Althaus GermanName for a person dwelled in or by an old house, from German
alt "old" and
haus "house".
Anholts DutchOriginally denoted a person from Anholt in the Netherlands, which means "hold, rest" in Dutch (a place where people could rest for the night).
Arenas SpanishFrom various Spanish place names, which are derived from Spanish
arena meaning
"sand".
Arias SpanishPossibly derived from a medieval given name of Germanic origin.
Asís SpanishOriginally denoted a person from the Italian city of Assisi (called
Asís in Spanish).
Asturias SpanishFrom the name of a region in Spain, formerly a medieval kingdom. It is possibly derived from Basque
asta "rock" and
ur "water".
Ayers 3 EnglishIndicated a person from the town of Ayr in Scotland. The town was named for the river that flows through it, itself derived from an Indo-European root meaning "water".
Baars DutchIndicated a person coming from the town of Beers in the Netherlands.
Backus EnglishMeans
"bakery", an occupational name for a baker, from Old English
bæchus literally "bake house".
Baggins LiteratureCreated by J. R. R. Tolkien for the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the hero of
The Hobbit (1937), and also for his cousin Frodo Baggins, the hero of
The Lord of the Rings (1954). He probably derived it from the English word
bag. The Baggins family home was called Bag End, and Tolkien himself had an aunt who owned a farm by this name, so that may have been his inspiration. Tolkien used English-like translations of many hobbit names; according to his notes the real hobbit-language form of the surname was
Labingi.
Baines 2 EnglishFrom a nickname derived from Old English
ban "bones", probably for a thin person.
Balčiūnas m LithuanianFrom a given name that was derived from Lithuanian
baltas meaning "white".
Banks EnglishOriginally indicated someone who lived near a hillside or a bank of land.
Barnes EnglishDenoted a person who worked or lived in a barn. The word
barn is derived from Old English
bere "barley" and
ærn "dwelling".
Barros Portuguese, SpanishFrom the Portuguese and Spanish word
barro meaning
"clay, mud". This could either be an occupational name for a person who worked with clay or mud such as a builder or artisan, or a topographic name for someone living near clay or mud.
Bonfils FrenchDerived from Old French
bon fils meaning
"good son".
Boros HungarianDerived from Hungarian
bor "wine". Originally it could have indicated someone who made or sold wine.
Brahms GermanDerived from the given name
Abraham. A famous bearer of this surname was the German composer Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).
Bridges EnglishOriginally denoted a person who lived near a bridge, or who worked as a bridgekeeper, derived from Middle English
brigge, Old English
brycg.
Brisbois FrenchReferred to a person who cleared land, from Old French
briser "to cut" and
bois "forest".
Bureš m CzechDerived from a diminutive of the old Czech given name
Burjan, a derivative of
Jan 1.
Burgess EnglishFrom Middle English and Old French
burgeis meaning
"city-dweller", ultimately from Frankish
burg "fortress".
Burns 1 English, ScottishDerived from Old English
burna "stream, spring". A famous bearer was the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796).
Burrows EnglishTopographic name derived from Old English
beorg meaning
"hill, mountain" or
burg meaning
"fort". Alternatively, it could come from a compound of
bur "room, cottage, dwelling" and
hus "house".
Butkus m LithuanianPossibly from a given name that was derived from Lithuanian
būti meaning "to be, to exist".
Butts EnglishFrom a nickname meaning
"thick, stumpy", from Middle English
butt.
Camus FrenchMeans
"flat-nosed" in French. A notable bearer was the French philosopher Albert Camus (1913-1960).
Cárdenas SpanishFrom the name of towns in the Spanish provinces of Almería and La Rioja. They are derived from Spanish
cárdeno "blue, purple".
Casas SpanishFrom Spanish
casa meaning
"house", of Latin origin.
Cervantes SpanishPossibly from Old Spanish
servanto meaning
"servant" or
ciervo meaning
"stag". A famous bearer was the Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616).
Chambers EnglishFrom Old French
chambre meaning
"chamber, room", an occupational name for a person who worked in the inner rooms of a mansion.
Chaves Portuguese, SpanishFrom the name of a Portuguese city, derived from the Roman name
Flavius (being named for the emperor Vespasian, whose family name was Flavius).
Clemens EnglishDerived from the given name
Clement. This was the surname of the author Samuel Clemens (1835-1910), also known as Mark Twain.
Collins 1 IrishAnglicized form of
Ó Coileáin. A famous bearer was Michael Collins, an Irish nationalist leader who was assassinated in 1922.
Comtois FrenchIndicated a person from Franche-Comté, a province in eastern France, which translates to "free county".
Contreras SpanishFrom the name of a town in Burgos, Spain, derived from Late Latin
contraria meaning "area opposite".
Coombs EnglishFrom Old English
cumb meaning
"valley", the name of several places in England.
Coutts ScottishFrom the name of the town of Cults in Aberdeenshire, derived from a Gaelic word meaning "woods".
Cross EnglishLocative name meaning
"cross", ultimately from Latin
crux. It denoted one who lived near a cross symbol or near a crossroads.
Curtis EnglishNickname for a courteous person, derived from Old French
curteis meaning
"refined, courtly".
Daalmans DutchOriginally indicated a person who lived in a valley, from Dutch
dal meaning "dale, valley" and
man meaning "man".
Dallas 2 ScottishFrom the name of a place in Moray, Scotland possibly meaning
"meadow dwelling" in Gaelic.
Davis English, ScottishMeans
"son of David". This was the surname of the revolutionary jazz trumpet player Miles Davis (1926-1991).
Desrosiers FrenchMeans
"from the rose bushes", from French
rosier "rose bush". It probably referred to a person who lived close to, or cared for a rose garden.
De Vries DutchMeans
"the Frisian" in Dutch, referring to a person from Friesland.
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).
Dobos HungarianDerived from Hungarian
dob meaning
"drum". Originally the name was given to someone who played drums or made them.
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.
Dubois FrenchMeans
"from the forest", from French
bois "forest".
Dumas FrenchMeans
"from the farm", from Occitan
mas "farmhouse", from Latin
mansus "dwelling". A famous bearer was the French author Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870).
Dupuis FrenchMeans
"from the well", from Old French
puts, Latin
puteus "well".
Erdős HungarianOccupational name meaning
"forester", derived from Hungarian
erdő "forest".
Fejes HungarianDerived from Hungarian
fej meaning
"head", originally a nickname applied to a stubborn person.
Fields EnglishName for a person who lived on or near a field or pasture, from Old English
feld.
Freitas PortugueseMeans
"broken" in Portuguese, a name for one who lived on broken, stony ground.
Fries GermanDenoted someone from Frisia, an area along the coastal region of the North Sea stretching from Netherlands to Germany.
Fuchs GermanFrom Old High German
fuhs meaning
"fox". It was originally a nickname for a person with red hair.
Fuentes SpanishMeans
"spring, well" in Spanish, derived from Latin
fons.
Gajos PolishDerived from Polish
gaj meaning
"grove, thicket".
Gass GermanName for someone who lived on a street in a city, from German
gasse.
Gates EnglishOriginally denoted a person who lived near the town gates.
Glass English, GermanFrom Old English
glæs or Old High German
glas meaning
"glass". This was an occupational name for a glass blower or glazier.
Graves EnglishOccupational name for a steward, derived from Middle English
greyve, related to the German title
Graf.
Gros FrenchMeans
"thick, fat, big" in French, from Late Latin
grossus, possibly of Germanic origin.
Groß GermanFrom Old High German
groz meaning
"tall, big".
Groves EnglishFrom Old English
graf meaning
"grove". This originally indicated a person who lived near a grove (a group of trees).
Guinness IrishVariant of
McGuinness. The name is well known because of the Guinness brand of ale, established in 1759 by Arthur Guinness.
Haanraads DutchOriginally indicated a person from Haanrade, a small village in the south of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands.
Hayes 1 EnglishFrom various English place names that were derived from Old English
hæg meaning
"enclosure, fence". A famous bearer was American President Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893).
Higgins IrishFrom Irish
Ó hUiginn meaning
"descendant of Uiginn".
Uiginn is a byname meaning "Viking".
Hines IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Ó hEidhin meaning
"descendant of Eidhin", a given name or byname of unknown origin.
Hobbes EnglishDerived from the medieval given name
Hob. A famous bearer of this name was British political philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the author of
Leviathan.