Surnames Categorized "colors"

This is a list of surnames in which the categories include colors.
usage
Akabane Japanese
From Japanese (aka) meaning "red" and (hane) meaning "feather".
Akamatsu Japanese
From Japanese (aka) meaning "red" and (matsu) meaning "pine tree, fir tree".
Aksoy Turkish
From Turkish ak "white" and soy "lineage, ancestry".
Alba Spanish
From a Spanish nickname meaning "white".
Albescu Romanian
Derived from Romanian alb meaning "white".
Albini Italian
Means "son of Albino".
Albu Romanian
From Romanian alb meaning "white".
Alvarado Spanish
From a Spanish place name, possibly derived from Spanish alba "white".
Aoki Japanese
From Japanese (ao) meaning "green, blue" and (ki) meaning "tree, wood".
Aoyama Japanese
From Japanese (ao) meaning "green, blue" and (yama) meaning "mountain, hill".
Arany Hungarian
Means "golden" in Hungarian. A famous bearer of the name was Hungarian poet János Arany (1817-1882).
Argyris Greek
Means "silver" in Greek.
Bai Chinese
From Chinese (bái) meaning "white".
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.
Biondi Italian
Means "fair-haired, blond" in Italian. This name was borne by the American swimmer Matt Biondi (1965-).
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.
Blackburn English
From the name of a city in Lancashire, meaning "black stream" in Old English.
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).
Blakeley English
From name of various English places, derived from Old English blæc "black" and leah "woodland, clearing".
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.
Bowie Scottish
Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Buidheach, derived from buidhe meaning "yellow". A famous bearer was the American pioneer James Bowie (1796-1836), for whom the bowie knife is named. The British musician David Bowie (1947-2016), born David Robert Jones, took his stage name from the American pioneer (and the knife).
Boyadzhiev Bulgarian
Patronymic from Bulgarian бояджия (boyadzhiya) meaning "dyer".
Braun German
Means "brown" in German.
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.
Brownlow English
From Old English brun meaning "brown" and hlaw meaning "mound, small hill". The name was probably given to a family living on a small hill covered with bracken.
Brun French, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Means "brown" in French, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. It was originally a nickname for a person who had brown hair or skin.
Brunet French
From a diminutive of French brun meaning "brown".
Bruno Italian, Portuguese
Means "brown" in Italian and Portuguese, a nickname for a person with brown hair or brown clothes.
Burnett English
Means "brown" in Middle English, from Old French brunet, a diminutive of brun.
Cano Spanish
Means "white-haired, old" in Spanish, from Latin canus.
Carbone Italian
From a nickname for a person with dark features, from Italian carbone meaning "coal".
Cárdenas Spanish
From the name of towns in the Spanish provinces of Almería and La Rioja. They are derived from Spanish cárdeno "blue, purple".
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.
Chu Chinese
Alternate transcription of Chinese (see Zhu).
Clancy Irish
From Irish Mac Fhlannchaidh meaning "descendant of Flannchadh". The given name Flannchadh means "red warrior".
Colby English
From various English place names, which were derived from the Old Norse nickname Koli (meaning "coal, dark") and býr "town".
Cole English
From a medieval short form of Nicholas or from the byname Cola.
Copperfield Literature
Created from the English words copper and field by the author Charles Dickens, who used it for the title character in his novel David Copperfield (1850).
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".
Delaney 2 Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Dubhshláine meaning "descendant of Dubhshláine".
De Wit Dutch
Variant of De Witte.
De Witte Dutch
Means "the white" in Dutch, a nickname for a person with white hair.
Dexter English
Occupational name meaning "dyer" in Old English (originally this was a feminine word, but it was later applied to men as well).
Dior French
Possibly from French doré meaning "golden". A famous bearer was the French fashion designer Christian Dior (1905-1957).
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.
Donoghue Irish
From Irish Ó Donnchadha meaning "descendant of Donnchadh".
Donovan Irish
Anglicized form of the Irish name Ó Donndubháin meaning "descendant of Donndubán".
Douglas Scottish
From the name of a town in Lanarkshire, itself named after a tributary of the River Clyde called the Douglas Water, derived from Gaelic dubh "dark" and glais "water, river" (an archaic word related to glas "grey, green"). This was a Scottish Lowland clan, the leaders of which were powerful earls in the medieval period.
Doyle Irish
From the Irish Ó Dubhghaill, which means "descendant of Dubhghall". A famous bearer was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), the author of the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories.
Duff Scottish, Irish
Anglicized form of Mac Dhuibh or Ó Duibh.
Duffy 1 Irish
Derived from Irish Ó Dubhthaigh meaning "descendant of Dubthach". Their original homeland was Monaghan where the surname is still the most common; they are also from Donegal and Roscommon.
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.
Dyer English
Occupational name meaning "cloth dyer", from Old English deah "dye".
Fannon Irish
From the Irish Ó Fionnáin meaning "descendant of Fionn".
Färber German
Occupational name meaning "dyer", derived from German Farbe "colour".
Farran English
Derived from Old French ferrant meaning "iron grey".
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.
Finn Irish
Derived from the given name Fionn.
Flanagan Irish
From Irish Ó Flannagáin meaning "descendant of Flannagán". Flannagán is a given name meaning "blood red". From County Roscommon in Ireland, it has many other spellings.
Flannery Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Flannghaile meaning "descendant of Flannghal", a given name meaning "red valour".
Floyd Welsh
Variant of Lloyd.
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.
Fusco Italian
From Italian fosco meaning "dark", from Latin fuscus. This was a nickname for a person with dark features.
Garofalo Italian
From a nickname, from a southern variant of the Italian word garofano meaning "carnation".
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.
Goldhirsch Jewish
Means "golden stag" in Yiddish.
Gorman 2 Irish
From the Irish Ó Gormáin meaning "descendant of Gormán". The given name Gormán means "little blue one".
Gough 1 Welsh
Nickname for a red-haired person, from Welsh coch "red".
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.
Greenwood English
Topographic name for someone who lived in or near a lush forest, from Old English grene "green" and wudu "wood".
Grey English
Variant of Gray.
Grünberg German, Jewish
From German grün meaning "green" and Berg meaning "mountain". This name indicated a person who lived on or near a forest-covered mountain.
Hargrave English
Derived from Old English har meaning "grey" and graf "grove".
Harmaajärvi Finnish
Means "grey lake" in Finnish.
Himura Japanese
From Japanese (hi) meaning "scarlet, dark red" and (mura) meaning "town, village".
Hoàng Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of Huang, from Sino-Vietnamese (hoàng).
Huang Chinese
From Chinese (huáng) meaning "yellow".
Huỳnh Vietnamese
Variant of Hoàng used more often in southern Vietnam.
Irvine 1 Scottish
Originally derived from the name of a Scottish (North Ayrshire) town, which was named for the River Irvine, derived from Brythonic elements meaning "green water".
Jin Chinese
From Chinese (jīn) meaning "gold".
Kaneko Japanese
From Japanese (kane) meaning "gold, metal, money" and (ko) meaning "child".
Karamazov Literature
Created by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky for his novel The Brothers Karamazov (1879), about three brothers and their murdered father. Dostoyevsky may have based it on Tartar/Turkic кара (kara) meaning "black" and Russian мазать (mazat) meaning "stain". The connection to black is implied in the novel when one of the brothers is accidentally addressed as Mr. Черномазов (Chernomazov), as if based on Russian чёрный meaning "black".
Kilduff Irish
From the Irish Mac Giolla Dhuibh meaning "son of the black-haired man".
Kim Korean
Korean form of Jin, from Sino-Korean (gim) meaning "gold". This is the most common surname in Korea.
Kokkinos Greek
From a nickname meaning "red" in Greek.
Kurosawa Japanese
From Japanese (kuro) meaning "black" and 沢 or 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh". A notable bearer was Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998), a Japanese film director.
Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of Li 2, from Sino-Vietnamese (). This is the third most common surname in Vietnam.
Leblanc French
Means "the white", from French blanc "white". The name referred to a person who was pale or whose hair was blond.
Lebrun French
From a nickname meaning "the brown", from French brun "brown".
Leroux French
Means "the red", from Old French ros "red". This was a nickname for a person with red hair.
Lewandowski Polish
From the Polish estate name Lewandów, which is itself possibly derived from a personal name or from lawenda "lavender".
Li 2 Chinese
From Chinese () meaning "black".
Lloyd Welsh
Originally a nickname from the Welsh word llwyd meaning "grey".
Lu 2 Chinese
From Chinese () meaning "rice bowl, black", also referring to an ancient minor territory in what is now Shandong province.
Mac Dhuibhshíthe Irish
Means "son of Duibhshíth" in Irish. The given name Duibhshíth means "black peace".
McCrory Irish, Scottish
Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Ruaidhrí meaning "son of Ruaidhrí".
McGuire Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Mag Uidhir meaning "son of Odhar", a given name meaning "pale-coloured".
Merle French
French form of Merlo.
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".
Navarro Spanish
Denoted 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".
Negrescu Romanian
Patronymic derived from Romanian negru "black".
Negri Italian
Nickname derived from Italian negro "black", used to refer to someone with dark hair or dark skin.
Negrini Italian
Variant of Negri.
Neri Italian
From Italian nero "black", indicating a person with a dark complexion or dark hair.
Nieddu Italian
From Sardinian nieddu meaning "black", derived from Latin niger.
Ó Dubháin Irish
Irish Gaelic form of Duane.
Orellana Spanish
Originally indicated a person from one of the two towns named Orellana in Badajoz, Spain. Their names are probably derived from Latin Aureliana meaning "of Aurelius".
Oriol Catalan
From Catalan or meaning "gold", originally a nickname for a person with blond hair.
Ó Ruadháin Irish
Means "descendant of Ruadhán" in Irish.
Pardo Spanish
Means "brown" in Spanish, originally a nickname for someone with brown hair.
Pinto Portuguese, Spanish, Italian
Means "mottled" in Portuguese, Spanish and Italian, derived from Late Latin pinctus, Latin pictus "painted".
Prieto Spanish
From a nickname meaning "dark" in Spanish, referring to a person with dark hair or skin.
Radcliff English
From various place names in England that mean "red cliff" in Old English.
Read 1 English
Means "red" from Middle English read, probably denoting a person with red hair or complexion.
Reed English
Variant of Read 1.
Regenbogen German, Jewish
From a German nickname meaning "rainbow".
Roig Catalan
Means "red" in Catalan, from Latin rubeus, originally a nickname for a person with red hair or a red complexion.
Rojas Spanish
Variant of Rojo.
Rojo Spanish
Means "red" in Spanish, referring to the colour of the hair or complexion.
Rooijakkers Dutch
Means "red field", from Dutch rood "red" and akker "field".
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).
Rossi Italian
Derived from a nickname for a red-haired person, from Italian rosso, Latin russus meaning "red". This is the most common surname in Italy.
Rot German, Jewish
Variant of Roth.
Roth German, Jewish
From Middle High German rot meaning "red". It was originally a nickname for a person with red hair.
Rothenberg German, Jewish
From Middle High German rot meaning "red" and berg meaning "mountain". As a Jewish name it may be ornamental.
Rothschild Jewish
From Middle High German rot "red" and schilt "shield", or Yiddish רויט (roit) and שילד (shild). The famous Rothschild family of bankers took their name from a house with a red shield on it.
Rousseau French
Diminutive of Roux. A famous bearer was the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) whose ideas influenced the French Revolution.
Roussel French
French form of Russell.
Roux French
Derived from Old French ros meaning "red", from Latin russus, a nickname for a red-haired person.
Roxas Filipino
Filipino form of the Spanish Rojas.
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.
Salmon English, French
Derived from the given name Solomon.
Šarić Croatian, Serbian
Patronymic of (possibly) Serbo-Croatian šaren meaning "colourful, patterned".
Scarlett English
Denoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet, a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian سقرلاط (saqrelat).
Schwarz German, Jewish
Means "black" in German, from Old High German swarz. It originally described a person with black hair or a dark complexion.
Schwarzenberg German
Means "black mountain" in German.
Schwarzenegger German
From a place name, derived from Old High German swarz meaning "black" and ekka meaning "edge, corner". A famous bearer of this name is actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger (1947-).
Shafir Jewish
Ornamental name meaning "sapphire" in Yiddish.
Shiratori Japanese
From Japanese (shira) meaning "white" and (tori) meaning "bird".
Silver English
From a nickname for a person with grey hair, from Old English seolfor "silver".
Szwarc Polish
Polish phonetic spelling of German Schwarz.
Tachibana Japanese
From Japanese (tachibana) meaning "orange, tangerine".
Tan Chinese (Hokkien)
Min Nan romanization of Chen.
Ververs Dutch
Occupational name derived from Dutch verver meaning "dyer, painter".
Villalba Spanish
Denoted a person from one of the various Spanish places by this name. It is derived from Spanish villa "town" and alba "white".
Villaverde Spanish
Originally denoted a person from one of the various Spanish towns by this name, derived from villa "town" and verde "green".
Vincent 2 Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Mac Dhuibhinse meaning "son of Duibhinse", a given name meaning "black island".
Vörös Hungarian
Means "red" in Hungarian, referring to a person with red hair or face.
Weiss German, Yiddish
From Middle High German wiz or Yiddish װייַס (vais) meaning "white". This was originally a nickname for a person with white hair or skin.
Weiß German
Variant of Weiss.
Whitaker English
From a place name composed of Old English hwit "white" and æcer "field".
White English
Originally a nickname for a person who had white hair or a pale complexion, from Old English hwit "white".
Whitehead English
Nickname for someone with white or light-coloured hair, from Old English hwit "white" and heafod "head".
Whitney English
Originally from the name of an English town, meaning "white island" in Old English.
Xanthopoulos Greek
Means "son of Xanthos".
Zhu Chinese
From Chinese (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.