Rojo SpanishMeans
"red" in Spanish, referring to the colour of the hair or complexion.
Brand 2 German, DutchFrom Old High German
brant or Old Dutch
brand meaning
"fire", originally a name for a person who lived near an area that had been cleared by fire.
Mutton EnglishReferred to a shepherd or else someone who in some way resembled a sheep, derived from Norman French
mouton "sheep".
Kirby EnglishFrom numerous towns in northern England named Kirby or Kirkby, derived from Old Norse
kirkja "church" and
býr "farm, settlement".
Boerefijn DutchPossibly an adaptation of French
beurre fin meaning
"good butter".
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.
Çelik TurkishOccupational name for a metalworker, meaning
"steel" in Turkish.
Tanzer GermanMeans
"dancer" in German, derived from Middle High German
tanzen "to dance".
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).
Koppel Estonian, DanishFrom Low German
koppel meaning
"paddock, pasture" (a word borrowed into Estonian).
Bonheur FrenchFrom Old French
bonne heure meaning
"good time" or
"lucky".
Vinci 2 ItalianOriginally indicated a person from Vinci near Florence, the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci.
West English, GermanDenoted a person who lived to the west of something, or who came from the west.
Wild English, GermanMeans
"wild, untamed, uncontrolled", derived from Old English
wilde. This was either a nickname for a person who behaved in a wild manner or a topographic name for someone who lived on overgrown land.
Owston EnglishDenoted a person who came from any one of the places in Britain called Ouston or Owston.
Giffard French, EnglishPossibly from Old French
gifart meaning
"chubby" or possibly from the Germanic name
Gebhard. Walter Giffard was one of the Norman companions of William the Conqueror.
Matsumoto JapaneseFrom one of the many places with this name in Japan, derived from Japanese
松 (matsu) meaning "pine tree, fir tree" and
本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin".
Bandini ItalianFrom the Latin name
Bandinus, a derivative of
Bandus, which is of unknown meaning.
Stieber GermanDerived from Middle High German
stiuben meaning
"to run away". It may have been given as a nickname to a cowardly person or a thief.
Engman SwedishFrom Swedish
äng (Old Norse
eng) meaning "meadow" and
man (Old Norse
maðr) meaning "person, man", originally a name for a person who lived in a meadow.
Budai HungarianOriginally indicated a person from the Hungarian city of
Buda (one of the two cities that were joined to make Budapest in 1873).
Deighton EnglishFrom English towns by this name, from Old English
dic "ditch" and
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
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).
Averesch DutchFrom a place name, possibly from a dialectal variation of Dutch
over meaning "over" combined with
esch meaning "ash tree".
Teahan IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Ó Téacháin meaning
"descendant of Téachán". The given name
Téachán possibly means "fugitive".
Haywood EnglishFrom various place names meaning "fenced wood" in Old English.
Bristol EnglishFrom the name of a city in England meaning "the site of the bridge".
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.
Fletcher EnglishOccupational name for a fletcher, someone who attached feathers to the shaft of an arrow. It is derived from Old French
fleche meaning "arrow".
Padilla SpanishFrom various Spanish place names, derived from Spanish
padilla, Latin
patella meaning "shallow dish", used to indicate a depression in the landscape.
Zhou ChineseFrom Chinese
周 (zhōu) referring to the Zhou dynasty, which held power from 1046 to 771 BC, continuing for a few more centuries as figureheads.
Bologna ItalianFrom the name of the city of Bologna in northern Italy. It may derive from a Celtic word meaning "settlement".
Müller GermanGerman equivalent of
Miller, derived from Middle High German
mülnære or
müller.
Ravenna ItalianFrom the name of the city of Ravenna in northern Italy, which is of uncertain origin, possibly Etruscan.
Acciai ItalianDerived from medieval Italian
accia meaning
"axe", ultimately from Latin
ascia.
Headley EnglishFrom place names meaning "heather clearing" in Old English.
Penders DutchFrom Middle Dutch
paender meaning
"brewer", derived from
panne meaning "pan, pot", ultimately from Latin
patina.
Winton EnglishDerived from the name of several English villages. Their names derive from Old English meaning "enclosure belonging to
Wine".
Breda ItalianFrom the name of a town near Venice, possibly derived from a Lombardic word meaning "field".
Nurmi FinnishMeans
"meadow, field" in Finnish. It was the surname of the athlete Paavo Nurmi (1897-1973).
Aaij DutchDerived from the given name
Aaij, a short form of
Adriaan and other names.
Liu ChineseFrom Chinese
刘 (liú) meaning
"kill, destroy". This was the surname of Chinese emperors of the Han dynasty.
Camus FrenchMeans
"flat-nosed" in French. A notable bearer was the French philosopher Albert Camus (1913-1960).
McGuire IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Mag Uidhir meaning
"son of Odhar", a given name meaning "pale-coloured".
Fabbri ItalianFrom Italian
fabbro meaning
"blacksmith", ultimately from Latin
faber.
Caulfield EnglishFrom a place name meaning
"cold field", from Old English
ceald "cold" and
feld "pasture, field".
Montero SpanishMeans
"hunter" in Spanish, an agent derivative of
monte meaning "mountain, wilderness".
Fitzroy EnglishMeans
"son of the king" in Anglo-Norman French, from French
roi meaning "king". This name has been bestowed upon illegitimate children of kings.
Hallman SwedishFrom Swedish
hall (Old Norse
hallr) meaning "rock, boulder, slab" and
man (Old Norse
maðr) meaning "person, man".
Dalí SpanishFrom a given name, itself a diminutive of names beginning with the Old German element
adal meaning "noble". This was the surname of the Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí (1904-1989).
Borja SpanishOriginally indicated a person from the Spanish town of Borja in Aragon, derived from Arabic
برْج (burj) meaning "tower".
Ware 1 EnglishFrom Old English
wer meaning
"dam, weir", indicating someone who lived near such a structure.
Shaw 2 ScottishFrom a given name or byname that was derived from Gaelic
sitheach meaning
"wolf" (Old Irish
sídach).
Périgord FrenchFrom the name of a region in southern France, possibly of Gaulish origin.
Skjeggestad NorwegianFrom a place name, derived from Norwegian
skjegg "beard" and
stad "town, place".
Björkman SwedishFrom Swedish
björk (Old Norse
bjǫrk) meaning "birch tree" and
man (Old Norse
maðr) meaning "person, man".
Verhoeven DutchMeans
"from the farm" in Dutch, derived from
hoeve "farm", and so indicated a person who lived on a farm.
León 1 SpanishReferred to a person from the city of León in northern Spain, derived from Latin
legio (genitive
legionis) meaning
"legion", so named because the Roman 7th Legion Gemina was stationed there.
Kunkel GermanOccupational name for a maker of distaffs, from Middle High German
kunkel "distaff, spindle", of Latin origin.
Brook EnglishDenoted a person who lived near a brook, a word derived from Old English
broc.
Dubois FrenchMeans
"from the forest", from French
bois "forest".
Laganà ItalianOccupational name for a greengrocer, meaning
"vegetables" in southern Italian dialects, ultimately from Greek
λάχανον (lachanon).
Stilo ItalianDerived from the name of the town of Stilo in southern Italy. It is possibly derived from Greek
στῦλος (stylos) meaning "column, pillar".
Kurata JapaneseFrom Japanese
倉 (kura) or
蔵 (kura) both meaning "granary, storehouse" and
田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Alserda FrisianDesignated a person who was from a farm called Alserd, of uncertain meaning.
Demir TurkishMeans
"iron" in Turkish, originally referring to an ironworker.
Gajos PolishDerived from Polish
gaj meaning
"grove, thicket".
Charbonneau FrenchDerived from a diminutive form of French
charbon "charcoal", a nickname for a person with black hair or a dark complexion.
Dibra AlbanianFrom the Albanian name for the city of Debar in Macedonia, originally given to someone who came from there.
Blakeley EnglishFrom name of various English places, derived from Old English
blæc "black" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Horsfall EnglishFrom a minor place in Yorkshire derived from Old English
hors "horse" and
fall "clearing".
Tafani ItalianFrom the nickname
tafano meaning
"gadfly", indicating an annoying person.
Gordon ScottishFrom the name of a place in Berwickshire, Scotland, derived from Brythonic words meaning
"spacious fort".
Sepúlveda SpanishDerived from the name of the Sepúlveda Valley in the mountains of Segovia, and was originally used to denote people from that region. It is possibly derived from Spanish
sepultar "to bury".
Coppola ItalianFrom the name of a type of hat characteristic of Sicily and southern Italy. This surname indicated a person who wore or made these hats. A famous bearer is the filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (1939-), as well as other members of his extended family also in show business.
Putnam EnglishFrom
Puttenham, the name of towns in Hertfordshire and Surrey in England, which mean "Putta's homestead".
Ávila SpanishFrom the name of the city of Ávila in Spain. It is of uncertain meaning, possibly of Punic or Celtic origin.
Hendrix DutchDerived from the given name
Hendrik. A famous bearer was the American rock musician Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970).
Fenn EnglishFrom a name for someone who dwelt near a marsh, from Old English
fenn meaning
"fen, swamp, bog".
Stark English, GermanFrom a nickname meaning
"strong, rigid", from Old English
stearc or Old High German
stark.
Peltola FinnishFrom Finnish
pelto meaning
"field" with the suffix
-la indicating a place.
Acker German, EnglishDenoted a person who lived near a field, derived from Middle English
aker or Middle High German
acker meaning "field".
Frost English, GermanFrom Old English and Old High German meaning
"frost", a nickname for a person who had a cold personality or a white beard.
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.
Sergeant English, FrenchOccupational name derived from Old French
sergent meaning
"servant", ultimately from Latin
servio "to serve".
Pusztai HungarianFrom Hungarian
puszta meaning
"plain, steppe". The name was given to someone living on a plain.
Acquafredda ItalianDenoted a person who came from one of the various places in Italy with this name, derived from Italian meaning "cold water".
Pontecorvo Italian, JewishFrom the name of a town in central Italy, home to an old Jewish community. The town's name is derived from Italian
ponte "bridge" and
curvo "curved".
Araújo PortugueseDenoted a person hailing from one of the many areas that bear this name in Portugal, which is of unknown meaning.
Sauter GermanOccupational name for a cobbler, from Latin
sutor "sewer, cobbler".
Slade EnglishDerived from Old English
slæd meaning
"valley".
Caldwell EnglishFrom various English place names derived from Old English
ceald "cold" and
wille "spring, stream, well".
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").