Appelo DutchIndicated a person who was from a farm called Aperloo, probably a derivative of
appel meaning "apple".
Appleby EnglishFrom the name of various English towns, derived from Old English
æppel "apple" and Old Norse
býr "farm, settlement".
Appleton EnglishFrom the name of several English towns, meaning "orchard" in Old English (a compound of
æppel "apple" and
tun "enclosure, yard").
Aquino Italian, SpanishFrom the name of an Italian town near Rome, derived from Latin
aqua meaning "water", the home town of the 13th-century saint Thomas Aquinas. In Italy the surname is derived directly from the town's name. As a Spanish-language surname, it was sometimes bestowed by missionaries in honour of the saint as they evangelized in Spanish colonies.
Arany HungarianMeans
"golden" in Hungarian. A famous bearer of the name was Hungarian poet János Arany (1817-1882).
Araújo PortugueseDenoted a person hailing from one of the many areas that bear this name in Portugal, which is of unknown meaning.
Araya SpanishDenoted a person from Araia in the Basque Country, Spain. It is of uncertain meaning.
Ardelean RomanianFrom the Romanian region of Ardeal, also called Transylvania. It is possibly derived from Hungarian
erdő meaning "forest".
Arechavaleta SpanishOriginally indicated a person from the town of Aretxabaleta in Spain. It means "oak trees" in Basque.
Arias SpanishPossibly derived from a medieval given name of Germanic origin.
Aritza Spanish, BasqueFrom Basque
aritz meaning
"oak tree". This was a nickname of Iñigo, the first king of Pamplona, Spain (9th century).
Armbruster GermanMeans
"crossbow maker" from German
armbrust "crossbow". The word
armbrust was originally from Latin
arcuballista meaning "bow ballista", but was modified under the influence of German
arm "arm" and
brust "breast".
Armstrong EnglishMeans
"strong arm" from Middle English. Tradition holds that the family is descended from Siward, an 11th-century Earl of Northumbria. Famous bearers of this name include the Americans Louis Armstrong (1901-1971), a jazz musician, and Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), an astronaut who was the first person to walk on the moon.
Arnoni ItalianMeans
"son of Arnone" from the medieval name
Arnone, of uncertain origin.
Arrington EnglishFrom the name of a town in Cambridgeshire, originally meaning "Earna's settlement" in Old English (
Earna being a person's nickname meaning "eagle").
Arriola Spanish, BasqueFrom Basque place names, themselves derived from Basque
arri "stone" and
-ola "place of, house".
Ashley EnglishDenoted a person hailing from one of the many places in England that bear this name. The place name itself is derived from Old English
æsc "ash tree" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Ashton EnglishDenoted a person from one of the towns in England that bear this name, itself derived from Old English
æsc "ash tree" and
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
Asís SpanishOriginally denoted a person from the Italian city of Assisi (called
Asís in Spanish).
Asselman DutchDenoted a person from Assel, Asselt or Hasselt, the name of communities in the Netherlands and Belgium. They derive from Old Dutch
ask "ash tree" and
loh "woods on sandy soil", or
hasal "hazel tree".
Assendorp DutchFrom the name of a place called Assendorp, composed of Dutch
essen and
dorp, meaning "ash tree village".
Asturias SpanishFrom the name of a region in Spain, formerly a medieval kingdom. It is possibly derived from Basque
asta "rock" and
ur "water".
Ateljević SerbianProbably from
Hatelji, the name of a town in Serbia, which is of unknown meaning.
Attar PersianFrom Persian
عطر (ʿaṭr) meaning
"fragrance, perfume", ultimately from Arabic. It probably denoted a seller of perfume.
Avellino ItalianFrom the name of a town in Campania, Italy, called
Abellinum in Latin, of unknown meaning.
Averesch DutchFrom a place name, possibly from a dialectal variation of Dutch
over meaning "over" combined with
esch meaning "ash tree".
Ávila SpanishFrom the name of the city of Ávila in Spain. It is of uncertain meaning, possibly of Punic or Celtic origin.
Ayala SpanishFrom the name of the town of Ayala (called
Aiara in Basque) in Álava, Spain. It might be derived from Basque
aiher "slope" or
alha "pasture".
Ayers 3 EnglishIndicated a person from the town of Ayr in Scotland. The town was named for the river that flows through it, itself derived from an Indo-European root meaning "water".
Ayton EnglishFrom the name of towns in Berwickshire and North Yorkshire. They are derived from Old English
ea "river" or
ieg "island" combined with
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
Azzarà ItalianSicilian name, derived from Greek dialects of southern Italy. It is from Greek
ψαράς (psaras) meaning
"fisherman".
Baak DutchFrom a Frisian given name, a short form of Germanic names starting with the element
batu "fight, struggle".
Baarda FrisianFrom the name of the town of
Baard in the Netherlands, possibly derived from a given name that was a variant of
Bert.
Baardwijk DutchFrom the name of a town in the Netherlands, possibly from
Baard, a variant of
Bert, and
wijk meaning "neighbourhood, district".
Baars DutchIndicated a person coming from the town of Beers in the Netherlands.
Baarsma FrisianIndicated a person coming from the small town of Beers in Frisia.
Bach 1 GermanTopographic name for someone who lived by a stream, from Middle High German
bach meaning
"stream". This name was borne by members of the Bach musical family, notably the composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).
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).
Baggins LiteratureCreated by J. R. R. Tolkien for the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the hero of
The Hobbit (1937), and also for his cousin Frodo Baggins, the hero of
The Lord of the Rings (1954). He probably derived it from the English word
bag. The Baggins family home was called Bag End, and Tolkien himself had an aunt who owned a farm by this name, so that may have been his inspiration. Tolkien used English-like translations of many hobbit names; according to his notes the real hobbit-language form of the surname was
Labingi.
Baggio ItalianOriginally denoted a person from the Italian town of Baggio (now part of Milan). It is probably derived from Latin
Badalocum meaning "watch place".
Bakema FrisianMeans
"son of Bake", a short form of names starting with the Old German element
batu "fight, struggle".
Baldinotti ItalianDerived from the given name
Baldinotto, from the Latin name
Baldinoctus, a diminutive of
Baldo.
Bancroft EnglishFrom any of the various places of this name, derived from Old English
bean meaning "bean" and
croft meaning "small enclosed field".
Bandini ItalianFrom the Latin name
Bandinus, a derivative of
Bandus, which is of unknown meaning.
Bandyopadhyay BengaliFrom the name of the village of
Bandoghat combined with
upadhaya "instructor, priest".
Banks EnglishOriginally indicated someone who lived near a hillside or a bank of land.
Banner EnglishOccupational name for a flag carrier, derived from Old French
baniere meaning
"banner", ultimately of Germanic origin.
Bannister EnglishFrom Norman French
banastre meaning
"basket". This was originally a name for a maker of baskets.
Bardolph LiteratureThe name of a drunken thief and frequent companion of John
Falstaff in four of William Shakespeare's plays. Shakespeare probably adapted it from the aristocratic English surname
Bardolf, now rare, which was itself derived from the Germanic given name
Bardulf.
Barlow EnglishDerived from a number of English place names that variously mean "barley hill", "barn hill", "boar clearing" or "barley clearing".
Baron English, FrenchFrom the title of nobility, derived from Latin
baro (genitive
baronis) meaning "man, freeman", possibly from Frankish
barō meaning "servant, man, warrior". It was used as a nickname for someone who worked for a baron or acted like a baron.
Barsotti ItalianProbably from the medieval Latin word
baro meaning
"man, freeman" (of Frankish origin).
Barwegen FrisianDerived from the name of a village in Frisia meaning "road to the dike".
Bašić Croatian, SerbianMeans
"son of the chief", derived from Serbo-Croatian
baša meaning "chief, boss" (of Turkish origin).
Basurto SpanishFrom the Basque place name
Basurtu, a village (now part of Bilbao) in Biscay. It means "middle of the forest".
Báthory HungarianOriginally indicated a person from Bátor, a village in Hungary, which might be of Turkic origin meaning "hero". This was the surname of a Hungarian noble family who historically controlled the town. One of the family members, Stephen Báthory, became the king of Poland in the 16th century.
Battle EnglishFrom a nickname for a combative person. In some cases it may come from the name of English places called
Battle, so named because they were sites of battles.
Beasley EnglishFrom the name of a place in Lancashire, from Old English
beos "bent grass" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Beethoven Dutch (Archaic)From a place name derived from Dutch
beet "beet, beetroot" and
hoven "farms". This name was borne by the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), whose family was of Flemish origin. The surname is now mostly extinct.
Begbie ScottishFrom the name of a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is derived from the Old Norse given name
Baggi and
býr "farm, settlement".
Begum Indian (Muslim), Bengali (Muslim), Urdu, PunjabiFrom a title traditionally used as an honorific for Muslim women in India and other parts of southern Asia. It is derived from a feminine form of the Turkic title
beg meaning "chieftain" (modern Turkish
bey).
Belcher EnglishFrom a Middle English version of Old French
bel chiere meaning
"beautiful face". It later came to refer to a person who had a cheerful and pleasant temperament.
Bellandi ItalianMeans
"son of Bellando", from a medieval given name derived from Latin
bellandus meaning "which is to be fought".
Bellincioni ItalianMeans
"son of Bellincione", from a medieval name (borne for example by Dante's grandfather) that was probably a derivative of Italian
bello "beautiful, fair".
Beltz GermanOccupational name for a tanner of hides, derived from Middle High German
belz meaning
"fur".
Benenati ItalianMeans
"son of Benenato", a given name derived from Latin
bene "good, well" and
natus "good".
Best 1 EnglishDerived from Middle English
beste meaning
"beast", an occupational name for a keeper of animals or a nickname for someone who acted like a beast. A famous bearer of this surname was soccer legend George Best (1946-2005).
Best 2 GermanDerived from the name of the river Beste, meaning unknown.
Bezuidenhout DutchFrom Dutch
zuid "south" and
hout "forest". It refers to the south of the forest in The Hague.
Bhattacharya BengaliFrom a Bengali title composed of the Sanskrit words
भट्ट (bhaṭṭa) meaning "scholar, lord" and
आचार्य (ācārya) meaning "teacher".
Blackburn EnglishFrom the name of a city in Lancashire, meaning "black stream" in Old English.
Blair ScottishFrom any one of several places of this name in Scotland, which derive from Gaelic
blàr meaning "plain, field, battlefield".
Blake EnglishVariant of
Black. A famous bearer was the poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827).
Blakeley EnglishFrom name of various English places, derived from Old English
blæc "black" and
leah "woodland, clearing".