Unisex Surnames

Unisex   Masculine   Feminine
usage
gender
Yap English
From a nickname for a clever or cunning person, from Middle English yap meaning "devious, deceitful, shrewd".
Yasuda Japanese
From Japanese (yasu) meaning "peace, quiet" or (yasu) meaning "protect, maintain" and (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Yates English
From Old English geat meaning "gate", a name for a gatekeeper or someone who lived near a gate.
Ye Chinese
From Chinese () meaning "leaf".
Yeung Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of Yang.
Yi Korean
Variant of Lee 2.
Yıldız Turkish
Means "star" in Turkish.
Yılmaz Turkish
From the given name Yılmaz.
Yokota Japanese
From Japanese (yoko) meaning "beside, next to" and (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Yong English
Variant of Young.
Yonker Dutch (Anglicized)
Americanized form of Jonker.
Yonkers Dutch (Anglicized)
Americanized spelling of Jonkers.
Yoon Korean
Alternate transcription of Korean Hangul (see Yun).
York English
From 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.
Yoshida Japanese
From Japanese (yoshi) meaning "good luck" and (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Yoshinaga Japanese
From Japanese (yoshi) meaning "good luck" and (naga) meaning "perpetual, eternal".
Yoshino Japanese
From Japanese (yoshi) meaning "good luck" and (no) meaning "field, wilderness".
Yoshioka Japanese
From Japanese (yoshi) meaning "good luck" and (oka) meaning "hill, ridge".
Young English
Derived from Old English geong meaning "young". This was a descriptive name to distinguish father from son.
Younge English
Variant of Young.
Yount German (Anglicized)
Americanized form of Jundt.
Yoxall English
Originally indicated a person from the town of Yoxall in Staffordshire, itself derived from Old English geoc "oxen yoke" and halh "nook, recess".
Yu 1 Chinese
From Chinese () meaning "in, on, at". According to legend, King Wu of Zhou bestowed the realm of Yu to his second son, who subsequently adopted this as his surname.
Yu 2 Chinese
From Chinese () meaning "surplus".
Yu 3 Chinese
From Chinese () meaning "consent, approve".
Yu 4 Chinese
From Chinese () meaning "concerned, anxious" and also referring to the ancient state of Yu, which was situated in what is now Shanxi province.
Yuan Chinese
From Chinese (yuán), (yuán) or (yuán), which mean "origin, source".
Yuen Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of Ruan.
Yūki Japanese
From Japanese () meaning "tie, bind" and (ki) meaning "castle".
Yukimura Japanese
From Japanese (yuki) meaning "snow" and (mura) meaning "town, village".
Yun Korean
From Sino-Korean (yun) meaning "govern, oversee".
Yurchenko Ukrainian
From the given name Yuriy.
Yuuki Japanese
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji 結城 (see Yūki).
Zaal Dutch
Means "hall" in Dutch.
Zabala Basque
Originally denoted someone who lived in a place of this name in Biscay. It is derived from Basque zabal meaning "large, wide".
Ząbek Polish
From Polish zab "tooth" and a diminutive suffix.
Žagar Slovene
Occupational name for a woodcutter, from Slovene žaga meaning "saw".
Zając Polish
Means "hare" in Polish.
Zajec Slovene
Means "hare" in Slovene.
Zaman Arabic, Urdu
Derived from the given name Zaman.
Zambrano Spanish
Possibly a habitational name for someone from Zambrana, a town in the province of Álava in Spain.
Zamorano Spanish
Originally denoted a person from Zamora, the name of both a province in Spain and its capital city.
Zanetti Italian
Derived from a diminutive of the given name Giovanni. A famous bearer is Argentinian soccer player Javier Zanetti (1973-).
Zangari Italian
Southern Italian name, derived from Greek τσαγκάρης (tsankaris) meaning "shoemaker, cobbler".
Zapatero Spanish
Spanish cognate of Savatier.
Zappa Italian
From Italian zappa meaning "hoe, mattock", probably denoting a farmer. Two musicians of Italian origin have bore this name: Francesco Zappa (1717-1803) and Frank Zappa (1940-1993).
Zavala Spanish
Variant of Zabala.
Zawisza Polish
Derived from the Old Polish given name Zawisza.
Zeegers Dutch
Means "son of Sieger".
Zeelen Dutch
Derived from the given name Ceel.
Zegers Dutch
Means "son of Sieger".
Zelenko Ukrainian
Ukrainian cognate of Zieliński.
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 Chinese
From Chinese (zēng) referring to the former state of Zeng, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Hubei province.
Zeni Italian
Means "son of Zeno".
Zentai Hungarian
Originally indicated a person from the city of Senta in Serbia (formerly a part of Hungary and called Zenta).
Zhang Chinese
From Chinese (zhāng) meaning "stretch, extend". It may have denoted a bow maker whose job it was to stretch bow wood.
Zhao Chinese
From Chinese (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 Chinese
From Chinese (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.
Zhou Chinese
From Chinese (zhōu) referring to the Zhou dynasty, which held power from 1046 to 771 BC, continuing for a few more centuries as figureheads.
Zhu Chinese
From Chinese (zhū) meaning "vermilion red, cinnabar" and also referring to the ancient state of Zhu, which existed in what is now Shandong province. This was the surname of the emperors of the Ming dynasty.
Zhuk Belarusian
Means "beetle" in Belarusian.
Ziegler German
Means "bricklayer" or "brickmaker" in German, from Middle High German ziegel "brick, tile".
Ziemniak Polish
Means "potato" in Polish.
Ziętek Polish
Possibly from a diminutive of Polish zięć meaning "son-in-law".
Zilberschlag Jewish
Occupational name for a silversmith from Yiddish zilber "silver" and schlag "strike".
Zilberstein Jewish
Ornamental name meaning "silver stone", from Yiddish זילבער (zilber) and שטיין (shtein), both of Old High German origin.
Zima mu Czech, Slovak, Polish, Russian
From an Old Slavic word meaning "winter". This may have been a nickname for a person with a chilly personality.
Zimman Jewish
Possibly a variant of Zimmermann.
Zimmermann German, Jewish
From the German word for "carpenter", derived from Middle High German zimber "timber, wood" and mann "man".
Zingel Jewish
From Middle High German zingel "defensive wall". This name was originally applied to a person who lived near the outermost wall of a castle.
Zini Italian
Derived from names such as Lorenzino, a diminutive of Lorenzo, or Vincenzino, a diminutive of Vincenzo.
Zino Italian
Derived from the given name Zino, a short form of names ending with -zino, such as Lorenzino, a diminutive of Lorenzo, or Vincenzino, a diminutive of Vincenzo.
Ziskind Jewish
Ornamental name, or from a given name, meaning "sweet child", derived from Yiddish זיס (zis) meaning "sweet" and קינד (kind) meaning "child", both words of Old High German origin.
Žitnik Slovene
From the Slavic root žito meaning "rye, grain". This was an occupational name for a dealer in rye or a baker.
Zoltánfi Hungarian
Means "son of Zoltán".
Zorić Serbian, Croatian
Means "son of Zora".
Zsoldos Hungarian
Means "mercenary" in Hungarian.
Zubizarreta Basque
Means "old bridge", from Basque zubia "bridge" and zahar "old". A famous bearer is the Spanish soccer player Andoni Zubizarreta (1961-).
Zuiderduin Dutch
Means "southern dune" in Dutch.
Żukowski Polish
From various Polish towns named Żukowo or Żuków, which are derived from żuk meaning "beetle".
Zuñiga Basque
From the name of a Spanish town, formerly named Estuniga in Basque, possibly derived from Basque istuin "channel, strait".
Zunino Italian
Derived from the given name Giovanni.
Župan Croatian
Croatian cognate of Zupan.
Zupan Slovene
From Old Slavic županŭ meaning "head of the district, community leader", a derivative of župa meaning "district, region".
Zupančič Slovene
Patronymic form of Zupan.
Żuraw Polish
Means "crane" in Polish, a nickname for a tall person.
Zyma Ukrainian
Ukrainian form of Zima.