MasonEnglish Occupational name for a stoneworker or layer of bricks, from Old French masson, of Frankish origin (akin to Old English macian "to make").
PalmerEnglish Means "pilgrim", ultimately from Latin palma "palm tree", since pilgrims to the Holy Land often brought back palm fronds as proof of their journey.
PayneEnglish From a medieval given name or nickname derived from Latin paganus meaning "heathen, pagan" (from an earlier sense "rural, rustic"), which was given to children whose baptism had been postponed or adults who were not overly religious.
RossEnglish, Scottish From various place names (such as the region of Ross in northern Scotland), which are derived from Scottish Gaelic ros meaning "promontory, headland".
StoneEnglish Name for a person who lived near a prominent stone or worked with stone, derived from Old English stan.
ToddEnglish Means "fox", derived from Middle English todde.
WalkerEnglish Occupational name for a person who walked on damp raw cloth in order to thicken it. It is derived from Middle English walkere, Old English wealcan meaning "to move".
YamadaJapanese From Japanese 山 (yama) meaning "mountain" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
ZhaoChinese From Chinese 赵 (zhào), which refers to an ancient city-state in what is now Shanxi province. According to legend, King Mu rewarded his chariot driver Zaofu with the city, at which time Zaofu adopted this surname. The later historic state of Zhao, which existed from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, was named after this city.... [more]