Kinnaird ScottishFrom the name of a place in Scotland, in Gaelic
An Ceann Ard, meaning "high headland". In the 12th century a Norman nobleman received a charter of land here from King William the Lion (King of Scots), and was thereafter known by this name.
Kinnunen FinnishPossibly derived from the Finnish dialectal word
kinni meaning
"animal skin, fur", borrowed from Swedish
skinn.
Kinsley EnglishFrom the name of a town in West Yorkshire, meaning "clearing belonging to Cyne". The Old English given name
Cyne is a short form of longer names beginning with
cyne meaning "royal".
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).
Kirby EnglishFrom numerous towns in northern England named Kirby or Kirkby, derived from Old Norse
kirkja "church" and
býr "farm, settlement".
Kirchner GermanDerived from Middle High German
kirchenaere meaning
"sexton".
Kirk EnglishFrom northern Middle English
kirk meaning
"church", from Old Norse
kirkja (cognate of
Church). A famous fictional bearer is the starship captain James Kirk from the
Star Trek television series (1966-1969), and subsequent films.
Kistler GermanOccupational name meaning
"chest maker, cabinetmaker" from Middle High German
kiste.
Kitagawa JapaneseFrom Japanese
北 (kita) meaning "north" and
川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream". A famous bearer was the artist and printmaker Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806).
Kitchen EnglishOccupational name for a person who worked in a kitchen (of a monastery for example), derived from Old English
cycene, ultimately from Latin
coquina.
Kjær DanishTopographic name for someone living near a wetland, from Danish
kær "marsh", from Old Norse
kjarr "thicket".
Kleid JewishOccupational name for a tailor, from Old High German
kleid meaning
"garment, clothing".
Klein German, Dutch, JewishMeans
"small, little" from German
klein or Yiddish
kleyn. A famous bearer of this name is clothes designer Calvin Klein (1942-).
Kloet DutchPossibly from Middle Dutch
cloet meaning
"lump, ball". In some cases this was a nickname for an oafish person. In other cases it may have been a name for someone who lived near a sign that had a globe on it.
Klossner GermanDerived from German
Klausner, Middle High German
klosenære meaning
"hermit".
Knaggs EnglishFrom Middle English
knagg meaning
"small mound, projection". It is found most commonly in the north of England, in particular Yorkshire.
Knef GermanOccupational name for a shoemaker, derived from Low German
knif meaning
"shoemaker's knife".
Kneller GermanOriginally a nickname for a noisy or disruptive person, derived from Old German
knellen "to make noise, to cause a disturbance".
Knight EnglishFrom Old English
cniht meaning
"knight", a tenant serving as a mounted soldier.
Knochenmus GermanFrom German
Knochen "bone" and
Mus "sauce". It probably referred to someone who worked in the butcher trade.
Knopf GermanMeans
"button" in German, originally belonging to a button maker or button seller.
Knowles EnglishFrom Middle English
knoll, Old English
cnoll meaning
"small hill, knoll". A famous bearer is American singer Beyoncé Knowles (1981-).
Knox ScottishFrom the name of various places in Scotland and northern England, derived from Scottish Gaelic
cnoc "round hill".
Kohl GermanDerived from Middle High German
kol "cabbage".
Kohler GermanFrom Middle High German
koler meaning
"charcoal burner" or
"charcoal seller".
Koivisto FinnishMeans
"birch forest" in Finnish, derived from
koivu "birch tree".
Koizumi JapaneseFrom Japanese
小 (ko) meaning "small" and
泉 (izumi) meaning "spring, fountain". A notable bearer of this name is Junichiro Koizumi (1942-), who was Prime Minister of Japan.
Kolbe GermanFrom Middle High German
kolbe meaning
"club".
Kopitar SloveneFrom Slovene
kopito meaning
"hoof", an occupational name for a shoer.
Koppel Estonian, DanishFrom Low German
koppel meaning
"paddock, pasture" (a word borrowed into Estonian).
Korhonen FinnishPossibly from archaic Finnish
korho meaning
"deaf, hard of hearing". This is the most common surname in Finland.
Korošec SloveneOriginally indicated a person from Koroška (Carinthia), a medieval Slovene state, now divided between Slovenia and Austria.
Korrapati TeluguFrom an area called
Korra or
Korrapalem combined with Telugu
పతి (pati) meaning "belongs to".
Košar CroatianFrom Croatian
koš meaning
"basket", originally indicating a person who made or sold baskets.
Koster DutchMeans
"churchwarden, sexton" in Dutch, an occupational name for a caretaker of a church.
Koszorús HungarianDerived from Hungarian
koszorú meaning
"garland, wreath, girdle", a name for someone who made garlands.
Kotnik SloveneFrom Slovene
kot meaning
"corner". The name referred to someone who was from a remote area.
Kozioł PolishMeans
"male goat" in Polish, probably used to denote a goatherd.
Krajnc SloveneOriginally denoted a person from Carniola (Slovene
Kranjska), a region that makes up a large part of central Slovenia.
Krämer GermanMeans
"shopkeeper, merchant" in German, derived from Old High German
kram meaning "tent, trading post".
Kranz German, JewishDerived from Old High German
kranz meaning
"wreath", an occupational name for a maker of wreaths or an ornamental Jewish name.
Kraus GermanFrom Middle High German
krus meaning
"curly", originally a nickname for a person with curly hair.
Kravitz JewishOccupational name derived from Polish
krawiec meaning
"tailor".
Krebs GermanMeans
"crab" in German, perhaps a nickname for a person with a crab-like walk.
Król PolishMeans
"king" in Polish. The name referred to one who acted like a king or was connected in some way with a king's household.
Kron German, SwedishFrom German
Krone and Swedish
krona meaning
"crown" (from Latin
corona), perhaps a nickname for one who worked in a royal household.
Krückel GermanNickname for a crippled person or someone who walked with a cane, from Middle High German
krücke meaning
"cane".
Krüger 1 GermanIn northern Germany an occupational name for a tavern keeper, derived from Middle Low German
kroch meaning
"tavern".
Krüger 2 GermanIn southern Germany an occupational name for a potter, derived from Middle High German
kruoc meaning
"jug, pot".
Kubo JapaneseFrom Japanese
久 (ku) meaning "long time ago" and
保 (ho) meaning "protect".
Küchler GermanOccupational surname for a baker who made small cakes or cookies, derived from Middle High German
kuoche "cake, pastry".
Kukk EstonianMeans
"rooster" in Estonian, ultimately of Germanic origin.
Kulmala FinnishFrom Finnish
kulma meaning
"corner" with the suffix
-la indicating a place.
Kumar Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Punjabi, Bengali, Assamese, Gujarati, Odia, Malayalam, TamilMeans
"boy, prince" in Sanskrit.
Kumięga PolishPossibly from Polish
kum "godfather, friend" or
komięga "raft, barge".
Kundakçı TurkishFrom Turkish
kundak meaning
"stock, wooden part of a rifle".
Kunkel GermanOccupational name for a maker of distaffs, from Middle High German
kunkel "distaff, spindle", of Latin origin.
Kurata JapaneseFrom Japanese
倉 (kura) or
蔵 (kura) both meaning "granary, storehouse" and
田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Kurosawa JapaneseFrom Japanese
黒 (kuro) meaning "black" and
沢 or 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh". A notable bearer was Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), a Japanese film director.
Kurucz HungarianDerived from the Hungarian word
kuruc, referring to rebels who fought against the Habsburgs in the late 17th to early 18th century.
Kurz GermanMeans
"short" in German, ultimately from Latin
curtus.
Kyle ScottishDerived from Scottish Gaelic
caol meaning
"narrows, channel, strait", originally given to a person who lived by a strait.
Labriola ItalianOriginally indicated a person from the town of Abriola in southern Italy.
Lacey EnglishDerived from
Lassy, the name of a town in Normandy. The name of the town was Gaulish in origin, perhaps deriving from a personal name that was Latinized as
Lascius.
Lachance FrenchMeans
"chance, luck" in French, a nickname for a lucky person.
Lachapelle FrenchMeans
"the chapel" in French, most likely used to denote a person who lived by a church or a chapel.
Lacroix FrenchMeans
"the cross" in French. It denoted one who lived near a cross symbol or near a crossroads.
Laganà ItalianOccupational name for a greengrocer, meaning
"vegetables" in southern Italian dialects, ultimately from Greek
λάχανον (lachanon).
Lagorio ItalianFrom 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.
Laguardia ItalianOccupational name meaning
"sentry, sentinel" in Italian, also a locative name referring to a person who lived near a watchtower. Fiorello Laguardia (1882-1947) was the first mayor of New York of Italian origin.
Laird ScottishMeans
"landowner" in Scots, derived from northern Middle English
laverd "lord", from Old English
hlafweard.
Lama ItalianDerived from the name place
Lama, common in Italy.
Lamar French, EnglishOriginally from a place name in Normandy, derived from Old French
la mare meaning "the pool".
Lamb EnglishFrom the name of the animal, perhaps a nickname for a shy person.
Lamon ItalianFrom the name of the village of Lamon near the city of Belluno in Veneto, Italy.
Lamont ScottishFrom the medieval Gaelic given name
Lagmann, derived from Old Norse
lǫgmaðr meaning
"law man".
Landau German, JewishDerived from the town of Landau in the Palatinate region of Germany, of Old High German origin meaning "land valley".
Lane 1 EnglishOriginally designated one who lived by a lane, a narrow way between fences or hedges, later used of any narrow pathway, including one between houses in a town.
Lane 2 FrenchDerived from a French word meaning
"wool", designating one who worked in the wool trade.
Lane 3 IrishFrom Irish
Ó Luain meaning
"descendant of Luan", a given name meaning "warrior".
Langbroek DutchFrom the name of a small town in the province of Utrecht, Holland, derived from
lang meaning "wide" and
broek meaning "marsh, wetland".
Langdon EnglishDerived from the name of various places, of Old English origin meaning
"long hill" (effectively
"ridge").
Langford EnglishFrom any of various places in England with this name, derived from Old English
lang "long" and
ford "ford, river crossing".
Langley 1 EnglishFrom any of the various places with this name, all derived from Old English
lang "long" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Langston EnglishFrom any of the various locations in England with this name, derived from Old English
lang "long" and
stan "stone".
Lantos HungarianMeans
"minstrel, bard, lutist" in Hungarian, from
lant meaning "lute".
Lapointe FrenchMeans
"the point (of a lance)" in French, possibly a nickname for a soldier.
Laporte FrenchMeans
"the door, the gateway" in French, from Latin
porta. This was a name for someone who lived near the town gates or who operated them.
Lara SpanishFrom the name of a village in Burgos, Spain. It might be derived from Latin
lar "household god, house, home".
Laterza ItalianFrom the name of the town of Laterza near Taranto in Apulia. It is typical of southern Italy.
Laukkanen FinnishFrom a nickname for a person who took big steps, from Finnish
laukka meaning
"canter, gallop".
Laurito ItalianFrom the name of the town of Laurito, near Salerno in the area of Naples.
Lavigne FrenchMeans
"the vineyard" in French, referring to a person who lived close to a vineyard, or was from the town of Lavigny.
Lavoie FrenchMeans
"the road, the lane" in French, a name for someone who lived close to a road.
Lawrence EnglishDerived from the given name
Laurence 1. Famous bearers include revolutionary T. E. Lawrence (1888-1935) and author D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930).
Layton EnglishDerived from the name of English towns, meaning "town with a leek garden" in Old English.
Lê VietnameseVietnamese form of
Li 2, from Sino-Vietnamese
黎 (lê). This is the third most common surname in Vietnam.
Leach EnglishOriginally indicated a person who was a physician, from the medieval practice of using leeches to bleed people of ills.