Vacca ItalianMeans
"cow" in Italian, originally denoting a person who worked with cattle.
Vadas HungarianFrom Hungarian
vad meaning
"wild", either a nickname or an occupational name for a hunter of wild game.
Vale PortugueseMeans
"valley" in Portuguese, ultimately from Latin
vallis.
Valenti ItalianPatronymic from the given name
Valente, an Italian form of
Valens. A famous bearer of the surname was Jack Valenti (1921-2007), advisor to American president Lyndon Johnson.
Valiente SpanishFrom a nickname derived from Spanish
valiente meaning
"brave".
Valjean LiteratureCreated by Victor Hugo for Jean Valjean, the hero of his novel
Les Misérables (1862). The novel explains that his father, also named Jean, received the nickname Valjean or Vlajean from a contraction of French
voilá Jean meaning
"here's Jean".
Vámos HungarianMeans
"customs officer" in Hungarian, a derivative of
vám "customs".
Van Aalsburg DutchMeans
"from Aalsburg", which is possibly
Adelsburg, composed of
adal "noble" and
burg "fortress".
Van Aggelen DutchDenoted someone from Aggelen, which could refer to Achel in the Belgian province of Limburg or Egchel in the Dutch province of Limburg.
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.
Van Aller DutchMeans
"from the Aller", a river in Germany, of uncertain meaning.
Van Alphen DutchMeans
"from Alphen", a town in the Netherlands. It is derived from the name of the Roman fort
Albaniana, itself from Latin
albus "white".
Van Alst DutchMeans
"from Aalst", the name of towns in Belgium and the Netherlands, which is possibly from Germanic *
alhs meaning "temple, shelter".
Van Amelsvoort DutchMeans
"from Amersfoort", a city in the Netherlands. It means "ford of the Amer (Eem) River" in Dutch.
Van Amstel DutchMeans
"from Amstel", a Dutch river that means "water area".
Van Andel DutchMeans
"from Andel", a town in the Netherlands, possibly meaning "upper forest" in Old Dutch.
Van As DutchMeans
"from Asch", a town in the Netherlands, meaning "ash tree".
Van Assen DutchMeans
"from Assen", a city in the Netherlands, which is possibly from
essen meaning "ash trees".
Van Baarle DutchMeans
"from Baarle", a town in both the Netherlands and Belgium.
Van Bokhoven DutchMeans
"from Bokhoven", a small town in the province of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands. It means "goat yards" in Dutch.
Van Breda DutchMeans
"from Breda", a city in the province of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands. It is derived from Dutch
breed meaning "wide" and
Aa, the name of a river.
Van Buggenum DutchMeans
"from Buggenum", a small town in the middle of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands.
Van Buren DutchMeans
"from Buren", a small town on the island of Ameland in the north of the Netherlands, as well as a small city in the Dutch province Gelderland. The place names derive from Old Dutch
bur meaning "house, dwelling". In the 16th century the countess Anna van Buren married William of Orange, the founder of the Dutch royal family. A famous bearer of this surname was Martin van Buren (1782-1862), the eighth President of the United States.
Vance EnglishIndicated a dweller by a fen, from Old English
fenn meaning
"fen, marsh".
Van Dalen DutchMeans
"from the valley", from Old Dutch
dal meaning "valley".
Van den Berg DutchMeans
"from the mountain", derived from Dutch
berg meaning "mountain".
Van der Aart DutchMeans
"from the earth", derived from Dutch
aarde "earth". It perhaps referred to either an earth bank or to a farmer.
Van der Stoep DutchMeans
"from the paved entrance", from Dutch
stoep meaning "paved porch at the entrance to a house".
Van der Veen DutchMeans
"from the swamp", from Dutch
veen "fen, swamp, peat". It originally indicated a person who resided in a peat district or fen colony.
Van der Zee DutchMeans
"from the sea" in Dutch. The original bearer may have been someone who lived on the coast.
Van Donk DutchMeans
"from the hill", derived from Dutch
donk meaning "(sandy) hill".
Van Hassel DutchMeans
"from Hassel", a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It may be derived from Old Dutch
hasal meaning "hazel tree".
Van Heel DutchMeans
"from Heel", a small town in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands.
Van Herten DutchMeans
"from Herten", a small town in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. The town's name comes from Dutch
herten, the plural of
hert meaning "deer".
Van Hofwegen DutchMeans
"from Hofwegen", a town in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands, itself derived from Dutch
hof "garden, courtyard" and
weg "way, path, road".
Van Kan DutchMeans
"from Kanne", a town in the province of Limburg in Belgium. The meaning of the town's name is unknown.
Van Laar DutchDerived from Dutch
laar (plural
laren), which means
"open spot in the forest". These areas were used to graze cattle for example.
Van Middelburg Dutch (Rare)Means
"from Middelburg", the name of a city in Zeeland in the Netherlands, itself meaning "middle fortress" in Dutch.
Vann EnglishFrom Old English
fenn meaning
"fen, swamp", indicating a person who lived near such a place.
Van Niftrik DutchMeans
"from Niftrik", a town in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands.
Van Oirschot DutchMeans
"from Oirschot", a town in the province of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands. It is possibly from Dutch
oeros meaning "aurochs" and
schoot meaning "projection (of land)".
Van Ophoven DutchMeans
"from Ophoven", the name of towns in the Netherlands. Their names mean "upper gardens, upper courtyards" in Dutch.
Van Rompaey Flemish, DutchMeans
"from the wide path", derived from Middle Dutch
ruum "roomy, spacious" combined with
pat "path".
Van Rossum DutchMeans
"from Rossum", a town in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. It is mentioned as
Rotheheim in a 9th-century document, and is derived from Dutch
rothe "cleared area in a forest" and
heim "home".
Van Tonder DutchMeans
"from Tønder", a town in Denmark near the German border.
Van Wegberg DutchMeans
"from Wegberg", a small town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, close to the Dutch border. It is derived from old German
weg "way, path, road" and
berg "mountain".
Van Wieren Frisian, DutchMeans
"from Wieren". This is the name of towns in Frisia and other parts of the Netherlands, which mean "seaweed".
Varano ItalianDerived from one of the many towns of this name in Italy.
Varela SpanishDerived from Spanish
vara "stick". It may have originally been given to one who used a stick in his line of work, for example an animal herder.
Vargas Spanish, PortugueseMeans
"slope, flooded field, pastureland" or
"hut", from the Spanish and Portuguese dialectal word
varga.
Varley EnglishOriginally denoted a person from Verly, France, itself derived from the Roman name
Virilius.
Vass HungarianDerived from Hungarian
vas meaning
"iron", referring to a worker in iron, a miner of iron ore or a vendor of iron goods. Alternatively, from the same root word, it may have been a nickname referring to one with a distinctively strong constitution.
Vaughan WelshFrom Welsh
bychan (mutated to
fychan) meaning
"little". It was a descriptive name to distinguish father from son.
Vega SpanishFrom Spanish
vega meaning
"meadow, plain", of Basque origin.
Vela SpanishDerived from Spanish
vela meaning
"sail" or the homonym
vela meaning
"watchful".
Venäläinen FinnishMeans
"Russian" in Finnish. This name was originally used by the ethnic Finns who lived on the Russian side of the border.
Ventimiglia ItalianFrom the name of the historical Italian city Ventimiglia, now near the French border, ultimately from Latin
Albintimilium.
Verhoeven DutchMeans
"from the farm" in Dutch, derived from
hoeve "farm", and so indicated a person who lived on a farm.
Verity EnglishFrom a nickname meaning
"truth", perhaps given originally to a truthful person.
Vernon EnglishLocational name in the Eure region of Normandy, from the Gaulish element
vern "alder (tree)" with the genitive case maker
onis.
Verona ItalianFrom the name of the city of Verona, one of the most important historical cities of northern Italy. The meaning of the city's name is uncertain.
Ververs DutchOccupational name derived from Dutch
verver meaning
"dyer, painter".
Veselý CzechFrom a nickname meaning
"cheerful" in Czech.
Vestergaard DanishFrom a place name, derived from Danish
vest "west" and
gård "farm, yard".
Vicario Spanish, ItalianMeans
"vicar" in Spanish and Italian, an ecclesiastic title used to denote a representative of a bishop. It is derived from Latin
vicarius meaning "substitute, deputy".
Vico ItalianMeans
"town" in Italian, derived from Latin
vicus.
Villa Italian, SpanishMeans
"town" in Italian and Spanish, from Latin. It was originally given to a person who came from a town, as opposed to the countryside.
Villalobos SpanishDenoted a person from the town of Villalobos, Spain, which is derived from Spanish
villa "town" and
lobo "wolf".
Villanueva SpanishOriginally denoted someone who came from one of the various Spanish towns by this name, derived from
villa "town" and
nueva "new".
Villaverde SpanishOriginally denoted a person from one of the various Spanish towns by this name, derived from
villa "farm, settlement" and
verde "green".
Vincent 2 IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Mac Dhuibhinse meaning
"son of Duibhinse", a given name meaning "black island".
Vinci 2 ItalianOriginally indicated a person from Vinci near Florence, the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci.
Vinogradov RussianMeans
"vineyard" in Russian (ultimately from German), referring to a person who worked at a vineyard or lived near one.
Vipond EnglishFrom
Vieux-Pont, the name of various places in Normandy, derived from French
vieux "old" and
pont "bridge".
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.
Virtanen FinnishDerived from Finnish
virta meaning
"stream". This is the second most common surname in Finland.
Visser DutchOccupational name meaning
"fisherman" in Dutch.
Vivas CatalanFrom the Catalan byname
vivas meaning
"may you live", which was bestowed upon children to bring good luck.
Vlasák CzechDerived from Czech
vlas "hair", probably referring to a barber or a person who bought and sold hair.
Vlašič SlovenePatronymic from the nickname
Vlah meaning
"Romanian".
Vlček CzechDiminutive form of Czech
vlk meaning
"wolf".
Vogel German, DutchFrom Old High German and Old Dutch
fogal meaning
"bird". It was originally an occupational name for a bird catcher, or a nickname for a person who liked to sing.
Vogt GermanOccupational name from Middle High German
voget meaning
"bailiff, administrator, steward", ultimately from Latin
advocatus.
Volk GermanDerived from given names beginning with the Old High German element
folk meaning "people".
Voll 1 NorwegianOriginally indicated a person who lived in a meadow, from Old Norse
vǫllr "meadow, field".
Voltolini ItalianFrom the name of the alpine valley of Valtellina in Lombardy, northern Italy.
Von Brandt GermanMeans
"from the area cleared by fire", from Middle High German
brant.
Von Essen GermanMeans
"from Essen", a city in Germany, possibly a derivative of Old High German
asc meaning "ash tree".
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).
Vonnegut GermanPossibly from the German words
von meaning "from, of, by" and
gut meaning "good". A famous bearer was the American author Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007).
Vörös HungarianMeans
"red" in Hungarian, referring to a person with red hair or face.
Voss GermanFrom Middle Low German
vos meaning
"fox". It was originally a nickname for a clever person or a person with red hair.
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".
Vroom Dutch, FlemishFrom a nickname derived from Dutch
vroom meaning
"pious, devout".
Vrubel CzechFrom a nickname derived from Czech
vrabec meaning
"sparrow".