This is a list of surnames in which the number of syllables is more than 3.
Abadzhiev m BulgarianDerived from Bulgarian
абаджия (abadzhiya) meaning
"weaver, tailor" (of Turkish origin, ultimately from Arabic
عباءة (ʿabāʾa) meaning "cloak").
Aguilera SpanishFrom a place name that was derived from Spanish
aguilera meaning
"eagle's nest". A famous bearer is American singer Christina Aguilera (1980-).
Aikawa JapaneseFrom Japanese
相 (ai) meaning "mutually, together",
愛 (ai) meaning "love, affection" or
哀 (ai) meaning "grief, sorrow" combined with
川 (kawa) or
河 (kawa) both meaning "river, stream".
Albuquerque PortugueseFrom the name of the Spanish town of Alburquerque, near the Portuguese border in the province of Badajoz. It is probably derived from Latin
alba quercus meaning "white oak".
Andrzejewski m PolishHabitational name for a person from towns called
Andrzejewo or similar, derived from the given name
Andrzej.
Araújo PortugueseDenoted a person hailing from one of the many areas that bear this name in Portugal, which is of unknown meaning.
Avellino ItalianFrom the name of a town in Campania, Italy, called
Abellinum in Latin, of unknown meaning.
Ballerini ItalianFrom Italian
ballerino meaning
"dancer", an occupational name or nickname for someone who liked to dance.
Bandyopadhyay BengaliFrom the name of the village of
Bandoghat combined with
upadhaya "instructor, priest".
Berlusconi ItalianProbably from the Milanese word
berlusch meaning
"cross-eyed, crooked".
Bhattacharya BengaliFrom a Bengali title composed of the Sanskrit words
भट्ट (bhaṭṭa) meaning "scholar, lord" and
आचार्य (ācārya) meaning "teacher".
Calabrese ItalianOriginally given to a person who came from the region of Calabria in southern Italy.
Capitani ItalianOccupational name meaning
"captain" in Italian, ultimately from Latin
caput "head".
Carnevale ItalianFrom an Italian nickname meaning
"carnival", perhaps given to a festive person.
Castañeda SpanishHabitational name from any of various places called Castañeda, from a Spanish word meaning
"chesnut grove", itself derived from
castaña meaning "chesnut".
Espinosa SpanishFrom Spanish
espinoso meaning
"thorny", ultimately from Latin
spinosus, a derivative of
spina meaning "thorn, spine". This was the real surname of the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677), who was of Portuguese Jewish origin.
Esposito ItalianMeans
"exposed" in Italian and denoted a child who was rescued after being abandoned by its parents.
Filipowski m PolishEither a patronymic from the given name
Filip, or a habitational name denoting a person from the Polish town of Filipów (also derived from the given name).
Galilei Italian (Rare)From the given name
Galileo. A notable bearer was the Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei (1564-1642). Both his given name and surname were from an earlier 15th-century ancestor (a doctor).
Hämäläinen FinnishDerived from the region in southern Finland known as Häme, also called Tavastia.
Hasegawa JapaneseFrom the Japanese place name
長谷 (
Hase, not a standard reading) combined with
川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream".
Jughashvili Georgian (Rare)Meaning uncertain. One theory suggests Ossetian roots with the meaning
"son of the herder", derived from Ossetian
дзуг (dzug) meaning "herd, flock, troop". Alternately, it could be derived from the name of the village of
ჯუღაანი (Jughaani) in eastern Georgia. The most notable bearer was Joseph Stalin (1878-1953), born Ioseb Jughashvili, a leader of the Soviet Union.
Kapanadze GeorgianMeans
"son of the one from Kapan", originally denoting someone who came from the city of Kapan in present-day Armenia (from Armenian
կապել (kapel) meaning "to tie, to fasten").
Karjalainen FinnishDerived from Finnish
Karjala meaning
"Karelia". Karelia is an area on the border between Finland and Russia.
Kawaguchi JapaneseMeans
"mouth of the river", from Japanese
川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream" and
口 (kuchi) meaning "mouth, entrance".
Kitagawa JapaneseFrom Japanese
北 (kita) meaning "north" and
川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream". A famous bearer was the artist and printmaker Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806).
Koizumi JapaneseFrom Japanese
小 (ko) meaning "small" and
泉 (izumi) meaning "spring, fountain". A notable bearer of this name is Junichiro Koizumi (1942-), who was Prime Minister of Japan.
Kurosawa JapaneseFrom Japanese
黒 (kuro) meaning "black" and
沢 or 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh". A notable bearer was Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), a Japanese film director.
Lewandowski m PolishFrom the Polish estate name
Lewandów, which is itself possibly derived from a personal name or from
lawenda "lavender".
Maldonado SpanishFrom a nickname meaning
"badly given, ill-favoured" in Spanish.
Malinowski m PolishFrom Polish
malina meaning
"raspberry", originally indicating a person who lived near a raspberry patch.
Manfredonia ItalianOriginally indicated a person from Manfredonia, Italy. The city was named for the 13th-century King
Manfred of Sicily.
Mantovani ItalianFrom the name of the city of Mantua in Lombardy, northern Italy (
Mantova in Italian).
Matsumoto JapaneseFrom one of the many places with this name in Japan, derived from Japanese
松 (matsu) meaning "pine tree, fir tree" and
本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin".
Miyamoto JapaneseFrom Japanese
宮 (miya) meaning "temple, shrine, palace" and
本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin". A notable bearer is video game pioneer Shigeru Miyamoto (1952-).
Montgomery English, ScottishFrom a place name in Calvados, France meaning "
Gumarich's mountain". A notable bearer was Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976), a British army commander during World War II.
Mussolini ItalianFrom Italian
mussolina meaning
"muslin", a type of cloth, itself derived from the city of Mosul in Iraq. This name was borne by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (1883-1945).
Nicolosi ItalianFrom the name of the town Nicolosi on Sicily, itself named for Saint Nicholas.
Nowakowski m PolishHabitational name for a person from various towns called
Nowakowo or similar, derived from Polish
nowy meaning "new".
Oliveira PortugueseMeans
"olive tree" in Portuguese, ultimately from Latin
oliva. It indicated a person who lived near or worked with olive trees.
Ó Madaidhín IrishMeans
"descendant of Madaihín", a given name derived from Irish
madadh meaning "dog, mastiff".
Ó Maolmhuaidh IrishMeans
"descendant of Maolmhuadh",
Maolmhuadh being a given name meaning "proud chief", derived from Gaelic
maol meaning "chief" and
muadh meaning "proud, noble".