Bureau FrenchFrom Old French
burel, a diminutive of
bure, a type of woollen cloth. It may have originated as a nickname for a person who dressed in the material or as an occupational name for someone who worked with it.
Montero SpanishMeans
"hunter" in Spanish, an agent derivative of
monte meaning "mountain, wilderness".
Borde FrenchFrom Old French
bord meaning
"board, plank", derived from Frankish *
bord. This name belonged to a person who lived in a house made of planks.
Voltolini ItalianFrom the name of the alpine valley of Valtellina in Lombardy, northern Italy.
Piątek PolishMeans
"Friday" in Polish, derived from the word
piąty meaning "fifth".
Starrett ScottishOriginally indicated a person from Stairaird, an estate in Scotland.
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).
Moya SpanishFrom any of various towns named Moya in Spain, of uncertain meaning.
Kneller GermanOriginally a nickname for a noisy or disruptive person, derived from Old German
knellen "to make noise, to cause a disturbance".
Forney GermanName for someone who lived near ferns, from Old High German
farn "fern".
Almássy HungarianMeans
"from the apple orchard", derived from Hungarian
alma meaning "apple".
Ó Seachnasaigh IrishMeans
"descendant of Seachnasach". The given name
Seachnasach possibly means "elusive" in Irish.
Jinks EnglishMeans
"son of Jenk", a short form of
Jenkin, a diminutive of
Jen, itself a Middle English form of
John.
Newport EnglishGiven to one who came from the town of Newport (which means simply "new port"), which was the name of several English towns.
Paz Spanish, PortugueseMeans
"peace" in Spanish and Portuguese, originally a nickname for a calm person.
Dean 2 EnglishOccupational surname meaning
"dean", referring to a person who either was a dean or worked for one. It is from Middle English
deen (ultimately from Latin
decanus meaning "chief of ten").
Khachaturyan ArmenianMeans
"son of Khachatur" in Armenian. A famous bearer was the Armenian composer Aram Khachaturyan or Khachaturian (1903-1978).
Keil GermanMeans
"wedge shaped" in German. It was used to denote a person who owned a wedge-shaped piece of land.
Gebara BasqueHabitational name for someone who lived in Gebara, a village in the province of Álava in Spain.
Offermans DutchFrom Dutch
offer meaning
"offering, donation", referring to a person who collected money in a church.
Skeates EnglishFrom the Old Norse nickname or byname
skjótr meaning
"swift".
Slater EnglishOccupational name indicating that an early member worked covering roofs with slate, from Old French
esclat "shard", of Germanic origin.
Statham EnglishFrom the name of a village in the English county of Cheshire, derived from Old English
stæð meaning "wharf, landing place" and
ham "home, settlement".
Forst GermanDerived from Old High German
forst "forest". Probably unrelated to the Old French word
forest, which was derived from Latin, Old High German
forst was derived from
foraha meaning "fir tree".
Baker EnglishOccupational name meaning
"baker", derived from Middle English
bakere.
Giese German, DanishDerived from a short form of the given name
Giselbert or other Old German names beginning with the element
gisal meaning "pledge, hostage".
Hummel 2 German, DutchNickname for a busy person, from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch
hommel, Middle High German
hummel, all meaning
"bee".
Bulgari ItalianOriginally denoted a person who came from Bulgaria, which is named after the Turkic tribe of the Bulgars, itself possibly from a Turkic root meaning "mixed".
Lê VietnameseVietnamese form of
Li 2, from Sino-Vietnamese
黎 (lê). This is the third most common surname in Vietnam.
Dressler GermanMeans
"turner" from Middle High German
dreseler, an agent derivative of
drehen "to turn". A turner was a person who used a lathe to create small objects from wood or bone.
Acker German, EnglishDenoted a person who lived near a field, derived from Middle English
aker or Middle High German
acker meaning "field".
Roydon EnglishOriginally derived from a place name meaning
"rye hill", from Old English
ryge "rye" and
dun "hill".
Cook EnglishDerived from Old English
coc meaning
"cook", ultimately from Latin
coquus. It was an occupational name for a cook, a man who sold cooked meats, or a keeper of an eating house.
Baarda FrisianFrom the name of the town of
Baard in the Netherlands, possibly derived from a given name that was a variant of
Bert.
Long EnglishOriginally a nickname for a person who had long limbs or who was tall.
Swift EnglishNickname for a quick person, from Old English
swift.
Van Ophoven DutchMeans
"from Ophoven", the name of towns in the Netherlands. Their names mean "upper gardens, upper courtyards" in Dutch.
Sitko PolishMeans
"fine sieve" in Polish, a diminutive of the Polish word
sito "sieve".
Dibra AlbanianFrom the Albanian name for the city of Debar in Macedonia, originally given to someone who came from there.
Van Heel DutchMeans
"from Heel", a small town in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands.
Vossen DutchFrom the given name
Vos, which comes from the Frisian name
Fos, which is from Old German given names beginning with the element
folk meaning "people".
Novik BelarusianFrom Belarusian
новы (novy) meaning
"new", originally a name for a newcomer to a village.
Sanna ItalianFrom Italian
sanna or
zanna meaning
"tusk, fang", a nickname for a person with a protruding tooth. It is especially common on Sardinia.
Maxwell ScottishFrom a place name meaning "Mack's stream", from the name
Mack, a short form of the Scandinavian name
Magnus, combined with Old English
wille "well, stream". A famous bearer was James Maxwell (1831-1879), a Scottish physicist who studied gases and electromagnetism.
Honda JapaneseFrom Japanese
本 (hon) meaning "root, origin, source" and
田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Marlow EnglishOriginally a name for a person from Marlow in Buckinghamshire, England. The place name means "remnants of a lake" from Old English
mere "lake" and
lafe "remnants, remains". A notable bearer was the English playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593).
Van Gogh DutchMeans
"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).
Phạm VietnameseVietnamese form of
Fan, from Sino-Vietnamese
范 (phạm). This is the fourth most common surname in Vietnam.
Denzil EnglishFrom the place name
Denzell, a manor in Cornwall, which is of unknown meaning.
Obando SpanishHabitational name for someone who came from Obando in Extremadura, Spain.
Way EnglishFrom Old English
weg meaning
"way, road, path".
Reiher GermanMeans
"heron" in German, a nickname for a person with long legs.
Soriano ItalianFrom place names such as Soriano Calabro and Soriano nel Cimino. It is typical of southern Italy.
Turati ItalianFrom the name of the town of Turate near Como in Lombardy.
Sarto ItalianOccupational name meaning
"tailor" in Italian, from Latin
sartor, from
sarcio meaning "to mend".
Downer EnglishName for someone who lived on or near a down, which is an English word meaning
"hill".
Knochenmus GermanFrom German
Knochen "bone" and
Mus "sauce". It probably referred to someone who worked in the butcher trade.
Jenkins EnglishFrom the given name
Jenkin, a diminutive of
Jen, itself a Middle English form of
John.
Xie ChineseFrom Chinese
谢 (xiè) referring to the minor state of Xie, which existed in what is now Hubei province.
Breckenridge Scottish, EnglishOriginally indicated someone from Brackenrig in Lanarkshire, derived from northern Middle English
braken meaning "bracken" (via Old Norse
brækni) and
rigg meaning "ridge" (via Old Norse
hryggr).
Kitagawa JapaneseFrom Japanese
北 (kita) meaning "north" and
川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream". A famous bearer was the artist and printmaker Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806).
Hasenkamp GermanFrom a northern German place name meaning
"rabbit field", from Old Saxon
haso "hare" and
kamp "field" (from Latin
campus).
Zimmermann German, JewishFrom the German word for
"carpenter", derived from Middle High German
zimber "timber, wood" and
mann "man".
Stilo ItalianDerived from the name of the town of Stilo in southern Italy. It is possibly derived from Greek
στῦλος (stylos) meaning "column, pillar".
Blanco SpanishMeans
"white" in Spanish. The name most likely referred to a person who was pale or had blond hair.
Hartley EnglishHabitational name for someone originally from any of the various locations in England named Hartley, from Old English
heorot "hart, male deer" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Ljunggren SwedishOrnamental name derived from Swedish
ljung (Old Norse
lyng) meaning "heather" and
gren (Old Norse
grein) meaning "branch".
Bisset EnglishFrom Old French
bis meaning
"drab, dingy", a nickname for someone who looked drab.
Jo KoreanAlternate transcription of Korean Hangul
조 (see
Cho).
Headley EnglishFrom place names meaning "heather clearing" in Old English.
Eld SwedishFrom Old Norse
eldr, modern Swedish
eld, meaning
"fire".
Potter EnglishOccupational 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.
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.
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".
Luzzatto ItalianFrom an Italian form of
Lusatia, a region of eastern Germany.
Flintstone Popular CultureFrom the English words
flint and
stone, created by Hanna-Barbera Productions for the caveman family (Fred, Wilma and Pebbles) in their animated television show
The Flintstones, which ran from 1960 to 1966.
Haumann GermanDerived from Middle High German
houwen "to chop" and
man "man", referring to a butcher or woodchopper.
Wojewoda PolishFrom the Polish title
wojewoda meaning
"governor, voivode" (originally meaning "warlord").
Kurata JapaneseFrom Japanese
倉 (kura) or
蔵 (kura) both meaning "granary, storehouse" and
田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Skinner EnglishOccupational name for a person who skinned animals, from Old Norse
skinn.
Hayden 1 EnglishFrom place names meaning either
"hay valley" or
"hay hill", derived from Old English
heg "hay" and
denu "valley" or
dun "hill".
Khatib ArabicMeans
"speaker, orator" in Arabic, referring person who delivers sermons.
Büki HungarianDerived from the name of the Bükk Mountains, which means "beech tree" in Hungarian (probably of Slavic origin).
Villaverde SpanishOriginally denoted a person from one of the various Spanish towns by this name, derived from
villa "town" and
verde "green".
Witherspoon EnglishOriginally given to a person who dwelt near a sheep enclosure, from Middle English
wether "sheep" and
spong "strip of land".
Abano ItalianOriginally denoted a person from the town of Abano, Latin
Aponus, which was derived from the old Celtic root
ab meaning "water".
Ashley EnglishDenoted a person hailing from one of the many places in England that bear this name. The place name itself is derived from Old English
æsc "ash tree" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Short EnglishFrom a nickname for a short person, from Middle English
schort.
Voll 1 NorwegianOriginally indicated a person who lived in a meadow, from Old Norse
vǫllr "meadow, field".
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.
Oquendo SpanishOriginally indicated a person from the town of Okondo in Álava, northern Spain, possibly derived from Basque
ukondo "elbow".
Grillo ItalianFrom an Italian nickname meaning
"cricket", perhaps given originally to a cheerful person (the cricket is associated with cheerfulness).
Elzinga DutchProbably from a place name that was a derivative of Dutch
els meaning "alder tree".
Abélard HistoryAdopted by the 12th-century French philosopher Pierre le Pallet, thereafter known as Pierre Abélard (or Peter Abelard in English). It is not certain how he contrived it. Possibly he was inspired by the given name
Abel.
Bunker EnglishDerived from Old French
bon cuer meaning
"good heart".
Rapp 2 GermanFrom Middle High German
raben meaning
"raven", a nickname for a person with black hair.
Tivoli ItalianDerived from the resort town of Tivoli, near Rome, originally called
Tibur in Latin, of uncertain origin.
Navarro SpanishDenoted a person who came from Navarre in northern Spain (Spanish
Navarra). The name of the region is of Basque origin, possibly from
nabar meaning "brown".
Glenn Scottish, EnglishFrom place names derived from Gaelic
gleann "valley". A famous bearer was the American astronaut John Glenn (1921-2016).
Wheelock EnglishOriginally indicated a person from the town of Wheelock, England. It was named for the nearby River Wheelock, which is derived from Welsh
chwylog meaning "winding".