Browse Surnames

This is a list of surnames in which the meaning contains the keywords black or white.
usage
meaning
Alba Spanish
From a Spanish nickname meaning "white".
Albescu Romanian
Derived from Romanian alb meaning "white".
Albu Romanian
From Romanian alb meaning "white".
Bai Chinese
From Chinese (bái) meaning "white".
Bianchi Italian
From Italian bianco meaning "white", originally given to a person who was white-haired or extremely pale.
Black English
Means either "black" (from Old English blæc) or "pale" (from Old English blac). It could refer to a person with a pale or a dark complexion, or a person who worked with black dye.
Blackman English
From a nickname, a variant of Black.
Blackwood English, Scottish
From an English place name meaning "black wood".
Blake English
Variant of Black. A famous bearer was the poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827).
Blakeley English
From name of various English places, derived from Old English blæc "black" and leah "woodland, clearing".
Blanc French
Means "white" in French. The name referred to a person who was pale, or whose hair was blond.
Blanchet French
From a diminutive of the name Blanc.
Blanco Spanish
Means "white" in Spanish. The name most likely referred to a person who was pale or had blond hair.
Cano Spanish
Means "white-haired, old" in Spanish, from Latin canus.
Černík m Czech
Variant of Černý.
Černý m Czech
Means "black" in Czech.
Čiernik m Slovak
Variant of Čierny.
Čierny m Slovak
Slovak cognate of Černý.
Crnčević Serbian, Croatian
Derived from Serbian and Croatian црн (crn) meaning "black".
De Wit Dutch
Variant of De Witte.
De Witte Dutch
Means "the white" in Dutch, a nickname for a person with white hair.
Fehér Hungarian
Means "white" in Hungarian, originally referring to a person with white hair or complexion.
Fekete Hungarian
Means "black" in Hungarian, originally a nickname for a person with dark hair or a dark complexion.
Karagiannis m Greek
From the Greek prefix καρα (kara) meaning "black, dark" (of Turkish origin) and the given name Giannis.
Karamazov Literature
Created by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky for his novel The Brothers Karamazov (1879), about three brothers and their murdered father. Dostoyevsky may have based it on Tartar/Turkic кара (kara) meaning "black" and Russian мазать (mazat) meaning "stain". The connection to black is implied in the novel when one of the brothers is accidentally addressed as Mr. Черномазов (Chernomazov), as if based on Russian чёрный meaning "black".
Kilduff Irish
From the Irish Mac Giolla Dhuibh meaning "son of the black-haired man".
Kuroda Japanese
From Japanese (kuro) meaning "black" and (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Kuroiwa Japanese
From Japanese (kuro) meaning "black" and (iwa) meaning "cliff, rocks".
Kuroki Japanese
From Japanese (kuro) meaning "black" and (ki) meaning "tree, wood".
Kurosawa Japanese
From Japanese (kuro) meaning "black" and 沢 or 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh". A notable bearer was Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), a Japanese film director.
Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of Li 2, from Sino-Vietnamese (). This is the third most common surname in Vietnam.
Leblanc French
Means "the white" in French, from blanc "white". The name referred to a person who was pale or whose hair was blond.
Li 2 Chinese
From Chinese () meaning "black".
Lu 2 Chinese
From Chinese () meaning "rice bowl, black", also referring to an ancient minor territory in what is now Shandong province.
Mac Dhuibh Scottish Gaelic
Means "son of Dubh", where the byname Dubh means "dark".
Mustonen Finnish
Derived from Finnish musta meaning "black".
Negrescu Romanian
Patronymic derived from Romanian negru "black".
Negri Italian
Nickname derived from Italian negro "black", used to refer to someone with dark hair or dark skin.
Negrini Italian
Variant of Negri.
Neri Italian
From Italian nero "black", indicating a person with a dark complexion or dark hair.
Neroni Italian
Variant of Neri.
Nieddu Italian
From Sardinian nieddu meaning "black", derived from Latin niger.
Nieri Italian
Either a variant of Neri, or from the Italian name Raniero.
Nigro Italian
Variant of Negri.
Ó Duibh Irish
Means "descendant of Dubh", Dubh being a byname meaning "dark".
Schwarz German, Jewish
Means "black" in German, from Old High German swarz. It originally described a person with black hair or a dark complexion.
Schwarzenberg German
Means "black mountain" in German.
Schwarzenegger German
From a place name, derived from Old High German swarz meaning "black" and ekka meaning "edge, corner". A famous bearer of this name is actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger (1947-).
Shirai Japanese
From Japanese (shira) meaning "white" and (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".
Shiraishi Japanese
From Japanese (shira) meaning "white" and (ishi) meaning "stone".
Shirakawa Japanese
From Japanese (shira) meaning "white" and (kawa) meaning "river, stream".
Shiratori Japanese
From Japanese (shira) meaning "white" and (tori) meaning "bird".
Villalba Spanish
Denoted a person from one of the various Spanish places by this name. It is derived from Spanish villa "town" and alba "white".
Weiss German, Yiddish
From Middle High German wiz or Yiddish װייַס (vais) meaning "white". This was originally a nickname for a person with white hair or skin.
Weiß German
Variant of Weiss.
Whitaker English
From a place name composed of Old English hwit "white" and æcer "field".
White English
Originally a nickname for a person who had white hair or a pale complexion, from Old English hwit "white".
Whitehead English
Nickname for someone with white or light-coloured hair, from Old English hwit "white" and heafod "head".
Whittemore English
From various English place names derived from Old English hwit "white" and mor "moor, heath, bog".
Whittle English
From various English place names derived from Old English hwit "white" and hyll "hill".