Surnames with Relationship "from word"

Aarden Dutch
From Dutch aarden meaning "earthen, clay". It denoted a person who worked with clay.

Abate Italian
From Italian abate meaning "abbot, priest", derived via Latin and Greek from an Aramaic word meaning "father". This was used either as a nickname or an occupational name for a worker in a priest's house.

Abbà Italian
Variant of Abate.

Abbadelli Italian
Means "little abbot" from Italian abate and the diminutive suffix -elli.

Abbate Italian
Variant of Abate.

Abbatelli Italian
Variant of Abbadelli.

Abbaticchio Italian
Means "little abbot" from Italian abate and the diminutive suffix -icchio, from Latin -iculus.

Abbott English
English cognate of Abate.

Abt German
German cognate of Abate.

Acciai Italian
Derived from medieval Italian accia meaning "axe", ultimately from Latin ascia.

Acciaio Italian
Variant of Acciai.

Acciaioli Italian
Variant of Acciai.

Acker German, English
Denoted a person who lived near a field, derived from Middle English aker or Middle High German acker meaning "field".

Ackerman English
Means "ploughman", derived from Middle English aker "field" and man.

Adler German, Jewish
Means "eagle" in German.

Agnelli Italian
From Italian agnello meaning "lamb" (ultimately from Latin agnus), denoting a pious or timid person.

Agnellini Italian
From a diminutive of Agnelli.

Agua Spanish
Means "water" in Spanish, indicating a person who lived near water or worked with water.

Aguado Spanish
Derived from Spanish agua "water", indicating a person who lived near water or worked with water.

Aguilar Spanish
From a place name that was derived from Spanish águila meaning "eagle", ultimately from Latin aquila.

Aguilera Spanish
From a place name that was derived from Spanish aguilera meaning "eagle's nest". A famous bearer is American singer Christina Aguilera (1980-).

Aho Finnish
Means "meadow, glade" in Finnish.

Ahonen Finnish
From Finnish aho meaning "meadow, glade".

Aiello Italian
From various place names in Italy, such as Aiello del Friuli, Aiello del Sabato and others. They are derived from Latin agellus meaning "little field".

Ajello Italian
Variant of Aiello.

Akerman English
Variant of Ackerman.

Akers English
Variant of Acker.

Akker Dutch
Dutch form of Acker.

Al-Amin Arabic
Means "the truthful" from Arabic أمين (ʾamīn).

Alba Spanish
From a Spanish nickname meaning "white".

Albero Italian
From Italian albero meaning "tree", ultimately from Latin arbor, referring to someone who lived in the woods or worked as a woodcutter.

Albescu Romanian
Derived from Romanian alb meaning "white".

Albu Romanian
From Romanian alb meaning "white".

Allegri Italian
From an Italian nickname derived from allegro meaning "quick, lively".

Allegro Italian
Variant of Allegri.

Anand Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi
Means "happiness, bliss" in Sanskrit.

Anker Dutch, Danish, Norwegian
Metonymic surname for a sailor, meaning "anchor" in Dutch, Danish and Norwegian.

Appelo Dutch
Indicated a person who was from a farm called Aperloo, probably a derivative of appel meaning "apple".

Apperlo Dutch
Variant of Appelo.

Arbeid Dutch
From Dutch arbeid meaning "work".

Arbeit German
From German arbeit meaning "work".

Arbore Italian
From Latin arbor meaning "tree".

Arena Italian
Italian cognate of Arenas.

Arenas Spanish
From various Spanish place names, which are derived from Spanish arena meaning "sand".

Argyris m Greek
Means "silver" in Greek.

Arterberry English
Variant of Atteberry.

Arterbury English
Variant of Atteberry.

Arts 2 Dutch
Dutch cognate of Arzt.

Arzt Dutch
Means "doctor, physician" in German, ultimately from Latin archiater.

Ash English
From Old English æsc meaning "ash tree", indicating a person who lived near ash trees.

Atteberry English
Means "dweller at the fortified town" from Middle English at and burh "fortified place".

Atterberry English
Variant of Atteberry.

Attwater English
Variant of Atwater.

Attwood English
Variant of Atwood.

Atwater English
From Middle English meaning "dweller at the water".

Atwood English
From Middle English meaning "dweller at the wood".

Aue German
From German meaning "meadow by a river, wetland". There are many places with this name in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Auer German
From German Aue, Old High German ouwa, meaning "meadow by a river, wetland".

Auteberry English
Variant of Atteberry.

Averill English
From Middle English aueril, Old French avrill meaning "April", perhaps indicating a person who was baptized in that month.

Baanders Dutch
Dutch cognate of Banner.

Baart Dutch
Means "beard" in Dutch, originally describing a person who wore a beard.

Baas Dutch
Means "boss, overseer" in Dutch.

Baasch Low German
From Middle Low German bas meaning "boss".

Babič Slovene
Slovene form of Babić.

Bach 1 German
Topographic 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).

Bach 2 Danish
Variant of Bak.

Bäcker German
Variant of Becker, mostly found in northern Germany.

Bager Danish
Danish cognate of Baker.

Baggins Literature
Created 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.

Baglio Italian
Italian cognate of Bailey.

Bagni Italian
From Italian bagno "bath", derived from Latin balneum, referring to a person who worked as a bath house attendant.

Bagnoli Italian
Diminutive form of Bagni.

Bai Chinese
From Chinese 白 (bái) meaning "white".

Bailey English
From Middle English baili meaning "bailiff", which comes via Old French from Latin baiulus "porter".

Bain English
Variant of Baines 2.

Baines 2 English
From a nickname derived from Old English ban "bones", probably for a thin person.

Bak Danish
Means "slope, hillside" in Danish, from Old Norse bakki "bank".

Baker English
Occupational name meaning "baker", derived from Middle English bakere.

Bakke Norwegian
Means "slope, hillside" in Norwegian, from Old Norse bakki "bank".

Bakken Norwegian
Means "the slope, the hillside" in Norwegian, from Old Norse bakki "bank".

Bakker Dutch
Dutch cognate of Baker, from Middle Dutch backere.

Ball English
From Middle English bal, Old English beall meaning "ball". This was either a nickname for a rotund or bald person, or a topographic name for someone who lived near a ball-shaped feature.

Ballard English
Variant of Ball using a pejorative suffix.

Balog Hungarian
Variant of Balogh.

Balogh Hungarian
Means "left handed" in Hungarian.

Banderas Spanish
Spanish cognate of Banner.

Banister English
Variant of Bannister.

Banner English
Occupational name for a flag carrier, derived from Old French baniere meaning "banner", ultimately of Germanic origin.

Bannister English
From Norman French banastre meaning "basket". This was originally a name for a maker of baskets.

Baran um Polish, Slovak, Ukrainian
Means "ram, male sheep" in Polish, Slovak and Ukrainian.

Barbu Romanian
From Romanian barbă meaning "beard".

Barnet English
Variant of Barnett.

Barnett English
Derived from Old English bærnet meaning "place cleared by burning".

Baron English, French
From the title of nobility, derived from Latin baro (genitive baronis) meaning "man, freeman", possibly from Frankish barō meaning "servant, man, warrior". It was used as a nickname for someone who worked for a baron or acted like a baron.

Barone Italian
Italian cognate of Baron.

Barr English
Indicated a person who lived near a barrier, from Old French barre.

Barre French
French cognate of Barr.

Barrera Spanish
Spanish cognate of Barr.

Barret English
Variant of Barrett.

Barrett English
Probably derived from the Middle English word barat meaning "trouble, deception", originally given to a quarrelsome person.

Barros Portuguese, Spanish
From 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.

Barsotti Italian
Probably from the medieval Latin word baro meaning "man, freeman" (of Frankish origin).

Barzetti Italian
Variant of Barsotti.

Bass English
English cognate of Basso.

Bassi Italian
Variant of Basso, common in northern Italy.

Basso Italian
Originally a nickname for a short person, from Latin bassus "thick, low".

Battaglia Italian
From a nickname meaning "battle" in Italian.

Battle English
From a nickname for a combative person. In some cases it may come from the name of English places called Battle, so named because they were sites of battles.

Bauer German
From Old High German bur meaning "peasant, farmer".

Bauers German
Variant of Bauer.

Baum German, Jewish
Means "tree" in German. A famous bearer was the American author L. Frank Baum (1856-1919).

Baumer German
Variant of Baum.

Baxter English
Variant (in origin a feminine form) of Baker.

Beake English
Variant of Beck 3.

Bean English
English cognate of Bohn.

Beck 1 English, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian
From Middle English bekke (from Old Norse), Low German beke or Old Norse bekkr all meaning "stream".

Beck 2 German
Variant of Becker, from southern German beck.

Beck 3 English
From a nickname for a person with a big nose, from Middle English bec meaning "beak".

Becke German
Variant of Beck 1 or Beck 2.

Becker German
Derived from Middle High German becker meaning "baker".

Beckert German
Variant of Becker.

Becket English
Variant of Beckett.

Beckett English
Originally a diminutive of Beck 1 or Beck 3.

Beech 1 English
English cognate of Bach 1.

Beech 2 English
Originally a name for a person who lived near a beech tree, from Old English bece.

Begum Indian (Muslim), Bengali (Muslim), Urdu, Punjabi
From a title traditionally used as an honorific for Muslim women in India and other parts of southern Asia. It is derived from a feminine form of the Turkic title beg meaning "chieftain" (modern Turkish bey).

Beitel German
Variant of Beutel.

Bellini Italian
From Italian bello meaning "beautiful".

Bello Spanish, Italian
Means "beautiful" in Spanish and Italian, originally a nickname for an attractive person.

Belloni Italian
Augmented form of Bello.

Belo Portuguese
Portuguese form of Bello.

Beran m Czech
Derived from Czech beran meaning "ram, male sheep".

Beránek m Czech
Means "little ram, male lamb" in Czech.

Berg German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
From Old High German, Old Dutch and Old Norse berg meaning "mountain".

Berge Norwegian, German, Swedish
Variant of Berg.

Berger 2 German, Dutch
Variant of Berg.

Berry English
Derived from a place name, which was derived from Old English burh "fortification".

Beutel German
From Middle High German biutel meaning "bag", originally belonging to a person who made or sold bags.

Bianchi Italian
From Italian bianco meaning "white", originally given to a person who was white-haired or extremely pale.

Bianco Italian
Variant of Bianchi.

Bieber German, Jewish
From Middle High German biber meaning "beaver", possibly a nickname for a hard worker.

Biondi Italian
Means "fair-haired, blond" in Italian. This name was borne by the American swimmer Matt Biondi (1965-).

Biondo Italian
Variant of Biondi.

Bird English
Occupational name for a person who raised or hunted birds.

Bischoffs German
German cognate of Bishop.

Bishop English
Means simply "bishop", ultimately from Greek ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos) meaning "overseer". It probably originally referred to a person who served a bishop.

Biškup Croatian
Croatian cognate of Bishop.

Biskup Polish
Polish cognate of Bishop.

Bisset English
From Old French bis meaning "drab, dingy", a nickname for someone who looked drab.

Bissette English
Variant of Bisset.

Björk Swedish
From Swedish björk meaning "birch tree", Old Norse bjǫrk.

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.

Blake English
Variant of Black. A famous bearer was the poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827).

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.

Blanchette French (Quebec)
Variant of Blanchet.

Blanco Spanish
Means "white" in Spanish. The name most likely referred to a person who was pale or had blond hair.

Blau German
Means "blue" in German, most likely used to refer to a person who wore blue clothes.

Blom Swedish
Means "bloom, flower" in Swedish.

Blue English
From a nickname for a person with blue eyes or blue clothing.

Blum German, Jewish
Means "flower" in German and Yiddish.

Blythe English
From Old English meaning "happy, joyous, blithe".

Böcker German
Variant of Böttcher.

Boer Dutch
Dutch cognate of Bauer.

Boerio Italian
From Italian boaro meaning "cowherd".

Boesch German, Low German
Variant of Bösch 1 or Bösch 2.

Bognár Hungarian
Hungarian form of Wagner.

Bohn German
Occupational name for a bean grower, derived from Middle High German bone "bean".

Bokor Hungarian
Topographic name derived from Hungarian bokor "bush". This is also the name of a village in Hungary.

Bokori Hungarian
Variant of Bokor.

Bondar Ukrainian
Means "cooper, barrel maker" in Ukrainian.

Bondarenko Ukrainian
Derived from Ukrainian бондар (bondar) meaning "cooper, barrel maker".

Bone 1 English
Derived from Old French bon meaning "good".

Bone 2 English
Variant of Baines 2.

Boon 1 English
Variant of Bone 1.

Boon 3 Dutch
Dutch cognate of Bohn.

Boone English
Variant of Boon 1 or Boon 2.

Booth English
Topographic name derived from Middle English both meaning "hut, stall".

Borde French
From Old French bord meaning "board, plank", derived from Frankish *bord. This name belonged to a person who lived in a house made of planks.

Borg Swedish
From Swedish borg meaning "fortification, castle".

Borghi Italian
Derived from Italian borgo meaning "village".

Borgnino Italian
From a nickname derived from the Piedmontese dialect word borgno meaning "one-eyed". This was the real surname of American actor Ernest Borgnine (1917-2012).

Bos Dutch
Variant of Bosch 1.

Bösch 2 Low German
Variant of Bosch 1.

Bosch 1 Dutch, Low German
Derived from Middle Dutch bosch meaning "wood, forest".

Bosch 2 Catalan
Catalan cognate of Bosco.

Bosco Italian
Means "forest" in Italian.

Boško m Slovak
Derived from Slovak bosý meaning "barefoot".

Bosko Polish
Derived from Polish bosy meaning "barefoot".

Bosque Spanish
Spanish form of Bosco.

Böttcher German
Occupational name meaning "cooper, barrel maker" in German.

Boucher French
Means "butcher" in French.

Bourdillon French
Diminutive form of Borde.

Bourgeois French
French cognate of Burgess.

Bourke English
Variant of Burke.

Bourne English
Derived from Old English burna "stream, spring".

Bourreau 1 French
Variant of Bureau.

Bouvier French
Means "cowherd" in French, from Latin boviarus, a derivative of bos "cow".

Bove Italian
Derived from an Italian nickname meaning "bull, ox".

Bover Catalan
Catalan cognate of Bove.

Boveri Italian
Variant of Bove.

Bower English
From Old English bur meaning "dwelling, room".

Bowers English
Variant of Bower.

Boyce English
From Old French bois meaning "wood", originally given to someone who lived by or in a wood.

Boyer Occitan
Occitan cognate of Bouvier.

Brand 2 German, Dutch
From 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.

Brandt German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch
Variant of Brand 1 or Brand 2.

Brant German, English
Variant of Brand 1 and Brand 2.

Braun German
Means "brown" in German.

Braune German
Variant of Braun.

Bravo Spanish, Portuguese
From a nickname meaning "angry, bold, brave" in Spanish and Portuguese.

Bret French
French form of Brett.

Brett English
Originally a name given to someone who was a Breton or a person from Brittany.

Bridges English
Originally denoted a person who lived near a bridge, or who worked as a bridgekeeper, derived from Middle English brigge, Old English brycg.

Briggs English
Variant of Bridges.

Brittain English
Variant of Britton.

Britton English
Originally given to a person who was a Briton (a Celt of England) or a Breton (an inhabitant of Brittany).

Brkić Croatian, Serbian
Derived from Serbo-Croatian brk meaning "moustache, whisker".

Brook English
Denoted a person who lived near a brook, a word derived from Old English broc.

Brooke English
Variant of Brook.

Brooks English
Variant of Brook.

Brotz German
Variant of Protz.

Brown English
Originally 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.

Browne English
Variant of Brown.

Bruhn German
Variant of Braun.

Bruin Dutch
Dutch cognate of Brown.

Brun French, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Means "brown" in French, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. It was originally a nickname for a person who had brown hair or skin.

Brune German
Variant of Braun.

Brunet French
From a diminutive of French brun meaning "brown".

Brunetti Italian
Diminutive of Bruno.

Bruno Italian, Portuguese
Means "brown" in Italian and Portuguese, a nickname for a person with brown hair or brown clothes. A famous bearer was the cosmologist Giordano Bruno (1548-1600).

Bueno Spanish
From a nickname meaning "good" in Spanish.

Buhr Low German
Low German form of Bauer.

Bùi Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of Pei, from Sino-Vietnamese 裴 (bùi).

Bul Dutch
Dutch cognate of Bull.

Bulgarelli Italian
Diminutive of Bulgari.

Bulgari Italian
Originally denoted a person who came from Bulgaria, which is named after the Turkic tribe of the Bulgars, itself possibly from a Turkic root meaning "mixed".

Bull English
From a nickname for a person who acted like a bull.

Bullock English
From a nickname meaning "young bull".

Buono Italian
From a nickname meaning "good" in Italian.

Bureau French
From Old French burel, a diminutive of bure, a type of woollen cloth. It may have originated as a nickname for a person who dressed in the material or as an occupational name for someone who worked with it.

Burgess English
From Middle English and Old French burgeis meaning "city-dweller", ultimately from Frankish burg "fortress".

Burke English, Irish
Derived from Middle English burgh meaning "fortress, fortification, castle". It was brought to Ireland in the 12th century by the Norman invader William de Burgh.

Burnett English
Means "brown" in Middle English, from Old French brunet, a diminutive of brun.

Burns 1 English, Scottish
Derived from Old English burna "stream, spring". A famous bearer was the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796).

Burrell English
English form of Bureau.

Burroughs English
Variant of Burrows.

Burrows English
Topographic 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".

Busch German
Means "bush" in German, a name for someone who lived close to a thicket.

Bush English
Originally a name for a person who lived near a prominent bush or thicket.

Butcher English
Occupational name for a butcher, derived from Old French bouchier.

Butler English, Irish
Occupational 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).

Byrd English
Variant of Bird.

Caballero Spanish
From a nickname derived from Spanish caballero meaning "knight", a cognate of Chevalier.

Cabral Portuguese
From places named from Late Latin capralis meaning "place of goats", derived from Latin capra meaning "goat".

Cabrera Spanish
From various place names derived from Late Latin capraria meaning "place of goats", from Latin capra meaning "goat".

Cai Chinese
From Chinese 蔡 (cài) referring to the ancient state of Cai that existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Henan province.

Calvo Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
Means "bald" in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, from Latin calvus.

Camacho Spanish, Portuguese
Meaning unknown, possibly related to the Celtic root *kambos meaning "crooked, twisted".

Campana Italian, Spanish
Occupational name from Late Latin campana meaning "bell", ultimately derived from the Italian region of Campania, where bells were produced.

Campo Spanish, Italian
Means "field" in Spanish and Italian.

Campos Portuguese, Spanish
Portuguese and Spanish variant of Campo.

Cao Chinese
From Chinese 曹 (cáo) referring to the ancient state of Cao, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Shandong province.

Capela Portuguese
Portuguese form of Kappel.

Capella Catalan
Catalan form of Kappel.

Capello 1 Italian
From Late Latin cappa meaning "cloak, cape, hood". This was a name for one who made or wore cloaks.

Capilla Spanish
Spanish form of Kappel.

Capitani Italian
Occupational name meaning "captain" in Italian, ultimately from Latin caput "head".

Carbone Italian
From a nickname for a person with dark features, from Italian carbone meaning "coal".

Carboni Italian
Variant of Carbone.

Cardoso Portuguese, Spanish
From a place name meaning "thorny" in Portuguese and Spanish, ultimately from Latin carduus.

Cardozo Spanish
Variant of Cardoso.

Carlevaro Italian
Northern Italian variant of Carnevale.

Carnevale Italian
From an Italian nickname meaning "carnival", perhaps given to a festive person.

Caro Spanish, Italian
From Spanish and Italian caro meaning "beloved".

Caron French
Variant of Charron.

Carpenter English
From the occupation, derived from Middle English carpentier (ultimately from Latin carpentarius meaning "carriage maker").

Carpentier French
French form of Carpenter.

Carr 1 Scottish, English
Variant of Kerr.

Casal Spanish
From the Spanish word casal meaning "farmhouse, country house", ultimately from Late Late casalis, from Latin casa.

Casale Italian
Italian cognate of Casal.

Casales Spanish
Variant of Casal.

Casas Spanish
From Spanish casa meaning "house", of Latin origin.

Case English
From Norman French casse meaning "box, case", ultimately from Latin capsa. This was an occupational name for a box maker.

Cash English
Variant of Case.

Castell Catalan
Catalan cognate of Castle.

Castelo Portuguese
Portuguese cognate of Castle.

Castillo Spanish
Spanish cognate of Castle.

Castle English
From Middle English castel meaning "castle", from Late Latin castellum, originally indicating a person who lived near a castle.

Castro Spanish, Portuguese
Means "castle" in Spanish and Portuguese, referring to one who lived near a castle. A famous bearer was Fidel Castro (1926-2016), revolutionary and president of Cuba.

Cattaneo Italian
Variant of Capitani used in Lombardy.

Cavallo Italian
Means "horse" in Italian, an occupational name for a horseman.

Çelik Turkish
Occupational name for a metalworker, meaning "steel" in Turkish.

Černík m Czech
Variant of Černý.

Černý m Czech
Means "black" in Czech.

Červenka m Czech
Variant of Červený.

Červený m Czech
Means "red" in Czech.

Chai Chinese
From Chinese 柴 (chái) meaning "firewood".

Chalupa m Czech
Means "cottage" in Czech.