Surnames Starting with B

usage
Brunet French
From a diminutive of French brun meaning "brown".
Brunetti Italian
Diminutive of Bruno.
Bruno Italian, Portuguese
Means "brown" in Italian and Portuguese, a nickname for a person with brown hair or brown clothes. A famous bearer was the cosmologist Giordano Bruno (1548-1600).
Brunty Irish
Variant of Prunty.
Bryan English
From the given name Brian.
Bryant English
From the given name Brian.
Bryce English
From the given name Brice.
Bryson English
Means "son of Brice".
Brzezicka f Polish
Feminine form of Brzezicki.
Brzezicki m Polish
Derived from Polish brzezina meaning "birch grove".
Buchanan Scottish
From the name of a region in Stirlingshire, Scotland, which means "house of the canon" in Gaelic.
Buchholz German
From Middle High German buoche "beech" and holz "wood".
Buchvarov m Bulgarian
Alternate transcription of Bulgarian Бъчваров (see Bachvarov).
Buchvarova f Bulgarian
Alternate transcription of Bulgarian Бъчварова (see Bachvarova).
Buckley 1 English
From an English place name derived from bucc "buck, male deer" and leah "woodland, clearing".
Buckley 2 Irish
From Irish Ó Buachalla meaning "descendant of Buachaill", a nickname meaning "cowherd, servant".
Budai Hungarian
Originally indicated a person from the Hungarian city of Buda (one of the two cities that were joined to make Budapest in 1873).
Buday Hungarian
Variant of Budai.
Budny Polish
Possibly from Polish buda meaning "hut, cabin".
Bueno Spanish
From a nickname meaning "good" in Spanish.
Buffone Italian
Means "jester, joker" in Italian.
Buhr Low German
Low German form of Bauer.
Bùi Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of Pei, from Sino-Vietnamese (bùi).
Büki Hungarian
Derived from the name of the Bükk Mountains, which means "beech tree" in Hungarian (probably of Slavic origin).
Bukowska f Polish
Feminine form of Bukowski.
Bukowski m Polish
Originally denoted someone who came from a place called Bukowo or Bukowiec, which derive from Polish buk meaning "beech".
Bul Dutch
Dutch cognate of Bull.
Bulgarelli Italian
Diminutive of Bulgari.
Bulgari Italian
Originally 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".
Bull English
From a nickname for a person who acted like a bull.
Bullard English
Possibly a nickname derived from Middle English bole "fraud, deceit".
Bulle Dutch
From the given name Boele.
Bullens Dutch
Means "son of Boele".
Bullock English
From a nickname meaning "young bull".
Bunker English
Derived from Old French bon cuer meaning "good heart".
Bunnag Thai
From the name of Bunnag, an 18th-century general of Persian heritage.
Bunschoten Dutch
Originally indicated a person from the Dutch town of Bunschoten, which might mean "raised, enclosed land".
Buonarroti Italian
From the medieval Italian given name Buonarroto meaning "good increase". This was the surname of the Renaissance painter and sculptor Michelangelo (1475-1564).
Buono Italian
From a nickname meaning "good" in Italian.
Burakgazi Turkish
Possibly from the given name Burak and Arabic غازي (ghāzī) meaning "warrior".
Bureau French
From 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.
Bureš m Czech
Derived from a diminutive of the old Czech given name Burjan, a derivative of Jan 1.
Burešová f Czech
Feminine form of Bureš.
Burgess English
From Middle English and Old French burgeis meaning "city-dweller", ultimately from Frankish burg "fortress".
Burgstaller German
From German Burg "fortress, castle" and Stelle "place, position". This was a name given to a person dwelling at or near such a site.
Burke English, Irish
Derived from Middle English burgh meaning "fortress, fortification, castle". It was brought to Ireland in the 12th century by the Norman invader William de Burgh.
Burnett English
Means "brown" in Middle English, from Old French brunet, a diminutive of brun.
Burnham English
From the name of various towns in England, typically derived from Old English burna "stream, spring" and ham "home, settlement".
Burns 1 English, Scottish
Derived from Old English burna "stream, spring". A famous bearer was the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796).
Burns 2 Irish
Variant of O'Byrne.
Burrell English
English form of Bureau.
Burrows English
Topographic name derived from Old English beorg meaning "hill, mountain" or burg meaning "fort". Alternatively, it could come from a compound of bur "room, cottage, dwelling" and hus "house".
Burton English
From a common English place name, derived from Old English meaning "fortified town".
Busch German
Means "bush" in German, a name for someone who lived close to a thicket.
Bush English
Originally a name for a person who lived near a prominent bush or thicket.
Bustillo Spanish
From the name of Spanish towns, diminutive forms of Busto.
Busto Spanish, Italian
From the name of towns in Spain and Italy, derived from Late Latin bustum meaning "ox pasture".
Bustos Spanish
Variant of Busto.
Butcher English
Occupational name for a butcher, derived from Old French bouchier.
Butkienė f Lithuanian
Feminine form of Butkus. This form (or Butkuvienė) is used by married women.
Butkus m Lithuanian
Possibly from a given name that was derived from Lithuanian būti meaning "to be, to exist".
Butkutė f Lithuanian
Feminine form of Butkus. This form is used by unmarried women.
Butkuvienė f Lithuanian
Feminine form of Butkus. This form (or Butkienė) is used by married women.
Butler English, Irish
Occupational name derived from Norman French butiller "wine steward", ultimately from Late Latin butticula "bottle". A famous bearer of this surname is the fictional character Rhett Butler, created by Margaret Mitchell for her novel Gone with the Wind (1936).
Butts English
From a nickname meaning "thick, stumpy", from Middle English butt.
Byqvist Swedish
Derived from Swedish by (Old Norse býr) meaning "village" and qvist (Old Norse kvistr) meaning "twig, branch".
Byrd English
Variant of Bird.
Byrne Irish
Variant of O'Byrne.
Byrnes Irish
Variant of O'Byrne.
Byström Swedish
From Swedish by (Old Norse býr) meaning "village" and ström (Old Norse straumr) meaning "stream".