Surnames Categorized "colors"

ALBU Romanian
From Romanian alb meaning "white".

ALVARADO Spanish
From a Spanish place name, possibly derived from Spanish alba "white".

ARANY Hungarian
Means "golden" in Hungarian. A famous bearer of the name was Hungarian poet János Arany (1817-1882).

BARNA Hungarian
Means "brown" in Hungarian.

BIANCHI Italian
From Italian bianco meaning "white", originally given to a person who was white-haired or extremely pale.

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.

BLACKMAN English
From a nickname, a variant of BLACK.

BLACKWOOD English, Scottish
From an English place name meaning "black wood".

BLAKE English
Variant of BLACK. A famous bearer was the poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827).

BLAKESLEY English
From the name of a town in Northamptonshire, itself meaning "Blæcwulf's meadow" in Old English. Blæcwulf is a byname meaning "black wolf".

BLANC French
Means "white" in French. The name referred to a person who was pale, or whose hair was blond.

BLANCO Spanish
Means "white" in Spanish. The name most likely referred to a person who was pale or had blond hair.

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.

BRONSON English
Patronymic form of BROWN.

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.

BRUN German
From Middle High German brun meaning "brown". It was originally a nickname for a person who had brown hair or skin.

BRUNO Italian
Means "brown" in Italian, a nickname for a person with brown hair or brown clothes.

CARBONE Italian
From a nickname for a person with dark features, from Italian carbone meaning "coal".

CAREY Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Ciardha meaning "descendant of CIARDHA".

ČERNÝ Czech
Means "black" in Czech.

ČERVENY Czech
Means "red" in Czech.

CHARBONNEAU French
Derived from a diminutive form of French charbon "charcoal", a nickname for a person with black hair or a dark complexion.

COLE English
From the Old English byname COLA.

CORCORAN Irish
From Irish Ó Corcráin meaning "descendant of Corcrán", a given name derived from the Gaelic word corcair "purple".

COUCH Cornish
From Cornish cough "red", indicating the original bearer had red hair.

CRNČEVIĆ Serbian, Croatian
Derived from Serbian and Croatian црн (crn) meaning "black".

DE WITTE Dutch
Means "the white" in Dutch, a nickname for a person with white hair.

DONNE Scottish, Irish
From Gaelic donn meaning "brown", a nickname for a person with brown hair.

DONNELLY Irish
From Irish Ó Donnghaile meaning "descendant of Donnghal". The given name Donnghal means "brown valour", from donn "brown" and gal "valour". This surname is associated with the descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages.

DONOVAN Irish
Anglicized form of the Irish name Ó Donndubháin meaning "descendant of DONNDUBHÁN".

DUFF Scottish
Derived from Gaelic dubh meaning "dark".

DUNKEL German
Means "dark" in German.

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

FEHÉR Hungarian
Means "white" in Hungarian, originally referring to a person with white hair or complexion.

FEKETE Hungarian
Means "black" in Hungarian, originally a nickname for a person with dark hair or a dark complexion.

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

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.

GORMAN (2) Irish
From the Irish Ó Gormáin meaning "descendant of Gormán". The given name Gormán means "little blue one".

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

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

GREENSPAN Jewish
Anglicized form of German Grünspan meaning "verdigris". Verdigris is the green-blue substance that forms on copper.

GREY English
Variant of GRAY.

HARGRAVE English
Derived from Old English har meaning "grey" and graf "grove".

HARMAAJÄRVI Finnish
Means "grey lake" in Finnish.

HIMURA Japanese
From Japanese 緋 (hi) meaning "scarlet, dark red" and 村 (mura) meaning "town, village".

HOÀNG Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of HUANG, from Sino-Vietnamese 黃 (hoàng).

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

HUỲNH Vietnamese
Variant of HOÀNG used more often in southern Vietnam.

IRVING Scottish, English
Originally derived from a Scottish place name (in North Ayrshire) meaning "green water".

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

KILDUFF Irish
From the Irish Mac Giolla Dhuibh meaning "son of the black-haired man".

KOKKINOS Greek
From a nickname meaning "red" in Greek.

KUROSAWA Japanese
From Japanese 黒 (kuro) meaning "black" and 沢, 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh". A notable bearer was Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), a Japanese film director.

LEBLANC French
Means "the white", from French blanc "white". The name referred to a person who was pale or whose hair was blond.

LI (2) Chinese
From Chinese 黎 (lí) meaning "black".

LLOYD Welsh
Originally a nickname from the Welsh word llwyd meaning "grey".

MAC DUIBHSHÍTHE Scottish, Irish
Means "son of Duibhshíth" in Gaelic. The given name Duibhshíth means "black peace".

MCGUIRE Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Mag Uidhir meaning "son of Odhar", a given name meaning "pale-coloured".

MERLO Italian, Spanish
Means "blackbird", ultimately from Latin merula. The blackbird is a symbol of a naive person.

MUSTONEN Finnish
Derived from Finnish musta meaning "black".

NEGRI Italian
Nickname derived from Italian negro "black", used to refer to someone with dark hair or dark skin.

NERI Italian
From Italian nero "black", indicating a person with a dark complexion or dark hair.

Ó DUBHÁIN Irish
Means "descendant of DUBHÁN".

Ó RUADHÁIN Irish
Means "descendant of RUADHÁN" in Irish.

REGENBOGEN German, Jewish
From a German nickname meaning "rainbow".

ROSA Italian, Catalan
Italian and Catalan form of ROSE (1).

ROSE (1) English, French, German, Jewish
Means "rose" from Middle English, Old French and Middle High German rose, all from Latin rosa. All denote a person of a rosy complexion or a person who lived in an area abundant with roses. As a Jewish surname it is ornamental, from Yiddish רויז (roiz).

ROUX French
Derived from Old French ros meaning "red", from Latin russus, a nickname for a red-haired person.

RUANE Irish
Anglicized form of Ó RUADHÁIN.

RUBIO Spanish
Nickname for a person with red hair, from Latin rubeus "red".

RUSSELL English
From a Norman French nickname that meant "little red one", perhaps originally describing a person with red hair.

SCARLETT English
Denoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet, a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian سقرلاط (saghrelat).

SILVER English
From a nickname for a person with grey hair, from Old English seolfor "silver".

SILVERSTEIN Jewish
Variant of ZILBERSTEIN.

TACHIBANA Japanese
From Japanese 橘 (tachibana) meaning "orange, tangerine".

TAN Taiwanese
Min Nan romanization of CHEN.

VÖRÖS Hungarian
Means "red" in Hungarian, referring to a person with red hair or face.

WHITE English
Originally a nickname for a person who had white hair or a pale complexion, from Old English hwit "white".

ZHU Chinese
From Chinese 朱 (zhū) meaning "vermilion red, cinnabar" and also referring to the ancient state of Zhu, which existed in what is now Shandong province. This was the surname of the emperors of the Ming dynasty.

ZIELIŃSKI Polish
From Polish zieleń meaning "green". It was possibly a nickname for a person who dressed in green clothing.