Browse Surnames

Akabane Japanese
From Japanese 赤 (aka) meaning "red" and 羽 (hane) meaning "feather".

Akai Japanese
From Japanese 赤 (aka) meaning "red" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".

Akamatsu Japanese
From Japanese 赤 (aka) meaning "red" and 松 (matsu) meaning "pine tree, fir tree".

Alba Spanish
From a Spanish nickname meaning "white".

Albescu Romanian
Derived from Romanian alb meaning "white".

Albu Romanian
From Romanian alb meaning "white".

Aoki Japanese
From Japanese 青 (ao) meaning "green, blue" and 木 (ki) meaning "tree, wood".

Aoyama Japanese
From Japanese 青 (ao) meaning "green, blue" and 山 (yama) meaning "mountain, hill".

Arany Hungarian
Means "golden" in Hungarian. A famous bearer of the name was Hungarian poet János Arany (1817-1882).

Argyris m Greek
Means "silver" in Greek.

Bai Chinese
From Chinese 白 (bái) meaning "white".

Barker English
From Middle English bark meaning "to tan". This was an occupational name for a leather tanner.

Barna Hungarian
Means "brown" in Hungarian.

Bianchi Italian
From Italian bianco meaning "white", originally given to a person who was white-haired or extremely pale.

Bianco Italian
Variant of Bianchi.

Biondo Italian
Variant of Biondi.

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".

Blakely English
Variant of Blakeley.

Blanc French
Means "white" in French. The name referred to a person who was pale, or whose hair was blond.

Blanchet French
From a diminutive of the name Blanc.

Blanchette French (Quebec)
Variant of Blanchet.

Blanco Spanish
Means "white" in Spanish. The name most likely referred to a person who was pale or had blond hair.

Blau German
Means "blue" in German, most likely used to refer to a person who wore blue clothes.

Blue English
From a nickname for a person with blue eyes or blue clothing.

Bowie Scottish
Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Buidheach, derived from buidhe meaning "yellow". A famous bearer was the American pioneer James Bowie (1796-1836), for whom the bowie knife is named. The British musician David Bowie (1947-2016), born David Robert Jones, took his stage name from the American pioneer (and the knife).

Braun German
Means "brown" in German.

Braune German
Variant of Braun.

Bronson English
Patronymic form of Brown.

Brown English
Originally a nickname for a person who had brown hair or skin. A notable bearer is Charlie Brown from the Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schulz.

Browne English
Variant of Brown.

Brownlow English
From Old English brun meaning "brown" and hlaw meaning "mound, small hill". The name was probably given to a family living on a small hill covered with bracken.

Bruhn German
Variant of Braun.

Bruin Dutch
Dutch cognate of Brown.

Brun French, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Means "brown" in French, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. It was originally a nickname for a person who had brown hair or skin.

Brune German
Variant of Braun.

Brunet French
From a diminutive of French brun meaning "brown".

Brunetti Italian
Diminutive of Bruno.

Bruno Italian, Portuguese
Means "brown" in Italian and Portuguese, a nickname for a person with brown hair or brown clothes. A famous bearer was the cosmologist Giordano Bruno (1548-1600).

Burnett English
Means "brown" in Middle English, from Old French brunet, a diminutive of brun.

Cano Spanish
Means "white-haired, old" in Spanish, from Latin canus.

Černík m Czech
Variant of Černý.

Černý m Czech
Means "black" in Czech.

Červenka m Czech
Variant of Červený.

Červený m Czech
Means "red" in Czech.

Chastain French
From Old French castan "chestnut tree" (Latin castanea), a name for someone who lived near a particular chestnut tree, or possibly a nickname for someone with chestnut-coloured hair.

Čiernik m Slovak
Variant of Čierny.

Čierny m Slovak
Slovak cognate of Černý.

Couch Cornish
From Cornish cough "red", indicating the original bearer had red hair.

Crnčević Serbian, Croatian
Derived from Serbian and Croatian црн (crn) meaning "black".

De Bruijn Dutch
Dutch cognate of Brown.

De Bruin Dutch
Dutch cognate of Brown.

De Wit Dutch
Variant of De Witte.

De With Dutch
Variant of De Witte.

De Witt Dutch
Variant of De Witte.

De Witte Dutch
Means "the white" in Dutch, a nickname for a person with white hair.

Dior French
Possibly from French doré meaning "golden". A famous bearer was the French fashion designer Christian Dior (1905-1957).

Donne Scottish, Irish
From Gaelic donn meaning "brown", a nickname for a person with brown hair.

Dunn English, Scottish, Irish
Derived from Old English dunn "dark" or Gaelic donn "brown", referring to hair colour or complexion.

Faerber German
Variant of Färber.

Färber German
Occupational name meaning "dyer", derived from German Farbe "colour".

Farran English
Derived from Old French ferrant meaning "iron grey".

Fehér Hungarian
Means "white" in Hungarian, originally referring to a person with white hair or complexion.

Fekete Hungarian
Means "black" in Hungarian, originally a nickname for a person with dark hair or a dark complexion.

Ferber German
Variant of Färber.

Fiala m Czech
Means "violet" in Czech, referring to the flower. It may have originally referred to a person who lived near a sign bearing violets, or it may have been given to a person who lived in a place where violets grew.

Floyd Welsh
Variant of Lloyd.

Galanis m Greek
From Greek γαλανός (galanos) meaning "light blue".

Goldhirsch Jewish
Means "golden stag" in Yiddish.

Gough 1 Welsh
Nickname for a red-haired person, from Welsh coch "red".

Gray English
From a nickname for a person who had grey hair or grey clothes.

Green English
Descriptive name for someone who often wore the colour green or someone who lived near the village green.

Greene English
Variant of Green.

Greenwood English
Topographic name for someone who lived in or near a lush forest, from Old English grene "green" and wudu "wood".

Grey English
Variant of Gray.

Groen Dutch
Dutch cognate of Green.

Grünberg German, Jewish
From German grün meaning "green" and Berg meaning "mountain". This name indicated a person who lived on or near a forest-covered mountain.

Grünewald German
Means "green forest" from German grün "green" and Wald "forest".

Hargrave English
Derived from Old English har meaning "grey" and graf "grove".

Harmaajärvi Finnish
Means "grey lake" in Finnish.

Himura Japanese
From Japanese 緋 (hi) meaning "scarlet, dark red" and 村 (mura) meaning "town, village".

Hoàng Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of Huang, from Sino-Vietnamese 黃 (hoàng).

Huang Chinese
From Chinese 黄 (huáng) meaning "yellow".

Irvine 1 Scottish
Originally derived from the name of a Scottish (North Ayrshire) town, which was named for the River Irvine, derived from Brythonic elements meaning "green water".

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".

Kokkinos m Greek
From a nickname meaning "red" in Greek.

Kuroda Japanese
From Japanese 黒 (kuro) meaning "black" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".

Kuroiwa Japanese
From Japanese 黒 (kuro) meaning "black" and 岩 (iwa) meaning "cliff, rocks".

Kuroki Japanese
From Japanese 黒 (kuro) meaning "black" and 木 (ki) meaning "tree, wood".

Kurosawa Japanese
From Japanese 黒 (kuro) meaning "black" and 沢 or 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh". A notable bearer was Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), a Japanese film director.

Lagorio Italian
From a nickname derived from Ligurian lagö, referring to a type of lizard, the European green lizard. This little reptile is respected because it supposedly protects against vipers.

Lê Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of Li 2, from Sino-Vietnamese 黎 (lê). This is the third most common surname in Vietnam.

Leblanc French
Means "the white", from French blanc "white". The name referred to a person who was pale or whose hair was blond.

Lebrun French
From a nickname meaning "the brown", from French brun "brown".

Leroux French
Means "the red", from Old French ros "red". This was a nickname for a person with red hair.

Li 2 Chinese
From Chinese 黎 (lí) meaning "black".

Lloyd Welsh, English
Originally a nickname from the Welsh word llwyd meaning "grey".

Lu 2 Chinese
From Chinese 卢 (lú) 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".

Mac Giolla Ruaidh Irish
Means "son of the red-haired servant" in Irish.

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".

Pardo Spanish
Means "brown" in Spanish, originally a nickname for someone with brown hair.

Radcliff English
From various place names in England that mean "red cliff" in Old English.

Radclyffe English
Variant of Radcliff.

Read 1 English
Means "red" from Middle English read, probably denoting a person with red hair or complexion.

Reed English
Variant of Read 1.

Reid Scottish, English
Scots variant of Read 1.

Roig Catalan
Means "red" in Catalan, from Latin rubeus, originally a nickname for a person with red hair or a red complexion.

Roijackers Dutch
Variant of Rooijakkers.

Roijakkers Dutch
Variant of Rooijakkers.

Rojas Spanish
Variant of Rojo.

Rojo Spanish
Means "red" in Spanish, referring to the colour of the hair or complexion.

Rooijakkers Dutch
Means "red field", from Dutch rood "red" and akker "field".

Rossi Italian
Derived from a nickname for a red-haired person, from Italian rosso, Latin russus meaning "red". This is the most common surname in Italy.

Rossini Italian
Diminutive form of Rossi. A famous bearer was the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868).

Rot German, Jewish
Variant of Roth.

Roth German, Jewish
From Middle High German rot meaning "red". It was originally a nickname for a person with red hair.

Rothenberg German, Jewish
From Middle High German rot meaning "red" and berg meaning "mountain". As a Jewish name it may be ornamental.

Rothschild Jewish
From Middle High German rot "red" and schilt "shield", or Yiddish רויט (roit) and שילד (shild). The famous Rothschild family of bankers took their name from a house with a red shield on it.

Rousseau French
Diminutive of Roux. A famous bearer was the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) whose ideas influenced the French Revolution.

Roussel French
French form of Russell.

Roux French
Derived from Old French ros meaning "red", from Latin russus, a nickname for a red-haired person.

Roy 2 Scottish
From Gaelic ruadh meaning "red-haired".

Rubio Spanish
Nickname for a person with red hair, from Latin rubeus "red".

Russel English
Variant of Russell.

Russell English
From a Norman French nickname that meant "little red one", perhaps originally describing a person with red hair.

Russo Italian
Variant of Rossi.

Šarić Croatian, Serbian
Patronymic of (possibly) Serbo-Croatian šaren meaning "colourful, patterned".

Scarlett English
Denoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet, a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian سقرلاط (saqrelat).

Schwartz German, Jewish
Variant of Schwarz.

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-).

Shirai Japanese
From Japanese 白 (shira) meaning "white" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".

Shiraishi Japanese
From Japanese 白 (shira) meaning "white" and 石 (ishi) meaning "stone".

Shirakawa Japanese
From Japanese 白 (shira) meaning "white" and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream".

Shiratori Japanese
From Japanese 白 (shira) meaning "white" and 鳥 (tori) meaning "bird".

Silver English
From a nickname for a person with grey hair, from Old English seolfor "silver".

Silverstein Jewish
Variant of Zilberstein.

Tachibana Japanese
From Japanese 橘 (tachibana) meaning "orange, tangerine".

Teel English
From Middle English tele meaning "teal, duck".

Veres Hungarian
Dialectical variant of Vörös.

Villalba Spanish
Denoted a person from one of the various Spanish places by this name. It is derived from Spanish villa "town" and alba "white".

Villaverde Spanish
Originally denoted a person from one of the various Spanish towns by this name, derived from villa "town" and verde "green".

Vörös Hungarian
Means "red" in Hungarian, referring to a person with red hair or face.

Weiss German, Yiddish
From Middle High German wiz or Yiddish װייַס (vais) meaning "white". This was originally a nickname for a person with white hair or skin.

Weiß German
Variant of Weiss.

Whitaker English
From a place name composed of Old English hwit "white" and æcer "field".

White English
Originally a nickname for a person who had white hair or a pale complexion, from Old English hwit "white".

Whitehead English
Nickname for someone with white or light-coloured hair, from Old English hwit "white" and heafod "head".

Whittemore English
From various English place names derived from Old English hwit "white" and mor "moor, heath, bog".

Whittle English
From various English place names derived from Old English hwit "white" and hyll "hill".

Zelenka m Czech
Czech cognate of Zieliński.

Zelenko Ukrainian
Ukrainian cognate of Zieliński.

Zhu Chinese
From Chinese 朱 (zhū) meaning "vermilion red, cinnabar" and also referring to the ancient state of Zhu, which existed in what is now Shandong province. This was the surname of the emperors of the Ming dynasty.

Zieliński m Polish
From Polish zieleń meaning "green". It was possibly a nickname for a person who dressed in green clothing.

Zilberschlag Jewish
Occupational name for a silversmith from Yiddish zilber "silver" and schlag "strike".

Zilberstein Jewish
Ornamental name meaning "silver stone", from Yiddish זילבער (zilber) and שטיין (shtein), both of Old High German origin.

Žilinskas m Lithuanian
Lithuanian form of Zieliński.