Browse Surnames

This is a list of surnames in which the usage is English; and the number of syllables is 2 or 3 or 4 in English.

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Ridley English
Denoted a person who hailed from one of the various places of this name in England. The places are derived from Old English geryd "channel" or hreod "reed" combined with leah "woodland, clearing".

Rigby English
Originally derived from the name of a town in Lancashire, itself from Old Norse hryggr "ridge" and býr "farm, settlement".

Riley 1 English
From the name of the town of Ryley in Lancashire, derived from Old English ryge "rye" and leah "woodland, clearing".

Rimmer English
Occupational name meaning "poet", from Middle English rime meaning "rhyme".

Ripley English
From the name of various English towns, from Old English rippel "grove, thicket" and leah "woodland, clearing". A notable fictional bearer is the character Ellen Ripley from the movie Alien (1979) and its sequels.

Rivers English
Denoted a person who lived near a river, from Middle English, from Old French riviere meaning "river", from Latin riparius meaning "riverbank".

Robbins English
Derived from the given name Robin.

Robert French, English
From the given name Robert.

Roberts English
Means "son of Robert".

Robertson English
Means "son of Robert".

Robinson English
Means "son of Robin".

Robson English
Means "son of Rob".

Roderick English
Derived from the given name Roderick.

Rodgers English
Derived from the given name Rodger.

Rodney English
From a place name meaning "Hroda's island" in Old English (where Hroda is an Old English given name meaning "fame").

Rogers English
Derived from the given name Roger.

Rogerson English
Means "son of Roger".

Roscoe English
From the name of a town in Lancashire, derived from Old Norse rá "roebuck" and skógr "wood, forest".

Roydon English
Originally derived from a place name meaning "rye hill", from Old English ryge "rye" and dun "hill".

Royston English
Originally taken from an Old English place name meaning "Royse's town". The given name Royse was a medieval variant of Rose.

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.

Ryder English
Occupational name for a mounted warrior, from Old English ridere meaning "rider".

Ryland English
From various English place names, derived from Old English ryge "rye" and land "land".

Ryley English
Variant of Riley 1.

Sadler English
Occupational name for a maker of saddles, from Old English sadol "saddle".

Sampson English
Derived from a medieval form of the given name Samson.

Samson English, French
Derived from the given name Samson.

Samuel English, Welsh, French, Jewish
Derived from the given name Samuel.

Samuels English
Derived from the given name Samuel.

Samuelson English
Means "son of Samuel".

Sanders English
Patronymic of the given name Sander, a medieval form of Alexander.

Sanderson English
Means "son of Alexander".

Sandford English
Indicated a person from Sandford, England, which means simply "sand ford".

Sanford English
Variant of Sandford.

Sangster English, Scottish
Occupational name or nickname for a singer, from Old English singan "to sing, to chant".

Savage English
English nickname meaning "wild, uncouth", derived from Old French salvage or sauvage meaning "untamed", ultimately from Latin silvaticus meaning "wild, from the woods".

Sawyer English
Occupational name meaning "sawer of wood, woodcutter" in Middle English, ultimately from Old English sagu meaning "saw". Mark Twain used it for the main character in his novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).

Saylor English
Occupational name meaning "acrobat, dancer", derived from Old French sailleor, from Latin sallitor.

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

Selby English
From the name of a village that meant "willow farm" in Old English.

Senior English
Originally a name for the elder of two brothers.

Sergeant English, French
Occupational name derived from Old French sergent meaning "servant", ultimately from Latin servire "to serve".

Sessions English
From the name of the city of Soissons in northern France, itself derived from the name of the Celtic tribe of the Suessiones.

Seward 1 English
Derived from the given name Sigeweard.

Seward 2 English
Means "swineherd" from Old English su "sow, female pig" and hierde "herdsman, guardian".

Sexton English
Occupational name for a sexton (Middle English sexteyn), a caretaker for a church or graveyard.

Seymour 1 English
From Saint Maur, a French place name, which commemorates Saint Maurus.

Seymour 2 English
From an English place name, derived from Old English sæ "sea" and mere "lake".

Shakespeare English
From a nickname for a warlike person, from Old English scacan "to shake" and spere "spear". A famous bearer was the English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

Shelby English
Variant of Selby.

Shelton English
From the name of various English towns, meaning "shelf town" in Old English.

Shepard English
Variant of Shepherd.

Shepherd English
Occupational name meaning "shepherd, sheep herder", from Old English sceaphyrde.

Sheppard English
Variant of Shepherd.

Sherman 1 English
Means "shear man", referring to someone who used shears in his line of work, such as a sheep-shearer.

Shirley English
From an English place name, derived from Old English scir "bright" and leah "woodland, clearing".

Sidney English
Originally derived from various place names in England meaning "wide island", from Old English sid "wide" and eg "island". Another theory holds that it comes from the name of a town in Normandy called "Saint Denis", though evidence for this is lacking.

Sigourney English
From the name of the commune of Sigournais in western France, called Segurniacum in medieval Latin, itself of unknown meaning.

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

Simmons English
Derived from the given name Simon 1.

Simon English, French, German, Dutch, Hungarian, Jewish
Derived from the given name Simon 1.

Simpson English
Means "son of Sim", Sim being a medieval short form of Simon 1. This is the name of a fictional American family on the animated television series The Simpsons, starting 1989.

Sinclair English
Derived from a Norman French town called "Saint Clair".

Skinner English
Occupational name for a person who skinned animals, from Old Norse skinn.

Slater English
Occupational name indicating that an early member worked covering roofs with slate, from Old French esclat "shard", of Germanic origin.

Snider English
Variant of Snyder.

Sniders English
Variant of Snyder.

Snyder English
Means "tailor", derived from Middle English snithen "to cut", an occupational name for a person who stitched coats and clothing.

Snyders English
Variant of Snyder.

Solomon English, Romanian, Jewish
Derived from the given name Solomon.

Spearing English
Patronymic form of Spear.

Spencer English
Occupational name for a person who dispensed provisions to those who worked at a manor, derived from Middle English spense "larder, pantry".

Spooner English
Occupational name for a maker of spoons or a maker of shingles, derived from Middle English spone meaning "chip of wood, spoon".

Stacey English
Variant of Stacy.

Stacy English
Derived from Stace, a medieval form of Eustace.

Stafford English
From the name of the English city of Stafford, Staffordshire, derived from Old English stæð meaning "wharf, landing place" and ford meaning "ford, river crossing".

Stanford English
Derived from various English place names meaning "stone ford" in Old English.

Stanley English
From various place names meaning "stone clearing" in Old English. A notable bearer was the British-American explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904).

Stanton English
From one of the many places named Stanton or Staunton in England, derived from Old English stan meaning "stone" and tun meaning "enclosure, town".

Stetson English
Possibly from the name of the village of Stidston in Devon, meaning "Stithweard's town".

Stevens English
Variant of Stephens.

Stevenson English
Variant of Stephenson.

St John English
From a place named for Saint John.

Stringer English
Occupational name for a maker of string or bow strings, from Old English streng "string".

Summers 1 English
Variant of Sumner.

Summers 2 English
Variant of Sommer 1.

Sutton English
From various English place names meaning "south town".

Swallow English
From the name of the bird, from Old English swealwe, a nickname for someone who resembled or acted like a swallow.

Swanson English
Patronymic form of Middle English swein meaning "servant" (of Old Norse origin). This word was also used as a byname, and this surname could be a patronymic form of that.

Sydney English
Variant of Sidney.

Tailor English
Variant of Taylor.

Talbot English
Of Norman origin, possibly derived from an unattested Germanic given name composed of the elements dala "to destroy" and bod "message".

Tanner English
Occupational name for a person who tanned animal hides, from Old English tannian "to tan", itself from Late Latin and possibly ultimately of Celtic origin.

Tasker English
From Middle English taske meaning "task, assignment". A tasker was a person who had a fixed job to do, particularly a person who threshed grain with a flail.

Taylor English
Derived from Old French tailleur meaning "tailor", ultimately from Latin taliare "to cut".

Tenley English
Possibly from the name of an English town derived from Old English tind "point" and leah "woodland, clearing".

Tennison English
Means "son of Denis".

Tennyson English
Means "son of Denis".

Terrell English
Probably derived from the Norman French nickname tirel meaning "to pull", referring to a stubborn person.

Terry English
Derived from the medieval name Thierry, a Norman French form of Theodoric.

Thatcher English
Referred to a person who thatched roofs by attaching straw to them, derived from Old English þæc meaning "thatch, roof". A famous bearer was the British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013).

Thomas English, Welsh, French, German
Derived from the given name Thomas.

Thompson English
Means "son of Thomas".

Thomson English
Variant of Thompson.

Thorburn English, Scottish
Derived from the Old Norse given name Þórbjǫrn.

Thorley English
From any of the various places in England called Thornley or Thorley, meaning "thorn clearing" in Old English.

Thornton English
From any of the various places in England by this name, meaning "thorn town" in Old English.

Thurstan English
Derived from the Old Norse name Þórsteinn.

Tindall English
From Tindale, the name of a town in Cumbria, derived from the name of the river Tyne combined with Old English dæl "dale, valley".

Tinker English
Occupational name for a mender of kettles, pots and pans. The name could derive from the tinking sound made by light hammering on metal. It is possible that the word comes from the word tin, the material with which the tinker worked.

Tipton English
Originally given to one who came from the town of Tipton, derived from the Old English given name Tippa combined with tun "enclosure, yard, town".

Tirrell English
Variant of Terrell.

Tobias English, German, Jewish
From the given name Tobias.

Tobin English
From a diminutive of the given name Tobias.

Towner English
Variant of Toller.

Townsend English
Indicated a person who lived at the town's edge, from Old English tun "enclosure, yard, town" and ende "end, limit".

Tracey 1 English
From the village of Tracy-sur-mer on the Normandy coast in France. It was brought to England with William the Conqueror.

Tracy English, Irish
Variant of Tracey 1 or Tracey 2.

Travers English, French
From an English and French place name that described a person who lived near a bridge or ford, or occasionally as an occupational name for the collector of tolls at such a location. The place name is derived from Old French traverser (which comes from Late Latin transversare), which means "to cross".

Travis English
English variant of Travers.

Trueman English
Variant of Truman.

Truman English
Means "trusty man" in Middle English. A famous bearer of the surname was American president Harry S. Truman (1884-1972).

Tucker English
Occupational name for a fuller of cloth, derived from Old English tucian meaning "offend, torment". A fuller was a person who cleaned and thickened raw cloth by pounding it.

Tupper English
Occupational name for a herdsman, derived from Middle English toupe "ram".

Turner English
Occupational name for one who worked with a lathe, derived from Old English turnian "to turn", of Latin origin. A famous bearer is the American musician Tina Turner (1939-2023), born Anna Mae Bullock.

Tyler English
Occupational name for a tiler of roofs, derived from Old English tigele "tile". A famous bearer of this name was American president John Tyler (1790-1862).

Tyrell English
Variant of Terrell.

Tyrrell English
Variant of Terrell.

Tyson 1 English
Derived from a nickname for a quarrelsome person, from Old French tison meaning "firebrand".

Tyson 2 English
Variant of Dyson.

Upton English
Denoted a person hailing from one of the many towns in England bearing this name. The place name itself is derived from Old English upp "up" and tun "enclosure, yard, town".

Verity English
From a nickname meaning "truth", perhaps given originally to a truthful person.

Vernon English
Locational name in the Eure region of Normandy, from the Gaulish element vern "alder (tree)" with the genitive case maker onis.

Victor French, English
Derived from the male given name Victor.

Victors English
Derived from the given name Victor.

Vincent 1 English, French
From the given name Vincent.

Virgo English
Possibly from Latin virgo "virgin, maiden". It may have been a nickname for an actor who played the Virgin Mary in mystery plays, or for a shy man or a lecher.

Waldo English
From the Anglo-Scandinavian given name Waltheof.

Walker English
Occupational name for a person who walked on damp raw cloth in order to thicken it. It is derived from Middle English walkere, Old English wealcan meaning "to move".

Wallace Scottish, English, Irish
Means "foreigner, stranger, Celt" from Norman French waleis (of Germanic origin). It was often used to denote native Welsh and Bretons. A famous bearer was the 13th-century Scottish hero William Wallace.

Waller 1 English
Derived from Old French gallier meaning "person with a pleasant temper".

Waller 2 English
Derived from Old English weall meaning "wall", denoting a builder of walls or someone who lived near a prominent wall.

Waller 3 English
From Old English wille meaning "well, spring, water hole".

Wallis Scottish, English
Variant of Wallace.

Walter English, German
Derived from the given name Walter.

Walters English
Derived from the given name Walter.

Walton English
From 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".

Wardrobe English
From Old French warder "to guard" and robe "garment", an occupational name for a servant responsible for the clothing in a household.

Warner German, English
Variant of Werner.

Warren 1 English
Denoted a person who lived near a warren, from Norman French warrene meaning "animal enclosure" (of Germanic origin).

Warren 2 English
Originally denoted a person from the town of La Varenne in Normandy, which may derive from a Gaulish word meaning "sandy soil".

Warrick English
Variant of Warwick.

Warwick English
From the name of an English town, itself derived from Old English wer "weir, dam" and wic "village, town".

Washington English
From 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.

Waterman 1 English
Means "servant of Walter".

Waterman 2 English, Dutch
Occupational name for a boatman or a water carrier. It could also describe a person who lived by water.

Waters 1 English
Originally given to a person who lived near the water.

Waters 2 English
Derived from the given name Walter.

Watkins English
Derived from the Middle English given name Wat or Watt, which was a diminutive of the name Walter.

Watson English, Scottish
Patronymic derived from the Middle English given name Wat or Watt, a diminutive of the name Walter.

Weaver 1 English
Occupational name for a weaver, derived from Old English wefan "to weave".

Weaver 2 English
From the name of the River Weaver, derived from Old English wefer meaning "winding stream".

Webster English
Occupational name meaning "weaver", from Old English webba, a derivative of wefan "to weave".

Wesley English
Variant of Westley.

Westbrook English
From the name of places in England, derived from Old English west "west" and broc "brook, stream".

Westley English
From the name of various English towns, derived from Old English west "west" and leah "woodland, clearing".

Weston English
From the name of various English towns, derived from Old English west "west" and tun "enclosure, yard, town".

Wheatley English
From any of the various places in England with this name, meaning "wheat clearing" in Old English.

Wheeler English
Occupational name for a maker of wagon wheels, derived from Middle English whele "wheel".

Whitney English
Originally from the name of an English town, meaning "white island" in Old English.

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

Wilbur English
From the nickname Wildbor meaning "wild boar" in Middle English.

Wiley English
From any of the various English towns named Willey or from the River Wylye.

Wilkie English
Double diminutive of the given name William.

Wilkins English
Means "son of Wilkin".

Wilkinson English
Means "son of Wilkin".

Willard English
From the given name Wilheard or Willihard.

Willey English
Variant of Wiley.

William English
Derived from the given name William.

Williams English
Means "son of William".

Williamson English
Means "son of William".

Willis English
Derived from the given name William. A famous bearer of this surname is actor Bruce Willis (1955-).

Wilmer German, English
Derived from the given name Willimar or Wilmǣr.

Wilson English
Means "son of Will". A famous bearer was the American president Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924).

Wilton English
From any of the English towns named Wilton.

Winchester English
From an English place name, derived from Venta, of Celtic origin, and Latin castrum meaning "camp, fortress".

Windsor English
From 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 English
From various English place names, derived from Old English winn "meadow, pasture" and feld "field".

Winslow English
Derived from an Old English place name meaning "hill belonging to Wine".

Winston English
Derived from the given name Wynnstan.

Winter English, German, Swedish
From Old English winter or Old High German wintar meaning "winter". This was a nickname for a person with a cold personality.

Winthrop English
Habitational name from the place names Winthrope 1 or Winthrope 2.

Winton English
Derived from the name of several English villages. Their names derive from Old English meaning "enclosure belonging to Wine".

Woodcock English
Nickname referring to the woodcock bird.

Woodrow English
From a place name meaning "row of houses by a wood" in Old English.

Woodward English
Occupational name for a forester, meaning "ward of the wood" in Old English.

Wyatt English
From the medieval given name Wyot.

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