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".
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.
GRAF GermanFrom the German noble title
Graf meaning
"count", ultimately from Greek
γραφευς (grapheus) meaning "scribe".
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
γρυψ (gryps).
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".
GROVES EnglishFrom Old English
graf meaning
"grove". This originally indicated a person who lived near a grove (a group of trees).
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
حجّي (hajji).
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.
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.
HARDEN EnglishFrom a place name meaning "hare valley" in Old English.
HARDING EnglishDerived from the given name
HEARD. A famous bearer was American president Warren G. Harding (1865-1923).
HARDY English, FrenchFrom Old French and Middle English
hardi meaning
"bold, daring, hardy", of Germanic origin.
HAREL JewishOrnamental name adopted from a biblical place name meaning "altar, mountain of God" in Hebrew.
HARFORD EnglishHabitational name from places called Harford in Gloucestershire and Devon, meaning "hart ford" or "army ford".
HARLAND EnglishFrom various place names meaning
"hare land" in Old English.
HARLEY EnglishDerived from a place name meaning "hare clearing", from Old English
hara "hare" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
HARLOW EnglishHabitational name derived from a number of locations named Harlow, from Old English
hær "rock, heap of stones" or
here "army", combined with
hlaw "hill".
HARPER EnglishOriginally belonged to a person who played the harp or who made harps.
HARRELSON EnglishMeans
"son of HAROLD". A famous bearer of this surname is the American actor Woody Harrelson (1961-).
HART EnglishMeans
"male deer". It was originally acquired by a person who lived in a place frequented by harts, or bore some resemblance to a hart.
HASE GermanFrom Middle High German and Middle Low German
hase meaning
"hare, rabbit". This was a nickname for a person who was quick or timid.
HASENKAMP GermanFrom a northern German place name meaning
"rabbit field", from Old Saxon
haso "hare" and
kamp "field" (from Latin
campus).
HATHAWAY EnglishHabitational name for someone who lived near a path across a heath, from Old English
hæþ "heath" and
weg "way".
HAUER GermanDerived from Middle High German
houwen "to chop", referring to a butcher or woodchopper.
HAUGEN NorwegianMeans
"hill" in Norwegian, referring to a person who lived on a hilltop.
HAUMANN GermanDerived from Middle High German
houwen "to chop" and
man "man", referring to a butcher or woodchopper.
HÄUSLER GermanName for someone who lived in a house with no land, derived rom Old High German word
hus meaning
"house".
HAWK EnglishOriginally a nickname for a person who had a hawk-like appearance or who acted in a fierce manner, derived from Old English
heafoc "hawk".
HAWKING EnglishFrom a diminutive of
HAWK. A famous bearer was the British physicist Stephen Hawking (1942-2018).
HAWTHORNE EnglishDenoted a person who lived near a hawthorn bush, a word derived from Old English
hagaþorn, from
haga meaning "haw berry" and
þorn meaning "thorn bush". A famous bearer was the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), author of
The Scarlet Letter.
HAYDEN (1) EnglishFrom place names meaning either
"hay valley" or
"hay hill", derived from Old English
heg "hay" and
denu "valley" or
dun "hill".
HAYES (1) EnglishFrom various English place names that were derived from Old English
hæg meaning
"enclosure, fence". A famous bearer was American President Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893).