Surnames Categorized "animals"

ADLER German, Jewish
Means "eagle" in German.

AZAROLA Basque
Possibly from Basque azeri meaning "fox".

BÄHR German
From Middle High German bër "bear" or ber "boar". This was originally a nickname for a strong or brave person.

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

BUCKLEY (1) English
From an English place name derived from bucc "buck, male deer" and leah "woodland, clearing".

BUCKLEY (2) Irish
From Irish Ó Buachalla meaning "descendant of Buachaill", a nickname meaning "cowherd, servant".

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

CHEVALIER French
From a nickname derived from French chevalier meaning "knight", itself from cheval meaning "horse", ultimately from Latin caballus.

FISKER Danish
Means "fisherman" in Danish.

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

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 heafoc "hawk".

HERSCHEL German, Jewish
Diminutive form of HIRSCH (1) or HIRSCH (2). A famous bearer was the British-German astronomer William Herschel (1738-1822), as well as his sister Caroline Herschel (1750-1848) and son John Herschel (1792-1871), also noted scientists.

HIRSCH (1) German
Means "deer, hart" in German. This was a nickname for a person who resembled a deer in some way, or who raised or hunted deer.

HOGARTH English
Variant of HOGGARD.

HUMMEL (1) German, Dutch
Derived from the given name HUMBERT.

KASABIAN Armenian
Alternate transcription of Armenian Ղասաբյան (see GHASABYAN).

LOWELL English
From a nickname derived from a Norman French lou meaning "wolf" and a diminutive suffix.

MA Chinese
From Chinese 马 (mǎ) meaning "horse".

PEACOCK English
From Middle English pecok meaning "peacock". It was originally a nickname for a proud or haughty person.

SHEPHERD English
Variant of SHEPARD.

VOGEL German, Dutch
From Old High German and Old Dutch fogal meaning "bird". It was originally an occupational name for a bird catcher, or a nickname for a person who liked to sing.

VOSS German
From Middle Low German vos meaning "fox". It was originally a nickname for a clever person or a person with red hair.

WALDVOGEL Jewish
Ornamental name derived from German Wald meaning "forest" and Vogel meaning "bird".

WOLF German, English
From Middle High German or Middle English wolf meaning "wolf", or else from a Germanic given name beginning with this element.