Surnames with 1 Syllable

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

Aust German
Derived from Aust, an archaic diminutive of August.

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).

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

Bain English
Variant of Baines 2.

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

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.

Banks English
Originally indicated someone who lived near a hillside or a bank of land.

Barnes English
Denoted a person who worked or lived in a barn. The word barn is derived from Old English bere "barley" and ærn "dwelling".

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

Bass English
English cognate of Basso.

Bates English
Means "son of Bate".

Batts English
Means "son of Bate".

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

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

Beck 4 English
From Old English becca meaning "pickaxe", an occupational surname.

Beech 1 English
English cognate of Bach 1.

Bell 1 English
From Middle English belle meaning "bell". It originated as a nickname for a person who lived near the town bell, or who had a job as a bell-ringer.

Bell 2 English
Derived from the given name Bel, a medieval short form of Isabel.

Benn English
From a short form of Benedict.

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

Best 1 English
Derived 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).

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

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.

Blaise French
Derived from the given name Blaise.

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.

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

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

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

Bond English
Occupational name for a peasant farmer, from Middle English bonde. A famous bearer is the fictional spy James Bond, created by Ian Flemming in 1953.

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 2 English
Originally indicated a person from the town of Bohon, in Manche in France. The town's name is of unknown origin.

Boone English
Variant of Boon 1 or Boon 2.

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

Bosch 2 Catalan
Catalan cognate of Bosco.

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

Boyle Irish
From Irish Ó Baoighill meaning "descendant of Baoigheall". The meaning of the given name Baoigheall is uncertain, but it is thought to be connected to Irish geall meaning "pledge".

Braam Dutch
Derived from the given name Bram.

Brand 1 German, Dutch, English
Derived from the Old German given name Brando or its Old Norse cognate Brandr.

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.

Bray English
From a place name derived from Cornish bre "hill".

Brent English
Originally derived from the name of a hill (or the village nearby) in Somerset, perhaps derived from a Celtic word meaning "hill".

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

Brice English
From the given name Brice.

Briggs English
Variant of Bridges.

Brock English
Derived from Old English brocc meaning "badger", ultimately of Celtic origin.

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.

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.

Broż Polish
Derived from Broż, a diminutive of Ambroży.

Bryce English
From the given name Brice.

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

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

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.

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

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

Butts English
From a nickname meaning "thick, stumpy", from Middle English butt.

Byrd English
Variant of Bird.

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.

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.

Carl English, German
From the given name Carl.

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.

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

Chan Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of Chen.

Chance English
From a nickname for a lucky person or a gambler.

Chang Chinese
Alternate transcription of Chinese 张 (see Zhang).

Charles French
From the given name Charles.

Chase English
Occupational name for a hunter, from Middle English chase "hunt".

Chen Chinese
From Chinese 陈 (chén) meaning "exhibit, display, old, ancient" and also referring to the former state of Chen, which existed in what is now Henan province from the 11th to 5th centuries BC.

Cheng 1 Chinese
From Chinese 程 (chéng) meaning "rule, order, regulations", also referring to the territory of Cheng (in present-day Henan province) that existed during the Zhou dynasty.

Cheng 2 Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of Zheng.

Cheung Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of Zhang.

Chia Chinese (Hokkien)
Hokkien romanization of Xie.

Chiu Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of Zhao.

Chmiel Polish
Polish cognate of Chmela, from Polish chmiel.

Choe Korean
Alternate transcription of Korean Hangul 최 (see Choi).

Choi Korean
From Sino-Korean 崔 (choe) meaning "high, lofty, towering".

Chong Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of Zhang.

Chou Chinese
Alternate transcription of Chinese 周 (see Zhou).

Chow Chinese
Alternate transcription of Chinese 周 (see Zhou).

Chu Chinese
Alternate transcription of Chinese 朱 (see Zhu).

Church English
From the English word, derived from Old English cirice, ultimately from Greek κυριακόν (kyriakon) meaning "(house) of the lord". It probably referred to a person who lived close to a church.

Clark English
Means "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.

Clarke English
Variant of Clark.

Clay English
Means simply "clay", originally referring to a person who lived near or worked with of clay.

Cobb English
From a medieval English byname meaning "lump".

Cock English
Derived from the medieval nickname cok meaning "rooster, cock". The nickname was commonly added to given names to create diminutives such as Hancock or Alcock.

Cocks English
Patronymic form of Cock.

Cole English
From a medieval short form of Nicholas or from the byname Cola.

Colt English
Occupational name for a keeper of horses, derived from Middle English colt.

Cook English
Derived from Old English coc meaning "cook", ultimately from Latin coquus. It was an occupational name for a cook, a man who sold cooked meats, or a keeper of an eating house.

Cooke English
Variant of Cook.

Cox English
Patronymic form of Cock.

Coy English
Means "quiet, shy, coy" from Middle English coi.

Craig Scottish
Derived from Gaelic creag meaning "crag, rocks, outcrop", originally belonging to a person who lived near a crag.

Crisp English
English cognate of Crespo.

Croft English
From Old English croft meaning "enclosed field".

Cross English
Locative name meaning "cross", ultimately from Latin crux. It denoted one who lived near a cross symbol or near a crossroads.

Crouch English
Variant of Cross.

Cruz Spanish, Portuguese
Spanish and Portuguese cognate of Cross.

Cseh Hungarian
Means "Czech" in Hungarian.

Dale English
From Old English dæl meaning "valley", originally indicating a person who lived there.

Dane 1 English
Variant of Dean 1 or Dean 2.

Dane 2 English
Originally denoted a Dane, that is a person from Denmark.

Das Bengali, Assamese, Odia, Hindi, Marathi
Means "servant, devotee" in Sanskrit.

Day English
From a diminutive form of David.

Dean 1 English
Derived from Middle English dene meaning "valley".

Dean 2 English
Occupational surname meaning "dean", referring to a person who either was a dean or worked for one. It is from Middle English deen (ultimately from Latin decanus meaning "chief of ten").

Deng Chinese
From Chinese 邓 (dèng) referring to the ancient state of Deng, which existed during the Shang and Zhou dynasties in what is now either Henan or Hubei province. A famous bearer was the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997).

Dick English
From the given name Dick 1.

Ding Chinese
From Chinese 丁 (dīng) meaning "man, person".

Dior French
Possibly from French doré meaning "golden". A famous bearer was the French fashion designer Christian Dior (1905-1957).

Đỗ Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of Du, from Sino-Vietnamese 杜 (đỗ).

Dobbs English
Derived from the medieval given name Dobbe, a diminutive of Robert.

Dodge English
From Dogge, a medieval diminutive of Roger.

Dong Chinese
From Chinese 董 (dǒng) meaning "direct, supervise".

Drake English
Derived from the Old Norse byname Draki or the Old English byname Draca both meaning "dragon", both via Latin from Greek δράκων (drakon) meaning "dragon, serpent".

Dries Dutch
From the given name Dries.

Du Chinese
From Chinese 杜 (dù) meaning "stop, prevent" or "birchleaf pear tree".

Duff Scottish, Irish
Anglicized form of Mac Dhuibh or Ó Duibh.

Duke English
From the noble title, which was originally from Latin dux "leader". It was a nickname for a person who behaved like a duke, or who worked in a duke's household.

Dukes English
Patronymic form of Duke.

Dunn English, Scottish, Irish
Derived from Old English dunn "dark" or Gaelic donn "brown", referring to hair colour or complexion.

Dunst German
Derived from Middle High German dunst "haze".

Dwight English
From the medieval feminine name Diot, a diminutive of Dionysia, the feminine form of Dionysius.

Eads English
Means "son of Eda 2" or "son of Adam".

Earl English
From the aristocratic title, which derives from Old English eorl meaning "nobleman, warrior". It was either a nickname for one who acted like an earl, or an occupational name for a person employed by an earl.

Earls English
Patronymic form of Earl.

Ernst German, Dutch, Danish
From the given name Ernst.

Fabre Occitan, French
Occitan form of Fèvre.

Fan Chinese
From Chinese 范 (fàn) meaning "bee".

Faure Occitan, French
Occitan form of Fèvre.

Faust German
Derived from the given name Faust, a form of Faustus.

Fay 1 French, English
Referred to a person who came from various places named Fay or Faye in northern France, derived from Old French fau "beech tree", from Latin fagus.

Fay 2 English
From a nickname for a person who was thought to have magical qualities, from Middle English faie meaning "magical, enchanted".

Feld German, Jewish
Means "field" in German. The name was originally given to someone who lived on land cleared of forest.

Feldt German, Danish, Swedish
North German, Danish and Swedish variant of Feld.

Feng 1 Chinese
From Chinese 冯 (féng), which referred to an ancient city in Henan province.

Feng 2 Chinese
From Chinese 凤 (fèng) meaning "phoenix, fire bird, fenghuang".

Fenn English
From a name for someone who dwelt near a marsh, from Old English fenn meaning "fen, swamp, bog".

Fèvre French
Occupational name meaning "blacksmith" in Old French, derived from Latin faber.

Field English
Variant of Fields.

Fields English
Name for a person who lived on or near a field or pasture, from Old English feld.

Finch English, Literature
From the name of the bird, from Old English finc. It was used by Harper Lee for the surname of lawyer Atticus Finch and his children in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960).

Flynn Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Floinn meaning "descendant of Flann".

Ford English
Name 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).

Forst German
Derived from Old High German forst "forest". Probably unrelated to the Old French word forest, which was derived from Latin, Old High German forst was derived from foraha meaning "fir tree".

Fox English
From the name of the animal. It was originally a nickname for a person with red hair or a crafty person.

Frank 1 English
Derived from the given name Frank.

Frank 2 English
From Old English franc meaning "free".

Frank 3 German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian
Name 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.

Franz German
Derived from the given name Franz.

Frei German
Means "free" in German, probably referring to someone outside the feudal system.

Freud German, Jewish
Means "joy" in German, a nickname for a cheerful person. A famous bearer was the psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939).

Frost English, German
From Old English and Old High German meaning "frost", a nickname for a person who had a cold personality or a white beard.

Fry English
From Old English frig (a variant of freo) meaning "free".

Frye English
Variant of Fry.

Fuchs German
From Old High German fuhs meaning "fox". It was originally a nickname for a person with red hair.

Fürst German
From a nickname meaning "(sovereign) prince" in German. The word fürst itself is derived from Old High German furisto "first".

Gage French, English
Occupational name derived either from Old French jauge "measure" (a name for an assayer) or gage "pledge, payment" (a name for a moneylender). Both words were ultimately of Frankish origin.

Gagné French (Quebec)
Variant of Gagneux. This surname is especially common in Quebec.

Gál Hungarian
Derived from the given name Gál.

Gale English
Derived from Middle English gaile meaning "jovial".

Gao Chinese
From Chinese 高 (gāo) meaning "tall, high".

Gates English
Originally denoted a person who lived near the town gates.

George English
Derived from the given name George.

Georges French
From the given name Georges.

Gibb English
Derived from the given name Gib.

Gibbs English, Scottish
Means "son of Gib".

Gil Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Gil 1.

Giles English
From the given name Giles.

Gill English
Originally indicated someone who lived near a ravine, from Middle English gil (of Old Norse origin).

Glas German, Dutch
German and Dutch cognate of Glass.

Glass English, German
From Old English glæs or Old High German glas meaning "glass". This was an occupational name for a glass blower or glazier.

Glenn Scottish, English
From place names derived from Gaelic gleann "valley". A famous bearer was the American astronaut John Glenn (1921-2016).

Gold English, German, Jewish
From Old English and Old High German gold meaning "gold", an occupational name for someone who worked with gold or a nickname for someone with yellow hair. As a Jewish name it is ornamental.

Good English
From a nickname meaning "good", referring to a kindly person.

Goode English
Variant of Good.

Gore English
From the Old English word gara meaning "triangular plot of land".

Gosse French
Derived from the Norman given name Gosse.

Grant English, Scottish
Derived from Norman French meaning "grand, tall, large, great". A famous bearer was the American general and president Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885).

Graves English
Occupational name for a steward, derived from Middle English greyve, related to the German title Graf.

Gray English
From a nickname for a person who had grey hair or grey clothes.

Grec Catalan
Catalan cognate of Greco.

Green English
Descriptive name for someone who often wore the colour green or someone who lived near the village green.

Greene English
Variant of Green.

Greer Scottish
Derived from the given name Gregor.

Grey English
Variant of Gray.

Grier Scottish
Derived from the given name Gregor.

Groot Dutch
Variant of De Groot.

Grósz Hungarian
Hungarian form of Groß.

Groves English
From Old English graf meaning "grove". This originally indicated a person who lived near a grove (a group of trees).

Guan Chinese
From Chinese 关 (guān) meaning "frontier pass".

Guo Chinese
From Chinese 郭 (guō) meaning "outer city".

Haak Dutch
Occupational name meaning "peddler" in Dutch.

Haan Dutch
Variant of De Haan.

Hahn German
From a nickname for a proud or pugnacious person, from Old High German hano meaning "rooster, cock".

Haig English, Scottish
From Old English haga or Old Norse hagi meaning "enclosure, pasture".

Haines English
Variant of Haynes.

Hale English
Derived from Old English halh meaning "nook, recess, hollow".

Hall English, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Means simply "hall", given to one who either lived in or worked in a hall (the house of a medieval noble).

Hamm English
Means "river meadow" in Old English.

Han Chinese, Korean
From Chinese 韩 (hán) referring to the ancient state of Han, which existed from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC in what is now Shanxi and Henan provinces.

Hart English
Means "male deer". It was originally acquired by a person who lived in a place frequented by harts, or bore some resemblance to a hart.

Hawk English
Originally a nickname for a person who had a hawk-like appearance or who acted in a fierce manner, derived from Old English hafoc "hawk".

Hayes 1 English
From 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).

Hayes 2 Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó hAodha meaning "descendant of Aodh".

Haynes English
Patronymic derived from the Norman name Hagano.

He Chinese
From Chinese 何 (hé), representing a southern pronunciation of the name of the ancient state of Han (see Han). After Han was destroyed by the state of Qin, those who resettled further south changed their name to this character in order to match the local pronunciation.

Head English
From Middle English hed meaning "head", from Old English heafod. It may have referred to a person who had a peculiar head, who lived near the head of a river or valley, or who served as the village headman.

Heath English
Originally belonged to a person who was a dweller on the heath or open land.

Hicks English
Derived from the medieval given name Hicke, a diminutive of Richard.

Hill English
Originally given to a person who lived on or near a hill, derived from Old English hyll.

Ho Chinese (Cantonese), Chinese (Hokkien)
Cantonese and Min Nan romanization of He.

Hoàng Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of Huang, from Sino-Vietnamese 黃 (hoàng).

Hobbes English
Derived from the medieval given name Hob. A famous bearer of this name was British political philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the author of Leviathan.

Hobbs English
Derived from the medieval given name Hob.

Hoch German
Means "tall" in German.

Holmes English, Scottish
Variant of Holme. A famous fictional bearer was Sherlock Holmes, a detective in Arthur Conan Doyle's mystery stories beginning in 1887.

Holt English, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian
From Old English, Old Dutch and Old Norse holt meaning "forest".

Hope English
Derived from Middle English hop meaning "small valley".

Horn English, German, Norwegian, Danish
From the Old English, Old High German and Old Norse word horn meaning "horn". This was an occupational name for one who carved objects out of horn or who played a horn, or a person who lived near a horn-shaped geographical feature, such as a mountain or a bend in a river.

Horne English
Variant of Horn.

Hou Chinese
From Chinese 侯 (hóu) meaning "lord, nobleman".

House English
Referred to a person who lived or worked in a house, as opposed to a smaller hut.

Howe English
Name for one who lived on a hill, from Middle English how "hill" (of Norse origin).

Hsieh Chinese
Alternate transcription of Chinese 谢 (see Xie).

Hsu 1 Chinese
Alternate transcription of Chinese 徐 (see Xu 1).

Hsu 2 Chinese
Alternate transcription of Chinese 许 (see Xu 2).

Hu Chinese
From Chinese 胡 (hú) meaning "beard, whiskers, recklessly, wildly, barbarian".

Huang Chinese
From Chinese 黄 (huáng) meaning "yellow".

Huff English
Means "spur of a hill", from Old English hoh.

Hughes 1 English
Patronymic of the given name Hugh.

Hull English
Variant of Hill.

Hume Scottish, English
Variant of Holme. A famous bearer was the philosopher David Hume (1711-1776).

Hunt English
Variant of Hunter.

Huỳnh Vietnamese
Variant of Hoàng used more often in southern Vietnam.

Hyde English
From Middle English hide, a unit of land, approximately the size necessary to support a household.

Im Korean
From Sino-Korean 林 (im) meaning "forest", making it the Korean form of Lin, or 任 (im) of uncertain meaning, making it the Korean form of Ren.

Jack English, Scottish
From the given name Jack.

Jacques French
From the French given name Jacques.

Jahn German
From a Low German short form of Johannes.

Jain Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati
Referred to a person who followed the principles of Jainism, a religion practiced in India. Jains are the followers of Lord Mahavira (599-527 BC).

James English
Derived from the given name James.

Jean French
From the given name Jean 1.

Jeong Korean
Korean form of Zheng, from Sino-Korean 鄭 (jeong).

Jewel English
Variant of Jewell.

Jewell English
Derived from the Breton given name Judicaël.

Jež um Slovene, Czech
Cognate of Jeż.

Jeż Polish
Means "hedgehog" in Polish. It may have originally been given to a person who resembled a hedgehog in some way.

Jiang 1 Chinese
From Chinese 江 (jiāng) meaning "river, Yangtze".

Jiang 2 Chinese
From Chinese 姜 (jiāng) meaning "ginger".

Jin Chinese
From Chinese 金 (jīn) meaning "gold".

Jó Hungarian
Means "good" in Hungarian.

John English
Derived from the given name John. A famous bearer is British musician Elton John (1947-), born Reginald Dwight.

Johns English
Derived from the given name John.

Jones English, Welsh
Derived from the given name Jon, a medieval variant of John.

Juan Spanish
From the given name Juan 1.

Judd English
Derived from the medieval name Judd.

Jung 1 German
Means "young" in German, from Middle High German junc.

Jung 2 Korean
Alternate transcription of Korean Hangul 정 (see Jeong).

Kalb German
Occupational name meaning "calf (animal)" in German.

Kane Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Catháin.

Kang Korean
Korean form of Jiang 2, from Sino-Korean 姜 (gang).

Karl German
From the given name Karl.

Kay 1 English
Derived from the given name Kay 2.

Kay 2 English
Derived from Old French kay meaning "wharf, quay", indicating one who lived near or worked on a wharf.

Keefe Irish
Anglicized form of the Irish Ó Caoimh meaning "descendant of Caomh".

Keen English
From Old English cene meaning "bold, brave".

Keil German
Means "wedge shaped" in German. It was used to denote a person who owned a wedge-shaped piece of land.

Keith Scottish
From a place name that is probably derived from the Brythonic element cet meaning "wood". This was the surname of a long line of Scottish nobles.

Kemp English
Derived from Middle English kempe meaning "champion, warrior".

Key 1 English
Variant of Kay 1 or Kay 2.

Keyes 1 English
Variant of Kay 1 or Kay 2.

Keys 1 English
Variant of Kay 1 or Kay 2.

Khan Urdu, Pashto, Bengali
From a title meaning "king, ruler", probably of Mongolian origin but used in many languages.

Kidd English
From a nickname meaning "young goat, kid" in Middle English, of Old Norse origin.

Kim Korean
Korean form of Jin, from Sino-Korean 金 (gim) meaning "gold". This is the most common surname in South Korea.

King English
From 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).

Kirk English
From 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.

Kis Hungarian
Variant of Kiss.

Kiss Hungarian
Nickname meaning "small" in Hungarian.

Klein German, Dutch, Jewish
Means "small, little" from German klein or Yiddish kleyn. A famous bearer of this name is clothes designer Calvin Klein (1942-).

Knight English
From Old English cniht meaning "knight", a tenant serving as a mounted soldier.

Knopf German
Means "button" in German, originally belonging to a button maker or button seller.

Knox Scottish
From the name of various places in Scotland and northern England, derived from Scottish Gaelic cnoc "round hill".

Ko Chinese (Cantonese), Chinese (Hokkien)
Cantonese and Min Nan romanization of Gao.