ALVARADO SpanishFrom a Spanish place name, possibly derived from Spanish
alba "white".
ARANY HungarianMeans
"golden" in Hungarian. A famous bearer of the name was Hungarian poet János Arany (1817-1882).
BIANCHI ItalianFrom Italian
bianco meaning
"white", originally given to a person who was white-haired or extremely pale.
BLACK EnglishMeans 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.
BLAKE EnglishVariant of
BLACK. A famous bearer was the poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827).
BLAKESLEY EnglishFrom the name of a town in Northamptonshire, itself meaning "Blæcwulf's meadow" in Old English.
Blæcwulf is a byname meaning "black wolf".
BLANC FrenchMeans
"white" in French. The name referred to a person who was pale, or whose hair was blond.
BLANCO SpanishMeans
"white" in Spanish. The name most likely referred to a person who was pale or had blond hair.
BLAU GermanMeans
"blue" in German, most likely used to refer to a person who wore blue clothes.
BLUE EnglishFrom a nickname for a person with blue eyes or blue clothing.
BROWN EnglishOriginally 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 GermanFrom Middle High German
brun meaning
"brown". It was originally a nickname for a person who had brown hair or skin.
BRUNO ItalianMeans
"brown" in Italian, a nickname for a person with brown hair or brown clothes.
CANO SpanishMeans
"white-haired, old" in Spanish, from Latin
canus.
CARBONE ItalianFrom a nickname for a person with dark features, from Italian
carbone meaning
"coal".
CHARBONNEAU FrenchDerived from a diminutive form of French
charbon "charcoal", a nickname for a person with black hair or a dark complexion.
CORCORAN IrishFrom Irish
Ó Corcráin meaning
"descendant of Corcrán", a given name derived from the Gaelic word
corcair "purple".
COUCH CornishFrom Cornish
cough "red", indicating the original bearer had red hair.
DE WITTE DutchMeans
"the white" in Dutch, a nickname for a person with white hair.
DONNE Scottish, IrishFrom Gaelic
donn meaning
"brown", a nickname for a person with brown hair.
DONNELLY IrishFrom 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.
DUNN English, Scottish, IrishDerived from Old English
dunn "dark" or Gaelic
donn "brown", referring to hair colour or complexion.
FEHÉR HungarianMeans
"white" in Hungarian, originally referring to a person with white hair or complexion.
FEKETE HungarianMeans
"black" in Hungarian, originally a nickname for a person with dark hair or a dark complexion.
FOX EnglishFrom the name of the animal. It was originally a nickname for a person with red hair or a crafty person.
FROST English, GermanFrom Old English and Old High German meaning
"frost", a nickname for a person who had a cold personality or a white beard.
FUSCO ItalianFrom Italian
fosco meaning
"dark", from Latin
fuscus. This was a nickname for a person with dark features.
GORMAN (2) IrishFrom the Irish
Ó Gormáin meaning
"descendant of Gormán". The given name
Gormán means "little blue one".
GRAY EnglishFrom a nickname for a person who had grey hair or grey clothes.
GREEN EnglishDescriptive name for someone who often wore the colour green or someone who lived near the village green.
GREENSPAN JewishAnglicized form of German
Grünspan meaning
"verdigris". Verdigris is the green-blue substance that forms on copper.
HIMURA JapaneseFrom Japanese
緋 (hi) meaning "scarlet, dark red" and
村 (mura) meaning "town, village".
IRVING Scottish, EnglishOriginally derived from a Scottish place name (in North Ayrshire) meaning "green water".
KILDUFF IrishFrom the Irish
Mac Giolla Dhuibh meaning
"son of the black-haired man".
KUROSAWA JapaneseFrom Japanese
黒 (kuro) meaning "black" and
沢, 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh". A notable bearer was Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), a Japanese film director.
LEBLANC FrenchMeans
"the white", from French
blanc "white". The name referred to a person who was pale or whose hair was blond.
LEWANDOWSKI PolishFrom the Polish estate name
Lewandów, which is itself possibly derived from a personal name or from
lawenda "lavender".
LLOYD WelshOriginally a nickname from the Welsh word
llwyd meaning
"grey".
MCGUIRE IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Mag Uidhir meaning
"son of Odhar", a given name meaning "pale-coloured".
MERLO Italian, SpanishMeans
"blackbird", ultimately from Latin
merula. The blackbird is a symbol of a naive person.
NAVARRO SpanishDenoted a person who came from Navarre in northern Spain (Spanish
Navarra). The name of the region is of Basque origin, possibly from
nabar meaning "brown".
NEGRI ItalianNickname derived from Italian
negro "black", used to refer to someone with dark hair or dark skin.
NERI ItalianFrom Italian
nero "black", indicating a person with a dark complexion or dark hair.
NIEDDU ItalianFrom Sardinian
nieddu meaning
"black", derived from Latin
niger.
ROSE (1) English, French, German, JewishMeans
"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 FrenchDerived from Old French
ros meaning
"red", from Latin
russus, a nickname for a red-haired person.
RUBIO SpanishNickname for a person with red hair, from Latin
rubeus "red".
RUSSELL EnglishFrom a Norman French nickname that meant
"little red one", perhaps originally describing a person with red hair.
SCARLETT EnglishDenoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet, a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian
سقرلاط (saghrelat).
SCHWARZ German, JewishMeans
"black" in German, from Old High German
swarz. It originally described a person with black hair or a dark complexion.
SILVER EnglishFrom a nickname for a person with grey hair, from Old English
seolfor "silver".
VÖRÖS HungarianMeans
"red" in Hungarian, referring to a person with red hair or face.
WHITE EnglishOriginally a nickname for a person who had white hair or a pale complexion, from Old English
hwit "white".
ZHU ChineseFrom 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 PolishFrom Polish
zieleń meaning
"green". It was possibly a nickname for a person who dressed in green clothing.