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.
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-).
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.
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.
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".
GOUVEIA PortugueseFrom the name of the city of Gouveia in Portugal, of unknown meaning.
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.
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.
GRIEVE ScottishOccupational name meaning
"steward, farm manager" in Middle English, related to the German title
Graf.
GRIFFIN (2) EnglishNickname from the mythological beast with body of a lion with head and wings of an eagle. It is ultimately from Greek
γρύψ (grups).
GRILLO ItalianFrom an Italian nickname meaning
"cricket", perhaps given originally to a cheerful person (the cricket is associated with cheerfulness).
GRIMALDI ItalianFrom the given name
GRIMALDO. It is the surname of the royal family of Monaco, which came from Genoa.
GRONCHI ItalianFrom the Tuscan word
gronchio meaning
"numb, bent". This is an Italian regional surname typical of Tuscany. A famous bearer was the Italian president Giovanni Gronchi (1887-1978).
GROS FrenchMeans
"thick, fat, big" in French, from Late Latin
grossus, possibly of Germanic origin.
GROß GermanFrom Old High German
groz meaning
"tall, big".
GROVER EnglishFrom Old English
graf meaning
"grove of trees". A famous bearer was the American president Grover Cleveland (1837-1908).
GROVES EnglishFrom Old English
graf meaning
"grove". This originally indicated a person who lived near a grove (a group of trees).
GRUBER Upper GermanFrom German
Grube meaning
"pit", indicating a person who lived or worked in a pit or depression. This is the most common surname in Austria.
GRÜNBERG German, JewishFrom German
grün "green" and
Berg "mountain". This name indicated a person who lived on or near a forest-covered mountain.
GRÜNEWALD GermanMeans
"green forest" from German
grün "green" and
Wald "forest".
GUERRERO SpanishMeans
"warrior" in Spanish, an occupational name for a soldier. It is derived from Late Latin
werra "war", of Germanic origin.
GUINNESS IrishVariant of
MCGUINNESS. The name is well known because of the Guinness brand of ale, established in 1759 by Arthur Guinness.
GUJIĆ BosnianMeans
"son of a snake" from the Bosnian word
guja meaning "snake".
GULLY EnglishNickname for a big person, from Middle English
golias meaning "giant" (ultimately from
GOLIATH, the Philistine warrior who was slain by David in the Old Testament).
GUSTAFSSON SwedishMeans
"son of GUSTAF". The actress Greta Garbo (1905-1990) was originally named Greta Gustafsson.
GUTERMUTH GermanDerived from Middle High German
guot meaning "good" and
muot meaning "mind, spirit". It was a nickname for an optimistic person.
GUTTUSO ItalianFrom a Sicilian nickname meaning
"sad". It was name of the famous Italian painter Renato Guttuso (born 1912).
GUZMÁN SpanishFrom the name of the town of Guzmán in Burgos, Spain.
GWÓZDEK PolishDerived from either archaic Polish
gwozd meaning
"forest" or
gwóźdź meaning
"nail".
HAAK DutchOccupational name meaning
"peddler" in Dutch.
HAANRAADS DutchOriginally indicated a person from Haanrade, a small village in the south of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands.
HABER German, JewishOccupational name for one who grew or sold oats, derived from Old High German
habaro "oat". As a Jewish surname it is ornamental.
HABERKORN GermanOccupational name for a dealer in oats, derived from Old High German
habaro "oat" and
korn "kernel, grain".
HACKETT EnglishFrom a diminutive of the medieval byname
Hake, which was of Old Norse origin and meant "hook".
HADEN EnglishFrom a place name derived from Old English
hæþ "heath" and
dun "hill".
HADZHIEV BulgarianMeans
"son of the pilgrim" from Bulgarian
хаджия (hadzhiya) meaning "pilgrim", ultimately derived from Arabic
حَجّ (hajj).
HADŽIĆ BosnianFrom Bosnian
hadž meaning
"hajj, pilgrimage", ultimately derived from Arabic
حَجّ (hajj). It originally denoted a person who had completed the hajj.
HAFNER GermanOccupational name for a potter, derived from Old High German
havan "pot, vessel".
HAGGARD EnglishFrom a nickname meaning
"wild, untamed, worn", from Old French, ultimately from a Germanic root.
HAHN GermanFrom a nickname for a proud or pugnacious person, from Old High German
hano meaning
"rooster, cock".
HAIGHT EnglishTopographic name for someone who lived at the top of a hill, derived from Old English
heahþu "height, summit".
HÁJEK CzechMeans
"thicket" in Czech, a diminutive of
háj "woods".
HALE EnglishDerived from Old English
halh meaning
"nook, recess, hollow".
HALEY EnglishFrom the name of an English town meaning "hay clearing", from Old English
heg "hay" and
leah "clearing".
HALLORAN IrishFrom Irish
Ó hAllmhuráin meaning
"descendant of Allmhurán". The given name
Allmhurán means "stranger from across the sea".
HALMI HungarianDerived from Hungarian
halom meaning
"mound, small hill". Originally the name was given to someone who lived near or on a hill.
HÄMÄLÄINEN FinnishDerived from the region in southern Finland known as Häme, also called Tavastia.
HAMBLETON EnglishFrom various English place names, derived from Old English
hamel "crooked, mutilated" and
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
HAMILTON English, ScottishFrom an English place name, derived from Old English
hamel "crooked, mutilated" and
dun "hill". This was the name of a town in Leicestershire, England (which no longer exists).
HAMPTON EnglishFrom the name of multiple towns in England, derived from Old English
ham "home" or
ham "water meadow, enclosure" and
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
HAN Chinese, KoreanFrom Chinese
韩 (hán) referring to the ancient state of Han, which existed from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC in what is now Shanxi and Henan provinces.
HANLEY EnglishFrom various English place names meaning
"high meadow" in Old English.
HANSEN Norwegian, DanishMeans
"son of HANS". This is the most common surname in Norway, and the third most common in Denmark.