Arany HungarianMeans
"golden" in Hungarian. A famous bearer of the name was Hungarian poet János Arany (1817-1882).
Bachchan HindiFrom Hindi
बच्चा (bachchā) meaning
"child", a word of Persian origin. This surname was adopted by the Indian poet Harivansh Rai Srivastava (1907-2003).
Baum German, JewishMeans
"tree" in German. A famous bearer was the American author L. Frank Baum (1856-1919).
Blake EnglishVariant of
Black. A famous bearer was the poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827).
Brontë IrishVariant of
Brunty adopted by the Irish-born Englishman Patrick Brunty (1777-1861) as an adult. He was the father of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, each prominent authors.
Burns 1 English, ScottishDerived from Old English
burna "stream, spring". A famous bearer was the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796).
Carroll IrishFrom the given name
Cearbhall. A famous bearer was Lewis Carroll (1832-1898), whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the author of
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Clemens EnglishDerived from the given name
Clement. This was the surname of the author Samuel Clemens (1835-1910), also known as Mark Twain.
Copperfield LiteratureCreated from the English words
copper and
field by the author Charles Dickens, who used it for the title character in his novel
David Copperfield (1850).
Dahl Norwegian, Swedish, DanishFrom Old Norse
dalr meaning
"valley". A famous of this surname was author Roald Dahl (1916-1990) who is mostly remembered for children's stories such as
Matilda and
Henry Sugar.
Dickens EnglishFrom the medieval given name
Dicun, a medieval diminutive of
Dick 1. A famous bearer of this surname was the British author Charles Dickens (1812-1870).
Dickinson EnglishMeans
"son of Dicun",
Dicun being a medieval diminutive of
Dick 1. American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was a famous bearer.
Doyle IrishFrom the Irish
Ó Dubhghaill, which means
"descendant of Dubhghall". A famous bearer was Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), the author of the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories.
Dumas FrenchMeans
"from the farm", from Occitan
mas "farmhouse", from Latin
mansus "dwelling". A famous bearer was the French author Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870).
Emerson EnglishMeans
"son of Emery". The surname was borne by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), an American writer and philosopher who wrote about transcendentalism.
Frankenstein German, LiteratureFrom any of the various minor places by this name in Germany, meaning
"stone of the Franks" in German. It was used by the author Mary Shelley in her novel
Frankenstein (1818) for the character of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who creates a monster and brings it to life. The monster, nameless in the novel, is sometimes informally or erroneously called Frankenstein in modern speech.
Gatsby English (Rare), LiteratureRare variant of
Gadsby. This name was used by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald for the central character in his novel
The Great Gatsby (1925). In the book, James Gatz renames himself as Jay Gatsby at age 17 because he believes it sounds more sophisticated.
Gump German (Rare), Popular CulturePossibly from a nickname derived from Middle High German
gumpen meaning
"to hop, to jump". This surname was used by author Winston Groom for the hero of his novel
Forrest Gump (1986), better known from the 1994 movie adaptation.
Gynt LiteratureMeaning unknown. This name was used by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen for the central character in his play
Peer Gynt (1867). Ibsen based the story on an earlier Norwegian folktale
Per Gynt.
Hawthorne EnglishDenoted a person who lived near a hawthorn bush, a word derived from Old English
hagaþorn, from
haga meaning "enclosure, yard" and
þorn meaning "thorn bush". A famous bearer was the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), author of
The Scarlet Letter.
Henryson EnglishMeans
"son of Henry". A bearer of this surname was the poet Robert Henryson (1425-1500).
Hobbes EnglishDerived from the medieval given name
Hob. A famous bearer of this name was British political philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the author of
Leviathan.
Huxley EnglishFrom the name of a town in Cheshire. The final element is Old English
leah "woodland, clearing", while the first element might be
hux "insult, scorn". A famous bearer was the British author Aldous Huxley (1894-1963).
Ibsen DanishMeans
"son of Ib". A famous bearer was the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906).
Ionesco RomanianVariant of
Ionescu. French-Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco (1909-1994), born
Ionescu, is a famous bearer of this surname.
Jeffers EnglishPatronymic from the given name
Jeffrey. A famous bearer was poet Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962).
Kafka m CzechDerived from Czech
kavka meaning
"jackdaw". A notable bearer was the author Franz Kafka (1883-1924).
Karamazov LiteratureCreated 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".
Kipling EnglishFrom the name of a town in Yorkshire, of Old English origin meaning "Cyppel's people", from a given name
Cyppel of unknown meaning. A famous bearer of this name was the author Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936).
Lawrence EnglishDerived from the given name
Laurence 1. Famous bearers include revolutionary T. E. Lawrence (1888-1935) and author D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930).
Lewis 1 EnglishDerived from the given name
Lewis. The author C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) was a bearer of this surname.
Lindgren SwedishFrom Swedish
lind meaning "linden tree" and
gren (Old Norse
grein) meaning "branch". A famous bearer of this name was Swedish author Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002).
Linna FinnishMeans
"castle" in Finnish. A famous namesake is Väinö Linna (1920-1992), Finnish author of
The Unknown Soldier.
Marlow EnglishOriginally a name for a person from Marlow in Buckinghamshire, England. The place name means "remnants of a lake" from Old English
mere "lake" and
lafe "remnants, remains". A notable bearer was the English playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593).
McNeilly ScottishAnglicized form of Gaelic
Mac an Fhilidh meaning
"son of the poet".
Milton EnglishDerived from an English place name meaning "mill town" in Old English. A famous bearer was John Milton (1608-1674), the poet who wrote "Paradise Lost".
Panza Italian, LiteratureFrom a variant of the Italian word
pancia meaning
"stomach, paunch", originally a nickname for a chubby person. The Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes used it in his novel
Don Quixote (1605), where it is the surname of Don Quixote's squire Sancho Panza. Not a common Spanish surname, Cervantes may have based it directly on the Spanish word
panza (a cognate of the Italian word).
Pasternak Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, YiddishMeans
"parsnip" in various Slavic languages, ultimately from Latin
pastinaca. A famous bearer was Boris Pasternak (1890-1960), author of
Doctor Zhivago.
Poirot French, LiteratureFrom a diminutive of French
poire "pear", originally referring to a pear merchant or someone who lived near a pear tree. Starting in 1920 this name was used by the mystery writer Agatha Christie for her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Christie based the name on that of Jules Poiret, a contemporary fictional detective.
Quixote LiteratureCreated by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes for the main character in his novel
Don Quixote (1605), about a nobleman who goes mad after reading too many heroic romances and decides to become a wandering knight under the name Don Quixote. His real name in part one of the book is conjectured to be
Quixada or
Quesada, though in part two (published 10 years after part one) it is revealed as Alonso
Quixano. The Spanish suffix
-ote means "large".
Rimmer EnglishOccupational name meaning
"poet", from Middle English
rime meaning "rhyme".
Scriven EnglishOccupational name meaning
"writer, clerk, scribe" in Old French, derived from Latin
scriba.
Shakespeare EnglishFrom 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).
Sienkiewicz PolishPatronymic from the given name
Sienko, an old diminutive of
Szymon. This was the surname of the Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846-1916).
Suess GermanVariant of
Süß. A famous bearer was the American children's author Dr. Seuss (1904-1991), who was born Theodor Seuss Geisel.
Sun ChineseFrom Chinese
孙 (sūn) meaning
"grandchild, descendant". A famous bearer of the surname was Sun Tzu, the 6th-century BC author of
The Art of War.
Targaryen LiteratureCreated by author George R. R. Martin for his series
A Song of Ice and Fire, published beginning 1996, and the television adaptation
Game of Thrones (2011-2019). The Targaryens were the rulers of Westeros for almost 300 years until shortly before the beginning of the first novel. The name is presumably from the Valyrian language, though Martin provides no explanation of the meaning.
Tolkien GermanPossibly from a Low German byname
Tolk meaning
"interpreter" (of Slavic origin). A famous bearer was the English author J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973). According to him, the surname was derived from German
tollkühn meaning
"foolhardy".
Von Grimmelshausen GermanMeans
"from Grimmelshausen", a town in Germany. It is itself derived from
Grimmel, of uncertain meaning, and
hausen meaning "houses". A famous bearer was the German author Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen (1621-1676).
Vonnegut GermanPossibly from the German words
von meaning "from, of, by" and
gut meaning "good". A famous bearer was the American author Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007).