Surnames Categorized "English verbs"

Abate Italian
From Italian abate meaning "abbot, priest", derived via Latin and Greek from an Aramaic word meaning "father". This was used either as a nickname or an occupational name for a worker in a priest's house.

Ball English
From Middle English bal, Old English beall meaning "ball". This was either a nickname for a rotund or bald person, or a topographic name for someone who lived near a ball-shaped feature.

Banes Welsh
Variant of Baines 1.

Banks English
Originally indicated someone who lived near a hillside or a bank of land.

Bass English
English cognate of Basso.

Battle English
From a nickname for a combative person. In some cases it may come from the name of English places called Battle, so named because they were sites of battles.

Bean English
English cognate of Bohn.

Bond English
Occupational name for a peasant farmer, from Middle English bonde. A famous bearer is the fictional spy James Bond, created by Ian Flemming in 1953.

Bower English
From Old English bur meaning "dwelling, room".

Brand 1 German, Dutch, English
Derived from the Old German given name Brando or its Old Norse cognate Brandr.

Bray English
From a place name derived from Cornish bre "hill".

Bridges English
Originally denoted a person who lived near a bridge, or who worked as a bridgekeeper, derived from Middle English brigge, Old English brycg.

Brook English
Denoted a person who lived near a brook, a word derived from Old English broc.

Bunker English
Derived from Old French bon cuer meaning "good heart".

Burns 1 English, Scottish
Derived from Old English burna "stream, spring". A famous bearer was the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796).

Burrows English
Topographic name derived from Old English beorg meaning "hill, mountain" or burg meaning "fort". Alternatively, it could come from a compound of bur "room, cottage, dwelling" and hus "house".

Butcher English
Occupational name for a butcher, derived from Old French bouchier.

Butler English, Irish
Occupational name derived from Norman French butiller "wine steward", ultimately from Late Latin butticula "bottle". A famous bearer of this surname is the fictional character Rhett Butler, created by Margaret Mitchell for her novel Gone with the Wind (1936).

Butts English
From a nickname meaning "thick, stumpy", from Middle English butt.

Cannon English
From the ecclesiastical usage of canon, referring to a church official or servant who worked in a clergy house.

Case English
From Norman French casse meaning "box, case", ultimately from Latin capsa. This was an occupational name for a box maker.

Chance English
From a nickname for a lucky person or a gambler.

Chase English
Occupational name for a hunter, from Middle English chase "hunt".

Close English
From Middle English clos meaning "enclosure", a topographic name for someone who lived near a courtyard or farmyard.

Cock English
Derived from the medieval nickname cok meaning "rooster, cock". The nickname was commonly added to given names to create diminutives such as Hancock or Alcock.

Combs English
Variant of Coombs.

Cook English
Derived from Old English coc meaning "cook", ultimately from Latin coquus. It was an occupational name for a cook, a man who sold cooked meats, or a keeper of an eating house.

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

Crisp English
English cognate of Crespo.

Cross English
Locative name meaning "cross", ultimately from Latin crux. It denoted one who lived near a cross symbol or near a crossroads.

Crouch English
Variant of Cross.

Curry Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Comhraidhe or Ó Corra.

Dam Dutch, Danish
Means "dike, dam" in Dutch and Danish. In modern Danish it also means "pond".

Deforest French
Means "from the forest" in French.

Doctor English
Originally denoted someone who was a doctor, ultimately from Latin doctor meaning "teacher".

Dodge English
From Dogge, a medieval diminutive of Roger.

Dries Dutch
From the given name Dries.

Duke English
From the noble title, which was originally from Latin dux "leader". It was a nickname for a person who behaved like a duke, or who worked in a duke's household.

Fan Chinese
From Chinese 范 (fàn) meaning "bee".

Fear English
Derived from Middle English feare meaning "friend, comrade".

Field English
Variant of Fields.

Fields English
Name for a person who lived on or near a field or pasture, from Old English feld.

Flower English
From Middle English flour meaning "flower, blossom", derived from Old French flur, Latin flos. This was a nickname given to a sweet person. In other cases it could be a metonymic occupational name for a maker of flour (a word derived from the same source).

Ford English
Name given to someone who lived by a ford, possibly the official who maintained it. A famous bearer was the American industrialist Henry Ford (1863-1947).

Forest English, French
Originally belonged to a person who lived near or in a forest. It was probably originally derived, via Old French forest, from Latin forestam (silva) meaning "outer (wood)".

Foster 4 English
Nickname given to a person who was a foster child or foster parent.

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

French English
Originally denoted a French person, from Middle English Frensch, Old English Frencisc.

Fried German
Derived from the given name Friedrich.

Fries German
Denoted someone from Frisia, an area along the coastal region of the North Sea stretching from Netherlands to Germany.

Frisk Swedish
From Swedish frisk "healthy", which was derived from the Middle Low German word vrisch "fresh, young, frisky".

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.

Fry English
From Old English frig (a variant of freo) meaning "free".

Fuller English
Occupational name for a fuller, a person who thickened and cleaned coarse cloth by pounding it. It is derived via Middle English from Latin fullo.

Gale English
Derived from Middle English gaile meaning "jovial".

Garb German
Variant of Garber.

Garland English
Means "triangle land" from Old English gara and land. It originally belonged to a person who owned a triangle-shaped piece of land.

Garner 1 English
From Old French gernier meaning "granary", a derivative of Latin granum meaning "grain". This name could refer to a person who worked at a granary or lived near one.

Gates English
Originally denoted a person who lived near the town gates.

Gore English
From the Old English word gara meaning "triangular plot of land".

Grant English, Scottish
Derived from Norman French meaning "grand, tall, large, great". A famous bearer was the American general and president Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885).

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

Grieve Scottish
Occupational name meaning "steward, farm manager" in Middle English, related to the German title Graf.

Gross German
Variant of Groß.

Hail English
From a nickname derived from Middle English hail meaning "healthy" (of Old Norse origin).

Harden English
From a place name meaning "hare valley" in Old English.

Hawk English
Originally a nickname for a person who had a hawk-like appearance or who acted in a fierce manner, derived from Old English hafoc "hawk".

Hawking English
From a diminutive of Hawk. A famous bearer was the British physicist Stephen Hawking (1942-2018).

Hood English
Metonymic occupational name for a maker of hoods or a nickname for someone who wore a distinctive hood, from Old English hod.

Hope English
Derived from Middle English hop meaning "small valley".

House English
Referred to a person who lived or worked in a house, as opposed to a smaller hut.

Huff English
Means "spur of a hill", from Old English hoh.

Hunt English
Variant of Hunter.

Jack English, Scottish
From the given name Jack.

Jewel English
Variant of Jewell.

Keen English
From Old English cene meaning "bold, brave".

Key 1 English
Variant of Kay 1 or Kay 2.

King English
From Old English cyning "king", originally a nickname for someone who either acted in a kingly manner or who worked for or was otherwise associated with a king. A famous bearer was the American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968).

Kiss Hungarian
Nickname meaning "small" in Hungarian.

Knight English
From Old English cniht meaning "knight", a tenant serving as a mounted soldier.

Lam Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of Lin.

Lamb English
From the name of the animal, perhaps a nickname for a shy person.

Leach English
Originally indicated a person who was a physician, from the medieval practice of using leeches to bleed people of ills.

Little English
Meaning simply "little", it was originally a nickname given to a short person.

Love English
From the Old English given name Lufu meaning "love".

Lynch Irish
From Irish Ó Loingsigh meaning "descendant of Loingseach", a given name meaning "mariner".

Madden Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Madaidhín.

Major English
From the Norman French given name Mauger, derived from the Germanic name Malger.

Manning 1 English
Patronymic form of Mann.

Mark English
Derived from the given name Mark.

Marshall English
Derived from Middle English mareschal "marshal", from Latin mariscalcus, ultimately from Germanic roots akin to Old High German marah "horse" and scalc "servant". It originally referred to someone who took care of horses.

Mason English
Occupational name for a stoneworker or layer of bricks, from Old French masson, of Frankish origin (akin to Old English macian "to make").

Masters English
Variant of Masterson.

May English
Derived from the given name Matthew.

Mills English
Originally given to one who lived near a mill or who worked in a mill, from Middle English mille.

Moon 2 English
Originally indicated a person from the town of Moyon in Normandy.

Moors English
Variant of Moore 1.

Mould English
From the given name Mauld, a medieval form of Matilda.

Outlaw English
Means simply "outlaw" from Middle English outlawe.

Pace Italian
Derived from the Italian given name Pace meaning "peace".

Page English, French
Occupational name meaning "servant, page". It is ultimately derived (via Old French and Italian) from Greek παιδίον (paidion) meaning "little boy".

Pain English
Variant of Payne.

Pan 1 Provençal
Means "baker", from Latin panis meaning "bread".

Pander Dutch
Variant of Penders.

Parent English, French
Derived from Old French parent meaning either "notable" (from Latin pārēre meaning "to be apparent") or "parent" (from Latin parere meaning "to produce, to give birth").

Park 2 English
From Middle English park, from Latin parricus, of Frankish origin. This was a name for someone who worked in or lived in a park.

Parry Welsh
Derived from ap Harry meaning "son of Harry".

Peacock English
From Middle English pecok meaning "peacock". It was originally a nickname for a proud or haughty person.

Peak English
Originally indicated a dweller by a pointed hill, from Old English peac "peak". It could also denote a person from the Peak District in Derbyshire, England.

Peck 1 English
Variant of Peak.

Peck 2 English
Occupational name for a maker of pecks (vessels used as peck measures), derived from Middle English pekke.

Peel English
Nickname for a thin person, derived from Old French pel, Latin palus meaning "stake, post" (related to English pole).

Pickle English
Derived from Middle English pighel meaning "small field".

Pierce English
From the given name Piers.

Pilgrim English, German
Nickname for a person who was a pilgrim, ultimately from Latin peregrinus.

Plank German, English
Means "plank", from Old French, itself from Late Latin planca. This could have referred to a person who lived by a plank bridge over a stream, someone who was thin, or a carpenter.

Pond English
Originally referred to one who lived near a pond.

Pop Romanian
Variant of Popa.

Post Dutch, German, English
Indicated a person who lived near a post, ultimately from Latin postis.

Potter English
Occupational name for a potter, one who makes earthen vessels. This surname was used by J. K. Rowling for the hero in her Harry Potter series of books, first released in 1997.

Pound English
Occupational name for a person who kept animals, from Old English pund "animal enclosure".

Power 1 English, Irish
From Old French Poier, indicating a person who came from the town of Poix in Picardy, France.

Power 2 English
From Middle English povre meaning "poor", via Old French from Latin pauper. It could have been a nickname for someone who had no money or a miser.

Powers English
Variant of Power 1 or Power 2.

Price Welsh
Derived from Welsh ap Rhys, which means "son of Rhys".

Queen English
From a given name that was derived from Old English cwen meaning "queen, woman". In some occurrences it may have been a nickname.

Quirk Irish
Variant of Quirke.

Rains English
Variant of Raines.

Rake English
Originally a name for a dweller on a narrow pass or hillside, from Old English hrace meaning "throat, gorge".

Ray English
Variant of Rey 1, Rey 2, Rye or Wray.

Read 1 English
Means "red" from Middle English read, probably denoting a person with red hair or complexion.

Ready 1 English
From Middle English redi meaning "prepared, prompt".

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).

Rot German, Jewish
Variant of Roth.

Rounds English
Patronymic derived from Middle English rond meaning "round, plump", ultimately from Latin rotundus.

Rush English
Indicated a person who lived near rushes, the grasslike plant that grows in a marsh, from Old English rysc.

Salvage English
Variant of Savage.

Sands English
From Old English, indicated the original nearer lived on sandy ground.

Savage English
English nickname meaning "wild, uncouth", derived from Old French salvage or sauvage meaning "untamed", ultimately from Latin silvaticus meaning "wild, from the woods".

School Dutch
From Dutch school, ultimately from Latin schola meaning "school", indicating a person who worked at or lived near a school.

Sessions English
From the name of the city of Soissons in northern France, itself derived from the name of the Celtic tribe of the Suessiones.

Shepherd English
Occupational name meaning "shepherd, sheep herder", from Old English sceaphyrde.

Shine 1 English
Means "beautiful, attractive" from Old English sciene.

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

Smith English
Means "metalworker, blacksmith" from Old English smiþ, related to smitan "to smite, to hit". It is the most common surname in most of the English-speaking world. A famous bearer was the Scottish economist Adam Smith (1723-1790).

Solo Basque
Means "rural estate" in Basque.

Sparks English
From an Old Norse nickname or byname derived from sparkr meaning "sprightly".

Spear English
From Old English spere "spear", an occupational name for a hunter or a maker of spears, or a nickname for a thin person.

Stack English
From a nickname for a big person, derived from Middle English stack "haystack", of Old Norse origin.

Stamp English
Originally denoted a person from Étampes near Paris. It was called Stampae in Latin, but the ultimate origin is uncertain.

Stoke English
From the name of numerous places in England, derived from Old English stoc meaning "place, dwelling".

Stokes English
Variant of Stoke.

Stone English
Name for a person who lived near a prominent stone or worked with stone, derived from Old English stan.

Strand Norwegian, Swedish, Danish
From Old Norse strǫnd meaning "beach, sea shore". It was originally given to someone who lived on or near the sea.

Styles English
Locational name for one who lived near a steep hill, from Old English stigol "stile, set of steps".

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.

Sung Chinese
Alternate transcription of Chinese 宋 (see Song).

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

Tailor English
Variant of Taylor.

Tan Chinese (Hokkien)
Min Nan romanization of Chen.

Tar Hungarian
Derived from Hungarian tar meaning "bald".

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.

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.

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.

Wade 1 English
Derived from the Old English place name wæd meaning "a ford".

Wade 2 English
From the Old English given name Wada, a derivative of the word wadan "to go".

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

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.

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.

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

Welter German
Derived from the given name Walter.

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

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".

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