Ford EnglishName given to someone who lived by a ford, possibly the official who maintained it. A famous bearer was the American industrialist Henry Ford (1863-1947).
Forest English, FrenchOriginally belonged to a person who lived near or in a forest. It was probably originally derived, via Old French
forest, from Latin
forestam (silva) meaning "outer (wood)".
Forester EnglishDenoted a keeper or one in charge of a forest, or one who has charge of growing timber in a forest (see
Forest).
Forney GermanName for someone who lived near ferns, from Old High German
farn "fern".
Forst GermanDerived from Old High German
forst "forest". Probably unrelated to the Old French word
forest, which was derived from Latin, Old High German
forst was derived from
foraha meaning "fir tree".
Fortier FrenchDerived from Old French
fort "stronghold", indicating a person who lived near or worked at such a place.
Fortune EnglishFrom Middle English, ultimately from Latin
fortuna meaning
"fortune, luck, chance". This was possibly a nickname for a gambler.
Foster 2 EnglishOccupational name for a scissor maker, derived from Old French
forcetier.
Foster 3 EnglishOccupational name for a maker of saddle trees, derived from Old French
fustier.
Foster 4 EnglishNickname given to a person who was a foster child or foster parent.
Fournier FrenchOccupational name for a baker, from French
fourneau meaning
"oven".
Fowler EnglishOccupational name for a fowler or birdcatcher, ultimately derived from Old English
fugol meaning "bird".
Fox EnglishFrom the name of the animal. It was originally a nickname for a person with red hair or a crafty person.
Frankenstein German, LiteratureFrom any of the various minor places by this name in Germany, meaning
"stone of the Franks" in German. It was used by the author Mary Shelley in her novel
Frankenstein (1818) for the character of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who creates a monster and brings it to life. The monster, nameless in the novel, is sometimes informally or erroneously called Frankenstein in modern speech.
Franklin EnglishDerived from Middle English
frankelin meaning
"freeman". It denoted a landowner of free but not noble birth, from Old French
franc meaning "free".
Franzese ItalianFrom a nickname that indicated a person who came from France. It is typical of the area around Naples.
Fraser ScottishMeaning unknown, originally Norman French
de Fresel, possibly from a lost place name in France.
Freeman EnglishReferred to a person who was born free, or in other words was not a serf.
Frei GermanMeans
"free" in German, probably referring to someone outside the feudal system.
Freitas PortugueseMeans
"broken" in Portuguese, a name for one who lived on broken, stony ground.
Freud German, JewishMeans
"joy" in German, a nickname for a cheerful person. A famous bearer was the psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939).
Freund GermanFrom Middle High German
vriunt, modern German
Freund meaning
"friend".
Frisk SwedishFrom Swedish
frisk "healthy", which was derived from the Middle Low German word
vrisch "fresh, young, frisky".
Fromm GermanFrom a nickname derived from Middle High German
vrom meaning
"noble, honourable".
Frost English, GermanFrom Old English and Old High German meaning
"frost", a nickname for a person who had a cold personality or a white beard.
Fry EnglishFrom Old English
frig (a variant of
freo) meaning
"free".
Fuchs GermanFrom Old High German
fuhs meaning
"fox". It was originally a nickname for a person with red hair.
Fuentes SpanishMeans
"spring, well" in Spanish, derived from Latin
fons.
Fuhrmann GermanDerived from Middle High German
vuorman meaning
"cartwright".
Fukui JapaneseDenoted a person who was from Fukui prefecture in Japan.
Fuller EnglishOccupational name for a fuller, a person who thickened and cleaned coarse cloth by pounding it. It is derived via Middle English from Latin
fullo.
Fulton EnglishFrom the name of the English town of Foulden, Norfolk, meaning "bird hill" in Old English.
Furlan Italian, SloveneFrom the name of the Italian region of
Friuli, in the northeast of Italy, which is derived from the name of the Roman town of Forum Iulii meaning "forum of Julius".
Fürst GermanFrom a nickname meaning
"(sovereign) prince" in German. The word
fürst itself is derived from Old High German
furisto "first".
Fusco ItalianFrom Italian
fosco meaning
"dark", from Latin
fuscus. This was a nickname for a person with dark features.
Gabler GermanOccupational name for someone who made or sold forks, from Old High German
gabala "fork".
Gadsby EnglishHabitational name from the villsage of Gaddesby in Leicestershire, so named from Old Norse
gaddr "spur, spike (of land)" and
býr "farm, settlement".
Gage French, EnglishOccupational name derived either from Old French
jauge "measure" (a name for an assayer) or
gage "pledge, payment" (a name for a moneylender). Both words were ultimately of Frankish origin.
Gagneux FrenchDerived from Old French
gagnier meaning
"to farm, to cultivate".
Gagnon FrenchDerived from old French
gagnon "guard dog". The name most likely originated as a nickname for an aggressive or cruel person.
Gajos PolishDerived from Polish
gaj meaning
"grove, thicket".
Gallego SpanishOriginally indicated a person from Galicia, a region in northwestern Spain.
Gallo Italian, SpanishMeans
"rooster", ultimately from Latin
gallus. This was a nickname for a proud person.
Ganza ItalianProbably from the feminine medieval given name Allegranza or Alleganza, a derivative of
Allegra. It comes from northern Lombardy.
Garbo ItalianFrom a nickname meaning
"politeness" in Italian. A famous bearer of this name was the Swedish actress Greta Garbo (1905-1990), born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson.
García SpanishFrom a medieval given name of unknown meaning, possibly related to the Basque word
hartz meaning "bear". This is the most common surname in Spain.
Gardener EnglishOccupational surname for one who was a gardener, from Old French
jardin meaning "garden" (of Frankish origin).
Gárdonyi HungarianOriginally denoted a person from Gárdony, a town near Budapest in Hungary.
Garfagnini ItalianOriginally denoted one from the region of Garfagnana in Tuscany, Italy, near the historical city of Lucca.
Garfield EnglishMeans
"triangle field" in Old English. A famous bearer was American president James A. Garfield (1831-1881).
Garland EnglishMeans
"triangle land" from Old English
gara and
land. It originally belonged to a person who owned a triangle-shaped piece of land.
Garner 1 EnglishFrom Old French
gernier meaning
"granary", a derivative of Latin
granum meaning "grain". This name could refer to a person who worked at a granary or lived near one.
Garnett 1 EnglishOccupational name referring to a person who made hinges, from Old French
carne "hinge".
Garofalo ItalianFrom a nickname, from a southern variant of the Italian word
garofano meaning
"carnation".
Garrastazu BasqueFrom the Basque word
arratz "bush" combined with the suffix
sta denoting a place.
Gass GermanName for someone who lived on a street in a city, from German
gasse.
Gates EnglishOriginally denoted a person who lived near the town gates.
Gatsby English (Rare), LiteratureRare variant of
Gadsby. This name was used by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald for the central character in his novel
The Great Gatsby (1925). In the book, James Gatz renames himself as Jay Gatsby at age 17 because he believes it sounds more sophisticated.
Gatti ItalianMeans
"cat" in Italian, originally a nickname for an agile person.
Geary EnglishDerived from a Norman given name that was a short form of Germanic names starting with the element
ger "spear".
Gebara BasqueHabitational name for someone who lived in Gebara, a village in the province of Álava in Spain.
Gehring GermanDerived from a short form of Germanic names starting with the element
ger "spear".
Geier GermanMeans
"vulture" in German, a nickname for a greedy person.
Geiger GermanMeans
"fiddle player" in German, derived from Old High German
giga "fiddle".
Geissler GermanOccupational name for a goat herder, from southern German
Geiss meaning "goat" and the suffix
ler signifying an occupation.
Gerber GermanMeans
"tanner, leather dresser" in German, derived from Old High German
garawen meaning "to prepare".
Gereben HungarianMeans
"hackle, hatchel" in Hungarian (a hackle is a tool used to comb out fibers).
Gerst GermanOccupational name for a barley farmer, derived from Old High German
gersta "barley".
Gill EnglishOriginally indicated someone who lived near a ravine, from Middle English
gil (of Old Norse origin).
Gilliam EnglishVariant of
William. A famous bearer of the name is cartoonist and filmmaker Terry Gilliam (1940-).
Gim KoreanAlternate transcription of Korean Hangul
김 (see
Kim).
Giunta ItalianFrom the old Italian given name
Bonagiunta or
Bonaggiunta (derived from
bono "good" and
aggiunto "assistant").
Glass English, GermanFrom Old English
glæs or Old High German
glas meaning
"glass". This was an occupational name for a glass blower or glazier.
Glazier EnglishMeans
"glass worker, glazier", from Old English
glæs meaning "glass".
Glenn ScottishDerived from Gaelic
gleann "valley". A famous bearer was American astronaut John Glenn (1921-2016).
Glöckner GermanDerived from Middle High German
glocke "bell". It may have referred to a person who worked at or lived close to a bell tower.
Glover EnglishOccupational name for a person who made or sold gloves, from Middle English
glovere.
Glynn Welsh, CornishTopographic name for someone who lived in a valley, from Welsh
glyn and Cornish
glin, or a habitational name from a place named with this word.
Göbel GermanDerived from the given name
Göbel, a diminutive of the Old German name
Godebert, which is derived from
god "God" and
beraht "bright".
Goffe EnglishDerived from Breton or Cornish
goff meaning
"smith", referring to a metalworker.
Gold English, German, JewishFrom Old English and Old High German
gold meaning
"gold", an occupational name for someone who worked with gold or a nickname for someone with yellow hair. As a Jewish name it is ornamental.
Gomółka PolishDerived from Polish
gomółka, a type of round cheese, ultimately from an old Polish word meaning "round".
Good EnglishFrom a nickname meaning
"good", referring to a kindly person.
Gordon ScottishFrom the name of a place in Berwickshire, Scotland, derived from Brythonic words meaning
"spacious fort".
Gore EnglishFrom the Old English word
gara meaning
"triangular plot of land".
Gorecki PolishOriginally indicated a person from Górka, the name of various towns in Poland, ultimately from Polish
góra "mountain".
Gorman 2 IrishFrom the Irish
Ó Gormáin meaning
"descendant of Gormán". The given name
Gormán means "little blue one".
Gough 1 WelshNickname for a red-haired person, from Welsh
coch "red".
Gouveia PortugueseFrom the name of the city of Gouveia in Portugal, of unknown meaning.
Grabowski PolishHabitational name for someone from any of the various places called
Grabów,
Grabowa or
Grabowo, all derived from Polish
grab meaning "hornbeam tree".
Grady IrishFrom Irish
Ó Gráda or
Ó Grádaigh meaning
"descendant of Gráda". The byname
Gráda means "noble, illustrious".
Graham ScottishDerived from the English place name
Grantham, which probably meant "gravelly homestead" in Old English. The surname was first taken to Scotland in the 12th century by William de Graham.
Graner GermanOriginally denoted a person from Gran, the German name for Esztergom, a city in northern Hungary.
Granger English, FrenchMeans
"farm bailiff" from Old French
grangier, ultimately from Latin
granum meaning "grain". It is borne in the Harry Potter novels by Harry's friend Hermione Granger.
Graves EnglishOccupational name for a steward, derived from Middle English
greyve, related to the German title
Graf.
Gray EnglishFrom a nickname for a person who had grey hair or grey clothes.
Grayson EnglishMeans
"son of the steward", derived from Middle English
greyve "steward".
Green EnglishDescriptive name for someone who often wore the colour green or someone who lived near the village green.
Greenspan JewishAnglicized form of German
Grünspan meaning
"verdigris". Verdigris is the green-blue substance that forms on copper.