This is a list of surnames in which the order is random.
Cantù ItalianFrom Cantù, an Italian town located in Lombardy, itself of uncertain origin.
Kirk EnglishFrom northern Middle English
kirk meaning
"church", from Old Norse
kirkja (cognate of
Church). A famous fictional bearer is the starship captain James Kirk from the
Star Trek television series (1966-1969), and subsequent films.
Panza Italian, LiteratureFrom a variant of the Italian word
pancia meaning
"stomach, paunch", originally a nickname for a chubby person. The Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes used it in his novel
Don Quixote (1605), where it is the surname of Don Quixote's squire Sancho Panza. Not a common Spanish surname, Cervantes may have based it directly on the Spanish word
panza (a cognate of the Italian word).
Woodrow EnglishFrom a place name meaning
"row of houses by a wood" in Old English.
Fukui JapaneseDenoted a person who was from Fukui prefecture in Japan.
Ljunggren SwedishOrnamental name derived from Swedish
ljung (Old Norse
lyng) meaning "heather" and
gren (Old Norse
grein) meaning "branch".
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).
Uccello ItalianMeans
"bird" in Italian, either a nickname for a person who resembled a bird or an occupational name for a birdcatcher.
Calabrese ItalianOriginally given to a person who came from the region of Calabria in southern Italy.
Hartley EnglishHabitational name for someone originally from any of the various locations in England named Hartley, from Old English
heorot "hart, male deer" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Navrátil m CzechMeans
"returned" in Czech, from the verb
navrátit "to return", perhaps used to denote a person who came home following a long absence.
Lyon 2 English, FrenchFrom a nickname derived from Old French and Middle English
lion meaning
"lion".
Melsbach GermanFrom the name of a German town, possibly meaning "mill stream".
Schnur German, JewishFrom Old High German
snuor meaning
"rope, cord", an occupational name for a maker of rope.
McGuire IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Mag Uidhir meaning
"son of Odhar", a given name meaning "pale-coloured".
Heeren DutchFrom Dutch
heer "lord, master", a nickname for a person who acted like a lord or who worked for a lord.
Villaverde SpanishOriginally denoted a person from one of the various Spanish towns by this name, derived from
villa "town" and
verde "green".
Kiefer 2 GermanOccupational name for a barrel maker, derived from Old High German
kuofa meaning
"barrel".
Hooper EnglishOccupational name for someone who put the metal hoops around wooden barrels.
Schwarzenegger GermanFrom 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-).
Hackett EnglishFrom a diminutive of the medieval byname
Hake, which was of Old Norse origin and meant "hook".
Agnelli ItalianFrom Italian
agnello meaning
"lamb" (ultimately from Latin
agnus), denoting a pious or timid person.
Rounds EnglishPatronymic derived from Middle English
rond meaning
"round, plump", ultimately from Latin
rotundus.
Burns 1 English, ScottishDerived from Old English
burna "stream, spring". A famous bearer was the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796).
Nasato ItalianNickname for someone with a prominent nose, from Italian
naso "nose".
Boyce EnglishFrom Old French
bois meaning
"wood", originally given to someone who lived by or in a wood.
Padilla SpanishFrom various Spanish place names, derived from Spanish
padilla, Latin
patella meaning "shallow dish", used to indicate a depression in the landscape.
Holmgren SwedishOrnamental name derived from Swedish
holme (Old Norse
holmr) meaning "small island" and
gren (Old Norse
grein) meaning "branch".
Dufort FrenchMeans
"from the fort", from French
fort "stronghold".
Bieber German, JewishFrom Middle High German
biber meaning
"beaver", possibly a nickname for a hard worker.
Farnham EnglishIndicated a person from any of the various towns named Farnham in England, notably in Surrey. Their names are from Old English
fearn "fern" and
ham "home, settlement" or
ham "water meadow, enclosure".
Harding EnglishDerived from the given name
Heard. A famous bearer was American president Warren G. Harding (1865-1923).
Szweda PolishDerived from Polish
Szwed meaning
"Swede, person from Sweden".
Janvier FrenchEither from the given name
Janvier or the French word
janvier meaning
"January", perhaps indicating a person who was baptized in that month.
Horáček m CzechDiminutive derived from Czech
hora "mountain".
Fries GermanDenoted someone from Frisia, an area along the coastal region of the North Sea stretching from Netherlands to Germany.
Cock EnglishDerived from the medieval nickname
cok meaning
"rooster, cock". The nickname was commonly added to given names to create diminutives such as
Hancock or
Alcock.
Murgia SardinianMeans
"brine" in Sardinian, perhaps a nickname for someone who pickled foods.
Guevara SpanishHispanicized form of
Gebara. A notable bearer was Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara (1928-1967).
Busch GermanMeans
"bush" in German, a name for someone who lived close to a thicket.
Gereben HungarianMeans
"hackle, hatchel" in Hungarian (a hackle is a tool used to comb out fibers).
Abney EnglishFrom the name of a town in Derbyshire, derived from Old English meaning "Abba's island".
Jinks EnglishMeans
"son of Jenk", a short form of
Jenkin, a diminutive of
Jen, itself a Middle English form of
John.
Wuopio SwedishMeaning uncertain, possibly referred to a dweller in a narrow bay with steep shores.
Amantea ItalianFrom the name of a town in Calabria, Italy. It is possibly derived from Arabic (dating from the Arab raids of the 9th century) meaning "the fortress".
Best 1 EnglishDerived from Middle English
beste meaning
"beast", an occupational name for a keeper of animals or a nickname for someone who acted like a beast. A famous bearer of this surname was soccer legend George Best (1946-2005).
Achterkamp DutchFrom the name of various places in the Netherlands, derived from Low German
achter "behind" and
kamp "field".
Toyoda JapaneseFrom Japanese
豊 (toyo) meaning "bountiful, luxuriant" and
田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy". A famous bearer was Kiichiro Toyoda (1894-1952), founder of Toyota Motor Corporation.
Malinowski m PolishFrom Polish
malina meaning
"raspberry", originally indicating a person who lived near a raspberry patch.
Solís SpanishFrom the name of a village in Asturias, Spain, derived from Spanish
sol "sun".
Marston EnglishFrom a place name derived from Old English
mersc "marsh" and
tun "enclosure".
Woodward EnglishOccupational name for a forester, meaning
"ward of the wood" in Old English.
McCabe Irish, ScottishMeans
"son of Cába", where
Cába is a byname meaning "cape, cloak" (from Latin
cappa).
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.
Clemens EnglishDerived from the given name
Clement. This was the surname of the author Samuel Clemens (1835-1910), also known as Mark Twain.
Beyersdorf GermanMeans
"farmers village", from German
Bauer meaning "farmer" and
Dorf meaning "village".
Báthory HungarianOriginally indicated a person from Bátor, a village in Hungary, which might be of Turkic origin meaning "hero". This was the surname of a Hungarian noble family who historically controlled the town. One of the family members, Stephen Báthory, became the king of Poland in the 16th century.
Denzil EnglishFrom the place name
Denzell, a manor in Cornwall, which is of unknown meaning.
Trapani ItalianFrom the name of the Sicilian city of Trapani, derived from Greek
δρεπάνη (drepane) meaning "sickle".
Kapanadze GeorgianMeans
"son of the one from Kapan", originally denoting someone who came from the city of Kapan in present-day Armenia (from Armenian
կապել (kapel) meaning "to tie, to fasten").
Savona ItalianFrom the name of the city of Savona in northern Italy, called
Savo by the Romans, of uncertain meaning.
Porter EnglishOccupational name meaning
"doorkeeper", ultimately from Old French
porte "door", from Latin
porta.
Sitz 2 GermanMeans
"house owner", derived from Old High German
siz "seat, domicile".
Scheinberg JewishOrnamental name meaning
"beautiful mountain" from German
schön "beautiful, good, nice" and
berg "mountain".
Kopecký m CzechDerived from Czech
kopec meaning
"hill". The name was given to a person who lived close to a hill.
Pickering EnglishFrom the name of a town in Yorkshire, derived from Old English
Piceringas, the name of a tribe.
Haight EnglishTopographic name for someone who lived at the top of a hill, derived from Old English
heahþu "height, summit".
Lincoln EnglishOriginally indicated that the bearer was from the English city of Lincoln, called
Lindum Colonia by the Romans, derived from Brythonic
lindo "lake, pool" and Latin
colonia "colony". A famous bearer was Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), president of the United States during the American Civil War.
Collingwood EnglishFrom a place name, itself derived from Old French
chalenge meaning "disputed" and Middle English
wode meaning "woods".
Burnham EnglishFrom the name of various towns in England, typically derived from Old English
burna "stream, spring" and
ham "home, settlement".
Stetson EnglishPossibly from the name of the village of Stidston in Devon, meaning
"Stithweard's town".
Bergmann GermanFrom Old High German
berg meaning "mountain" and
man meaning "man", originally denoting someone who lived on a mountain.
Bunker EnglishDerived from Old French
bon cuer meaning
"good heart".
Smirnov m RussianDerived from Russian
смирный (smirny) meaning "quiet, peaceful, timid". This is one of the most common surnames in Russia.
Devereux EnglishIndicated a person from Evreux in France, itself named after the Gaulish tribe of the Eburovices, which was probably derived from a Celtic word meaning "yew".
Jehlička m CzechFrom Czech
jehla meaning
"needle", most likely borne by tailors in reference to their occupation.
Gray EnglishFrom a nickname for a person who had grey hair or grey clothes.
Lithgow ScottishHabitation name meaning derived from Brythonic roots meaning "pool hollow". A famous bearer of this name is actor John Lithgow (1945-).
Struna SloveneFrom Slovene
struna meaning
"string, cord", possibly denoting a maker of rope.
Gadsby EnglishHabitational name from the village of Gaddesby in Leicestershire, so named from Old Norse
gaddr "spur, spike (of land)" and
býr "farm, settlement".
Jughashvili Georgian (Rare)Meaning uncertain. One theory suggests Ossetian roots with the meaning
"son of the herder", derived from Ossetian
дзуг (dzug) meaning "herd, flock, troop". Alternately, it could be derived from the name of the village of
ჯუღაანი (Jughaani) in eastern Georgia. The most notable bearer was Joseph Stalin (1878-1953), born Ioseb Jughashvili, a leader of the Soviet Union.
Paternoster English, ItalianOccupational name for a maker of rosaries, also called paternosters. They are derived from the Latin phrase
pater noster "our Father", the opening words of the Lord's Prayer.
Muraro ItalianOccupational name for a wall builder, from Italian
murare meaning
"to wall up".
Schoorl DutchOriginally indicated a person from the town of Schoorl in the province of Noord-Holland in the Netherlands. It means "forest by the shore" in Dutch.
Prunty IrishFrom Irish
Ó Proinntigh meaning
"descendant of Proinnteach", a given name probably derived from Irish
bronntach meaning "generous".
Marsh EnglishOriginally denoted one who lived near a marsh or bog, derived from Old English
mersc "marsh".
Treloar EnglishOriginally denoted a person from a place of this name in Cornwall, England.
Poirier FrenchMeans
"pear tree" in French, originally a nickname for someone who lived close to such a tree.
Wortham EnglishDerived from the name of a town in Suffolk, England meaning
"enclosed homestead".
Bray EnglishFrom a place name derived from Cornish
bre "hill".
Park 2 EnglishFrom Middle English
park, from Latin
parricus, of Frankish origin. This was a name for someone who worked in or lived in a park.
Jurado SpanishOccupational name for a judge or another official who had to take an oath, derived from Latin
iurare "to take an oath".
Mercer EnglishOccupational name for a trader in textiles, from Old French
mercier, derived from Latin
merx meaning "merchandise".
Pope EnglishFrom a nickname that originally designated a person who played the part of the pope in a play or pageant. Otherwise the name could be used as a nickname for a man with a solemn, austere, or pious appearance. It is derived from Latin
papa, ultimately from Greek
πάππας (pappas) meaning "father".
Piazza ItalianMeans
"plaza" in Italian, indicating that the residence of the original bearer was near the town square. It is derived from Latin
platea.
Teahan IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Ó Téacháin meaning
"descendant of Téachán". The given name
Téachán possibly means "fugitive".
Tisza HungarianFrom the river name Tisza, Hungary's second largest river.
Castañeda SpanishHabitational name from any of various places called Castañeda, from a Spanish word meaning
"chesnut grove", itself derived from
castaña meaning "chesnut".
Sherburn EnglishDenoted a person hailing from any of the various places called Sherborne or Sherburn in England, derived from Old English
scir "bright" and
burna "spring, fountain, stream".
Dubanowski m PolishOriginally indicated a person from the town of Dubinowo (now Dubino in Belarus).
Rojo SpanishMeans
"red" in Spanish, referring to the colour of the hair or complexion.
Hooker EnglishOriginally applied to one who lived near a river bend or corner of some natural feature, from Old English
hoc "angle, hook".
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)".