Browse Surnames

O'Toole Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Tuathail meaning "descendant of Túathal".

Abdulrashid Arabic
Derived from the given name Abd ar-Rashid.

Ljungman Swedish
From Swedish ljung (Old Norse lyng) meaning "heather" and man (Old Norse maðr) meaning "person, man".

Boehler German
Variant of Böhler.

Leighton English
Variant of Layton.

Akker Dutch
Dutch form of Acker.

Womack English
Of uncertain origin. One theory suggests that it indicated a dweller by a hollow oak tree, derived from Old English womb "hollow" and ac "oak".

Veenstra Dutch
Derived from Dutch veen meaning "fen, swamp, peat".

Marchand English, French
Occupational name meaning "merchant", ultimately from Latin mercari "to trade".

Hardy English, French
From Old French and Middle English hardi meaning "bold, daring, hardy", from the Germanic root *harduz.

Hutmacher German
German cognate of Hoedemaker.

Alderisi Italian
Means "son of Alderissius", a Latinized form of a Germanic name of unknown meaning.

Brivio Italian
From the name of the town of Brivio in Lombardy. Supposed it derives from a Celtic word meaning "bridge".

Georgiou Greek
Means "son of Georgios".

Garner 1 English
From Old French gernier meaning "granary", a derivative of Latin granum meaning "grain". This name could refer to a person who worked at a granary or lived near one.

Trask English
Originally indicated a person from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, derived from Old Norse þresk meaning "fen, marsh".

Alexanderson Swedish
Variant of Alexandersson.

Devin 1 Irish
Anglicized form of the Irish surnames Ó Damháin or Ó Dubháin.

Ellis English, Welsh
Derived from the given name Elijah, or sometimes Elisedd.

Monteiro Portuguese
Portuguese cognate of Montero.

Trafford English
From a place name meaning "fish-trap ford" in Old English.

Burnett English
Means "brown" in Middle English, from Old French brunet, a diminutive of brun.

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

Sigurdsson Icelandic, Swedish
Means "son of Sigurður".

Koster Dutch
Means "churchwarden, sexton" in Dutch, an occupational name for a caretaker of a church.

Kayode Yoruba
From the given name Kayode.

Cardoso Portuguese, Spanish
From a place name meaning "thorny" in Portuguese and Spanish, ultimately from Latin carduus.

Krämer German
Means "shopkeeper, merchant" in German, derived from Old High German kram meaning "tent, trading post".

Ruggiero Italian
From the given name Ruggiero.

Abramsen Norwegian
Means "son of Abraham".

Cloutier French
Derived from French clou meaning "nail", referring to someone who made or sold nails.

Freitas Portuguese
Means "broken" in Portuguese, a name for one who lived on broken, stony ground.

Van Achthoven Dutch
Variant of Achthoven.

Hayashi Japanese
From Japanese 林 (hayashi) meaning "forest".

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 (from Latin transversus), which means "to cross".

O'Beirne Irish
Variant of O'Byrne.

O'Hearn Irish
Anglicized form of Ó hEachthighearna.

Sala Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Romanian
Occupational name for a worker at a manor house, from the Romance word sala meaning "hall, large room", of Germanic origin.

Antal Hungarian
From the given name Antal.

Lovrić Croatian
Means "son of Lovro".

Fux German
Variant of Fuchs.

Mandić Serbian, Croatian
Means "son of Manda".

Forrest English
Variant of Forest.

Șerban Romanian
Means "a Serb" in Romanian.

Faerber German
Variant of Färber.

Atwater English
From Middle English meaning "dweller at the water".

Bellamy French, English
From Old French bel ami meaning "beautiful friend".

Montague English
From a Norman place name meaning "sharp mountain" in Old French.

Appleton English
From the name of several English towns, meaning "orchard" in Old English (a compound of æppel "apple" and tun "enclosure, yard").

Boon 2 English
Originally indicated a person from the town of Bohon, in Manche in France. The town's name is of unknown origin.

MacCoinnich Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic form of MacKenzie.

Chaikin Yiddish
From a diminutive of the given name Chaya.

Juriša Croatian
Derived from a diminutive form of Jure.

Daviau French
From a diminutive form of David.

Ármannsson Icelandic
Means "son of Ármann".

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

Kusumoto Japanese
From Japanese 楠 (kusu) meaning "camphor tree" and 本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin".

Laursen Danish
Means "son of Laur", a short form of Laurits.

Holloway English
From the name of various English places, derived from Old English hol "hollow, sunken, deep" and weg "path, way".

Amano Japanese
From Japanese 天 (ama) meaning "heaven" and 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness".

Silverstein Jewish
Variant of Zilberstein.

Fukuzawa Japanese
From Japanese 福 (fuku) meaning "happiness, good fortune, blessing" and 沢 or 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh".

Piontek Polish
Variant of Piątek.

Fürst German
From a nickname meaning "(sovereign) prince" in German. The word fürst itself is derived from Old High German furisto "first".

Krikorian Armenian
Alternate transcription of Armenian Գրիգորյան (see Grigoryan).

Geisler German
Variant of Geissler 1 or Geissler 2.

Pál Hungarian
Derived from the given name Pál.

Østergaard Danish
Variant of Østergård.

Farley English
From various English place names meaning "fern clearing" in Old English.

Schorel Dutch
Variant of Schoorl.

Stolarz Polish
Occupational name from Polish stolarz meaning "joiner, maker of furniture".

Simpkin English
From a diminutive of the given name Simon 1.

Albescu Romanian
Derived from Romanian alb meaning "white".

Killough Irish
Indicated a person who was from Killough (County Down, Northern Ireland) or Killough (Wicklow, Ireland). The place name Killough means "church on the lake", derived from the Irish cill "church" and loch "lake".

Aalfs Dutch
Means "son of Aalf", a short form of Adolf.

Whitehead English
Nickname for someone with white or light-coloured hair, from Old English hwit "white" and heafod "head".

Blythe English
From Old English meaning "happy, joyous, blithe".

Laird Scottish
Means "landowner" in Scots, derived from northern Middle English laverd "lord", from Old English hlafweard.

Von Grimmelshausen German
Means "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).

Spear English
From Old English spere "spear", an occupational name for a hunter or a maker of spears, or a nickname for a thin person.

Trevor Welsh
Originally from the name of various Welsh towns meaning "big village", derived from Middle Welsh tref "village" and maur "large".

Montagne French
French cognate of Montagna.

Olofsdotter Swedish
Means "daughter of Olof".

Konishi Japanese
From Japanese 小 (ko) meaning "small" and 西 (nishi) meaning "west".

Lamar French, English
Originally from a place name in Normandy, derived from Old French la mare meaning "the pool".

Vogel German, Dutch
From Old High German and Old Dutch fogal meaning "bird". It was originally an occupational name for a bird catcher, or a nickname for a person who liked to sing.

Tatum English
Variant of Tatham.

Toma Romanian
From the given name Toma 2.

Krakowski mu Polish, Jewish
Habitational name for a person from the city of Kraków in southern Poland.

Yancy Dutch (Anglicized)
Americanized form of Jansen.

Boer Dutch
Dutch cognate of Bauer.

Gensch German
From the given name Gensch, a Sorbian form of John.

Jedynak Polish
Means "only child" in Polish.

Mayer 3 English
Occupational name for a mayor, from Middle English mair, derived via Old French from Latin maior.

Vervloet Flemish
Means "from the stream" in Dutch.

Serpico Italian
From a nickname derived from Italian serpe "serpent, reptile".

Svenson Swedish
Variant of Svensson.

Pickering English
From the name of a town in Yorkshire, derived from Old English Piceringas, the name of a tribe.

Nyqvist Swedish
From Swedish ny (Old Norse nýr) meaning "new" and qvist (Old Norse kvistr) meaning "twig, branch".

Ó Cathaláin Irish
Irish Gaelic form of Callan.

Milojević Serbian
Means "son of Miloje".

Mahmoudi Persian
From the given name Mahmoud.

Jeong Korean
Korean form of Zheng, from Sino-Korean 鄭 (jeong).

Pohl 2 German
From the given name Paul.

Rinne 2 Finnish
Means "hillside" in Finnish.

Wildgrube German
From the name of a German town, derived from German wild "wild, untamed" and Grube "hollow, pit".

Abarca Spanish
From the name of a type of leather-soled shoe or sandal made on the Balearic Islands. It originally indicated a person who made or sold this item.

Mishra Hindi, Marathi
Means "mixed, mingled, honourable" in Sanskrit.

Schnell German
German cognate of Snell.

Mariani Italian
From the given name Mariano.

Addison English
Means "son of Addy 2".

Dragomir Romanian
From the given name Dragomir.

Wall English
Originally denoted a person who lived near a prominent wall, from Old English weall.

Elwyn English
Derived from the given names Ælfwine, Æðelwine or Ealdwine.

Aiolfi Italian
Means "son of Aiolfo", which is derived from the Germanic name Agilulf.

Shaw 2 Scottish
From a given name or byname that was derived from Gaelic sitheach meaning "wolf" (Old Irish sídach).

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.

Waxweiler German
Denoted a person from Waxweiler, a village in the Eifel region of Germany.

Agthoven Dutch
Variant of Achthoven.

Van Bokhoven Dutch
Means "from Bokhoven", a small town in the province of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands. It means "goat yards" in Dutch.

Schulze German
Variant of Schulz.

Troelsen Danish
Means "son of Troels".

Berry English
Derived from a place name, which was derived from Old English burh "fortification".

Maisuradze Georgian
From Georgian მაისურა (maisura) meaning "shirt", an occupational name for one who made or sold them.

Dalgaard Danish
From Old Norse dalr meaning "valley" and garðr meaning "yard, farmstead".

Hearn Irish
Anglicized form of Ó hEachthighearna.

Ó Néill Irish
Irish Gaelic form of O'Neal.

Frazier Scottish
Variant of Fraser.

Leclercq French
Variant of Leclerc.

Yamada Japanese
From Japanese 山 (yama) meaning "mountain" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".

Sarkissian Armenian
Alternate transcription of Armenian Սարգսյան (see Sargsyan).

Sharman English
Variant of Sherman 1.

Lemmi Italian
From a short form of the given name Guglielmo. It is typical of Tuscany.

Babatunde Yoruba
From the given name Babatunde.

Sugita Japanese
From Japanese 杉 (sugi) meaning "cedar" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".

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).

Roosa Dutch
From Dutch roos meaning "rose".

Kolar Croatian, Slovene
Croatian and Slovene cognate of Kolář.

Ballard English
Variant of Ball using a pejorative suffix.

Labriola Italian
Originally indicated a person from the town of Abriola in southern Italy.

Coiro Italian
From Italian cuoio meaning "leather", ultimately from Latin corium. This was an occupational surname for a leather worker or tanner.

Bognár Hungarian
Hungarian form of Wagner.

Nuremberg German
Derived from the name of a city in Bavaria, Germany.

Gott German
Derived from the Old German given name Goda 1.

Daley Irish
Variant of Daly.

Vestri Italian
From the given name Silvestro.

Agosti Italian
Means "son of Agosto", a variant of Augusto.

Fava Italian
From Italian fava referring to a type of broad bean.

Langdon English
Derived from the name of various places, of Old English origin meaning "long hill" (effectively "ridge").

Reinders Dutch, Frisian
From the given name Reindert.

Porra Catalan
Variant of Porras.

Bellerose French
Means "beautiful rose" in French.

Kröger German
Variant of Krüger 1 and Krüger 2.

Major 2 Hungarian
Hungarian form of Meyer 1.

Akabane Japanese
From Japanese 赤 (aka) meaning "red" and 羽 (hane) meaning "feather".

Moroz Ukrainian
Means "frost" in Ukrainian.

Nylund Swedish
From Swedish ny (Old Norse nýr) meaning "new" and lund (Old Norse lundr) meaning "grove".

Wirnhier German
From the given name Werner.

Kristensen Danish
Means "son of Kristen 1".

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

Wróbel Polish
Means "sparrow" in Polish.

Shiraishi Japanese
From Japanese 白 (shira) meaning "white" and 石 (ishi) meaning "stone".

Shea Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Séaghdha.

Holt English, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian
From Old English, Old Dutch and Old Norse holt meaning "forest".

Babić Serbian, Croatian
Matronymic surname derived from Serbo-Croatian baba "grandmother, old woman".

Penny English
Nickname meaning "penny, coin" from Old English penning.

Sowards English, Irish
Possibly a variant of Seward 1 or Seward 3.

Behringer German
From the given name Berengar.

Greene English
Variant of Green.

Altink Dutch
Variant of Alting.

Hopkins English
Patronymic formed from a diminutive of Hob.

Nakajima Japanese
From Japanese 中 (naka) meaning "middle" and 島 (shima) meaning "island".

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.

Younge English
Variant of Young.

Dyer English
Occupational name meaning "cloth dyer", from Old English deah "dye".

Tordai Hungarian
From Torda, the Hungarian name of the city of Turda in Romania (formerly within the Kingdom of Hungary).

Văn Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of Wen, from Sino-Vietnamese 文 (văn).

Alamilla Spanish
From Spanish alamillo meaning "poplar, aspen".

Potter English
Occupational name for a potter, one who makes earthen vessels. This surname was used by J. K. Rowling for the hero in her Harry Potter series of books, first released in 1997.

Chou Chinese
Alternate transcription of Chinese 周 (see Zhou).

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.

Aaltonen Finnish
From Finnish aalto meaning "wave".

Teahan Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Téacháin meaning "descendant of Téachán". The given name Téachán possibly means "fugitive".

Knox Scottish
From the name of various places in Scotland and northern England, derived from Scottish Gaelic cnoc "round hill".

Jafari Persian
From the given name Jafar.

Romà Catalan
Catalan form of Romano 1 or Romano 2.

Satō Japanese
From Japanese 佐 (sa) meaning "help, aid" and 藤 (tō) meaning "wisteria". The final character might indicate a connection to the Fujiwara clan. This is the most common surname in Japan.

Modugno Italian
From the town of Modugno, in Apulia in southern Italy. It is the surname of the Italian actor and singer Domenico Modugno (1928-1994).

O'Berne Irish
Variant of O'Byrne.

Aarle Dutch
Denoted a person who hailed from a place of this name in the Netherlands, or from Arlon in Belgium (which is Aarlen in Dutch).

Eklund Swedish
From Swedish ek (Old Norse eik) meaning "oak" and lund (Old Norse lundr) meaning "grove".

Kroon Dutch, Estonian
Means "crown" in Dutch and Estonian (from Latin corona).

Keyes 2 Irish
Anglicized form of Mac Aodha.

Scordato Italian
Means "forgotten, left behind" in Italian.

Droit French
Means "right, straight" in French, a nickname for an upright person.

Rodriquez Spanish
Variant of Rodríguez.

Van Aller Dutch
Means "from the Aller", a river in Germany, of uncertain meaning.

Vukoja Croatian
Derived from the given name Vuk.

Aveskamp Dutch
From a place name meaning "edge of camp" in Dutch.

Dupond French
Variant of Dupont.

Uberti Italian
Derived from the given name Uberto.

Hribar Slovene
From Slovene hrib meaning "hill".

Gerver German
Variant of Gerber.

Bernard um French, English, Dutch, German, Czech, Slovene
From the given name Bernard.

Hoekstra Frisian
From Frisian hoek meaning "corner".

Curry Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Comhraidhe or Ó Corra.

Ongaro Italian
Variant of Ungaro.

Norup Danish
Variant of Nørup.

Arterberry English
Variant of Atteberry.

Brun French, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Means "brown" in French, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. It was originally a nickname for a person who had brown hair or skin.

Hobbes English
Derived from the medieval given name Hob. A famous bearer of this name was British political philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the author of Leviathan.

Filippi Italian
Derived from the given name Filippo.

Dinu Romanian
From the given name Dinu.

Alò Italian
Variant of Aloi.

Fletcher English
Occupational name for a fletcher, someone who attached feathers to the shaft of an arrow. It is derived from Old French fleche meaning "arrow".

Outterridge English
Derived from the Old English given name Uhtric.

Guadarrama Spanish
Derived from the name of the town of Guadarrama near Madrid.

Blom Swedish
Means "bloom, flower" in Swedish.

Mwangi Kikuyu
Derived from the given name Mwangi.

Coello Galician
Galician cognate of Coelho.

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).

Adamo Italian
Italian form of Adam.

Paulson English
Means "son of Paul".

Terzić Bosnian
From Bosnian terzija meaning "tailor", ultimately of Persian origin.

Hoffman German (Anglicized)
Americanized form of Hoffmann.

Harding English
Derived from the given name Heard. A famous bearer was American president Warren G. Harding (1865-1923).

Kuijpers Dutch
Variant of Kuiper.

Gunther German
Derived from the given name Günther.

McClelland Irish, Scottish
From Gaelic Mac Giolla Fhaoláin meaning "son of the servant of Faolán".

Maina Kikuyu
Derived from the given name Maina.

Hodgson English
Means "son of Hodge", a medieval diminutive of Roger.

Daniell English
Derived from the given name Daniel.

Kövér Hungarian
Means "fat" in Hungarian.

Boon 3 Dutch
Dutch cognate of Bohn.

Baardwijk Dutch
From the name of a town in the Netherlands, possibly from Baard, a variant of Bert, and wijk meaning "neighbourhood, district".

Romijn Dutch
Derived from the given name Romein.

Marini Italian
Derived from the given name Marino.

Weiss German, Yiddish
From Middle High German wiz or Yiddish װייַס (vais) meaning "white". This was originally a nickname for a person with white hair or skin.

Gardner English
Variant of Gardener.

Vollan Norwegian
Variant of Voll 1.

Rosenberg German, Swedish, Jewish
Means "rose mountain" in German and Swedish. As a Swedish and Jewish name it is ornamental.

Parma Italian
From the city of Parma in northern Italy, the name of which is probably of Etruscan origin.

Priede Latvian
Means "pine tree" in Latvian.

Groß German
From Old High German groz meaning "tall, big".

Lie Norwegian
From Norwegian li, Old Norse hlíð meaning "hillside, slope".

Ibsen Danish
Means "son of Ib". A famous bearer was the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906).

Chung Korean
Alternate transcription of Korean Hangul 정 (see Jeong).

Gholami Persian
From the given name Gholam.

Quixote Literature
Created 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".

Riese German, Jewish
Means "giant" in German, from Old High German risi.

Prescott English
From the name of various English places meaning "priest's cottage" in Old English.

MacCormaic Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic form of McCormick.

Wright 1 English
From Old English wyrhta meaning "wright, maker", an occupational name for someone who was a craftsman. Famous bearers were Orville and Wilbur Wright, the inventors of the first successful airplane.

Tran Vietnamese
Simplified variant of Trần.

Nordskov Danish
Means "north woods" in Danish.

Severijns Dutch
Derived from the Latin given name Severinus.

Merrill 2 English
From the name of various places in England, derived from Old English myrige "pleasant" and hyll "hill".

Étienne French
From the given name Étienne.

Brunty Irish
Variant of Prunty.

Anson English
Means "son of Agnes".

Friis Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Scandinavian (mostly Danish) form of Fries.

De Witte Dutch
Means "the white" in Dutch, a nickname for a person with white or fair hair.

Offermans Dutch
From Dutch offer meaning "offering, donation", referring to a person who collected money in a church.

Bover Catalan
Catalan cognate of Bove.

Bárány Hungarian
Means "lamb" in Hungarian.

Sówka Polish
From a diminutive of Polish sowa meaning "owl".

Albrecht German
From the given name Albrecht.

MacLean Scottish
Variant of McLean.

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

Harrell English
From the given name Harold.

Gustafsson Swedish
Means "son of Gustaf". The actress Greta Garbo (1905-1990) was originally named Greta Gustafsson.

Maguire Irish
Variant of McGuire.

Sheedy Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Síoda.

Holmes English, Scottish
Variant of Holme. A famous fictional bearer was Sherlock Holmes, a detective in Arthur Conan Doyle's mystery stories beginning in 1887.

MacInnes Scottish
Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac Aonghais meaning "son of Aonghas".

Iordanou Greek
From the name of the Jordan river, which is from Hebrew יָרַד (yaraḏ) meaning "descend" or "flow down".

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

Manco Italian
Means "left-handed" in Italian, derived from Latin mancus meaning "maimed".

Tsui Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of Xu 1.

Vlahović Serbian, Croatian
Patronymic from Serbo-Croatian Vlah meaning "Romanian, Wallachian".

Scrivenor English
Variant of Scriven.

Knutson Swedish
Variant of Knutsson.

Serra Italian, Portuguese, Catalan
Italian, Portuguese and Catalan cognate of Sierra.

Sitz 2 German
Means "house owner", derived from Old High German siz "seat, domicile".

Ramaker Dutch
Variant of Rademaker.

Hendrickx Flemish
Derived from the given name Hendrik.

Alemagna Italian
From Alemannia, the Latin name for Germany.

Mushyan Armenian
Originally denoted someone who came from the Armenian town of Mushi.

Anselmo Portuguese, Italian
From the given name Anselmo.

Bodnár Hungarian
Means "cooper, barrel maker" in Hungarian.

Lémieux French
Derived from the place name Leymieux, a town in the Rhône-Alpes region of France.

Nakashima Japanese
Variant of Nakajima.

Brennan Irish
From Irish Ó Braonáin meaning "descendant of Braonán", a byname meaning "rain, moisture, drop" (with a diminutive suffix).

Vázquez Spanish
Variant of Vásquez.

Cleveland English
Derived from a place name meaning "cliff land" in Old English.

Both Dutch
From the Low German given name Bode.

Luís Portuguese
From the given name Luís.

Vaughn Welsh
Variant of Vaughan.

Queen English
From a given name that was derived from Old English cwen meaning "queen, woman". In some occurrences it may have been a nickname.

Power 2 English
From Middle English povre meaning "poor", via Old French from Latin pauper. It could have been a nickname for someone who had no money or a miser.