Van Donk DutchMeans
"from the hill", derived from Dutch
donk meaning "(sandy) hill".
Carver EnglishOccupational surname for a carver, from Middle English
kerve "cut".
Hawthorne EnglishDenoted a person who lived near a hawthorn bush, a word derived from Old English
hagaþorn, from
haga meaning "enclosure, yard" and
þorn meaning "thorn bush". A famous bearer was the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), author of
The Scarlet Letter.
Durand French, EnglishFrom Old French
durant meaning
"enduring", ultimately from Latin
durans. This was a nickname for a stubborn person.
Apted EnglishProbably from an unidentified place name meaning "up tower" in Old English.
Laukkanen FinnishFrom a nickname for a person who took big steps, from Finnish
laukka meaning
"canter, gallop".
Kersey EnglishFrom an English place name meaning derived from Old English
cærse "watercress" and
ieg "island".
Payne EnglishFrom a medieval given name or nickname derived from Latin
paganus meaning
"heathen, pagan" (from an earlier sense "rural, rustic"), which was given to children whose baptism had been postponed or adults who were not overly religious.
Blakesley EnglishFrom the name of a town in Northamptonshire, itself meaning "Blæcwulf's meadow" in Old English.
Blæcwulf is a byname meaning "black wolf".
Auer GermanFrom German
Aue, Old High German
ouwa, meaning
"meadow by a river, wetland".
Quintana Spanish, CatalanOriginally indicated someone who lived on a piece of land where the rent was a fifth of its produce, from Spanish and Catalan
quintana "fifth", from Latin
quintus.
Carideo ItalianOriginally denoted someone from San Pietro di Caridà, a town in Calabria. The town's name may be derived from Greek
χάρις (charis) meaning "grace, kindness".
Zamorano SpanishOriginally denoted a person from Zamora, the name of both a province in Spain and its capital city.
Crowley 1 IrishFrom the Irish name
Ó Cruadhlaoich meaning
"descendant of Cruadhlaoch", a given name meaning "hardy hero".
Trudeau French (Quebec)From a diminutive of the given name
Thouroude, a medieval French form of the Norse name
Torvald. This name has been borne by two Canadian prime ministers, Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1919-2000) and his son Justin Trudeau (1971-).
Heath EnglishOriginally belonged to a person who was a dweller on the heath or open land.
Basurto SpanishFrom the Basque place name
Basurtu, a village (now part of Bilbao) in Biscay. It means "middle of the forest".
Rossini ItalianDiminutive form of
Rossi. A famous bearer was the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868).
Skovgaard DanishFrom a place name, derived from Danish
skov "forest, wood" and
gård "farm, yard".
Guinness IrishVariant of
McGuinness. The name is well known because of the Guinness brand of ale, established in 1759 by Arthur Guinness.
Wells EnglishDerived from Middle English
wille meaning
"well, spring, water hole".
Iordanou GreekFrom the name of the Jordan river, which is from Hebrew
יָרַד (yaraḏ) meaning "descend" or "flow down".
Douglas ScottishFrom the name of a town in Lanarkshire, itself named after a tributary of the River Clyde called the Douglas Water, derived from Gaelic
dubh "dark" and
glais "water, river" (an archaic word related to
glas "grey, green"). This was a Scottish Lowland clan, the leaders of which were powerful earls in the medieval period.
Van Dalen DutchMeans
"from the valley", from Old Dutch
dal meaning "valley".
Brady IrishAnglicized form of the Irish name
Ó Brádaigh meaning
"descendant of Brádach". A famous bearer is the American football quarterback Tom Brady (1977-).
Southgate EnglishName for a person who lived near the southern gate of a town or in a town named Southgate, from Old English
suþ and
gæt.
Serpico ItalianFrom a nickname derived from Italian
serpe "serpent, reptile".
Longstaff EnglishOccupational name for an official who was equipped with a ceremonial staff, or a nickname for a tall person.
Vale PortugueseMeans
"valley" in Portuguese, ultimately from Latin
vallis.
Laird ScottishMeans
"landowner" in Scots, derived from northern Middle English
laverd "lord", from Old English
hlafweard.
Van Buren DutchMeans
"from Buren", a small town on the island of Ameland in the north of the Netherlands, as well as a small city in the Dutch province Gelderland. The place names derive from Old Dutch
bur meaning "house, dwelling". In the 16th century the countess Anna van Buren married William of Orange, the founder of the Dutch royal family. A famous bearer of this surname was Martin van Buren (1782-1862), the eighth President of the United States.
Karamazov LiteratureCreated by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky for his novel
The Brothers Karamazov (1879), about three brothers and their murdered father. Dostoyevsky may have based it on Tartar/Turkic
кара (kara) meaning "black" and Russian
мазать (mazat) meaning "stain". The connection to black is implied in the novel when one of the brothers is accidentally addressed as Mr.
Черномазов (Chernomazov), as if based on Russian
чёрный meaning "black".
Trask EnglishOriginally indicated a person from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, derived from Old Norse
þresk meaning "fen, marsh".
Achthoven DutchDenoted a person from various towns in the Netherlands called Achthoven, which is derived from Dutch
acht "eight" and
hoven "farmsteads".
Borgia ItalianItalian form of
Borja. This was the name of an Italian noble family who were influential during the Renaissance period.
Freeman EnglishReferred to a person who was born free, or in other words was not a serf.
Kerr Scottish, EnglishFrom Scots and northern Middle English
kerr meaning
"thicket, marsh", ultimately from Old Norse
kjarr.
Bentley EnglishFrom a place name derived from Old English
beonet "bent grass" and
leah "woodland, clearing". Various towns in England bear this name.
McGill Irish, ScottishAnglicized form of Gaelic
Mac an Ghoill meaning
"son of the foreigner", derived from
gall "foreigner".
Norris 2 EnglishMeans
"wet nurse, foster mother" from Old French
norrice, from Latin
nutricius.
Richter GermanMeans
"judge" in German, from Middle High German
rihtære.
Pickering EnglishFrom the name of a town in Yorkshire, derived from Old English
Piceringas, the name of a tribe.
MacBeth ScottishDerived from the Gaelic given name
Mac Beatha meaning "son of life", which denoted a man of religious devotion. This was the name of an 11th-century Scottish king, and the name of a play based on his life by William Shakespeare.
Raines EnglishOriginally denoted a person from Rayne, Essex, England (possibly from an Old English word meaning "shelter") or from Rennes, Brittany, France (from the name of the Gaulish tribe of the Redones).
Boyd ScottishFrom the name of the Scottish island of Bute (
Bód in Gaelic), which is of unknown meaning.
Tehrani PersianIndicated a person from the Iranian city of Tehran, of unknown meaning.
London EnglishFrom the name of the capital city of the United Kingdom, the meaning of which is uncertain.
Schröder 1 Low GermanOccupational name for a tailor, from Middle Low German
schroden meaning "to cut".
Olasz HungarianMeans
"Italian" in Hungarian, from Old Slavic
volxŭ "Romance-speaker" (of Germanic origin).
McCabe Irish, ScottishMeans
"son of Cába", where
Cába is a byname meaning "cape, cloak" (from Latin
cappa).
Noel French, EnglishEither from the given name
Noël, or else derived directly from Old French
noel "Christmas" and given to a person who had a particular connection with the holiday.
Farnham EnglishIndicated a person from any of the various towns named Farnham in England, notably in Surrey. Their names are from Old English
fearn "fern" and
ham "home, settlement" or
ham "water meadow, enclosure".
Bonheur FrenchFrom Old French
bonne heure meaning
"good time" or
"lucky".
Ortega SpanishFrom a Spanish place name (belonging to various villages) derived from
ortiga "nettle".
Savolainen FinnishOriginally indicated a person from Savonia, a historical province in eastern Finland.
Ola BasqueFrom Basque
ola meaning
"hut, small house, forge".
Grover EnglishFrom Old English
graf meaning
"grove of trees". A famous bearer was the American president Grover Cleveland (1837-1908).
Périgord FrenchFrom the name of a region in southern France, possibly of Gaulish origin.
Wen ChineseFrom Chinese
文 (wén) meaning
"literature, culture, writing".
Denman EnglishFrom Middle English
dene "valley" combined with
man.
Gama PortugueseProbably from a place name derived from Portuguese
gama meaning
"fallow deer doe", from Latin
gammus.
Zuñiga BasqueFrom the name of a Spanish town, formerly named Estuniga in Basque, possibly derived from Basque
istuin "channel, strait".
Palmer EnglishMeans
"pilgrim", ultimately from Latin
palma "palm tree", since pilgrims to the Holy Land often brought back palm fronds as proof of their journey.
Sorrentino ItalianDerived from the town of Sorrento near Naples, called
Surrentum in Latin, of unknown meaning.
Marsden EnglishFrom a place name derived from Old English
mearc "boundary" and
denu "valley".
Jonker DutchFrom the Dutch title
jonkheer meaning
"young lord". It was originally a medieval noble designation (not an actual title) for a young nobleman.
Farro ItalianDerived from the name of a place on Sicily, Italy, derived from Latin
far meaning "wheat, spelt".
Greenspan JewishAnglicized form of German
Grünspan meaning
"verdigris". Verdigris is the green-blue substance that forms on copper.
Kaiser GermanFrom Middle High German
keiser meaning
"emperor", originally a nickname applied to someone who acted kingly. The title ultimately derives from the Roman name
Caesar.
Garofalo ItalianFrom a nickname, from a southern variant of the Italian word
garofano meaning
"carnation".
Juhász HungarianOccupational name meaning
"shepherd" in Hungarian, from
juh "sheep".
Cao ChineseFrom Chinese
曹 (cáo) referring to the ancient state of Cao, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Shandong province.
Sárközi HungarianOriginally indicated someone from
Sárköz, a region in Hungary, derived from
sár "mud" and
köz "margin, lane".
Apeldoorn DutchFrom the name of a city in the Netherlands, meaning "apple tree" in Dutch.
Fekete HungarianMeans
"black" in Hungarian, originally a nickname for a person with dark hair or a dark complexion.
Penzig YiddishDenoted a person who came from Penzig, the German name for Pieńsk, a town in southwest Poland. It is derived from Polish
pień meaning "stump, tree trunk".
Sauer GermanMeans
"sour" in German, a nickname for an embittered or cantankerous person.
Keith ScottishFrom a place name that is probably derived from the Brythonic element
cet meaning
"wood". This was the surname of a long line of Scottish nobles.
Lapointe FrenchMeans
"the point (of a lance)" in French, possibly a nickname for a soldier.
Peacock EnglishFrom Middle English
pecok meaning
"peacock". It was originally a nickname for a proud or haughty person.
Wiater PolishDerived from Polish
wiatr "wind", a nickname for a quick person.
Drummond ScottishFrom various Scottish place names that are derived from Gaelic
drumainn, a derivative of
druim meaning
"ridge".
Büki HungarianDerived from the name of the Bükk Mountains, which means "beech tree" in Hungarian (probably of Slavic origin).
Agua SpanishMeans
"water" in Spanish, indicating a person who lived near water or worked with water.
Ionesco RomanianVariant of
Ionescu. French-Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco (1909-1994), born
Ionescu, is a famous bearer of this surname.
Pesce ItalianMeans
"fish" in Italian, referring either to a fisherman or to a person who resembled a fish in some way.
Nespoli ItalianFrom the name of towns such as Nespoli and Nespoledo, derived from Italian
nespola meaning "medlar (tree)".
Shirazi PersianOriginally denoted someone who came from the city of Shiraz, located in southern Iran. The city's name is possibly of Elamite origin.
Holden EnglishFrom various English place names, derived from Old English
hol "hollow, sunken, deep" and
denu "valley".
Charron FrenchMeans
"cart" in Old French, used to denote a carter or a cartwright.
Proulx FrenchDerived from Old French
preu meaning
"valiant, brave".
Como 2 ItalianFrom the name of the city of Como in Lombardy, the rival city of Milan during the Middle Ages. Its name may come from a Celtic root meaning "valley".
Müller GermanGerman equivalent of
Miller, derived from Middle High German
mülnære or
müller.
Zingel JewishFrom Middle High German
zingel "defensive wall". This name was originally applied to a person who lived near the outermost wall of a castle.
Peel EnglishNickname for a thin person, derived from Old French
pel, Latin
palus meaning
"stake, post" (related to English
pole).
Wildgrube GermanFrom the name of a German town, derived from German
wild "wild, untamed" and
Grube "hollow, pit".
Lister ScottishAnglicized form of the Gaelic
Mac an Fleisdeir meaning
"son of the arrow maker".