Browse Surnames

This is a list of surnames in which the meaning contains the keyword black.
usage
meaning
Black English
Means either "black" (from Old English blæc) or "pale" (from Old English blac). It could refer to a person with a pale or a dark complexion, or a person who worked with black dye.
Blackman English
From a nickname, a variant of Black.
Blackwood English, Scottish
From an English place name meaning "black wood".
Blake English
Variant of Black. A famous bearer was the poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827).
Blakeley English
From name of various English places, derived from Old English blæc "black" and leah "woodland, clearing".
Černík m Czech
Variant of Černý.
Černý m Czech
Means "black" in Czech.
Čiernik m Slovak
Variant of Čierny.
Čierny m Slovak
Slovak cognate of Černý.
Crnčević Serbian, Croatian
Derived from Serbian and Croatian црн (crn) meaning "black".
Fekete Hungarian
Means "black" in Hungarian, originally a nickname for a person with dark hair or a dark complexion.
Karagiannis m Greek
From the Greek prefix καρα (kara) meaning "black, dark" (of Turkish origin) and the given name Giannis.
Karamazov Literature
Created by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky for his novel The Brothers Karamazov (1879), about three brothers and their murdered father. Dostoyevsky may have based it on Tartar/Turkic кара (kara) meaning "black" and Russian мазать (mazat) meaning "stain". The connection to black is implied in the novel when one of the brothers is accidentally addressed as Mr. Черномазов (Chernomazov), as if based on Russian чёрный meaning "black".
Kilduff Irish
From the Irish Mac Giolla Dhuibh meaning "son of the black-haired man".
Kuroda Japanese
From Japanese (kuro) meaning "black" and (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Kuroiwa Japanese
From Japanese (kuro) meaning "black" and (iwa) meaning "cliff, rocks".
Kuroki Japanese
From Japanese (kuro) meaning "black" and (ki) meaning "tree, wood".
Kurosawa Japanese
From Japanese (kuro) meaning "black" and 沢 or 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh". A notable bearer was Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), a Japanese film director.
Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of Li 2, from Sino-Vietnamese (). This is the third most common surname in Vietnam.
Li 2 Chinese
From Chinese () meaning "black".
Lu 2 Chinese
From Chinese () meaning "rice bowl, black", also referring to an ancient minor territory in what is now Shandong province.
Mac Dhuibh Scottish Gaelic
Means "son of Dubh", where the byname Dubh means "dark".
Mustonen Finnish
Derived from Finnish musta meaning "black".
Negrescu Romanian
Patronymic derived from Romanian negru "black".
Negri Italian
Nickname derived from Italian negro "black", used to refer to someone with dark hair or dark skin.
Negrini Italian
Variant of Negri.
Neri Italian
From Italian nero "black", indicating a person with a dark complexion or dark hair.
Neroni Italian
Variant of Neri.
Nieddu Italian
From Sardinian nieddu meaning "black", derived from Latin niger.
Nieri Italian
Either a variant of Neri, or from the Italian name Raniero.
Nigro Italian
Variant of Negri.
Ó Duibh Irish
Means "descendant of Dubh", Dubh being a byname meaning "dark".
Schwarz German, Jewish
Means "black" in German, from Old High German swarz. It originally described a person with black hair or a dark complexion.
Schwarzenberg German
Means "black mountain" in German.
Schwarzenegger German
From a place name, derived from Old High German swarz meaning "black" and ekka meaning "edge, corner". A famous bearer of this name is actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger (1947-).