Browse Surnames

Schlimme German
From German schlimm "bad, crooked, awry".

Ahlgren Swedish
Ornamental name derived from Swedish al (Old Norse ǫlr) meaning "alder" and gren (Old Norse grein) meaning "branch".

Patterson English, Scottish
Means "son of Patrick".

Toivonen Finnish
Derived from Finnish toivo meaning "hope".

Beyersdorf German
Means "farmers village", from German Bauer meaning "farmer" and Dorf meaning "village".

Moreau French
Derived from a diminutive of the given name Maurus.

Ziegler German
Means "bricklayer" or "brickmaker" in German, from Middle High German ziegel "brick, tile".

McLeod Scottish
From Gaelic MacLeòid meaning "son of Leod", a given name derived from Old Norse ljótr "ugly".

Westenberg Dutch
Means "west of the mountain", originally referring to a person who lived there.

Barna Hungarian
Means "brown" in Hungarian.

Schultheiss German
Variant of Schulz.

Pavlović Croatian, Serbian
Means "son of Pavle".

Papaioannou Greek
Means "son of Ioannis the priest", from Greek πάπας (papas) combined with the given name Ioannis.

Kartal Turkish
From a nickname meaning "eagle" in Turkish.

Lane 3 Irish
From Irish Ó Luain meaning "descendant of Luan", a given name meaning "warrior".

Dioli Italian
Meaning unknown.

Rome French, English
English and French form of Romano 2.

Gilmour Scottish, Irish
Variant of Gilmore.

Brouwer Dutch
Occupational name for a brewer of beer or ale, Middle Dutch brouwer.

Boerio Italian
From Italian boaro meaning "cowherd".

Jenkins English
From the given name Jenkin, a diminutive of Jen, itself a Middle English form of John.

Maria Italian, Portuguese
From the given the name Maria.

Parry Welsh
Derived from ap Harry meaning "son of Harry".

Falkner English, German
English variant and German cognate of Faulkner.

Schmitz German
Variant of Schmidt, originating in the Rhine area in western Germany.

Gál Hungarian
Derived from the given name Gál.

Banderas Spanish
Spanish cognate of Banner.

Huxtable English
Derived from the name of an English place meaning "hook post", from Old English hoc "hook" and stapol "post".

Pethes Hungarian
Derived from Pete, a diminutive of Péter.

Mac Giolla Fhaoláin Irish
Irish Gaelic form of McClelland.

Ó hEidirsceóil Irish
Irish Gaelic form of Driscoll.

Mikkelsen Danish
Means "son of Mikkel".

Losa Spanish
From Spanish losa meaning "tile, slab".

Ayers 1 English
From Middle English eir meaning "heir".

Downer English
Name for someone who lived on or near a down, which is an English word meaning "hill".

Brandt German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch
Variant of Brand 1 or Brand 2.

Edison English
Means "son of Eda 2" or "son of Adam". The surname was borne by American inventor Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931).

Antuma Frisian
Variant of Antema.

Dupont French
Means "from the bridge", from French pont "bridge".

Rosario Spanish
Spanish form of Rosário.

Frank 3 German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian
Name for a person from Franconia in Germany, so called because it was settled by the Frankish people. A notable bearer was the German-Jewish diarist Anne Frank (1929-1945), a victim of the Holocaust.

Arbore Italian
From Latin arbor meaning "tree".

Dreyer German
Variant of Dreher.

Carrasco Spanish
Topographic name derived from Spanish carrasca meaning "holm oak" (species Quercus ilex).

Nicholls English
Derived from the given name Nichol.

Jin Chinese
From Chinese 金 (jīn) meaning "gold".

Fairbairn Scottish, English
Means "beautiful child" in Middle English and Scots.

Adriaansen Dutch
Means "son of Adriaan".

Behrend German
Derived from the given name Bernd.

De León Spanish
Referred to someone from the Leon region of Spain.

Chen Chinese
From Chinese 陈 (chén) meaning "exhibit, display, old, ancient" and also referring to the former state of Chen, which existed in what is now Henan province from the 11th to 5th centuries BC.

McAfee Scottish, Irish
Anglicized form of MacDhubhshìth.

Bokori Hungarian
Variant of Bokor.

Lê Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of Li 2, from Sino-Vietnamese 黎 (lê). This is the third most common surname in Vietnam.

Bondar Ukrainian
Means "cooper, barrel maker" in Ukrainian.

Voltolini Italian
From the name of the alpine valley of Valtellina in Lombardy, northern Italy.

Anjema Frisian
Denoted a person from the village of Anjum in the Netherlands. It possibly means "corner" in Dutch.

Thorsen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Thor".

Alberici Italian
Means "son of Alberico".

Eccleston English
Denoted a person from any of the various places named Eccleston in England, derived from Latin ecclesia "church" (via Briton) and Old English tun "enclosure, yard, town".

Giles English
From the given name Giles.

Erickson English
Means "son of Eric".

Zelenko Ukrainian
Ukrainian cognate of Zieliński.

Martikainen Finnish
From a diminutive of the given name Martti.

Brooke English
Variant of Brook.

Fodor Hungarian
From Hungarian fodor meaning "curly, wavy", referring to a person with curly or wavy hair.

Pusztai Hungarian
From Hungarian puszta meaning "plain, steppe". The name was given to someone living on a plain.

Mitchell 1 English, Scottish
Derived from the given name Michael.

Nass Norwegian
Variant of Ness.

Uggeri Italian
Derived from the given name Edgardo.

Phillips English
Means "son of Philip".

Smolak Polish
Occupational name for a distiller of pitch, derived from the Old Slavic word smola meaning "pitch, resin".

Aerts Dutch, Flemish
From a diminutive of the given name Arnout.

Amador Spanish
Derived from the given name Amador.

Kolbe German
From Middle High German kolbe meaning "club".

Savić Serbian
Means "son of Sava".

Ishida Japanese
From Japanese 石 (ishi) meaning "stone" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".

Amadei Italian
Means "son of Amadeo".

Ó hEachthighearna Irish
Means "descendant of Echthigern" in Irish.

Willemse Dutch
Derived from the given name Willem.

Seghers Dutch
Means "son of Sieger".

Breitbarth German
From Old High German breit "broad" and bart "beard", originally a nickname for someone with a full beard.

Roosa Dutch
From Dutch roos meaning "rose".

Andrei Romanian
From the given name Andrei.

Gunnarsen Norwegian, Danish
Means "son of Gunnar".

Abe 1 Japanese
From Japanese 安 (a) meaning "peace" and 倍 (be) meaning "multiple times".

Burakgazi Turkish
Possibly from the given name Burak and Arabic غازي (ghāzī) meaning "warrior".

Yu 3 Chinese
From Chinese 俞 (yú) meaning "consent, approve".

Beckham English
From an English place name meaning "Becca's homestead" in Old English (with Becca being a masculine byname meaning "pickaxe"). A famous bearer is retired English soccer player David Beckham (1975-).

Holland 2 Dutch, German, English
Indicated a person from the Dutch province of Holland 1.

Salem Arabic
From the given name Salim.

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

Sartini Italian
Diminutive form of Sarto.

Wolf German, English
From Middle High German or Middle English wolf meaning "wolf", or else from an Old German given name beginning with this element.

Yuan Chinese
From Chinese 源 (yuán), 原 (yuán) or 元 (yuán), which mean "origin, source".

Borde French
From Old French bord meaning "board, plank", derived from Frankish *bord. This name belonged to a person who lived in a house made of planks.

Rapp 1 Swedish
From Swedish rapp meaning "quick, prompt", one of the names adopted by soldiers in the 17th century.

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

Hernández Spanish
Means "son of Hernando" in Spanish.

Connor Irish
Variant of O'Connor.

Snider English, Dutch (Anglicized), German (Anglicized)
Variant of Snyder.

Bravo Spanish, Portuguese
From a nickname meaning "angry, bold, brave" in Spanish and Portuguese.

Stueck German, Jewish
Variant of Stück.

Dekker Dutch
Means "roofer, thatcher" in Dutch.

Kilduff Irish
From the Irish Mac Giolla Dhuibh meaning "son of the black-haired man".

Myers English
Patronymic form of Myer or Mayer 3.

Kaya Turkish
Means "rock, cliff" in Turkish.

Schrader Low German
Variant of Schröder 1.

Blanchette French (Quebec)
Variant of Blanchet.

Rogerson English
Means "son of Roger".

Voclain French
From the Old French given name Vauquelin.

Nascimbeni Italian
From the medieval given name Nascimbene, typical of the Venetian region.

Gwózdek Polish
Derived from either archaic Polish gwozd meaning "forest" or gwóźdź meaning "nail".

Peeters Dutch, Flemish
Dutch and Flemish variant of Peters.

Bergamaschi Italian
Originally indicated an inhabitant of the city of Bergamo in Lombardy.

Kron German, Swedish
From German Krone and Swedish krona meaning "crown" (from Latin corona), perhaps a nickname for one who worked in a royal household.

Maçon French
French cognate of Mason.

Monette French
Variant of Monet.

Kjellsson Swedish
Means "son of Kjell".

Gilroy Irish
Anglicized form of Mac Giolla Ruaidh or Mac Giolla Rí.

Aartsma Frisian
Means "son of Arend", the suffix -ma indicating that it is of Frisian origin.

Protz German
From a nickname meaning "showy, pompous", derived from an old southern German word meaning "toad".

Katō Japanese
From Japanese 加 (ka) meaning "add, increase" and 藤 (tō) meaning "wisteria". The latter character may indicate a connection to the Fujiwara clan.

Ibbott English
Matronymic surname derived from the medieval name Ibota, a diminutive of Isabel.

Pesaresi Italian
Variant of Pesaro.

Corwin English
Derived from Old French cordoan "leather", ultimately from the name of the Spanish city of Cordova.

Kermode Manx
Anglicized form of Mac Diarmada (see McDermott).

Dircksens Dutch
Means "son of Dirk".

Hawthorne English
Denoted 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.

Bryce English
From the given name Brice.

Andrewson English
Variant of Anderson.

Landon English
Variant of Langdon.

Ramires Portuguese
Means "son of Ramiro" in Portuguese.

Mac Aodhagáin Irish
Irish Gaelic form of Keegan.

Monteiro Portuguese
Portuguese cognate of Montero.

Pound English
Occupational name for a person who kept animals, from Old English pund "animal enclosure".

Arthursson Swedish
Means "son of Arthur".

Satou Japanese
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji 佐藤 (see Satō).

Archambault French
From the archaic French given name Archambault, which is related to Archibald.

McGinnis Irish
Variant of McGuinness.

Kaube German
From the name of the town of Kaub in Germany.

Tornincasa Italian
From a medieval Italian name given to a boy born after the death of a previous one, derived from Italian ritorna in casa "come back home".

House English
Referred to a person who lived or worked in a house, as opposed to a smaller hut.

Agli Italian
From place names like Agliè, Aglietti, Agliana and Agliate, all originating from the Latin name Allius or Alleius.

Lukács Hungarian
From the given name Lukács.

Sun Chinese
From Chinese 孙 (sūn) meaning "grandchild, descendant". A famous bearer of the surname was Sun Tzu, the 6th-century BC author of The Art of War.

Waldfogel Jewish
Variant of Waldvogel.

Liepa Latvian
Means "linden tree" in Latvian.

Hennig German
From a diminutive of the given name Heinrich.

Emmitt English
Variant of Emmett.

Waller 1 English
Derived from Old French gallier meaning "person with a pleasant temper".

Hayes 2 Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó hAodha meaning "descendant of Aodh".

Stephens English
Derived from the given name Stephen.

Schneider German, Jewish
Means "tailor" in German, a derivative of schneiden "to cut".

O'Hannagan Irish
Variant of O'Hannagain.

Fenstermacher German
Means "window maker" in German.

Sachs German
Originally indicated a person from Saxony (German Sachsen). The region was named for the Germanic tribe of the Saxons, ultimately derived from the Germanic word *sahsą meaning "knife".

Alesi Italian
From the given name Alessio.

Quijada Spanish
Means "jaw" in Spanish, a nickname for someone with a large jaw.

Mac an Aba Irish, Scottish Gaelic
Gaelic form of McNab.

Winship English
Possibly denoted a person who came from Wincheap Street in Canterbury, England. It is uncertain origin, possibly meaning "wine market" in Old English.

Lundberg Swedish
Derived from Swedish lund (Old Norse lundr) meaning "grove" and berg meaning "mountain".

Alfero Italian
From the given name Adalfarus.

Sokol mu Slovak, Czech, Jewish
From Czech and Slovak sokol meaning "falcon", a nickname or an occupational name for a falconer. As a Jewish name it is ornamental.

Grossi Italian
Italian cognate of Gros.

Kilpatrick Irish
From the Irish Mac Giolla Phádraig meaning "son of the servant of Saint Patrick".

Geissler 2 German
Occupational name for a goat herder, from southern German Geiss meaning "goat" and the suffix ler signifying an occupation.

Roberson English
Means "son of Robert".

Horne English
Variant of Horn.

Elder English
Derived from Old English ealdra meaning "older", used to distinguish two people who had the same name.

Demir Turkish
Means "iron" in Turkish, originally referring to an ironworker.

Cousineau French
Derived from Old French cosin meaning "cousin".

Kovač Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Slovene
Means "blacksmith", a derivative of Slavic kovati meaning "to forge".

Hino Japanese
From Japanese 日 (hi) meaning "sun, day" or 火 (hi) meaning "fire" and 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness".

School Dutch
From Dutch school, ultimately from Latin schola meaning "school", indicating a person who worked at or lived near a school.

McCrory Irish, Scottish
Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Ruaidhrí meaning "son of Ruaidhrí".

Qadir Arabic
Derived from the given name Qadir.

Courtenay 1 English
From the name of towns in France that were originally derivatives of the Gallo-Roman personal name Curtenus, itself derived from Latin curtus "short".

Antonini Italian
Means "son of Antonino".

Stumpf German
Nickname for a short person or a topographic name someone who lived near a prominent stump, from Middle High German stumpf.

Buckley 2 Irish
From Irish Ó Buachalla meaning "descendant of Buachaill", a nickname meaning "cowherd, servant".

Glass English, German
From Old English glæs or Old High German glas meaning "glass". This was an occupational name for a glass blower or glazier.

Schmitt German
Variant of Schmidt.

Jakeman English
Means "servant of Jack".

Smits Dutch
Variant of Smit.

Ponomarenko Ukrainian
Derived from Ukrainian пономар (ponomar) meaning "sexton, bell-ringer".

Henry English
Derived from the given name Henry.

Averill English
From Middle English aueril, Old French avrill meaning "April", perhaps indicating a person who was baptized in that month.

Wörnhör German
From the given name Werner.

Crespo Spanish, Portuguese, Italian
Referred to a person with curly hair, from Latin crispus meaning "curly".

Bannerman English
Variant of Banner.

Rutherford Scottish
From the name of places in southern Scotland and northern England, derived from Old English hriðer meaning "cattle, ox" and ford meaning "ford, river crossing".

Lau Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of Liu.

Hughes 2 Irish, Scottish
Anglicized form of Mac Aodha.

Niemczyk Polish
From Polish Niemiec meaning "German" and the patronymic suffix -czyk.

Grimaldi Italian
From the given name Grimaldo. It is the surname of the royal family of Monaco, which came from Genoa.

Finnin Irish
Diminutive form of Finn.

Mohammad Persian, Urdu, Bengali
Derived from the given name Mohammad.

Holub mu Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian
Means "dove, pigeon" in Czech, Slovak and Ukrainian.

Botha Afrikaans
South African variant of Both.

Zabala Basque
Originally denoted someone who lived in a place of this name in Biscay. It is derived from Basque zabal meaning "large, wide".

Kulmala Finnish
From Finnish kulma meaning "corner" with the suffix -la indicating a place.

Sparks English
From an Old Norse nickname or byname derived from sparkr meaning "sprightly".

Böhmer German, Jewish
Variant of Böhm.

Sörensson Swedish
Swedish form of Sørensen.

Kaneko Japanese
From Japanese 金 (kane) meaning "gold, metal, money" and 子 (ko) meaning "child".

Lindner German
Variant of Linden.

Annevelink Dutch
From Dutch aan 't veldink meaning "next to the little field".

Bátori Hungarian
Variant of Báthory.

Herczeg Hungarian
Hungarian form of Herzog.

Slade English
Derived from Old English slæd meaning "valley".

Davidyan Armenian
Alternate transcription of Armenian Դավթյան (see Davtyan).

Márton Hungarian
Derived from the given name Márton.

Beck 2 German
Variant of Becker, from southern German beck.

Van Gogh Dutch
Means "from Goch", a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, near the border with the Netherlands. It may be derived from a Low German word meaning "meadow, floodplain". This name was borne by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890).

Brand 2 German, Dutch
From 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.

Warszawski mu Polish, Jewish
Place name for someone from the Polish city of Warsaw, itself derived from the given name Warsz, a short form of Warcisław.

Van Oorschot Dutch
Variant of Van Oirschot.

Halmi Hungarian
Derived from Hungarian halom meaning "mound, small hill". Originally the name was given to someone who lived near or on a hill.

Bodilsen Danish
Means "son of Bodil".

Fabbro Italian
Variant of Fabbri.

Marques Portuguese
Means "son of Marcos".

Rush English
Indicated a person who lived near rushes, the grasslike plant that grows in a marsh, from Old English rysc.

Farro Italian
Derived from the name of a place on Sicily, Italy, derived from Latin far meaning "wheat, spelt".

Hofer German
Occupational name for a farmer, from German Hof "farm", from Old High German hof "yard, court".

Ó Muireadhaigh Irish
Irish Gaelic form of Murray 2.

Ford English
Name given to someone who lived by a ford, possibly the official who maintained it. A famous bearer was the American industrialist Henry Ford (1863-1947).

Genovese Italian
Denoted a person from the Italian city of Genoa (Genova in Italian).

Dreessen Dutch
Variant of Driessen.

Eszes Hungarian
Means "clever, bright" in Hungarian.

Hawking English
From a diminutive of Hawk. A famous bearer was the British physicist Stephen Hawking (1942-2018).

Caldwell English
From various English place names derived from Old English ceald "cold" and wille "spring, stream, well".

Dumbledore Literature
From the dialectal English word dumbledore meaning "bumblebee". It was used by J. K. Rowling for the headmaster of Hogwarts in her Harry Potter series of books, first released in 1997.

Patrickson English
Means "son of Patrick".

Lynch Irish
From Irish Ó Loingsigh meaning "descendant of Loingseach", a given name meaning "mariner".

Lamont Scottish
From the medieval Gaelic given name Lagmann, derived from Old Norse lǫgmaðr meaning "law man".

Jöllenbeck German
From the name of a village in western Germany, itself derived from the name of the Jölle, a small river, combined with Low German beck "stream".

Rosário Portuguese
Means "rosary" in Portuguese. This name was often given to people born on the day of the festival of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Woodham English
Indicated a person who had a home near a wood, derived from Old English wudu "wood" and ham "home, settlement".

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

Aksoy Turkish
From Turkish ak "white" and soy "lineage, ancestry".

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

Rademaker Dutch
From the occupation of rademaker meaning "maker of wheels", from Dutch rad meaning "wheel".

Scholten Dutch
Variant of Schouten.

Morais Portuguese
Portuguese cognate of Morales.

Evans Welsh, English
Means "son of Evan".

Haroldson Swedish (Anglicized)
Americanized form of Haraldsson.

Esposito Italian
Means "exposed" in Italian and denoted a child who was rescued after being abandoned by its parents.

Thorburn English, Scottish
Derived from the Old Norse given name Þórbjǫrn.

Hochberg German, Jewish
From place names meaning "high hill" in German.

Adair English
Derived from the given name Edgar.

Sadeghi Persian
From the given name Sadegh.

Kerper German
Variant of Gerber.

Kovalenko Ukrainian
Derived from Ukrainian коваль (koval) meaning "blacksmith".

Arnesen Norwegian
Means "son of Arne 1".

Aaij Dutch
Derived from the given name Aaij, a short form of Adriaan and other names.

Disney English
Means "from Isigny", referring to the town of Isigny in Normandy. This surname was borne by the American animator and filmmaker Walt Disney (1901-1966).

Grec Catalan
Catalan cognate of Greco.

Callaghan Irish
Variant of Callahan.

Benscoter Dutch (Anglicized)
Anglicized form of Bunschoten.

Ó Conaire Irish
Irish Gaelic form of Conroy.

Golob Slovene
Means "pigeon" in Slovene.

Britton English
Originally given to a person who was a Briton (a Celt of England) or a Breton (an inhabitant of Brittany).

Benetton Italian
Northern Italian variant of Benedetti.

Major 1 English
From the Norman French given name Mauger, derived from the Germanic name Malger.

Cristea Romanian
From the given name Cristian.

Lejeune French
Means "the young" in French, from jeune "young".

Russell English
From a Norman French nickname that meant "little red one", perhaps originally describing a person with red hair.

Garnier 2 English
Variant of Garner 1.

Rapp 2 German
From Middle High German raben meaning "raven", a nickname for a person with black hair.

Janvier French
Either from the given name Janvier or the French word janvier meaning "January", perhaps indicating a person who was baptized in that month.

Carré French
Means "square" in French, derived from Latin quadratus. It was used as a nickname for a squat person.

Baier German
Variant of Bayer.

Banerjee Bengali
Variant of Bandyopadhyay.

Love English
From the Old English given name Lufu meaning "love".

Favreau French
Diminutive of Favre.

Schlender German
From Middle High German slinderen "to dawdle" or Middle Low German slinden "to swallow, to eat".

Gajos Polish
Derived from Polish gaj meaning "grove, thicket".

Napoli Italian
Originally indicated a person from Naples in Italy.

Roger French
From the given name Roger.

Kałuża Polish
Means "puddle" in Polish.

Blažević Croatian
Means "son of Blaž".

Northrop English
Originally denoted one who came from a town of this name England, meaning "north farm".

Shirazi Persian
Originally denoted someone who came from the city of Shiraz, located in southern Iran. The city's name is possibly of Elamite origin.

Karlsson Swedish
Means "son of Karl".

Paquet 2 French
From a diminutive of the given name Pascal.

Ó hEidhin Irish
Irish Gaelic form of Hines.

Notaro Italian
Occupational name for a clerk, derived from Latin notarius.

Sanz Spanish
From the given name Sancho.

Heyman Jewish
From the given name Chayyim.

Mullen Irish
From the Irish Ó Maoláin meaning "descendant of Maolán". The given name Maolán meant "devotee, servant, tonsured one".

Angenent Dutch
Referred to person who lived at the end of the road or the village, derived from Dutch an gen ent meaning "at the end".

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.

Ayton English
From the name of towns in Berwickshire and North Yorkshire. They are derived from Old English ea "river" or ieg "island" combined with tun "enclosure, yard, town".

Fromm German
From a nickname derived from Middle High German vrume meaning "noble, honourable".

Cuocco Italian
Italian cognate of Cook.

Ruskin 1 Scottish
From Gaelic rusgaire meaning "tanner".

Alescio Italian
From the given name Alessio.

Hansen Norwegian, Danish
Means "son of Hans". This is the most common surname in Norway, and the third most common in Denmark.

Sauber German
Means "clean, tidy" in German.