Achterberg Dutch, GermanFrom the name of various places in the Netherlands and Germany, for example the village of
achterberg in Utrecht. The place names are derived from Low German
achter "behind" and
berg "mountain, hill".
Banks EnglishOriginally indicated someone who lived near a hillside or a bank of land.
Barlow EnglishDerived from a number of English place names that variously mean "barley hill", "barn hill", "boar clearing" or "barley clearing".
Bergmann GermanFrom Old High German
berg meaning "mountain" and
man meaning "man", originally denoting someone who lived on a mountain.
Bray EnglishFrom a place name derived from Cornish
bre "hill".
Brook EnglishDenoted a person who lived near a brook, a word derived from Old English
broc.
Brownlow EnglishFrom 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.
Burns 1 English, ScottishDerived from Old English
burna "stream, spring". A famous bearer was the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796).
Como 2 ItalianFrom the name of the city of Como in Lombardy, the rival city of Milan during the Middle Ages. Its name may come from a Celtic root meaning "valley".
Cowden EnglishFrom various English place names, which meaning either "coal valley", "coal hill" or "cow pasture" in Old English.
Dale EnglishFrom Old English
dæl meaning
"valley", originally indicating a person who lived there.
Dam Dutch, DanishMeans
"dike, dam" in Dutch and Danish. In modern Danish it also means "pond".
Denman EnglishFrom Middle English
dene "valley" combined with
man.
Downer EnglishName for someone who lived on or near a down, which is an English word meaning
"hill".
Drummond ScottishFrom various Scottish place names that are derived from Gaelic
drumainn, a derivative of
druim meaning
"ridge".
Dunbar ScottishFrom the name of a town in East Lothian, Scotland, derived from Gaelic
dùn meaning "fort" and
barr meaning "summit", so called from its situation on a rock that projects into the sea.
Fonseca Spanish, PortugueseOriginally belonged to a person who lived near a dry spring, from Latin
fons "well, spring" and
siccus "dry".
Garland EnglishMeans
"triangle land" from Old English
gara and
land. It originally belonged to a person who owned a triangle-shaped piece of land.
Grünberg German, JewishFrom German
grün meaning "green" and
Berg meaning "mountain". This name indicated a person who lived on or near a forest-covered mountain.
Harden EnglishFrom a place name meaning "hare valley" in Old English.
Harel JewishOrnamental name adopted from a biblical place name meaning "altar, mountain of God" in Hebrew.
Hayden 1 EnglishFrom place names meaning either
"hay valley" or
"hay hill", derived from Old English
heg "hay" and
denu "valley" or
dun "hill".
Hayter EnglishName for a person who lived on a hill, from Middle English
heyt meaning
"height".
Head EnglishFrom Middle English
hed meaning
"head", from Old English
heafod. It may have referred to a person who had a peculiar head, who lived near the head of a river or valley, or who served as the village headman.
Heath EnglishOriginally belonged to a person who was a dweller on the heath or open land.
Hill EnglishOriginally given to a person who lived on or near a hill, derived from Old English
hyll.
Hillam EnglishFrom English places by this name, derived from Old English
hyll meaning
"hill".
Hilton EnglishFrom various English place names derived from Old English
hyll "hill" and
tun "enclosure, town". Famous bearers of this name include the Hilton family of hotel heirs.
Hope EnglishDerived from Middle English
hop meaning
"small valley".
Horn English, German, Norwegian, DanishFrom the Germanic word
horn meaning
"horn". This was an occupational name for one who carved objects out of horn or who played a horn, or a person who lived near a horn-shaped geographical feature, such as a mountain or a bend in a river.
Huff EnglishMeans
"spur of a hill", from Old English
hoh.
Kelsey EnglishFrom an English place name meaning "Cenel's island", from the Old English name
Cenel "fierce" in combination with
eg "island".
Kersey EnglishFrom an English place name meaning derived from Old English
cærse "watercress" and
eg "island".
Knaggs EnglishFrom Middle English
knagg meaning
"small mound, projection". It is found most commonly in the north of England, in particular Yorkshire.
Knowles EnglishFrom Middle English
knoll, Old English
cnoll meaning
"small hill, knoll". A famous bearer is American singer Beyoncé Knowles (1981-).
Kulmala FinnishFrom Finnish
kulma meaning
"corner" with the suffix
-la indicating a place.
Kyle ScottishDerived from Scottish Gaelic
caol meaning
"narrows, channel, strait", originally given to a person who lived by a strait.
Langdon EnglishDerived from various places names, of Old English origin meaning
"long hill" (effectively
"ridge").
Leitner GermanReferred to one who lived on a hillside, from Middle High German
lite "slope".
Lusk ScottishPossibly from the place name
Leask in Aberdeenshire, of unknown meaning.
Lyndon EnglishOriginally from a place name meaning "linden tree hill" in Old English.
Marchegiano ItalianFrom the name of the Marche region in Italy, derived from Late Latin
marca meaning "borderland". It was the real surname of the American boxer Rocky Marciano (1923-1969), who was born Rocco Marchegiano.
Marlow EnglishOriginally a name for a person from Marlow in Buckinghamshire, England. The place name means "remnants of a lake" from Old English
mere "lake" and
lafe "remnants, remains". A notable bearer was the English playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593).
Merrill 2 EnglishFrom the name of various places in England, derived from Old English
myrige "pleasant" and
hyll "hill".
Moore 1 EnglishOriginally indicated a person who lived on a moor, from Middle English
mor meaning
"open land, bog".
Nurmi FinnishMeans
"meadow, field" in Finnish. It was the surname of the athlete Paavo Nurmi (1897-1973).
Peak EnglishOriginally 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.
Platt EnglishFrom Old French
plat meaning
"flat, thin", from Late Latin
plattus, from Greek
πλατύς (platys) meaning "wide, broad, flat". This may have been a nickname or a topographic name for someone who lived near a flat feature.
Pollock ScottishFrom the name of a place in Renfrewshire, Scotland, derived from a diminutive of Gaelic
poll meaning
"pool, pond, bog". A famous bearer was the American artist Jackson Pollock (1912-1956).
Radcliff EnglishFrom various place names in England that mean "red cliff" in Old English.
Rake EnglishOriginally a name for a dweller on a narrow pass or hillside, from Old English
hrace meaning
"throat".
Ranta FinnishOriginally indicated a person who lived near the shore, from Finnish
ranta meaning
"shore, beach".
Read 2 EnglishFrom Old English
ryd, an unattested form of
rod meaning
"cleared land". It is also derived from various English place names with various meanings, including "roe headland", "reeds" and "brushwood".
Ribeiro PortugueseMeans
"little river, stream" in Portuguese, ultimately from Latin
riparius meaning "riverbank".
Ridge EnglishDenoted a person who lived near a ridge, from Old English
hrycg.
Rivers EnglishDenoted a person who lived near a river, from Middle English, from Old French
riviere meaning
"river", from Latin
riparius meaning "riverbank".
Roach EnglishFrom Middle English and Old French
roche meaning
"rock", from Late Latin
rocca, a word that may be of Celtic origin. It indicated a person who lived near a prominent rock, or who came from a town by this name (such as Les Roches in Normandy).
Rothenberg German, JewishFrom Middle High German
rot meaning "red" and
berg meaning "mountain". As a Jewish name it may be ornamental.
Rowbottom EnglishOriginally indicated a person who lived in an overgrown valley, from Old English
ruh "rough, overgrown" and
boðm "valley".
Rye EnglishTopographic name. It could be a misdivision of the Middle English phrases
atter ye meaning
"at the island" or
atter eye meaning
"at the river". In some cases it merely indicated a person who lived where rye was grown or worked with rye (from Old English
ryge).
Sandberg Swedish, Norwegian, JewishFrom Swedish and Norwegian
sand (Old Norse
sandr) meaning "sand" and
berg meaning "mountain" (or in the case of the Jewish surname, from the Yiddish or German cognates).
Sauveterre FrenchFrom the name of various towns in France, derived from French
sauve "safe" and
terre "land".
Scheinberg JewishOrnamental name meaning
"beautiful mountain" from old German
schön "beautiful" and
berg "mountain".
Sharrow EnglishOriginally a name for someone from Sharrow, England, derived from Old English
scearu "boundary" and
hoh "point of land, heel".
Sherburn EnglishDenoted a person hailing from any of the various places called Sherborne or Sherburn in England, derived from Old English
scir "bright" and
burna "spring, fountain, stream".
Sierra SpanishOriginally indicated a dweller on a hill range or ridge, from Spanish
sierra "mountain range", derived from Latin
serra "saw".
Somma ItalianFrom the names of Italian places like Somma Lombardo or Somma Vesuviana, derived from Latin
summa meaning "summit".
Spitz GermanMeans
"sharp" in German, indicating the original bearer lived near a pointed hill.
Sutherland ScottishRegional name for a person who came from the former county by this name in Scotland. It is derived from Old Norse
suðr "south" and
land "land", because it was south of the Norse colony of Orkney.
Swindlehurst EnglishFrom the place name
Swinglehurst in the Forest of Bowland in central Lancashire, derived from Old English
swin "swine, pig",
hyll "hill" and
hyrst "wood, grove".
Tindall EnglishFrom
Tindale, the name of a town in Cumbria, derived from the name of the river Tyne combined with Old English
dæl "dale, valley".
Underhill EnglishMeans
"dweller at the foot of a hill", from Old English
under and
hyll.
Urbina BasqueDerived from Basque
ur "water" and
bi "two", indicating a place where two waterways met.
Witherspoon EnglishOriginally given to a person who dwelt near a sheep enclosure, from Middle English
wether "sheep" and
spong "strip of land".