Asturias SpanishFrom the name of a region in Spain, formerly a medieval kingdom. It is possibly derived from Basque
asta "rock" and
ur "water".
Bach 1 GermanTopographic name for someone who lived by a stream, from Middle High German
bach meaning
"stream". This name was borne by members of the Bach musical family, notably the composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).
Bachmann GermanDenoted a person who lived near a stream, from Middle High German
bach "stream" and
man "man".
Banks EnglishOriginally indicated someone who lived near a hillside or a bank of land.
Bannister EnglishFrom Norman French
banastre meaning
"basket". This was originally a name for a maker of baskets.
Barker EnglishFrom Middle English
bark meaning
"to tan". This was an occupational name for a leather tanner.
Barnes EnglishDenoted a person who worked or lived in a barn. The word
barn is derived from Old English
bere "barley" and
ærn "dwelling".
Barrett EnglishProbably derived from the Middle English word
barat meaning
"trouble, deception", originally given to a quarrelsome person.
Baum German, JewishMeans
"tree" in German. A famous bearer was the American author L. Frank Baum (1856-1919).
Berger 1 FrenchOccupational name meaning
"shepherd", from Old French
bergier.
Blair ScottishFrom any one of several places of this name in Scotland, which derive from Gaelic
blàr meaning "plain, field, battlefield".
Blake EnglishVariant of
Black. A famous bearer was the poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827).
Bonner EnglishFrom Middle English
boneire "kind, courteous", derived from Norman French
bon aire "good bloodline".
Boyd ScottishFrom the name of the Scottish island of Bute (
Bód in Gaelic), which is of unknown meaning.
Brand 2 German, DutchFrom Old High German
brant or Old Dutch
brand meaning
"fire", originally a name for a person who lived near an area that had been cleared by fire.
Brontë IrishVariant of
Brunty adopted by the Irish-born Englishman Patrick Brunty (1777-1861) as an adult. He was the father of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, each prominent authors.
Brown EnglishOriginally a nickname for a person who had brown hair or skin. A notable bearer is Charlie Brown from the
Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schulz.
Bukowski m PolishOriginally denoted someone who came from a place called
Bukowo or
Bukowiec, which derive from Polish
buk meaning "beech".
Burgess EnglishFrom Middle English and Old French
burgeis meaning
"city-dweller", ultimately from Frankish
burg "fortress".
Burnett EnglishMeans
"brown" in Middle English, from Old French
brunet, a diminutive of
brun.
Burns 1 English, ScottishDerived from Old English
burna "stream, spring". A famous bearer was the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796).
Butler English, IrishOccupational 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).
Calderón SpanishOccupational name for a person who made, repaired or sold cauldrons or kettles, from Spanish
calderón "cauldron", from Late Latin
caldaria.
Cameron ScottishMeans
"crooked nose" from Gaelic
cam "crooked" and
sròn "nose".
Camus FrenchMeans
"flat-nosed" in French. A notable bearer was the French philosopher Albert Camus (1913-1960).
Cao ChineseFrom Chinese
曹 (cáo) referring to the ancient state of Cao, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Shandong province.
Carpenter EnglishFrom the occupation, derived from Middle English
carpentier (ultimately from Latin
carpentarius meaning "carriage maker").
Carroll IrishFrom the given name
Cearbhall. A famous bearer was Lewis Carroll (1832-1898), whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the author of
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Carter EnglishOccupational name for a person who operated a cart to transport goods, from Norman French
caretier. A famous bearer is the former American president Jimmy Carter (1924-).
Carver EnglishOccupational surname for a carver, from Middle English
kerve "cut".
Castañeda SpanishHabitational name from any of various places called Castañeda, from a Spanish word meaning
"chesnut grove", itself derived from
castaña meaning "chesnut".
Cervantes SpanishPossibly from Old Spanish
servanto meaning
"servant" or
ciervo meaning
"stag". A famous bearer was the Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616).
Chandler EnglishOccupational name meaning
"candle seller" or
"candle maker" in Middle English, ultimately derived from Latin
candela via Old French.
Clancy IrishFrom Irish
Mac Fhlannchaidh meaning
"descendant of Flannchadh". The given name
Flannchadh means "red warrior".
Clark EnglishMeans
"cleric" or
"scribe", from Old English
clerec meaning "priest", ultimately from Latin
clericus. A famous bearer was William Clark (1770-1838), an explorer of the west of North America.
Clemens EnglishDerived from the given name
Clement. This was the surname of the author Samuel Clemens (1835-1910), also known as Mark Twain.
Clifton EnglishDerived from various place names meaning "settlement by a cliff" in Old English.
Cody IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Ó Cuidighthigh or
Mac Óda. A famous bearer was the American frontiersman and showman Buffalo Bill Cody (1846-1917).
Coelho PortugueseFrom the Portuguese word for
"rabbit", either a nickname or an occupational name referring to a hunter or seller of rabbits.
Collins 1 IrishAnglicized form of
Ó Coileáin. A famous bearer was Michael Collins, an Irish nationalist leader who was assassinated in 1922.
Cullen 1 EnglishFrom the name of the German city of
Cologne, which was derived from Latin
colonia "colony".
Cunningham 1 ScottishFrom the name of place in the Ayrshire district of Scotland. It possibly comes from Gaelic
cuinneag meaning "milk pail".
Dahl Norwegian, Swedish, DanishFrom Old Norse
dalr meaning
"valley". A famous of this surname was author Roald Dahl (1916-1990) who is mostly remembered for children's stories such as
Matilda and
Henry Sugar.
Dexter EnglishOccupational name meaning
"dyer" in Old English (originally this was a feminine word, but it was later applied to men as well).
Dickens EnglishFrom the medieval given name
Dicun, a medieval diminutive of
Dick 1. A famous bearer of this surname was the British author Charles Dickens (1812-1870).
Dickinson EnglishMeans
"son of Dicun",
Dicun being a medieval diminutive of
Dick 1. American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was a famous bearer.
Douglas ScottishFrom the name of a town in Lanarkshire, itself named after a tributary of the River Clyde called the Douglas Water, derived from Gaelic
dubh "dark" and
glais "water, river" (an archaic word related to
glas "grey, green"). This was a Scottish Lowland clan, the leaders of which were powerful earls in the medieval period.
Doyle IrishFrom the Irish
Ó Dubhghaill, which means
"descendant of Dubhghall". A famous bearer was Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), the author of the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories.
Du ChineseFrom Chinese
杜 (dù) meaning
"stop, prevent" or
"birchleaf pear tree".
Duffy 1 IrishDerived from Irish
Ó Dubhthaigh meaning
"descendant of Dubthach". Their original homeland was Monaghan where the surname is still the most common; they are also from Donegal and Roscommon.
Dumas FrenchMeans
"from the farm", from Occitan
mas "farmhouse", from Latin
mansus "dwelling". A famous bearer was the French author Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870).
Dunbar ScottishFrom the name of a town in East Lothian, Scotland, derived from Gaelic
dùn meaning "fort" and
barr meaning "summit", so called from its situation on a rock that projects into the sea.
Ellison EnglishPatronymic form of the English name
Ellis, from the medieval given name
Elis, a vernacular form of
Elijah.
Emerson EnglishMeans
"son of Emery". The surname was borne by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), an American writer and philosopher who wrote about transcendentalism.
Faulkner English, ScottishOccupational name meaning
"keeper of falcons", from Middle English and Scots
faulcon, from Late Latin
falco, of Germanic origin.
Fitzgerald IrishMeans
"son of Gerald" in Anglo-Norman French. It was brought to Ireland with William the Conqueror. A famous bearer was Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), an American jazz singer.
Fleming EnglishGiven to a person who was a Fleming, that is a person who was from
Flanders in the Netherlands.
Fletcher EnglishOccupational name for a fletcher, someone who attached feathers to the shaft of an arrow. It is derived from Old French
fleche meaning "arrow".
Flynn IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Ó Floinn meaning
"descendant of Flann".
Ford EnglishName given to someone who lived by a ford, possibly the official who maintained it. A famous bearer was the American industrialist Henry Ford (1863-1947).
Foster 2 EnglishOccupational name for a scissor maker, derived from Old French
forcetier.
Foster 3 EnglishOccupational name for a maker of saddle trees, derived from Old French
fustier.
Foster 4 EnglishNickname given to a person who was a foster child or foster parent.
Frank 3 German, Dutch, Danish, NorwegianName for a person from Franconia in Germany, so called because it was settled by the Frankish people. A notable bearer was the German-Jewish diarist Anne Frank (1929-1945), a victim of the Holocaust.
Frost English, GermanFrom Old English and Old High German meaning
"frost", a nickname for a person who had a cold personality or a white beard.
Fuentes SpanishMeans
"spring, well" in Spanish, derived from Latin
fons.
Fuller EnglishOccupational name for a fuller, a person who thickened and cleaned coarse cloth by pounding it. It is derived via Middle English from Latin
fullo.
García SpanishFrom a medieval given name of unknown meaning, possibly related to the Basque word
hartz meaning "bear". This is the most common surname in Spain.
Garcia Portuguese, SpanishPortuguese form of
García. It is also an unaccented form of the Spanish name used commonly in America and the Philippines.
Gilliam EnglishVariant of
William. A famous bearer of the name is cartoonist and filmmaker Terry Gilliam (1940-).
Graham Scottish, EnglishDerived from the English place name
Grantham, which probably meant "gravelly homestead" in Old English. The surname was first taken to Scotland in the 12th century by William de Graham.
Gray EnglishFrom a nickname for a person who had grey hair or grey clothes.
Green EnglishDescriptive name for someone who often wore the colour green or someone who lived near the village green.
Grimm GermanFrom a nickname for a stern person, derived from Old High German
grim "stern, severe, angry". Famous bearers include Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859), known for compiling German folktales.
Grünberg German, JewishFrom German
grün meaning "green" and
Berg meaning "mountain". This name indicated a person who lived on or near a forest-covered mountain.
Haggard EnglishFrom a nickname meaning
"wild, untamed, worn", from Old French, ultimately from a Germanic root.
Haley EnglishFrom the name of an English town meaning "hay clearing", from Old English
heg "hay" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Hardy English, FrenchFrom Old French and Middle English
hardi meaning
"bold, daring, hardy", from the Germanic root *
harduz.
Hart EnglishMeans
"male deer". It was originally acquired by a person who lived in a place frequented by harts, or bore some resemblance to a hart.
Hawthorne EnglishDenoted a person who lived near a hawthorn bush, a word derived from Old English
hagaþorn, from
haga meaning "enclosure, yard" and
þorn meaning "thorn bush". A famous bearer was the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), author of
The Scarlet Letter.
Hayden 1 EnglishFrom place names meaning either
"hay valley" or
"hay hill", derived from Old English
heg "hay" and
denu "valley" or
dun "hill".
Higgins IrishFrom Irish
Ó hUiginn meaning
"descendant of Uiginn".
Uiginn is a byname meaning "Viking".
Hill EnglishOriginally given to a person who lived on or near a hill, derived from Old English
hyll.
Hilton EnglishFrom various English place names derived from Old English
hyll "hill" and
tun "enclosure, town". Famous bearers of this name include the Hilton family of hotel heirs.
Hogan IrishFrom Irish
Ó hÓgáin meaning
"descendant of Ógán". The given name
Ógán is a diminutive of
óg meaning "young".
Holmes English, ScottishVariant of
Holme. A famous fictional bearer was Sherlock Holmes, a detective in Arthur Conan Doyle's mystery stories beginning in 1887.
Hooker EnglishOriginally applied to one who lived near a river bend or corner of some natural feature, from Old English
hoc "angle, hook".
Hope EnglishDerived from Middle English
hop meaning
"small valley".
Horowitz JewishFrom the German name of Hořovice, a town in the Czech Republic. Its name is derived from Czech
hora "mountain".
Huxley EnglishFrom the name of a town in Cheshire. The final element is Old English
leah "woodland, clearing", while the first element might be
hux "insult, scorn". A famous bearer was the British author Aldous Huxley (1894-1963).
Hyland 1 EnglishTopographic name meaning
"high land", from Old English
heah and
land.
Ibsen DanishMeans
"son of Ib". A famous bearer was the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906).
Ionesco RomanianVariant of
Ionescu. French-Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco (1909-1994), born
Ionescu, is a famous bearer of this surname.
Jackson EnglishMeans
"son of Jack". Famous bearers of this name include the American president Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) and the singer Michael Jackson (1958-2009).
Jennings EnglishFrom the given name
Jenyn, a diminutive of
Jen, itself a Middle English form of
John.
Johnson EnglishMeans
"son of John". Famous bearers include American presidents Andrew Johnson (1808-1875) and Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973).
Jonker DutchFrom the Dutch title
jonkheer meaning
"young lord". It was originally a medieval noble designation (not an actual title) for a young nobleman.
Jordan 2 JewishDerived from the name of the Jordan river, which is from Hebrew
יָרַד (yaraḏ) meaning "descend" or "flow down".
Kafka m CzechDerived from Czech
kavka meaning
"jackdaw". A notable bearer was the author Franz Kafka (1883-1924).
Kennedy IrishFrom the Irish name
Ó Cinnéidigh meaning
"descendant of Cennétig". This surname was borne by assassinated American president John F. Kennedy (1917-1963).
Kerr Scottish, EnglishFrom Scots and northern Middle English
kerr meaning
"thicket, marsh", ultimately from Old Norse
kjarr.
Khan Urdu, Pashto, BengaliFrom a title meaning
"king, ruler", probably of Mongolian origin but used in many languages.
King EnglishFrom Old English
cyning "king", originally a nickname for someone who either acted in a kingly manner or who worked for or was otherwise associated with a king. A famous bearer was the American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968).
Kipling EnglishFrom the name of a town in Yorkshire, of Old English origin meaning "Cyppel's people", from a given name
Cyppel of unknown meaning. A famous bearer of this name was the author Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936).
Klein German, Dutch, JewishMeans
"small, little" from German
klein or Yiddish
kleyn. A famous bearer of this name is clothes designer Calvin Klein (1942-).
Knight EnglishFrom Old English
cniht meaning
"knight", a tenant serving as a mounted soldier.
Lawrence EnglishDerived from the given name
Laurence 1. Famous bearers include revolutionary T. E. Lawrence (1888-1935) and author D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930).
Leblanc FrenchMeans
"the white" in French, from
blanc "white". The name referred to a person who was pale or whose hair was blond.
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.
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.
Leroux FrenchMeans
"the red", from Old French
ros "red". This was a nickname for a person with red hair.
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.
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).
London EnglishFrom the name of the capital city of the United Kingdom, the meaning of which is uncertain.
Lowell EnglishFrom a nickname derived from a Norman French
lou meaning
"wolf" and a diminutive suffix.
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.
MacDonald ScottishAnglicized form of Scottish Gaelic
MacDhòmhnaill meaning
"son of Donald". It originates from the Highland clan Donald.
Mann German, EnglishFrom a nickname meaning
"man". This may have originally been given in order to distinguish the bearer from a younger person with the same name.
Marsh EnglishOriginally denoted one who lived near a marsh or bog, derived from Old English
mersc "marsh".
Martel 2 French, EnglishNickname for a smith, derived from Old French
martel "hammer", ultimately from Late Latin
martellus.
McCabe Irish, ScottishMeans
"son of Cába", where
Cába is a byname meaning "cape, cloak" (from Latin
cappa).
McCullough IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Mac Cú Uladh meaning
"son of Cú Uladh". The byname
Cú Uladh means "hound of Ulster". This surname has also been associated with Old Irish
cullach "boar".
Melville ScottishFrom the place name
Malleville meaning "bad town" in Norman French.
Metz 1 GermanOccupational name for maker of knives, from Middle High German
metze "knife".
Meyer 1 GermanFrom Middle High German
meier meaning
"bailiff, administrator", derived from Latin
maior meaning "greater". Later it also denoted a tenant farmer. The spellings
Meier and
Meyer are more common in northern Germany while
Maier and
Mayer are more common in southern Germany.
Middleton EnglishOriginally denoted a person who lived in one of the numerous English towns by this name, derived from Old English
middel "middle" and
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
Miller EnglishOccupational surname meaning
"miller", referring to a person who owned or worked in a grain mill, derived from Middle English
mille "mill".
Mills EnglishOriginally given to one who lived near a mill or who worked in a mill, from Middle English
mille.
Milne ScottishFrom Scots and Middle English
milne (a variant of
mille) meaning
"mill".
Milton EnglishDerived from an English place name meaning "mill town" in Old English. A famous bearer was John Milton (1608-1674), the poet who wrote "Paradise Lost".
Mitchell 2 EnglishOriginally a nickname for a large person, from Old English
micel "big".
Montgomery English, ScottishFrom a place name in Calvados, France meaning "
Gumarich's mountain". A notable bearer was Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976), a British army commander during World War II.
Moore 1 EnglishOriginally indicated a person who lived on a moor, from Middle English
mor meaning
"open land, bog".
Moore 3 EnglishNickname for a person of dark complexion, from Old French
more, Latin
maurus, meaning
"Moorish".
Müller GermanGerman equivalent of
Miller, derived from Middle High German
mülnære or
müller.
Munro ScottishDesignated a person who had originally lived near the mouth of the Roe River in Derry, Ireland. It is derived from Gaelic
bun meaning "root, base" combined with the river's name.
Murphy IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Ó Murchadha meaning
"descendant of Murchadh". This is the most common Irish surname.
Musil m CzechPossibly from a nickname meaning
"the one who had to", from the past participle of the Czech verb
muset meaning "must" (of Germanic origin).
Nash EnglishDerived from the Middle English phrase
atten ash "at the ash tree". A famous bearer was the mathematician John Nash (1928-2015).
Nelson 1 EnglishMeans
"son of Neil". This name was borne by the British admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805).