This is a list of surnames in which the order is random.
Teufel GermanFrom a nickname meaning
"devil" in German, given to a mischievous person or one who was devil-like.
Roydon EnglishOriginally derived from a place name meaning
"rye hill", from Old English
ryge "rye" and
dun "hill".
Groß GermanFrom Old High German
groz meaning
"tall, big".
Monti ItalianMeans
"mountain, hill" in Italian, from Latin
mons.
Buchholz GermanFrom Middle High German
buoche "beech" and
holz "wood".
Soriano ItalianFrom place names such as Soriano Calabro and Soriano nel Cimino. It is typical of southern Italy.
Fehér HungarianMeans
"white" in Hungarian, originally referring to a person with white hair or complexion.
Faulkner English, ScottishOccupational name meaning
"keeper of falcons", from Middle English and Scots
faulcon, from Late Latin
falco, of Germanic origin.
Miyamoto JapaneseFrom Japanese
宮 (miya) meaning "temple, shrine, palace" and
本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin". A notable bearer is video game pioneer Shigeru Miyamoto (1952-).
Orellana SpanishOriginally indicated a person from one of the two towns named
Orellana in Badajoz, Spain. Their names are probably derived from Latin
Aureliana meaning "of
Aurelius".
Wyrzykowski m PolishPossibly from the Polish place name
Wyrzyki, of uncertain meaning, maybe "away from the river".
Bristol EnglishFrom the name of a city in England meaning "the site of the bridge".
Carbone ItalianFrom a nickname for a person with dark features, from Italian
carbone meaning
"coal".
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.
Sauer GermanMeans
"sour" in German, a nickname for an embittered or cantankerous person.
Nash EnglishDerived from the Middle English phrase
atten ash "at the ash tree". A famous bearer was the mathematician John Nash (1928-2015).
Higgins IrishFrom Irish
Ó hUiginn meaning
"descendant of Uiginn".
Uiginn is a byname meaning "Viking".
Bootsma FrisianOccupational name meaning
"boatman", derived from Dutch
boot "boat".
Alfarsi ArabicMeans
"the Persian" in Arabic, derived from Arabic
فارس (Fāris) meaning "Persia".
Dempsey IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Ó Díomasaigh meaning
"descendant of Díomasach", a given name meaning "proud".
Skjeggestad NorwegianFrom a place name, derived from Norwegian
skjegg "beard" and
stad "town, place".
Gynt LiteratureMeaning unknown. This name was used by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen for the central character in his play
Peer Gynt (1867). Ibsen based the story on an earlier Norwegian folktale
Per Gynt.
Banks EnglishOriginally indicated someone who lived near a hillside or a bank of land.
Deighton EnglishFrom English towns by this name, from Old English
dic "ditch" and
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
Freitas PortugueseMeans
"broken" in Portuguese, a name for one who lived on broken, stony ground.
Darling EnglishFrom a nickname or byname derived from Middle English
dereling, Old English
deorling, meaning
"darling, beloved one".
Sandoval SpanishDerived from the name of a town in Spain, ultimately from Latin
saltus "forest, glade" and
novalis "unploughed land".
Vinci 2 ItalianOriginally indicated a person from Vinci near Florence, the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci.
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).
Terrazas SpanishOriginally a name for a person from Terrazas in the Spanish city of Burgos, a place name meaning "terraces".
Peng ChineseFrom Chinese
彭 (péng) referring to the ancient state of Peng, which existed during the Shang dynasty in what is now Jiangsu province.
Wróblewski m PolishOriginally indicated a person from Polish towns named
Wróblewo or similar, derived from Polish
wróbel meaning "sparrow".
Steuben GermanName for a dweller by a stump of a large tree, from Middle Low German
stubbe "stub".
Upton EnglishDenoted a person hailing from one of the many towns in England bearing this name. The place name itself is derived from Old English
upp "up" and
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
Carman 2 EnglishFrom an Old Norse byname derived from
karlmann meaning
"male, man".
Vernon EnglishLocational name in the Eure region of Normandy, from the Gaulish element
vern "alder (tree)" with the genitive case maker
onis.
Van Damme FlemishMeans
"from Damme", the name of a town in Belgium, derived from Dutch
dam meaning "dam". A famous bearer is the Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme (1960-), who was born with the surname
Van Varenberg.
Colombo ItalianEither from Italian
colomba "dove" indicating a dove keeper, or from the given name
Colombo, which is derived from the same word. This was the Italian surname of the 15th-century explorer Christopher Columbus.
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.
Michalski m PolishHabitational name for a person from a village named
Michale or
Michały, both derived from the given name
Michał.
Seward 2 EnglishMeans
"swineherd" from Old English
su "sow, female pig" and
hierde "herdsman, guardian".
Wada JapaneseFrom Japanese
和 (wa) meaning "harmony, peace" and
田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Ricci ItalianFrom Italian
riccio meaning
"curly", a nickname for someone with curly hair. It is ultimately from Latin
ericius meaning "hedgehog".
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).
Pospíšil m CzechNickname for a person in a hurry, from Czech
pospíšit "hurry".
Wang 1 ChineseFrom Chinese
王 (wáng) meaning
"king, monarch". This is the most common surname in China (and the world).
Steele EnglishOccupational name for a steelworker, from Old English
stele meaning
"steel".
Masterson EnglishPatronymic derived from Middle English
maister meaning
"master", via Old French from Latin
magister.
Rosário PortugueseMeans
"rosary" in Portuguese. This name was often given to people born on the day of the festival of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Sorge GermanMeans
"worry, care, anxiety" in German, from Old High German
sorga.
Jennings EnglishFrom the given name
Jenyn, a diminutive of
Jen, itself a Middle English form of
John.
Skalický m Czech, SlovakIndicated the original bearer came from a place named
Skalice,
Skalica or
Skalička in the Czech Republic or Slovakia, derived from the Slavic root
skala meaning "rock".
Pittaluga ItalianOriginally a nickname for somebody who steals grapes from vineyards. In the Genoese dialect
pittà means "to pick" and
uga means "grapes" (
uva in Italian).
Szweda PolishDerived from Polish
Szwed meaning
"Swede, person from Sweden".
Savatier FrenchFrom Old French
savatier "shoemaker", derived from
savate "shoe", of uncertain ultimate origin.
Pereira Portuguese, GalicianFrom Portuguese and Galician
pereira meaning
"pear tree", ultimately from Latin
pirum meaning "pear".
Wild English, GermanMeans
"wild, untamed, uncontrolled", derived from Old English
wilde. This was either a nickname for a person who behaved in a wild manner or a topographic name for someone who lived on overgrown land.
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).
Marsh EnglishOriginally denoted one who lived near a marsh or bog, derived from Old English
mersc "marsh".
Lister ScottishAnglicized form of the Gaelic
Mac an Fleisdeir meaning
"son of the arrow maker".
Van Assen DutchMeans
"from Assen", a city in the Netherlands, which is possibly from
essen meaning "ash trees".
Pretorius AfrikaansFrom Latin
praetor meaning
"leader". This name was adopted in the 17th century by Wesselius Praetorius as a Latin translation of his previous surname
Schulte. It is now common in South Africa.
Wade 1 EnglishDerived from the Old English place name
wæd meaning
"a ford".
Glazier EnglishMeans
"glass worker, glazier", from Old English
glæs meaning "glass".
Krückel GermanNickname for a crippled person or someone who walked with a cane, from Middle High German
krücke meaning
"cane".
Espinosa SpanishFrom Spanish
espinoso meaning
"thorny", ultimately from Latin
spinosus, a derivative of
spina meaning "thorn, spine". This was the real surname of the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677), who was of Portuguese Jewish origin.
Ó Rodagh IrishMeans
"descendant of Rodach" in Irish. The given name
Rodach is derived from from Irish
rod meaning "spirited, furious".
Eaton EnglishFrom any of the various English towns with this name, derived from Old English
ea "river" and
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
Slater EnglishOccupational name indicating that an early member worked covering roofs with slate, from Old French
esclat "shard", of Germanic origin.
Pitts EnglishIndicated a person who lived by a pit or hollow, from Old English
pytt. It could also indicate a person from Pitt (Hants) or Pett (East Sussex) in England.
Barker EnglishFrom Middle English
bark meaning
"to tan". This was an occupational name for a leather tanner.
Van Kan DutchMeans
"from Kanne", a town in the province of Limburg in Belgium. The meaning of the town's name is unknown.
Gale EnglishDerived from Middle English
gaile meaning
"jovial".
Oláh HungarianMeans
"Romanian, Wallachian" in Hungarian, from Old Slavic
volxŭ "Romance-speaker" (of Germanic origin).
Bondesan ItalianVenetian name derived from the name of the town of Bondeno in northern Italy.
Fox EnglishFrom the name of the animal. It was originally a nickname for a person with red hair or a crafty person.
Van Amstel DutchMeans
"from Amstel", a Dutch river that means "water area".
Nakai JapaneseFrom Japanese
中 (naka) meaning "middle" and
井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".
Krebs GermanMeans
"crab" in German, perhaps a nickname for a person with a crab-like walk.
Washington EnglishFrom a place name meaning "settlement belonging to Wassa's people", from the given name
Wassa and Old English
tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town". A famous bearer was George Washington (1732-1799), the first president of the United States. This surname was sometimes adopted by freed slaves, resulting in a high proportion of African-American bearers.
Haberkorn GermanOccupational name for a dealer in oats, derived from Old High German
habaro "oat" and
korn "kernel, grain".
Lemoine FrenchMeans
"the monk" in French. This was typically a nickname or an occupational name for a person who worked in a monastery.
Brodbeck GermanMeans
"bread baker" from Middle High German
brot "bread" and
becke "baker".
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".
Kerner GermanDerived from Old High German
kerno "seed", an occupational name for one who sold or planted seeds.
Van Hassel DutchMeans
"from Hassel", a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It may be derived from Old Dutch
hasal meaning "hazel tree".
Tanner EnglishOccupational name for a person who tanned animal hides, from Old English
tannian "to tan", itself from Late Latin and possibly ultimately of Celtic origin.
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".
Lane 3 IrishFrom Irish
Ó Luain meaning
"descendant of Luan", a given name meaning "warrior".
Van der Stoep DutchMeans
"from the paved entrance", from Dutch
stoep meaning "paved porch at the entrance to a house".
Moore 3 EnglishNickname for a person of dark complexion, from Old French
more, Latin
maurus, meaning
"Moorish".
Tavares PortugueseFrom any of the numerous places in Portugal called Tavares, likely of pre-Roman origin.
Whitney EnglishOriginally from the name of an English town, meaning "white island" in Old English.
Nagy um Hungarian, SlovakFrom a nickname meaning
"big, great" in Hungarian, referring to one's characteristics. This is the most common Hungarian surname. In Slovakia this spelling is only used for men, with
Nagyová being the feminine form.
Seabrook EnglishDenoted a person from a town by this name in Buckinghamshire, England. It is derived from that of a river combined with Old English
broc "stream".