Villalobos SpanishHabitational name for a person from the town of Villalobos, Spain, which is derived from Spanish
villa "town" and
lobo "wolf".
Villanueva SpanishOriginally denoted someone who came from one of the various Spanish towns by this name, derived from
villa "town" and
nueva "new".
Villaverde SpanishOriginally denoted a person from one of the various Spanish towns by this name, derived from
villa "town" and
verde "green".
Vinogradov m RussianMeans
"vineyard" in Russian (ultimately from German), referring to a person who worked at a vineyard or lived near one.
Virtanen FinnishDerived from Finnish
virta meaning
"stream". This is the second most common surname in Finland.
Voll 1 NorwegianOriginally indicated a person who lived in a meadow, from Old Norse
vǫllr "meadow, field".
Von Brandt GermanMeans
"from the area cleared by fire", from Middle High German
brant.
Wada JapaneseFrom Japanese
和 (wa) meaning "harmony, peace" and
田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Wakefield EnglishOriginally indicated a person who came from the English city of Wakefield, derived from Old English
wacu "wake, vigil" and
feld "field".
Waldvogel German, JewishFrom a nickname for a carefree person, derived from German
Wald meaning "forest" and
Vogel meaning "bird". As a Jewish name it is ornamental.
Walkenhorst GermanPossibly derived from a German place name
Falkenhorst, from
Falken meaning "falcons" and
Horst meaning "thicket".
Wallach YiddishFrom Middle High German
walch meaning
"foreigner (from a Romance country)".
Wallin SwedishFrom Swedish
vall meaning
"wall, bank" (ultimately of Latin origin).
Walton EnglishFrom the name of any of several villages in England, derived from Old English
wealh "foreigner, Celt",
weald "forest",
weall "wall", or
wille "well, spring, water hole" combined with
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
Wang 4 YiddishName for a Jew from Hungary, ultimately from Russian
Венгрия (Vengriya) meaning
"Hungary".
Warwick EnglishFrom the name of an English town, itself derived from Old English
wer "weir, dam" and
wic "village, town".
Washington EnglishFrom a place name meaning "settlement belonging to Wassa's people", from the given name
Wassa and Old English
tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town". A famous bearer was George Washington (1732-1799), the first president of the United States. This surname was sometimes adopted by freed slaves, resulting in a high proportion of African-American bearers.
Weasley LiteratureUsed by J. K. Rowling for the character of Ron Weasley (and other members of his family) in her
Harry Potter series of books, first released in 1997. Rowling presumably derived it from the English word
weasel, perhaps in combination with the common place name/surname suffix
-ley, which is derived from Old English
leah meaning "woodland, clearing".
Wei ChineseFrom Chinese
魏 (wèi) referring to the ancient state of Wei, which existed from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC in what is now Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, and Shandong provinces.
Wells EnglishDerived from Middle English
wille meaning
"well, spring, water hole".
Wembley EnglishFrom the name of a town, now part of Greater London, meaning "
Wemba's clearing" in Old English.
Westcott EnglishFrom any of the several English towns by this name, derived from Old English meaning "west cottage".
Westenberg DutchMeans
"west of the mountain", originally referring to a person who lived there.
Westley EnglishFrom the name of various English towns, derived from Old English
west "west" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Weston EnglishFrom the name of various English towns, derived from Old English
west "west" and
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
Wheatley EnglishFrom any of the various places in England with this name, meaning "wheat clearing" in Old English.
Whinery EnglishFrom Middle English
whin "gorse bush" and
wray "nook of land".
Whitney EnglishOriginally from the name of an English town, meaning "white island" in Old English.
Wickham EnglishFrom any of various towns by this name in England, notably in Hampshire. They are derived from Old English
wic "village, town" (of Latin origin) and
ham "home, settlement".
Wieck GermanMeans
"village, town", derived from Latin
vicus.
Willoughby EnglishFrom the name of various English towns, derived from Old English
welig "willow" and Old Norse
býr "farm, settlement".
Winchester EnglishFrom an English place name, derived from
Venta, of Celtic origin, and Latin
castrum meaning "camp, fortress".
Windsor EnglishFrom the name of a few English towns, one notably the site of Windsor Castle. Their names mean
"riverbank with a windlass" in Old English, a windlass being a lifting apparatus. In 1917 the British royal family adopted this name (after Windsor Castle), replacing their previous name
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
Winfield EnglishFrom various English place names, derived from Old English
winn "meadow, pasture" and
feld "field".
Winterbottom EnglishFrom Old English
winter meaning "winter" and
botm meaning "ground, soil, bottom". This name probably referred to a winter pasture at the bottom of a lowland valley.
Winton EnglishDerived from the name of several English villages. Their names derive from Old English meaning "enclosure belonging to
Wine".
Wiśniewski m PolishFrom the name of various Polish towns called
Wiśniewo, derived from Polish
wiśnia meaning "sour cherry".
Witherspoon EnglishOriginally given to a person who dwelt near a sheep enclosure, from Middle English
wether "sheep" and
spong "strip of land".
Wood English, ScottishOriginally denoted one who lived in or worked in a forest, derived from Old English
wudu "wood".
Woodham EnglishIndicated a person who had a home near a wood, derived from Old English
wudu "wood" and
ham "home, settlement".
Woodrow EnglishFrom a place name meaning
"row of houses by a wood" in Old English.
Woodward EnglishOccupational name for a forester, meaning
"ward of the wood" in Old English.
Wortham EnglishDerived from the name of a town in Suffolk, England meaning
"enclosed homestead".
Wray EnglishOriginally denoted someone who came from any of the various places of this name in northern England, from Old Norse
vrá meaning
"corner, nook".
Wu 1 ChineseFrom Chinese
吴 (wú) referring to the ancient state of Wu, which was located in present-day Jiangsu province.
Wyndham EnglishFrom the name of the town of Wymondham, meaning "home belonging to Wigmund", from the given name
Wigmund combined with Old English
ham meaning "home, settlement".
Wyrzykowski m PolishPossibly from the Polish place name
Wyrzyki, of uncertain meaning, maybe "away from the river".
Xiao ChineseFrom Chinese
蕭 (xiāo) referring to the fiefdom or territory of Xiao (in present-day Anhui province) that existed during the Zhou dynasty.
Xie ChineseFrom Chinese
谢 (xiè) referring to the minor state of Xie, which existed in what is now Hubei province.
Xu 1 ChineseFrom Chinese
徐 (xú) referring to the ancient state of Xu, which existed to the 6th century BC in what is now Jiangsu and Anhui. The character
徐 means "slowly, calmly".
Xu 2 ChineseFrom Chinese
许 (xǔ) referring to the minor state of Xu, which existed to the 4th century BC in what is now Henan province. The character
许 means "allow, permit".
Yamaguchi JapaneseFrom Japanese
山 (yama) meaning "mountain" and
口 (kuchi) meaning "mouth, entrance". Olympic figure-skating champion Kristi Yamaguchi (1971-) bears this name.
Yasuda JapaneseFrom Japanese
安 (yasu) meaning "peace, quiet" or
保 (yasu) meaning "protect, maintain" and
田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Yokota JapaneseFrom Japanese
横 (yoko) meaning "beside, next to" and
田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
York EnglishFrom the name of the English city of York, which was originally called
Eburacon (Latinized as
Eboracum), meaning "yew" in Brythonic. In the Anglo-Saxon period it was corrupted to
Eoforwic, based on Old English
eofor "boar" and
wic "village". This was rendered as
Jórvík by the Vikings and eventually reduced to
York.
Yoxall EnglishOriginally indicated a person from the town of Yoxall in Staffordshire, itself derived from Old English
geoc "oxen yoke" and
halh "nook, recess".
Yūki JapaneseFrom Japanese
結 (yū) meaning "tie, bind" and
城 (ki) meaning "castle".
Zabala BasqueOriginally denoted someone who lived in a place of this name in Biscay. It is derived from Basque
zabal meaning "large, wide".
Zellweger German (Swiss)Originally denoted a person from the Appenzell region of Switzerland. The place name is derived from Latin
abbatis cella meaning
"estate of the abbot". A famous bearer is actress Renée Zellweger (1969-).
Zeng ChineseFrom Chinese
曾 (zēng) referring to the former state of Zeng, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Hubei province.
Zhao ChineseFrom Chinese
赵 (zhào), which refers to an ancient city-state in what is now Shanxi province. According to legend, King Mu rewarded his chariot driver Zaofu with the city, at which time Zaofu adopted this surname. The later historic state of Zhao, which existed from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, was named after this city.
... [more] Zheng ChineseFrom Chinese
郑 (zhèng), which refers to the ancient state of Zheng. Zheng existed between the 9th to 4th centuries BC in present-day Henan province. A famous bearer of this surname was the 15th-century explorer Zheng He.
Zupan SloveneFrom Old Slavic
županŭ meaning
"head of the district, community leader", a derivative of
župa meaning "district, region".