLINGTON English
Location name that refers to a settlement associated with a personal name reduced to Arl- plus the Anglo-Saxon patronymic element -ing- then the element -ton denoting a "settlement"... [more]
ARLOTT English
From a medieval nickname for a ne'er-do-well (from Middle English harlot or arlot "vagabond, base fellow"; "prostitute" is a 15th-century development). This surname was borne by Jack Arlott (1914-1991), a British journalist, poet and cricket commentator.
ARNETT English
Derived from Arnold, a pet name perhaps. Also could be from /arn/ "eagle" and /ett/, a diminutive.
ARTHURS English
From the given name: Arthur.
ARTIS English
English: regional name for someone from the French province of Artois, from Anglo-Norman French Arteis (from Latin Atrebates, the name of the local Gaulish tribe). This surname is popular in North Carolina and Virginia, of the US.
ARUNDEL English
English surname which comes from two distinct sources. Either it was derived from a place name meaning "horehound valley" in Old English (from harhune "horehound (a plant)" and dell "valley"), or it was from Old French arondel, diminutive of arond "swallow", which was originally a Norman nickname given to someone resembling a swallow.
ASBURY English
English location name with the elements as- meaning "east" or "ash tree" and -bury meaning "fortified settlement."
ASELTON American
Asel being a variant of Asil meaning ""noble"" and ton meaning ""town"".
ASHBROOK English
Derived from the Old English terms "east" and "broc".
ASHBROOKE English
Variant of Ashbrook.
ASHBY English
English: habitational name from any of the numerous places in northern and eastern England called Ashby, from Old Norse askr ‘ash’ or the Old Norse personal name Aski + býr ‘farm’.
ASHCRAFT English
Altered form of English Ashcroft.
ASHCROFT English
English (chiefly Lancashire) topographic name from Middle English asche ‘ash tree’ + croft ‘enclosure’, or a habitational name from a minor place named with these elements.
ASHER English
Topographic surname denoting someone who dwelled by an ash tree, from Middle English asche "ash tree" combined with the suffix -er.
ASHFIELD English
From the English words Ash, referring to the "Ash Tree", and "Field".
ASHFORD English
Derived from Ashford, which is the name of several places in England. All but one of these derive the second element of their name from Old English ford meaning "ford" - for the one in North Devon, it is derived from Old English worō or worth meaning "enclosure".... [more]
ASHLAND English
This surname is derived from Old English æsc & land and it means "ash tree land."
ASHMAN English, Anglo-Saxon
From Middle English Asheman, a byname meaning "pirate, seaman". It can also be made up of English ash referring to the "ash tree", and man. In that case, it could refer to someone who lived by ash trees... [more]
ASHMORE English
English locational name, from either "Aisemare", (from Old English pre 7th Century "aesc" meaning ash plus "mere" a lake; hence "lake where ash-trees grow), or from any of several minor places composed of the Old English elements "aesc" ash plus "mor" a marsh or fen.
ASHTON English
Derived from a place name which meant "ash tree town" in Old English.
ASLIN English
From the Old French personal name Asceline, a pet form of the personal name Asse.
ASPINALL English
A locational name of Anglo-Saxon origin, it means “aspen well”.
ASPLIN English
From a short form of the given name Absalom.
ASQUITH English
Habitational name from a village in North Yorkshire named Askwith, from Old Norse askr ‘ash tree’ + vi{dh}r ‘wood’
ASSELBROUGH English
pronouncec assel brudd the origin of the name id unknown but the family were first fiund in heworth .george asselbrough married sarah keatlie in heworth.they had george b1752-1833 alston,srag 17154c nicholas 1757 - 1813 felling pit disaster.peter 1760 james 1762,... [more]
ATHERTON English
Habitational name from a place near Manchester named Atherton, from the Old English personal name Æ{dh}elhere + Old English tūn meaning "settlement".
ATLEE English
English: topographic name for someone whose dwelling was ‘by the clearing or meadow’, Middle English atte lee. The word lea or lee (Old English leah) originally meant ‘wood’, thence ‘clearing in a wood’, and, by the Middle English period, ‘grassy meadow’.
ATLEY English
Variant of Atlee.... [more]
ATMORE English
Locational surname derived from Middle English atte more meaning "at the marsh".
ATWELL English
Topographic name from Middle English atte welle "by the spring or stream"
AUDEN English
This surname is derived from the Germanic given name Aldwin, of which the Old English equivalent is Ealdwine. Also compare Alden, which is a surname that has the same etymological origins. The surname Auden was probably formed during the time of the Norman French occupation of England, as Germanic names containing -al- usually became -au- in Norman French... [more]
AUFDEMBERGE American (Rare)
The surname Aufdemberge originated in America, but in German it means 'On the mountains".... [more]
AUGUST English
From the given name August.
AUGUSTUS English
Means "great" or "venerable", derived from Latin augere "to increase".
AULCY English
English surname, of unknown meaning.
AUS English
Variant spelling of Scandinavian Aas.
AUSAGE Samoan, English (Australian), American
Possibly from the given name Ausage.
AUSLEY English (Modern)
Rare surname which was from an English place name in which the second element is Old English leah "wood, clearing". The first element may be hors "horse" (in which case the name likely referred to a place where horses were put out to pasture) or the river name Ouse (ultimately from the ancient British root ud- "water").
AUSTEN English
A variant of the surname Austin. This exact spelling is also on the first name site.
AUTRY English, French
A habitational name from any of the places in France named Autrey or Autry. French: from the Old French personal name Audry, from Germanic Aldric ‘ancient power’.
AXFORD English
Derived from Axford, which is the name of two villages in England (one is located in the county of Hampshire, the other in Wiltshire). Both villages derive their name from Old English æsc(e) "ash tree(s)" and Old English ford "ford", which gives their name the meaning of "ford by the ash trees" or "a ford with ash trees"... [more]
AYDEN English, Scottish, Turkish
From a Scottish surname which was derived from Gaelic caol meaning "narrows, channel, strait".
AYLER English
occupational name from Old French aillier ‘garlic seller’, from ail ‘garlic’ (from Latin allium).... [more]
AYLIFF English
From the medieval female personal name Ayleve (from Old English Æthelgifu, literally "noble gift"), or from the Old Norse nickname Eilífr, literally "ever-life".
AYRE English
Variant of EYRE
AYRES English
Variant of Ayers.
AZALEA English, Indonesian, Various
From the name of the flower (see Azalea). A notable bearer is Australian rapper Amethyst Amelia Kelly, who's better known by her stage name Iggy Azalea.
BABBS English (Rare)
A matronymic of Barbara.
BABINGTON English
Habitational name for someone from Babington in Somerset or Great or Little Bavington in Northumberland, named with the Old English personal name Babba + the connective particle -ing- meaning "associated with", "named after" + tūn meaning "settlement".
BACCHUS English
(i) Variant of Backus (meaning "one who lives in or works in a bakery", from Old English bǣchūs "bakehouse, bakery"), the spelling influenced by Bacchus (name of the Greek and Roman god of wine).... [more]
BACKMAN English, Swedish, German
Combination of Old English bakke "spine, back" and man "man". In Swedish, the first element is more likely to be derived from Swedish backe "hill", and in German the first element can be derived from German backen "to bake"... [more]
BACON English, French, Norman
An occupational surname for someone who sold pork, from Middle English and Old French bacun or bacon, meaning 'bacon', which is ultimately of Germanic origin. Can also be derived from the Germanic given names Baco, Bacco, or Bahho, from the root bag-, meaning 'to fight'... [more]
BADDELEY English
From place names in both Suffolk and Staffordshire derived from an Old English personal name, 'Badda,' possibly meaning "battle" and lee or leah for a "woodland clearing," therefore meaning someone from "Badda's woodland clearing."
BADRINETTE English
Apparently an extremely rare name of French origin, but isn't used as a first name in France. It might come from the rather uncommon French surname Bardinette, which apparently is a variant spelling of the surname Bardinet... [more]
BAILY English
Variant of Bailey.
BAIN Scottish, French, English
Nickname for a hospitable person from northern Middle English beyn, bayn meaning "welcoming", "friendly".... [more]
BAINBRIDGE English
from Bainbridge in North Yorkshire, named for the Bain river on which it stands (which is named with Old Norse beinn ‘straight’) + bridge.
BAINEBRIDGE English, Irish
Bridge over the Bain, An English town named for its place on the river Bain, now used as a surname. Lives near the bridge over the white water... [more]
BAIRNSFATHER English
From a medieval nickname in Scotland and northern England for the (alleged) father of an illegitimate child (from northern Middle English bairnes "child's" + father). This surname was borne by British cartoonist and author Bruce Bairnsfather (1888-1959).
BAKE English
Probably an occupational name for a baker.
BALCOM English
Altered spelling of English Balcombe, a habitational name from Balcombe in West Sussex, which is named with Old English bealu "evil, calamity" (or the Old English personal name Bealda) combined with cumb "valley".
BALDOCK English (Rare)
Means "person from Baldock", Hertfordshire ("Baghdad": in the Middle Ages the lords of the manor were the Knights Templar, whose headquarters were in Jerusalem, and they named the town Baldac, the Old French name for Baghdad).
BALDY English
Possibly derived from an Old English feminine given name, *Bealdgýð, composed of the elements beald "bold" and gyð "battle", first recorded c.1170 as Baldith, and in other cases from the Old Norse byname or given name Baldi.
BALE English
Variant of Bail. This is the surname of Welsh footballer Gareth Bale.
BALEN English
English surname, perhaps of Cornish British origin, from belen, meaning "mill."
BALLARD English
English and Scottish: derogatory nickname from a derivative of bald ‘bald-headed’ (see also Bald).
BALLASTER English
Meant "person who makes or is armed with a crossbow" (from a derivative of Middle English baleste "crossbow", from Old French).
BALLINGER American
From the YouTuber, Colleen Ballinger (1986-)
BAMBOROUGH English
Bamborough name origin from early Northumberland early times other name know from the Bamborough is bamburgh as in bamburgh castle, ... [more]
BANE English
Variant of Bain.
BANGS English
Variant of BANKS
BANKSTON English
Derived from the old English world "Banke" usually given to a family who lived near a hill or a slope.
BANKSY English, Popular Culture
This is pseudonyms Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter. Banksy's real name might be Robin Gunningham. How Banksy got his pseudonym is unknown... [more]
BANWELL English
Means "person from Banwell", Somerset ("killer spring (perhaps alluding to a contaminated water source)").
BARCLAY Scottish, English
Habitational name of English origin, from Berkeley in Gloucestershire, named in Old English with be(o)rc "birch" and lēah "woodland clearing".
BARDELL English
Originally meant "person from Bardwell", Suffolk ("Bearda's spring"). A fictional bearer of the surname is Mrs Bardell, Mr Pickwick's widowed landlady in Charles Dickens's 'Pickwick Papers' (1837), who misconstrues an innocent remark about having a companion as a marriage proposal, which leads to her suing Pickwick for breach of promise.
BARDEN English
English: habitational name from places in North and West Yorkshire named Barden, from Old English bere ‘barley’ (or the derived adjective beren) + denu ‘valley’.
BAREFOOT English
English: nickname for someone who was in the habit of going about his business unshod, from Old English bær ‘bare’, ‘naked’ + fot ‘foot’. It may have referred to a peasant unable to afford even the simplest type of footwear, or to someone who went barefoot as a religious penance.In some instances, probably a translation of German Barfuss, the northern form Barfoth, or the Danish cognate Barfo(e)d.
BARHAM English
English: habitational name from any of the various places so called. Most, for example those in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, are named with Old English beorg ‘hill’ + ham ‘homestead’. The one in Kent, however, is from an unattested Old English byname Biora, Beora (a derivative of bera ‘bear’) + ham.
BARKER English
SURNAME Town cryer, or someone who shouts out notices
BARKIS English
Meant "person who works in a tannery" (from Middle English barkhous "tannery" - bark was used in the tanning process). A fictional bearer is Barkis, a carrier in Charles Dickens's 'David Copperfield' (1849) who sends a message via David to Clara Peggotty that "Barkis is willin'" (i.e. to marry her).
BARKUS English
Probably a reduced form of Barkhouse, a topographic name for someone who lived by a tannery, Middle English barkhous, or an occupational name for someone who worked in one.
BARNABI American (Rare)
Possibly from a variant of the given name Barnaby.
BARNABY English
Either (i) means "person from Barnaby", Yorkshire ("Beornwald's settlement"); or (ii) from the medieval male personal name Barnaby, the English form of Barnabas, a biblical name ultimately from Aramaic Barnabia "son of Nabia".
BARNER English
Southern English habitational name for someone who lived by a barn.
BARNETTE English, French (?)
Variant of Bernet and perhaps also a variant of English Barnett, under French influence.
BARNEY English
It probably came from the given name Barney, if nothing else.
BARON English, French
From the title of nobility, derived from Middle English & Old French baron (ultimately of Germanic origin). Instead of referring to someone of rank, this surname referred to a service in a baronial household or a peasant with ideas above their station... [more]
BARQ English
Ever drank Barq's root beer?
BARRICK English
Variation of Barwick.
BARRINGTON English, Irish
English: habitational name from any of several places called Barrington. The one in Gloucestershire is named with the Old English personal name Beorn + -ing- denoting association + tun ‘settlement’... [more]
BARRON English
Variant of BARON.
BARROW English
Habitational name from any of the numerous places named with Old English bearo, bearu "grove" or from Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, which is named with an unattested Celtic word, barr, here meaning "promontory", and Old Norse ey "island"... [more]
BARROWMAN English
A man employed in wheeling a barrow; specifically, in coal-mining, one who conveys the coal in a wheelbarrow from the point where it is mined to the trolleyway or tramway on which it is carried to the place where it is raised to the surface.
BARTHORPE English
This surname originates from the village of the same name in the East Riding of Yorkshire, likely combining the Old Norse personal name Bǫrkr with Old Norse þorp meaning "village."
BARTLETT English
From the Middle English personal name Bartelot, a pet form of Bartholomew.
BARTLEY English, American
1. English: habitational name from Bartley in Hampshire, or from Bartley Green in the West Midlands, both of which are named with Old English be(o)rc ‘birch’ + leah ‘woodland clearing’; compare Barclay... [more]
BARTMAN English
Last name Bartman is very rare but I believe it’s a English last name .Possibly variant of the last name BAUMAN
BARWICK English, German
English: habitational name from any of various places called Barwick, for example in Norfolk, Somerset, and West Yorkshire, from Old English bere ‘barley’ + wic ‘outlying farm’, i.e. a granary lying some distance away from the main village.... [more]
BASKERVILLE English
Means "bush town", from Anglo-Norman French boschet (a little bush) and ville (town).
BASOM English
origin possible of saxon origin
BASSETT English
From Old French basset, which is a diminutive of basse meaning "low, short". It was either used as a nickname for a short person or someone of humble origins.
BATEMAN English, Scottish
Occupational name meaning ‘servant of Bartholomew.’
BATEY English (?)
Originates from mostly northern England. Is the presumed given name to fishers. (With it meaning "Small fishing boat" in old English.)
BATHGATE Scottish, English
From the town of Bathgate, west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The town's name derives from Cumbric *beith, meaning 'boar' (Welsh baedd) and *gaith. meaning 'wood' (Welsh coed).
BAUCOM English
Variant spelling of BALCOMBE, a habitational name from West Sussex derived from Old English bealu "evil" and cumb "valley".
BAUMFREE Dutch, American, African American
This name is clearly derived from Sojourner Truth, a former African-American slave who was born as Isabella Bomefree (but at some point the surname was changed to the more German-looking Baumfree). Although Sojourner's original owners - James and Elizabeth Bomefree/Baumfree - were apparently of Dutch descent, it is questionable whether the surname is really of Dutch origin... [more]
BAX English
Possibly a short form of Baxter, or maybe from the Anglo-Saxon word box, referring to the box tree.
BAXENDALE English
Habitational name, probably an altered form of Baxenden, a place near Accrington, which is named with an unattested Old English word bæcstān meaning "bakestone" (a flat stone on which bread was baked) + denu meaning "valley"... [more]
BAXLEY English
Variant of BEXLEY.
BAY English
From the Middle English given name BAYE.
BAY English, French, Dutch
Derived from Middle English and Old French bay, bai and Middle Dutch bay, all meaning "reddish brown". It was originally a nickname for someone with a hair color similar to that.
BAYLEY English
Variant of Bailey.
BAYLOR English
Possibly derived from the legal term bailor "one who delivers goods". It could also be a respelling of German name BEILER, an occupational name for an inspector of measures or a maker of measuring sticks... [more]
BEABER English (American)
Americanized spelling of German Bieber or Biber, from Middle High German biber ‘beaver’, hence a nickname for someone thought to resemble the animal in some way, a topographic name for someone who lived in a place frequented by beavers or by a field named with this word, or a habitational name from any of various place names in Hesse containing this element.
BEACH English
Name for someone living near a beach, stream, or beech tree.
BEACHEM English, African American
Variant of Beauchamp, reflecting its traditional English pronunciation.
BEAM English
From Old English beam "beam" or "post". It could be a topographic name from someone living near a post or tree, or it could be a metonymic occupational name for a weaver.... [more]
BEAMAN English
A beekeeper.
BEAR English
From the Middle English nickname Bere meaning "bear" (Old English bera, which is also found as a byname), or possibly from a personal name derived from a short form of the various Germanic compound names with this first element... [more]
BEARCUB English (American, Rare)
Surname meaning a bear cub.
BEARD English (American)
Nickname for a bearded man (Middle English, Old English beard). To be clean-shaven was the norm in non-Jewish communities in northwestern Europe from the 12th to the 16th century, the crucial period for surname formation... [more]
BEARDEN English
English habitational name, a variant of Barden, or from places in Devon and Cornwall called Beardon.
BEARN English
An old English name meaning "Son"
BEAS English
Varient spelling of the surname Bees.
BEAUCHAMP English, French
From the name of various places in France, for example in Manche and Somme, which was derived from Old French beu, bel meaning "fair, lovely" and champ, champs "field, plain".
BEAUFORD English
Variation of Buford. It is derived from the French word "beau", meaning "beautiful", and "ford", an Old English word meaning "river crossing".
BEAUFOY French (Anglicized, Rare), English (Rare)
Anglicized form of Beaufay. Known bearers of this surname include the English astronomer and physicist Mark Beaufoy (1764-1827) and the British screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (b. 1967).
BEAUVOIR English
From the surname of Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), a French feminist and philosopher.
BECHET English
A famous bearer of this surname was Sidney Bechet (1897–1959), an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.
BECKER English
Occupational name for a maker or user of mattocks or pickaxes, from an agent derivative of Old English becca "mattock".
BECKETT English
An Old English name simply meaning "beehive". Famous Irish playwrite Samuel Beckett bears this name.
BECKLEY English
This surname was taken from an English habitational name from any of the various places, in Kent, Oxfordshire, and Sussex, named Beckley whose name was derived from the Old English byname Becca and the Old English lēah "woodland clearing".... [more]