Good EnglishFrom a nickname meaning
"good", referring to a kindly person.
Pryor EnglishOriginally belonged to one who was a prior (a religious official), or one who worked for a prior.
Ebner 2 GermanMeans
"judge, arbiter" from Middle High German
ebenære.
Buchholz GermanFrom Middle High German
buoche "beech" and
holz "wood".
Von Grimmelshausen GermanMeans
"from Grimmelshausen", a town in Germany. It is itself derived from
Grimmel, of uncertain meaning, and
hausen meaning "houses". A famous bearer was the German author Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen (1621-1676).
Olasz HungarianMeans
"Italian" in Hungarian, from Old Slavic
volxŭ "Romance-speaker" (of Germanic origin).
Cason EnglishFrom the English place name
Cawston, derived from the Old Norse given name
Kálfr combined with Old English
tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town".
Süß GermanFrom Old High German
suozi meaning
"sweet".
Joiner EnglishOccupational name for a carpenter (that is, a person who joins wood together to make furniture).
Korošec SloveneOriginally indicated a person from Koroška (Carinthia), a medieval Slovene state, now divided between Slovenia and Austria.
Couch CornishFrom Cornish
cough "red", indicating the original bearer had red hair.
Gallo Italian, SpanishMeans
"rooster", ultimately from Latin
gallus. This was a nickname for a proud person.
Milford EnglishOriginally derived from various place names all meaning "ford by a mill" in Old English.
Leitzke GermanEither from
Leitzkau, the name of a town in Saxony-Anhalt, or from a diminutive of the given name
Leutz, a variant of
Lutz.
Chandler EnglishOccupational name meaning
"candle seller" or
"candle maker" in Middle English, ultimately derived from Latin
candela via Old French.
Dorsey EnglishMeans
"from Orsay", referring to the town of Orsay near Paris, its name deriving from the Latin personal name
Orcius.
Benenati ItalianMeans
"son of Benenato", a given name derived from Latin
bene "good, well" and
natus "good".
Brodbeck GermanMeans
"bread baker" from Middle High German
brot "bread" and
becke "baker".
Bologna ItalianFrom the name of the city of Bologna in northern Italy. It may derive from a Celtic word meaning "settlement".
Averesch DutchFrom a place name, possibly from a dialectal variation of Dutch
over meaning "over" combined with
esch meaning "ash tree".
Kipling EnglishFrom the name of a town in Yorkshire, of Old English origin meaning "Cyppel's people", from a given name
Cyppel of unknown meaning. A famous bearer of this name was the author Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936).
Trump GermanDerived from Middle High German
trumbe meaning
"drum". This surname is borne by the American president Donald Trump (1946-).
Scarlett EnglishDenoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet, a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian
سقرلاط (saqrelāṭ).
Burgstaller GermanFrom German
Burg "fortress, castle" and
Stelle "place, position". This was a name given to a person dwelling at or near such a site.
Jagger EnglishFrom an English word meaning
"carter, peddler". A famous bearer is the British musician Mick Jagger (1943-), the lead singer of the Rolling Stones.
Kilpatrick IrishFrom the Irish
Mac Giolla Phádraig meaning
"son of the servant of Saint Patrick".
Hope EnglishDerived from Middle English
hop meaning
"small valley".
Sorrentino ItalianDerived from the town of Sorrento near Naples, called
Surrentum in Latin, of unknown meaning.
Lehmann GermanFrom Middle High German
lehenman meaning
"vassal, liege man".
Jughashvili Georgian (Rare)Meaning uncertain. One theory suggests Ossetian roots with the meaning
"son of the herder", derived from Ossetian
дзуг (dzug) meaning "herd, flock, troop". Alternately, it could be derived from the name of the village of
ჯუღაანი (Jughaani) in eastern Georgia. The most notable bearer was Joseph Stalin (1878-1953), born Ioseb Jughashvili, a leader of the Soviet Union.
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".
Mejía SpanishPossibly from a nickname derived from Spanish
Mesías meaning
"Messiah", from Latin
Messias, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew
מָשִׁיחַ (mashiyaḥ) meaning "anointed".
Xu 2 ChineseFrom Chinese
许 (xǔ) referring to the minor state of Xu, which existed to the 4th century BC in what is now Henan province. The character
许 means "allow, permit".
Bray EnglishFrom a place name derived from Cornish
bre "hill".
Sutherland ScottishRegional name for a person who came from the former county by this name in Scotland. It is derived from Old Norse
suðr "south" and
land "land", because it was south of the Norse colony of Orkney.
Lyall ScottishFrom the Old Norse given name
Liulfr, which was derived in part from
úlfr "wolf".
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.
Lecomte FrenchMeans
"the count" in French, a nickname for someone in the service of a count or for someone who behaved like one.
Ackermann GermanDenoted a person who lived near a field, from Middle High German
acker "field" and
man "man".
Schröter GermanMeans
"beer-porter, wine-porter" in German, an occupational name for a carrier of wine or beer barrels.
Ravenna ItalianFrom the name of the city of Ravenna in northern Italy, which is of uncertain origin, possibly Etruscan.
Nervi ItalianFrom the name of the town of Nervi in Liguria, northwestern Italy.
Head EnglishFrom Middle English
hed meaning
"head", from Old English
heafod. It may have referred to a person who had a peculiar head, who lived near the head of a river or valley, or who served as the village headman.
Senft 1 GermanOccupational name for a mustard seller, from German
Senf "mustard".
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.
Cervantes SpanishPossibly from Old Spanish
servanto meaning
"servant" or
ciervo meaning
"stag". A famous bearer was the Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616).
Moya SpanishFrom any of various towns named Moya in Spain, of uncertain meaning.
Lennon IrishAnglicized form of the Irish name
Ó Leannáin, which means
"descendant of Leannán". The byname
Leannán means "lover". The name was borne by the musician John Lennon (1940-1980).
Russell EnglishFrom a Norman French nickname that meant
"little red one", perhaps originally describing a person with red hair.
Wieczorek PolishFrom a nickname meaning
"bat" in Polish, ultimately from
wieczór meaning "evening".
Abarca SpanishFrom the name of a type of leather-soled shoe or sandal made on the Balearic Islands. It originally indicated a person who made or sold this item.
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".
Freeman EnglishReferred to a person who was born free, or in other words was not a serf.
Santoro ItalianMeans
"all saint's day" in Italian, a nickname for one born on that day.
Stępień PolishPossibly an occupational name for a herbalist, from Polish
stępa "mortar".
Altena DutchFrom the name of a town in the Netherlands, possibly meaning "close, near" in Dutch.
Holst Danish, Low German, DutchOriginally referred to a person from the region of
Holstein between Germany and Denmark. A famous bearer of this name was the English composer Gustav Holst (1874-1934).
Van Agteren DutchMeans
"from behind", probably referring to a place behind something, such as a building or a place at the end of the road.
Fay 1 French, EnglishReferred to a person who came from various places named Fay or Faye in northern France, derived from Old French
fau "beech tree", from Latin
fagus.
Novik BelarusianFrom Belarusian
новы (novy) meaning
"new", originally a name for a newcomer to a village.
Laganà ItalianOccupational name for a greengrocer, meaning
"vegetables" in southern Italian dialects, ultimately from Greek
λάχανον (lachanon).
Nagel German, DutchMeans
"nail" in German and Dutch, an occupational name for a carpenter or nailsmith.
Penders DutchFrom Middle Dutch
paender meaning
"brewer", derived from
panne meaning "pan, pot", ultimately from Latin
patina.
Purcell EnglishFrom Old French
pourcel "piglet", from Latin
porcellus, a derivative of
porcus "pig". This was a nickname or an occupational name for a swineherd.
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).
Davis English, ScottishMeans
"son of David". This was the surname of the revolutionary jazz trumpet player Miles Davis (1926-1991).
Sterling ScottishDerived from city of Stirling, which is itself of unknown meaning.
Chey KhmerMeans
"victory" in Khmer, from Sanskrit
जय (jaya).
Kecskeméti HungarianOriginally indicated a person who came from the Hungarian city of Kecskemét, derived from
kecske meaning "goat".
Arendonk DutchDenoted a person from Arendonk, a town between in northern Belgium. It is derived from
arend "eagle" and
donk "hill".
Tindall EnglishFrom
Tindale, the name of a town in Cumbria, derived from the name of the river Tyne combined with Old English
dæl "dale, valley".
Poirot French, LiteratureFrom a diminutive of French
poire "pear", originally referring to a pear merchant or someone who lived near a pear tree. Starting in 1920 this name was used by the mystery writer Agatha Christie for her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Christie based the name on that of Jules Poiret, a contemporary fictional detective.
Scherer GermanOccupational name for a cutter of cloth or a sheep-shearer, from Old High German
skeran "to cut".
Schouten DutchOccupational name derived from Middle Dutch
schout meaning
"sheriff, bailiff".
Hardy English, FrenchFrom Old French and Middle English
hardi meaning
"bold, daring, hardy", from the Germanic root *
harduz.
Tritten GermanOriginally denoted someone who lived by a set of steps, from Middle High German
trit "step".
Wallach YiddishFrom Middle High German
walch meaning
"foreigner (from a Romance country)".
Modugno ItalianFrom the town of Modugno, in Apulia in southern Italy. It is the surname of the Italian actor and singer Domenico Modugno (1928-1994).
Van Rijn DutchMeans
"from the Rhine". A famous bearer was the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669).
Daubney EnglishFrom any of the various towns in France called Aubigny, derived from the Gallo-Roman personal name
Albinus.
Dahlman SwedishFrom Swedish
dal (Old Norse
dalr) meaning "dale, valley" and
man (Old Norse
maðr) meaning "person, man".
Schuhmacher GermanFrom the Middle High German occupational name
schuochmacher meaning
"shoemaker".
Harley EnglishDerived from a place name meaning "hare clearing", from Old English
hara "hare" or
hær "rock, heap of stones" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Brennan IrishFrom Irish
Ó Braonáin meaning
"descendant of Braonán", a byname meaning "rain, moisture, drop" (with a diminutive suffix).
Haight EnglishTopographic name for someone who lived at the top of a hill, derived from Old English
heahþu "height, summit".
Tiryaki TurkishPossibly from a nickname meaning
"addict, opium user" in Turkish.
Odell EnglishOriginally denoted a person who was from Odell in Bedfordshire, derived from Old English
wad "woad" (a plant that produces a blue dye) and
hyll "hill".
Keen EnglishFrom Old English
cene meaning
"bold, brave".
Virgo EnglishPossibly from Latin
virgo "virgin, maiden". It may have been a nickname for an actor who played the Virgin Mary in mystery plays, or for a shy man or a lecher.
Esser GermanMeans
"cartwright", related to Old High German
ahsa "axle".
Arechavaleta SpanishOriginally indicated a person from the town of Aretxabaleta in Spain. It means "oak trees" in Basque.
Leblanc FrenchMeans
"the white" in French, from
blanc "white". The name referred to a person who was pale or whose hair was blond.
McCauley Irish, ScottishAnglicized form of Gaelic
Mac Amhalghaidh or
Mac Amhalghadha meaning
"son of Amhalghaidh". The given name
Amhalghaidh, from Old Irish
Amalgaid, is of uncertain meaning.
Barros Portuguese, SpanishFrom the Portuguese and Spanish word
barro meaning
"clay, mud". This could either be an occupational name for a person who worked with clay or mud such as a builder or artisan, or a topographic name for someone living near clay or mud.
Baarda FrisianFrom the name of the town of
Baard in the Netherlands, possibly derived from a given name that was a variant of
Bert.
Obando SpanishHabitational name for someone who came from Obando in Extremadura, Spain.
Fournier FrenchOccupational name for a baker, from French
fourneau meaning
"oven".
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.
Dalgaard DanishFrom Old Norse
dalr meaning "valley" and
garðr meaning "yard, farmstead".
Rovigatti ItalianFrom the name of the city of Rovigo in northeastern Italy near Venice. It was called
Rodigium in Latin, and is of unknown meaning.