Ventimiglia ItalianFrom the name of the historical Italian city Ventimiglia, now near the French border, ultimately from Latin
Albintimilium.
Sandoval SpanishDerived from the name of a town in Spain, ultimately from Latin
saltus "forest, glade" and
novalis "unploughed land".
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.
Hamilton English, ScottishFrom an English place name, derived from Old English
hamel "crooked, mutilated" and
dun "hill". This was the name of a town in Leicestershire, England (which no longer exists).
Carman 1 EnglishOccupational name for a carter, from Middle English
carre "cart" (of Latin origin) and
man "man".
Sweet EnglishFrom a nickname meaning
"sweet, pleasant", from Old English
swete.
Lamb EnglishFrom the name of the animal, perhaps a nickname for a shy person.
Mallory EnglishFrom Old French
maleüré meaning
"unfortunate", a term introduced to England by the Normans.
Bonfils FrenchDerived from Old French
bon fils meaning
"good son".
Koster DutchMeans
"churchwarden, sexton" in Dutch, an occupational name for a caretaker of a church.
Ramos Spanish, PortugueseOriginally indicated a person who lived in a thickly wooded area, from Latin
ramus meaning
"branch".
Vámos HungarianMeans
"customs officer" in Hungarian, a derivative of
vám "customs".
Mortimer EnglishFrom the name of a town in Normandy meaning
"dead water, still water" in Old French.
Lecce ItalianOriginally indicated a person from Lecce, southern Italy. The town was known as
Licea or
Litium in Latin, earlier
Lupiae.
Seabrook EnglishDenoted a person from a town by this name in Buckinghamshire, England. It is derived from that of a river combined with Old English
broc "stream".
Stetson EnglishPossibly from the name of the village of Stidston in Devon, meaning
"Stithweard's town".
Hino JapaneseFrom Japanese
日 (hi) meaning "sun, day" or
火 (hi) meaning "fire" and
野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness".
Agua SpanishMeans
"water" in Spanish, indicating a person who lived near water or worked with water.
Norris 1 English, ScottishMeans
"from the north" from Old French
norreis. It either denoted someone who originated in the north or someone who lived in the northern part of a settlement.
Koszorús HungarianDerived from Hungarian
koszorú meaning
"garland, wreath, girdle", a name for someone who made garlands.
Raskopf GermanPossibly from German
rasch "quick" and
Kopf "head".
Blake EnglishVariant of
Black. A famous bearer was the poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827).
Sitz 2 GermanMeans
"house owner", derived from Old High German
siz "seat, domicile".
Blue EnglishFrom a nickname for a person with blue eyes or blue clothing.
Breisacher GermanOriginally denoted one who came from the town of Breisach, in Germany. The town's name is possibly from a Celtic word meaning "breakwater".
Hood EnglishMetonymic occupational name for a maker of hoods or a nickname for someone who wore a distinctive hood, from Old English
hod.
Kilpatrick IrishFrom the Irish
Mac Giolla Phádraig meaning
"son of the servant of Saint Patrick".
Turner EnglishOccupational name for one who worked with a lathe, derived from Old English
turnian "to turn", of Latin origin. A famous bearer is the American musician Tina Turner (1939-2023), born Anna Mae Bullock.
Imai JapaneseFrom Japanese
今 (ima) meaning "now, present" and
井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".
Aquino Italian, SpanishFrom the name of an Italian town near Rome, derived from Latin
aqua meaning "water", the home town of the 13th-century saint Thomas Aquinas. In Italy the surname is derived directly from the town's name. As a Spanish-language surname, it was sometimes bestowed by missionaries in honour of the saint as they evangelized in Spanish colonies.
Rubio SpanishNickname for a person with red hair, from Latin
rubeus "red".
MacGregor ScottishAnglicized form of Gaelic
MacGriogair meaning
"son of Gregor". It originates from the Highland clan Gregor. A famous bearer was the Scottish folk hero Rob Roy MacGregor (1671-1734).
Hitler GermanVariant of
Hiedler. This was spelling used by Alois Hitler, the father of German dictator Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), when he adopted his stepfather Johann Georg Hiedler's surname.
Buonarroti ItalianFrom the medieval Italian given name
Buonarroto meaning "good increase". This was the surname of the Renaissance painter and sculptor Michelangelo (1475-1564).
Fournier FrenchOccupational name for a baker, from French
fourneau meaning
"oven".
Saitō JapaneseFrom Japanese
斎 (sai) meaning "purification, worship" and
藤 (tō) meaning "wisteria". The latter character could indicate a connection to the Fujiwara clan.
Xiao ChineseFrom Chinese
蕭 (xiāo) referring to the fiefdom or territory of Xiao (in present-day Anhui province) that existed during the Zhou dynasty.
Brandon EnglishFrom the name of various places in England meaning
"hill covered with broom" in Old English.
Kurucz HungarianDerived from the Hungarian word
kuruc, referring to rebels who fought against the Habsburgs in the late 17th to early 18th century.
Van Middelburg Dutch (Rare)Means
"from Middelburg", the name of a city in Zeeland in the Netherlands, itself meaning "middle fortress" in Dutch.
Kendall EnglishDerived from the town of Kendal in England, so-called from the river
Kent, on which it is situated, and Old English
dæl meaning "valley, dale".
Addario ItalianDerived from the given name
Addarius, of unknown meaning.
Salinas SpanishOccupational name for a salt worker or someone who lived bear a salt works, from Spanish
salina "salt works, salt mine", ultimately from Latin
sal "salt".
Norwood EnglishOriginally taken from a place name meaning "north wood" in Old English.
Sherburn EnglishDenoted a person hailing from any of the various places called Sherborne or Sherburn in England, derived from Old English
scir "bright" and
burna "spring, fountain, stream".
Scarsi ItalianNickname for a poor or miserly person, from Italian
scarso "scarce, scant".
Burnett EnglishMeans
"brown" in Middle English, from Old French
brunet, a diminutive of
brun.
Daalmans DutchOriginally indicated a person who lived in a valley, from Dutch
dal meaning "dale, valley" and
man meaning "man".
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.
Farro ItalianDerived from the name of a place on Sicily, Italy, derived from Latin
far meaning "wheat, spelt".
Aiello ItalianFrom various place names in Italy, such as Aiello del Friuli, Aiello del Sabato and others. They are derived from Latin
agellus meaning "little field".
Fitzgerald IrishMeans
"son of Gerald" in Anglo-Norman French. It was brought to Ireland with William the Conqueror. A famous bearer was Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), an American jazz singer.
Markey IrishFrom the Irish
Ó Marcaigh meaning
"descendant of Marcach", a given name meaning "horse rider".
Gujić BosnianMeans
"son of a snake" from the Bosnian word
guja meaning "snake".
Korhonen FinnishPossibly from archaic Finnish
korho meaning
"deaf, hard of hearing". This is the most common surname in Finland.
Van Leeuwen DutchMeans
"from Leeuwen", the name of towns in the Dutch provinces of Gelderland and Limburd. The place names may be from the Old Dutch word
leo meaning "hill, burial mound".
Arenas SpanishFrom various Spanish place names, which are derived from Spanish
arena meaning
"sand".
Brown EnglishOriginally a nickname for a person who had brown hair or skin. A notable bearer is Charlie Brown from the
Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schulz.
Abspoel DutchFrom
Abtspoel, the name of an estate near Oegstgeest in South Holland, meaning
"abbot's pool".
Nagarkar MarathiDerived from the name of the town of Nagar in Maharashtra, India.
Prince English, FrenchFrom a nickname for someone who acted in a princely manner, ultimately derived from Latin
princeps.
Anaya SpanishFrom the names of a few Spanish towns, possibly of Arabic origin meaning
"stagnant water" or
"path".
Žitnik SloveneFrom the Slavic root
žito meaning
"rye, grain". This was an occupational name for a dealer in rye or a baker.
Corey EnglishDerived from the Old Norse given name
Kóri, of unknown meaning.
Spear EnglishFrom Old English
spere "spear", an occupational name for a hunter or a maker of spears, or a nickname for a thin person.
Tittensor EnglishIndicated a person from Tittensor, England, which means "Titten's ridge".
Toller EnglishOccupational name meaning
"tax gatherer", derived from Old English
toln "toll, fee, tax".
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.
Orozco SpanishFrom the name of a valley in the Basque region of Spain.
Aikawa JapaneseFrom Japanese
相 (ai) meaning "mutually, together",
愛 (ai) meaning "love, affection" or
哀 (ai) meaning "grief, sorrow" combined with
川 (kawa) or
河 (kawa) both meaning "river, stream".
Kelsey EnglishFrom an English place name meaning "Cenel's island", from the Old English name
Cenel "fierce" in combination with
eg "island".
Skinner EnglishOccupational name for a person who skinned animals, from Old Norse
skinn.
Loyola Spanish, BasqueFrom the name of a place name near the town of Azpeitia in the Basque Country of Spain, derived from Basque
loi meaning "mud". This was the birthplace of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the founder of Jesuits.
Schlosser GermanOccupational name for a locksmith, derived from Old High German
sloz meaning "lock".
Haywood EnglishFrom various place names meaning "fenced wood" in Old English.
Wolf German, EnglishFrom Middle High German or Middle English
wolf meaning
"wolf", or else from an Old German given name beginning with this element.
Peerenboom DutchFrom Dutch meaning
"pear tree", referring to someone who lived or worked at a pear orchard.
Chester EnglishFrom the name of a city in England, derived from Latin
castrum "camp, fortress".
Horn English, German, Norwegian, DanishFrom the Old English, Old High German and Old Norse word
horn meaning
"horn". This was an occupational name for one who carved objects out of horn or who played a horn, or a person who lived near a horn-shaped geographical feature, such as a mountain or a bend in a river.
Lombardi ItalianOriginally indicated someone who came from the Lombardy region of northern Italy, which was named for the Lombards, a Germanic tribe who invaded in the 6th century. Their name is derived from the Old German roots
lang "long" and
bart "beard".
Wuopio SwedishMeaning uncertain, possibly referred to a dweller in a narrow bay with steep shores.
Halmi HungarianDerived from Hungarian
halom meaning
"mound, small hill". Originally the name was given to someone who lived near or on a hill.
Ranta FinnishOriginally indicated a person who lived near the shore, from Finnish
ranta meaning
"shore, beach".
Gandhi Gujarati, HindiFrom Sanskrit
गान्धिक (gāndhika) meaning
"perfumier, perfume seller", derived from
गनध (gandha) meaning "scent, perfume". Notable bearers include Indian civil rights leader Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948), also known as Mahatma Gandhi, and Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi (1917-1984).
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.
Blecher GermanOccupational name for someone who worked with tin or sheet metal, from German
blech "tin".
Barlow EnglishDerived from a number of English place names that variously mean "barley hill", "barn hill", "boar clearing" or "barley clearing".
Verity EnglishFrom a nickname meaning
"truth", perhaps given originally to a truthful person.
Scriven EnglishOccupational name meaning
"writer, clerk, scribe" in Old French, derived from Latin
scriba.
Iordanou GreekFrom the name of the Jordan river, which is from Hebrew
יָרַד (yaraḏ) meaning "descend" or "flow down".
Pesaro ItalianFrom the name of the city of Pesaro, in the Marche region (Latin
Pisaurum).
Armstrong EnglishMeans
"strong arm" from Middle English. Tradition holds that the family is descended from Siward, an 11th-century Earl of Northumbria. Famous bearers of this name include the Americans Louis Armstrong (1901-1971), a jazz musician, and Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), an astronaut who was the first person to walk on the moon.
Wilbur EnglishFrom the nickname
Wildbor meaning "wild boar" in Middle English.
Kavanagh IrishDerived from the Irish Gaelic name
Caomhánach, which means "a student of saint
Caomhán". It was the name used by a 12th-century king of Leinster, Domhnall Caomhánach, the eldest son of the historic Irish king Diarmait Mac Murchada.
Brinley EnglishPossibly from English places named
Brindley, derived from Old English
berned "burned" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Sousa PortugueseOriginally indicated someone who lived near the River Sousa in Portugal, possibly derived from Latin
salsus "salty" or
saxa "rocks".
Ó Cnáimhín IrishMeans
"descendant of Cnámh",
Cnámh being a nickname meaning "bone".
Solheim NorwegianFrom the name various of various villages in Norway, derived from Old Norse
sól meaning "sun" and
heimr meaning "home".
Simpson EnglishMeans
"son of Sim",
Sim being a medieval short form of
Simon 1. This is the name of a fictional American family on the animated television series
The Simpsons, starting 1989.