Surnames Categorized "English nouns"

This is a list of surnames in which the categories include English nouns.

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Summers 2 English
Variant of Sommer 1.

Sun Chinese
From Chinese 孙 (sūn) meaning "grandchild, descendant". A famous bearer of the surname was Sun Tzu, the 6th-century BC author of The Art of War.

Swallow English
From the name of the bird, from Old English swealwe, a nickname for someone who resembled or acted like a swallow.

Sweet English
From a nickname meaning "sweet, pleasant", from Old English swete.

Swift English
Nickname for a quick person, from Old English swift.

Tailor English
Variant of Taylor.

Tan Chinese (Hokkien)
Min Nan romanization of Chen.

Tang 1 Chinese
From Chinese 唐 (táng) referring to the Tang dynasty, which ruled China from 618 to 907.

Tanner English
Occupational name for a person who tanned animal hides, from Old English tannian "to tan", itself from Late Latin and possibly ultimately of Celtic origin.

Tar Hungarian
Derived from Hungarian tar meaning "bald".

Tasker English
From Middle English taske meaning "task, assignment". A tasker was a person who had a fixed job to do, particularly a person who threshed grain with a flail.

Tesla Serbian
Occupational name for a carpenter, derived from Serbian tesla meaning "adze". This name was notably borne by the Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla (1856-1943).

Thatcher English
Referred to a person who thatched roofs by attaching straw to them, derived from Old English þæc meaning "thatch, roof". A famous bearer was the British prime minister Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013).

Thorn English, Danish
Originally applied to a person who lived in or near a thorn bush.

Tinker English
Occupational name for a mender of kettles, pots and pans. The name could derive from the tinking sound made by light hammering on metal. It is possible that the word comes from the word tin, the material with which the tinker worked.

Toller English
Occupational name meaning "tax gatherer", derived from Old English toln "toll, fee, tax".

Towner English
Variant of Toller.

Traverse French
French variant of Travers.

Tremble French
Variant of Tremblay.

Trump German
Derived from Middle High German trumbe meaning "drum". This surname is borne by the American president Donald Trump (1946-).

Tucker English
Occupational name for a fuller of cloth, derived from Old English tucian meaning "offend, torment". A fuller was a person who cleaned and thickened raw cloth by pounding it.

Tuft English
Denoted one who lived near a clump of trees or bushes, from Middle English tufte "tuft, clump", from Old French.

Turner English
Occupational name for one who worked with a lathe, derived from Old English turnian "to turn", of Latin origin. A famous bearer is the American musician Tina Turner (1939-2023), born Anna Mae Bullock.

Twist English, Literature
Probably from the name of towns in England and Wales called Twist or Twiss. This surname was used by Charles Dickens for the hero of his novel Oliver Twist (1838), about an orphan surviving the streets of London. Dickens probably had the vocabulary word twist in mind when naming the character.

Verity English
From a nickname meaning "truth", perhaps given originally to a truthful person.

Victor French, English
Derived from the male given name Victor.

Viola Italian
From the given name Viola.

Walker English
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".

Wall English
Originally denoted a person who lived near a prominent wall, from Old English weall.

Waller 2 English
Derived from Old English weall meaning "wall", denoting a builder of walls or someone who lived near a prominent wall.

Waltz German
From a diminutive of the given name Walther.

Ward 1 English
Derived from Old English weard meaning "guard, guardian".

Wardrobe English
From Old French warder "to guard" and robe "garment", an occupational name for a servant responsible for the clothing in a household.

Ware 2 English
From the Middle English nickname ware meaning "wary, astute, prudent".

Warner German, English
Variant of Werner.

Warren 1 English
Denoted a person who lived near a warren, from Norman French warrene meaning "animal enclosure" (of Germanic origin).

Wash English
Derived from the Norman name Wazo.

Waters 1 English
Originally given to a person who lived near the water.

Watt English
Derived from the Middle English given name Wat or Watt, a diminutive of the name Walter. A noteworthy bearer was the Scottish inventor James Watt (1736-1819).

Way English
From Old English weg meaning "way, road, path".

Weaver 1 English
Occupational name for a weaver, derived from Old English wefan "to weave".

Wells English
Derived from Middle English wille meaning "well, spring, water hole".

Welter German
Derived from the given name Walter.

West English, German
Denoted a person who lived to the west of something, or who came from the west.

Wheeler English
Occupational name for a maker of wagon wheels, derived from Middle English whele "wheel".

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".

Whittle English
From various English place names derived from Old English hwit "white" and hyll "hill".

Wild English, German
Means "wild, untamed, uncontrolled", derived from Old English wilde. This was either a nickname for a person who behaved in a wild manner or a topographic name for someone who lived on overgrown land.

Winter English, German, Swedish
From Old English winter or Old High German wintar meaning "winter". This was a nickname for a person with a cold personality.

Wolf German, English
From Middle High German or Middle English wolf meaning "wolf", or else from an Old German given name beginning with this element.

Wood English, Scottish
Originally denoted one who lived in or worked in a forest, derived from Old English wudu "wood".

Woodcock English
Nickname referring to the woodcock bird.

Woods English, Scottish
Variant of Wood.

Yap English
From a nickname for a clever or cunning person, from Middle English yap meaning "devious, deceitful, shrewd".

Young English
Derived from Old English geong meaning "young". This was a descriptive name to distinguish father from son.