Surnames Starting with C

usage
Connell Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Conaill meaning "descendant of Conall".
Conner English
From Middle English connere meaning "inspector", an occupational name for an inspector of weights and measures.
Connery Irish
Variant of Conroy.
Connolly Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Conghalaigh, which means "descendant of Conghalach". Conghalach is a nickname meaning "valiant".
Connor Irish
Variant of O'Connor.
Conroy Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Conaire, which means "descendant of Conaire". Conaire is a nickname meaning "hound keeper".
Constable English
From Old French conestable, ultimately from Latin comes stabuli meaning "officer of the stable".
Constantin Romanian, French
From the given name Constantin.
Constantino Portuguese
From the given name Constantino.
Conti Italian
From the Italian noble title conte meaning "count", derived from Latin comes (genitive comitis) meaning "companion, attendant". It denoted a person who worked for a count or behaved like one.
Contreras Spanish
From the name of a town in Burgos, Spain, derived from Late Latin contraria meaning "area opposite".
Conway Welsh, English
From the name of the River Conwy in Wales, or the town situated at the mouth of the river. It is possibly derived from Welsh cyn "foremost" and the common river name suffix wy.
Cook English
Derived 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.
Cooke English
Variant of Cook.
Cookson English
Patronymic form of Cook.
Coolen Dutch
From the given name Nicolaas.
Coombs English
From Old English cumb meaning "valley", the name of several places in England.
Cooney Irish
From Irish Ó Cuana meaning "descendant of Cuana". Cuana probably means "handsome, elegant". The Cooney sept originated in County Tyrone.
Cooper English
Means "barrel maker", from Middle English couper.
Copperfield Literature
Created from the English words copper and field by the author Charles Dickens, who used it for the title character in his novel David Copperfield (1850).
Coppola Italian
From 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.
Corcoran Irish
From Irish Ó Corcráin meaning "descendant of Corcrán", a given name derived from the Gaelic word corcair "purple".
Corey English
Derived from the Old Norse given name Kóri, of unknown meaning.
Corleone Sicilian, Literature
From the name of the town of Corleone in Sicily, which is of uncertain meaning. This surname is well known from the novel The Godfather (1969) by Mario Puzo, as well as the films based on his characters. The story tells how Vito Andolini comes to America from Sicily, receiving the new surname Corleone at Ellis Island, and starts a criminal empire based in New York.
Corna Italian
Derived from the names of places in northern Italy, especially Lombardy, from a word that means "crag, cliff" in the Lombard dialect.
Cornell English
Derived from the given name Cornelius.
Cornett English
Derived from Old French cornet meaning "horn", referring to one who worked as a horn blower.
Corrà Italian
From a short form of the given name Corrado.
Correa Spanish
Spanish form of Correia.
Correia Portuguese
Means "leather strap, belt" in Portuguese, denoting a person who worked with leather products.
Cortés Spanish
Means "polite, courteous" in Spanish.
Corti Italian
From Italian corte meaning "court, yard".
Corvi Italian
Nickname derived from Italian corvo meaning "crow".
Corwin English
Derived from Old French cordoan "leather", ultimately from the name of the Spanish city of Cordova.
Cory English
Variant of Corey.
Ćosić Croatian, Serbian
From Croatian and Serbian ćosav "beardless", ultimately from Persian کوسه (kūseh) meaning "shark".
Costa Portuguese, Italian, Catalan
Means "riverbank, slope, coast" in Portuguese, Italian and Catalan, ultimately from Latin meaning "side, edge".
Costantini Italian
From the given name Costantino.
Costanzo Italian
From the given name Costanzo.
Coste French
French form of Costa.
Côté French
French form of Costa.
Cotterill English
Derived from Middle English cotter meaning "cottager", referring to a small tenant farmer.
Couch Cornish
From Cornish cough "red", indicating the original bearer had red hair.
Coughlan Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Cochláin.
Coughlin Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Cochláin.
Coumans Dutch
Variant of Koopman.
Coupe English
From Middle English coupe meaning "barrel", a name for a barrel maker or cooper.
Courtemanche French
Means "short sleeve" in French.
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".
Courtenay 2 English
From the Old French nickname court nes meaning "short nose".
Courtois French
French form of Curtis.
Cousineau French
Derived from Old French cosin meaning "cousin".
Coutts Scottish
From the name of the town of Cults in Aberdeenshire, derived from a Gaelic word meaning "woods".
Couture French
Means "tailor" in Old French.
Cowden English
From various English place names, which meaning either "coal valley", "coal hill" or "cow pasture" in Old English.
Cox English
Patronymic form of Cock.
Coy English
Means "quiet, shy, coy" from Middle English coi.
Cracchiolo Italian
Derived from Italian cracchiola, referring to a chicory-like vegetable.
Craig Scottish
Derived from Gaelic creag meaning "crag, rocks, outcrop", originally belonging to a person who lived near a crag.
Crawford English
From a place name derived from Old English crawe "crow" and ford "river crossing". A notable bearer was the American actress Joan Crawford (1904-1977), born Lucille Fay LeSueur.
Crawley English
From various place names derived from Old English crawe "crow" and leah "woodland, clearing".
Cremaschi Italian
From the name of the city of Crema in Lombardy, northern Italy.
Cremona Italian
From the Italian city of Cremona, south of Milan, in Lombardy.
Cremonesi Italian
From the name of the Italian city of Cremona in Lombardy.
Crespi Italian
Variant of Crespo.
Crespo Spanish, Portuguese, Italian
Referred to a person with curly hair, from Latin crispus meaning "curly".
Crewe English
Originally denoted someone from Crewe in Cheshire, which is from Welsh criu "weir, dam, fish trap".
Crisp English
English cognate of Crespo.
Cristea Romanian
From the given name Cristian.
Crnčević Serbian, Croatian
Derived from Serbian and Croatian црн (crn) meaning "black".
Croce Italian
Italian form of Cross.
Crocetti Italian
Italian diminutive form of Croce.
Croft English
From Old English croft meaning "enclosed field".
Cropper English
Occupational name derived from Middle English croppe "crop", referring to a fruit picker or a crop reaper.
Crosby English
From the name of various towns in England, derived from Old Norse kross "cross" (a borrowing from Latin crux) and býr "farm, settlement".
Cross English
Locative name meaning "cross", ultimately from Latin crux. It denoted one who lived near a cross symbol or near a crossroads.
Crouch English
Variant of Cross.
Crowley 1 Irish
From the Irish name Ó Cruadhlaoich meaning "descendant of Cruadhlaoch", a given name meaning "hardy hero".
Cruickshank Scottish
From a nickname meaning "bent leg" in Scots.
Cruyssen Dutch
From the name of a place in the Netherlands, derived from kruis "cross".
Cruz Spanish, Portuguese
Spanish and Portuguese cognate of Cross.
Császár Hungarian
Hungarian form of Kaiser.
Cseh Hungarian
Means "Czech" in Hungarian.
Csintalan Hungarian
Means "mischievous, naughty" in Hungarian.
Csizmadia Hungarian
Means "bootmaker" in Hungarian.
Csonka Hungarian
Means "maimed, mutilated" in Hungarian.
Csorba Hungarian
From a nickname meaning "chipped, jagged" in Hungarian.
Čtvrtník m Czech
Derived from Czech čtvrtlán meaning "one quarter of a lán", where a lán is a medieval Czech measure of land (approximately 18 hectares). The name denoted someone who owned this much land.
Čtvrtníková f Czech
Feminine form of Čtvrtník.
Cucinotta Italian
Derived from a diminutive of Italian cucina meaning "kitchen".
Cuéllar Spanish
Derived from the name of the town of Cuéllar in the Segovia province of Spain. It may be derived from Latin collis meaning "hill".
Cuesta Spanish
Spanish form of Costa.
Cuevas Spanish
Derived from Spanish cueva meaning "cave".
Cuijper Dutch
Variant of Kuiper.
Cuijpers Dutch
Variant of Kuiper.
Cullen 1 English
From the name of the German city of Cologne, which was derived from Latin colonia "colony".
Cullen 2 Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Coileáin or Ó Cuilinn.
Cummins English, Scottish, Irish
From the Old Breton given name Cunmin, a cognate of Cuimín, introduced to Britain at the time of the Norman Conquest.
Cunha Portuguese
From any of the numerous places in Portugal called Cunha, possibly from Portuguese cunha meaning "wedge".
Cunningham 1 Scottish
From the name of place in the Ayrshire district of Scotland. It possibly comes from Gaelic cuinneag meaning "milk pail".
Cunningham 2 Irish
From Irish Ó Cuinneagáin meaning "descendant of Cuinneagán", a diminutive of Conn.
Cuocco Italian
Italian cognate of Cook.
Cuoco Italian
Italian cognate of Cook.
Curie French
Occupational name for a farm hand, from Old French éscuerie "stable". Famous bearers were the married scientists Marie (1867-1934) and Pierre Curie (1859-1906), who studied radioactivity.
Curran Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Corraidhín meaning "descendant of Corraidhín".
Curry Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Comhraidhe or Ó Corra.
Curtis English
Nickname for a courteous person, derived from Old French curteis meaning "refined, courtly".
Cuyler Dutch
Variant of Kuijlaars or Koole.
Cuyper Dutch
Variant of Kuiper.
Cuypers Dutch
Variant of Kuiper.
Cvetkov m Bulgarian
Alternate transcription of Bulgarian Цветков (see Tsvetkov).
Cvetkova f Bulgarian
Alternate transcription of Bulgarian Цветкова (see Tsvetkova).
Czajka Polish
Means "lapwing (bird)" in Polish.
Czajkowska f Polish
Feminine form of Czajkowski.
Czajkowski m Polish
Originally indicated a person from any of the Polish towns named Czajków, all derived from Polish czajka meaning "lapwing (bird)".