Labriola ItalianOriginally indicated a person from the town of Abriola in southern Italy.
Lacey EnglishDerived from
Lassy, the name of a town in Normandy. The name of the town was Gaulish in origin, perhaps deriving from a personal name that was Latinized as
Lascius.
Lachance FrenchMeans
"chance, luck" in French, a nickname for a lucky person.
Lachapelle FrenchMeans
"the chapel" in French, most likely used to denote a person who lived by a church or a chapel.
Lacroix FrenchMeans
"the cross" in French. It denoted one who lived near a cross symbol or near a crossroads.
Laganà ItalianOccupational name for a greengrocer, meaning
"vegetables" in southern Italian dialects, ultimately from Greek
λάχανον (lachanon).
Lagorio ItalianFrom a nickname derived from Ligurian
lagö, referring to a type of lizard, the European green lizard. This little reptile is respected because it supposedly protects against vipers.
Laguardia ItalianOccupational name meaning
"sentry, sentinel" in Italian, also a locative name referring to a person who lived near a watchtower. Fiorello Laguardia (1882-1947) was the first mayor of New York of Italian origin.
Lagunov m RussianDerived from Russian
лагун (lagun) meaning
"water barrel". It was used to denote the descendants of a person who made water barrels.
Laird ScottishMeans
"landowner" in Scots, derived from northern Middle English
laverd "lord", from Old English
hlafweard.
Lama ItalianDerived from the name place
Lama, common in Italy.
Lamar French, EnglishOriginally from a place name in Normandy, derived from Old French
la mare meaning "the pool".
Lamb EnglishFrom the name of the animal, perhaps a nickname for a shy person.
Lamon ItalianFrom the name of the village of Lamon near the city of Belluno in Veneto, Italy.
Lamont ScottishFrom the medieval Gaelic given name
Lagmann, derived from Old Norse
lǫgmaðr meaning
"law man".
Landau German, JewishDerived from the town of Landau in the Palatinate region of Germany, of Old High German origin meaning "land valley".
Lane 1 EnglishOriginally designated one who lived by a lane, a narrow way between fences or hedges, later used of any narrow pathway, including one between houses in a town.
Lane 2 FrenchDerived from a French word meaning
"wool", designating one who worked in the wool trade.
Lane 3 IrishFrom Irish
Ó Luain meaning
"descendant of Luan", a given name meaning "warrior".
Langbroek DutchFrom the name of a small town in the province of Utrecht, Holland, derived from
lang meaning "wide" and
broek meaning "marsh, wetland".
Langdon EnglishDerived from the name of various places, of Old English origin meaning
"long hill" (effectively
"ridge").
Langford EnglishFrom any of various places in England with this name, derived from Old English
lang "long" and
ford "ford, river crossing".
Langley 1 EnglishFrom any of the various places with this name, all derived from Old English
lang "long" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Langston EnglishFrom any of the various locations in England with this name, derived from Old English
lang "long" and
stan "stone".
Láník m CzechDerived from Czech
lán, a measure of land equal to approximately 18 hectares. The name loosely translates as "farmer" and is considered a Moravian equivalent of
Sedlák.
Lantos HungarianMeans
"minstrel, bard, lutist" in Hungarian, from
lant meaning "lute".
Lapointe FrenchMeans
"the point (of a lance)" in French, possibly a nickname for a soldier.
Laporte FrenchMeans
"the door, the gateway" in French, from Latin
porta. This was a name for someone who lived near the town gates or who operated them.
Lara SpanishFrom the name of a village in Burgos, Spain. It might be derived from Latin
lar "household god, house, home".
Laterza ItalianFrom the name of the town of Laterza near Taranto in Apulia. It is typical of southern Italy.
Laukkanen FinnishFrom a nickname for a person who took big steps, from Finnish
laukka meaning
"canter, gallop".
Laurito ItalianFrom the name of the town of Laurito, near Salerno in the area of Naples.
Lavigne FrenchMeans
"the vineyard" in French, referring to a person who lived close to a vineyard, or was from the town of Lavigny.
Lavoie FrenchMeans
"the road, the lane" in French, a name for someone who lived close to a road.
Lawrence EnglishDerived from the given name
Laurence 1. Famous bearers include revolutionary T. E. Lawrence (1888-1935) and author D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930).
Layton EnglishDerived from the name of English towns, meaning "town with a leek garden" in Old English.
Lê VietnameseVietnamese form of
Li 2, from Sino-Vietnamese
黎 (lê). This is the third most common surname in Vietnam.
Leach EnglishOriginally indicated a person who was a physician, from the medieval practice of using leeches to bleed people of ills.
Leavitt EnglishFrom the name of various places called Livet in Normandy, France. They are possibly of Gaulish origin.
Lebeau FrenchNickname for a handsome person, from French
le "the" and
beau "beautiful, handsome".
Leblanc FrenchMeans
"the white" in French, from
blanc "white". The name referred to a person who was pale or whose hair was blond.
Lebrun FrenchFrom a nickname meaning
"the brown" in French, from
brun "brown".
Lecce ItalianOriginally indicated a person from Lecce, southern Italy. The town was known as
Licea or
Litium in Latin, earlier
Lupiae.
Lecomte FrenchMeans
"the count" in French, a nickname for someone in the service of a count or for someone who behaved like one.
Lécuyer FrenchFrom French
écuyer meaning
"squire, shield-bearer", from Latin
scutarius, a derivative of
scutum "shield".
Ledford EnglishFrom the name of English places called
Lydford, derived from
hlud meaning "loud, noisy" and
ford meaning "ford, river crossing".
Lee 1 EnglishOriginally given to a person who lived on or near a
leah, Old English meaning
"woodland, clearing".
Lee 2 Korean, ChineseKorean form of
Li 1, from Sino-Korean
李 (i). This is the second most common surname in South Korea. It is also a variant Chinese romanization of
Li 1.
Leeuwenhoek DutchMeans
"lion's corner" in Dutch. The first bearer of this name lived on the corner (Dutch
hoek) of the Lion's Gate (Dutch
Leeuwenpoort) in the city of Delft.
Lefèvre FrenchOccupational name meaning
"blacksmith" in Old French, derived from Latin
faber.
Lehmann GermanFrom Middle High German
lehenman meaning
"vassal, liege man".
Lehr GermanFrom Old High German
loh meaning
"meadow, clearing".
Leitner GermanReferred to one who lived on a hillside, from Middle High German
lite "slope".
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.
Lemaire FrenchMeans
"the mayor" in French. It was a title given to a town official, or else a nickname for someone who was pompous and officious.
Lémieux FrenchDerived from the place name
Leymieux, a town in the Rhône-Alpes region of France.
Lemoine FrenchMeans
"the monk" in French. This was typically a nickname or an occupational name for a person who worked in a monastery.
Lenin HistorySurname adopted by the Russian revolutionary and founder of the former Soviet state Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924), whose birth surname was
Ulyanov. He probably adapted it from the name of the River Lena in Siberia.
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).
Lennox ScottishFrom the name of a district in Scotland, called
Leamhnachd in Gaelic, possibly meaning "place of elms".
Lenz GermanFrom a nickname meaning
"springtime" in German.
León 1 SpanishReferred to a person from the city of León in northern Spain, derived from Latin
legio (genitive
legionis) meaning
"legion", so named because the Roman 7th Legion Gemina was stationed there.
Lepik EstonianMeans
"alder forest" in Estonian, from
lepp "alder tree".
Leroux FrenchMeans
"the red", from Old French
ros "red". This was a nickname for a person with red hair.
Leslie ScottishFrom a Scottish clan name, earlier
Lesselyn, derived from a place name in Aberdeenshire, itself probably from Gaelic
leas celyn meaning "garden of holly".
Lewandowski m PolishFrom the Polish estate name
Lewandów, which is itself possibly derived from a personal name or from
lawenda "lavender".
Lewis 1 EnglishDerived from the given name
Lewis. The author C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) was a bearer of this surname.
Li 1 ChineseFrom Chinese
李 (lǐ) meaning
"plum, plum tree". This was the surname of Chinese emperors of the Tang dynasty.
Liang ChineseFrom Chinese
梁 (liáng) referring to the ancient state of Liang, which existed from the 8th to 7th centuries BC in what is now Shaanxi province.
Liao ChineseFrom Chinese
廖 (liào) referring to the ancient state of Liao, which was located in present-day Henan province.
Lie NorwegianFrom Norwegian
li, Old Norse
hlíð meaning
"hillside, slope".
Lincoln EnglishOriginally indicated that the bearer was from the English city of Lincoln, called
Lindum Colonia by the Romans, derived from Brythonic
lindo "lake, pool" and Latin
colonia "colony". A famous bearer was Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), president of the United States during the American Civil War.
Lindgren SwedishFrom Swedish
lind meaning "linden tree" and
gren (Old Norse
grein) meaning "branch". A famous bearer of this name was Swedish author Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002).
Lindqvist SwedishOrnamental name derived from Swedish
lind meaning "linden tree" and
qvist (Old Norse
kvistr) meaning "twig, branch".
Linna FinnishMeans
"castle" in Finnish. A famous namesake is Väinö Linna (1920-1992), Finnish author of
The Unknown Soldier.
Linton EnglishOriginally from place names meaning either "flax town" or "linden tree town" in Old English.
Linwood EnglishOriginally from place names meaning "linden tree forest" in Old English.
Lis PolishMeans
"fox" in Polish, a nickname for a sly person.
Lister ScottishAnglicized form of the Gaelic
Mac an Fleisdeir meaning
"son of the arrow maker".
Lithgow ScottishHabitation name meaning derived from Brythonic roots meaning "pool hollow". A famous bearer of this name is actor John Lithgow (1945-).
Little EnglishMeaning simply
"little", it was originally a nickname given to a short person.
Liu ChineseFrom Chinese
刘 (liú) meaning
"kill, destroy". This was the surname of Chinese emperors of the Han dynasty.
Ljunggren SwedishOrnamental name derived from Swedish
ljung (Old Norse
lyng) meaning "heather" and
gren (Old Norse
grein) meaning "branch".
Ljungman SwedishFrom Swedish
ljung (Old Norse
lyng) meaning "heather" and
man (Old Norse
maðr) meaning "person, man".
Locatelli ItalianFrom Locatello, a town in Lombardy, northern Italy, near the city of Bergamo.
Löfgren SwedishOrnamental name derived from Swedish
löv (Old Norse
lauf) meaning "leaf" and
gren (Old Norse
grein) meaning "branch".
Logan ScottishFrom a Scottish place name meaning
"little hollow", derived from Gaelic
lag "hollow, pit".
Loman DutchFrom various place names in the Netherlands, derived from Old Dutch
loh meaning "meadow, clearing".
Lombardi ItalianOriginally indicated someone who came from the Lombardy region of northern Italy, which was named for the Lombards, a Germanic tribe who invaded in the 6th century. Their name is derived from the Old German roots
lang "long" and
bart "beard".
London EnglishFrom the name of the capital city of the United Kingdom, the meaning of which is uncertain.
Long EnglishOriginally a nickname for a person who had long limbs or who was tall.
Longstaff EnglishOccupational name for an official who was equipped with a ceremonial staff, or a nickname for a tall person.
Love EnglishFrom the Old English given name
Lufu meaning "love".
Lovelace EnglishFrom a nickname for a lothario, derived from Middle English
lufeles, Old English
lufuleas meaning
"loveless".
Lowell EnglishFrom a nickname derived from a Norman French
lou meaning
"wolf" and a diminutive suffix.
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.
Lozano SpanishMeans
"healthy, exuberant, lively" in Spanish, originally used as a nickname for an elegant or haughty person.
Lu 1 ChineseFrom Chinese
吕 (lǚ) meaning "musical note" and also referring to the former state of Lu, which was situated in what is now Henan province.
Lu 2 ChineseFrom Chinese
卢 (lú) meaning
"rice bowl, black", also referring to an ancient minor territory in what is now Shandong province.
Lum EnglishFrom the name of towns in England called
Lumb, probably from Old English
lum "pool".
Luna SpanishFrom various places in Spain meaning "moon".
Lund Danish, Swedish, NorwegianIndicated a person who lived near a grove of trees, from Old Norse
lundr meaning
"grove". There are towns in Sweden named Lund.
Luo ChineseFrom Chinese
罗 (luó) referring to the minor state of Luo, which existed from the 11th to 7th centuries BC in what is now Hubei province.