Browse Surnames

Carman 2 English
From an Old Norse byname derived from karlmann meaning "male, man".

Carpenter English
From the occupation, derived from Middle English carpentier (ultimately from Latin carpentarius meaning "carriage maker").

Carr 1 Scottish, English
Variant of Kerr.

Carstensen Danish
Means "son of Carsten".

Carter English
Occupational name for a person who operated a cart to transport goods, from Norman French caretier. A famous bearer was the American president Jimmy Carter (1924-2024).

Cartwright English
Occupational name indicating one who made carts.

Carver English
Occupational surname for a carver, from Middle English kerve "cut".

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

Cash English
Variant of Case.

Cason English
From the English place name Cawston, derived from the Old Norse given name Kálfr combined with Old English tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town".

Castle English
From Middle English castel meaning "castle", from Late Latin castellum, originally indicating a person who lived near a castle.

Caulfield English
From a place name meaning "cold field", from Old English ceald "cold" and feld "pasture, field".

Causer English
Occupational name for one who made leggings, derived from Old French chausse "leggings".

Causey English
Indicated a person who lived near a causeway, from Old French caucie.

Ceelen Dutch
Derived from the given name Ceel.

Chadwick English
From the name of English towns meaning "settlement belonging to Chad" in Old English.

Chamberlain English
Occupational name for one who looked after the inner rooms of a mansion, from Norman French chambrelain.

Chambers English
From Old French chambre meaning "chamber, room", an occupational name for a person who worked in the inner rooms of a mansion.

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

Chancellor English
Occupational name for an administrator, a chancellor, from Norman French chancelier.

Chandler English
Occupational name meaning "candle seller" or "candle maker" in Middle English, ultimately derived from Latin candela via Old French.

Chaplin English, French
Occupational name for a chaplain, or perhaps for the servant of one, from Middle English, Old French chapelain. A famous bearer was the British comic actor Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977).

Chapman English
Occupational name derived from Old English ceapmann meaning "merchant, trader".

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

Cheshire English
Originally indicated a person from the county of Cheshire in England. Cheshire is named for its city Chester.

Chester English
From the name of a city in England, derived from Latin castrum "camp, fortress".

Christensen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Christen 1".

Christian English, French, German
Derived from the given name Christian.

Christians English
Derived from the given name Christian.

Christiansen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Christian".

Christianson English
Means "son of Christian".

Christinsen English
Means "son of Christian".

Christison English
Means "son of Christian".

Christoffersen Danish
Means "son of Christoffer".

Christopher English
Derived from the given name Christopher.

Christophers English
Derived from the given name Christopher.

Christopherson English
Means "son of Christopher".

Church English
From the English word, derived from Old English cirice, ultimately from Greek κυριακόν (kyriakon) meaning "(house) of the lord". It probably referred to a person who lived close to a church.

Churchill English
From an English place name meaning "church hill". A famous bearer was Winston Churchill (1874-1965), the British prime minister during World War II.

Claasen Dutch
Means "son of Klaas".

Claes Flemish
From the given name Klaus.

Claesson Swedish
Means "son of Claes".

Clark English
Means "cleric" or "scribe", from Old English clerec meaning "priest", ultimately from Latin clericus. A famous bearer was William Clark (1770-1838), an explorer of the west of North America.

Clarke English
Variant of Clark.

Clarkson English
Patronymic form of Clark.

Clausen Danish
Means "son of Claus".

Clay English
Means simply "clay", originally referring to a person who lived near or worked with of clay.

Clayton English
From the name of various places meaning "clay settlement" in Old English.

Clemens English
Derived from the given name Clement. This was the surname of the author Samuel Clemens (1835-1910), also known as Mark Twain.

Clemensen Danish
Means "son of Clemens".

Clement English
Derived from the given name Clement.

Cleveland English
Derived from a place name meaning "cliff land" in Old English.

Clifford English
Derived from various place names that meant "ford by a cliff" in Old English.

Clifton English
Derived from various place names meaning "settlement by a cliff" in Old English.

Cline German (Anglicized), Jewish
Anglicized spelling of Klein.

Clinton English
Derived from the English place name Glinton, of uncertain meaning, or Glympton, meaning "settlement on the River Glyme". This surname is borne by former American president Bill Clinton (1946-).

Cloet Dutch
Variant of Kloet.

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

Cobb English
From a medieval English byname meaning "lump".

Coburn Scottish, English
Variant of Cockburn.

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.

Cockburn Scottish, English
Originally indicated someone who came from Cockburn, a place in Berwickshire. The place name is derived from Old English cocc "rooster" and burna "stream".

Cocks English
Patronymic form of Cock.

Coeman Dutch
Variant of Koopman.

Coemans Dutch
Variant of Koopman.

Coenen Dutch
Derived from the given name Coenraad.

Coke English
Variant of Cook.

Cokes English
Variant of Cook.

Colbert English, French
Derived from the given name Colobert.

Colby English
From various English place names, which were derived from the Old Norse byname Koli (meaning "coal, dark") and býr "farm, settlement".

Cole English
From a medieval short form of Nicholas or from the byname Cola.

Coleman Irish, English
From the given name Colmán.

Colijn Dutch
From a diminutive of the given name Nicolaas.

Collingwood English
From a place name, itself derived from Old French chalenge meaning "disputed" and Middle English wode meaning "woods".

Collins 2 English
Means "son of Colin 2".

Colson English
Means "son of Col".

Colt English
Occupational name for a keeper of horses, derived from Middle English colt.

Colter English
Variant of Colt using an agent suffix.

Colton English
From a place name meaning "Cola's town".

Combs English
Variant of Coombs.

Comstock English
Possibly from the name of the River Culm in Devon, England. This name is seen in the Domesday book as Culmstoke or Colmstoke.

Conner English
From Middle English connere meaning "inspector", an occupational name for an inspector of weights and measures.

Constable English
From Old French conestable, ultimately from Latin comes stabuli meaning "officer of the stable".

Conway Welsh, English
From the name of the River Conwy in Wales, or the town situated at the mouth of the river. It is possibly derived from Welsh cyn "foremost" and the common river name suffix wy.

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.

Cooke English
Variant of Cook.

Cookson English
Patronymic form of Cook.

Coolen Dutch
From the given name Nicolaas.

Coombs English
From Old English cumb meaning "valley", the name of several places in England.

Cooper English
Means "barrel maker", from Middle English couper.

Corey English
Derived from the Old Norse given name Kóri, of unknown meaning.

Cornell English
Derived from the given name Cornelius.

Cornett English
Derived from Old French cornet meaning "horn", referring to one who worked as a horn blower.

Corwin English
Derived from Old French cordoan "leather", ultimately from the name of the Spanish city of Cordova.

Cory English
Variant of Corey.

Cotterill English
Derived from Middle English cotter meaning "cottager", referring to a small tenant farmer.

Coumans Dutch
Variant of Koopman.

Coupe English
From Middle English coupe meaning "barrel", a name for a barrel maker or cooper.

Courtenay 1 English
From the name of towns in France that were originally derivatives of the Gallo-Roman personal name Curtenus, itself derived from Latin curtus "short".

Courtenay 2 English
From the Old French nickname court nes meaning "short nose".

Courtney English
Variant of Courtenay 1 or Courtenay 2.

Cowden English
From various English place names, which meaning either "coal valley", "coal hill" or "cow pasture" in Old English.

Cox English
Patronymic form of Cock.

Coy English
Means "quiet, shy, coy" from Middle English coi.

Crawford English
From a place name derived from Old English crawe "crow" and ford "river crossing". A notable bearer was the American actress Joan Crawford (1904-1977), born Lucille Fay LeSueur.

Crawley English
From various place names derived from Old English crawe "crow" and leah "woodland, clearing".

Crewe English
Originally denoted someone from Crewe in Cheshire, which is from Welsh criu "weir, dam, fish trap".

Crisp English
English cognate of Crespo.

Croft English
From Old English croft meaning "enclosed field".

Cropper English
Occupational name derived from Middle English croppe "crop", referring to a fruit picker or a crop reaper.

Crosby English
From the name of various towns in England, derived from Old Norse kross "cross" (a borrowing from Latin crux) and býr "farm, settlement".

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.

Crowley 2 English
Variant of Crawley.

Crusan Dutch (Anglicized)
Anglicized form of Cruyssen.

Cruyssen Dutch
From the name of a place in the Netherlands, derived from kruis "cross".

Cuijper Dutch
Variant of Kuiper.

Cuijpers Dutch
Variant of Kuiper.

Cullen 1 English
From the name of the German city of Cologne, which was derived from Latin colonia "colony".

Cummings English
Variant of Cummins.

Cummins English, Scottish, Irish
From the Old Breton given name Cunmin, a cognate of Cuimín, introduced to Britain at the time of the Norman Conquest.

Curtis English
Nickname for a courteous person, derived from Old French curteis meaning "refined, courtly".

Cuyler Dutch
Variant of Kuijlaars or Koole.

Cuyper Dutch
Variant of Kuiper.

Cuypers Dutch
Variant of Kuiper.

Daalman Dutch
Variant of Daalmans.

Daalmans Dutch
Originally indicated a person who lived in a valley, from Dutch dal meaning "dale, valley" and man meaning "man".

Dabney English
Variant of Daubney.

Daelman Dutch
Variant of Daalmans.

Daelmans Dutch
Variant of Daalmans.

Dahl Norwegian, Swedish, Danish
From Old Norse dalr meaning "valley". A famous of this surname was author Roald Dahl (1916-1990) who is mostly remembered for children's stories such as Matilda and Henry Sugar.

Dahlberg Swedish
Ornamental name derived from Swedish dal (Old Norse dalr) meaning "dale, valley" and berg meaning "mountain".

Dahlman Swedish
From Swedish dal (Old Norse dalr) meaning "dale, valley" and man (Old Norse maðr) meaning "person, man".

Dahlmans Dutch
Variant of Daalmans.

Dale English
From Old English dæl meaning "valley", originally indicating a person who lived there.

Dalgaard Danish
From Old Norse dalr meaning "valley" and garðr meaning "yard, farmstead".

Dallas 1 English
From Old English dæl meaning "valley" and hus meaning "house".

Dalton English
Derived from a place name meaning "valley town" in Old English. A notable bearer of the surname was the English chemist and physicist John Dalton (1766-1844).

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

Dane 1 English
Variant of Dean 1 or Dean 2.

Dane 2 English
Originally denoted a Dane, that is a person from Denmark.

Danell English
Derived from the given name Daniel.

Daniel um English, French, German, Portuguese, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Romanian
Derived from the given name Daniel.

Daniell English
Derived from the given name Daniel.

Daniels English
Variant of Daniel.

Danielsen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Daniel".

Danielson English
Means "son of Daniel".

Danielsson Swedish
Means "son of Daniel".

Dannel English
Variant of Daniel.

Danniel English
Variant of Daniel.

Danniell English
Variant of Daniel.

Darby English
From the name of the English town Derby, derived from Old Norse djúr "animal" and býr "farm, settlement".

Darcy English
From Norman French d'Arcy, originally denoting someone who came from the town of Arcy in La Manche, France. A notable fictional bearer is Fitzwilliam Darcy from Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice (1813).

Darling English
From a nickname or byname derived from Middle English dereling, Old English deorling, meaning "darling, beloved one".

Darnell 1 English
Derived from Old French darnel, a type of grass.

Darnell 2 English
From the name of a town near Sheffield, derived from Old English derne "hidden" and halh "nook".

Darrell English
Originally denoted one who came from the town of Airel in Normandy, derived from Late Latin arealis meaning "open space".

Darwin English
From the given name Deorwine. A famous bearer was the British naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882).

Daube German
Variant of Taube.

Daubney English
From any of the various towns in France called Aubigny, derived from the Gallo-Roman personal name Albinus.

David um English, French, German, Welsh, Czech, Portuguese, Romanian, Jewish
From the given name David.

Davids English
Means "son of David".

Davidsen Danish
Means "son of David".

Davidson English
Means "son of David".

Davies English, Scottish
Variant of Davis.

Davis English, Scottish
Means "son of David". This was the surname of the revolutionary jazz trumpet player Miles Davis (1926-1991).

Davison English
Means "son of David".

Dawson English
Means "son of Daw".

Day English
From a diminutive form of David.

Dayton English
Variant of Deighton.

Deacon English
Means "deacon", ultimately from Greek διάκονος (diakonos) meaning "servant".

Deadman English
Variant of Debenham.

Dean 1 English
Derived from Middle English dene meaning "valley".

Dean 2 English
Occupational surname meaning "dean", referring to a person who either was a dean or worked for one. It is from Middle English deen (ultimately from Latin decanus meaning "chief of ten").

Debenham English
Originally denoted a person from the town of Debenham in Suffolk, derived from the name of the River Deben (meaning "deep" in Old English) combined with ham meaning "home, settlement".

De Boer Dutch
Dutch cognate of Bauer.

De Bruijn Dutch
Dutch cognate of Brown.

De Bruin Dutch
Dutch cognate of Brown.

Decker German
German form of Dekker.

De Clerc Dutch
Variant of De Klerk.

De Clercq Dutch
Variant of De Klerk.

De Cloet Dutch
Variant of Kloet.

De Cock Flemish
Flemish cognate of Cook.

Dedrick English
Derived from the given name Dederick, an older form of Derek.

Deering English
From the Old English given name Deora meaning "dear, beloved".

De Graaf Dutch
Dutch cognate of Graf.

De Groot Dutch
From Dutch groot meaning "big, great".

De Haan Dutch
Means "rooster" in Dutch.

De Haas Dutch
Dutch cognate of Hase.

Deighton English
From English towns by this name, from Old English dic "ditch" and tun "enclosure, yard, town".

De Jong Dutch
Means "young" in Dutch, from Middle Dutch jonc. This is the most common surname in the Netherlands.

De Jonge Dutch
Variant of De Jong.

De Jonker Dutch
Variant of Jonker.

Dekker Dutch
Means "roofer, thatcher" in Dutch.

De Klerk Dutch
From Dutch klerk meaning "clerk", making this a cognate of Clark.

De Kloet Dutch
Variant of Kloet.

De Kock Dutch
Dutch cognate of Cook.

De Koning Dutch
Dutch cognate of King.

Delaney 1 English
Derived from Norman French de l'aunaie meaning "from the alder grove".

De Lang Dutch
Dutch cognate of Long.

De Lange Dutch
Dutch cognate of Long.

Denman English
From Middle English dene "valley" combined with man.

Dennell English
Variant of Daniel.

Dennis English
From the given name Dennis.

Denzel German
Variant of Tanzer.

Denzil English
From the place name Denzell, a manor in Cornwall, which is of unknown meaning.

Derby English
Variant of Darby.

Derichs German
Means "son of Dirk".

Derrick English
Derived from the given name Derrick (see Derek). A famous bearer of this surname is the character Stephan Derrick from the German television series Derrick (1974-1998).

Derricks English
Derived from the given name Derrick.

Derrickson English
Means "son of Derrick".

De Smet Flemish
Flemish variant of Smit.

De Snaijer Dutch
Variant of Snijder.

De Veen Dutch
Variant of Van der Veen.

De Ven Dutch
Variant of Van der Veen.

Devereux English
Indicated a person from Evreux in France, itself named after the Gaulish tribe of the Eburovices, which was probably derived from a Celtic word meaning "yew".

Devin 2 French, English
Nickname for a person who acted divinely or prophetically, from Old French devin meaning "divine" or "seer, fortune teller", ultimately from Latin divinus.

Devine 2 English
Variant of Devin 2.

De Vos Dutch
Variant of Vos.

Devos Flemish
Flemish variant of Vos.

De Vries Dutch
Means "the Frisian" in Dutch, referring to a person from Friesland.

De Vroom Dutch, Flemish
Variant of Vroom.

De Vroome Dutch
Variant of Vroom.

De Wit Dutch
Variant of De Witte.

De With Dutch
Variant of De Witte.

De Witt Dutch
Variant of De Witte.

De Witte Dutch
Means "the white" in Dutch, a nickname for a person with white or fair 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).

Dick English
From the given name Dick 1.

Dickens English
From the medieval given name Dicun, a medieval diminutive of Dick 1. A famous bearer of this surname was the British author Charles Dickens (1812-1870).

Dickenson English
Variant of Dickinson.

Dickerson English
Means "son of Dick 1".

Dickinson English
Means "son of Dicun", Dicun being a medieval diminutive of Dick 1. American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was a famous bearer.

Dickman English
From Old English dic "ditch" combined with man "person, man". It was originally a name for a ditch digger or someone who lived near a ditch.

Dickson English
Means "son of Dick 1".

Diefenbach German
From a German place name meaning "deep creek".

Dierickx Flemish
Means "son of Dirk".

Dieter German
Derived from the given name Dieter.

Dietrich German
Derived from the given name Dietrich.

Dirchs Dutch (Rare)
Means "son of Dirk".

Dircks Dutch
Means "son of Dirk".

Dircksens Dutch
Means "son of Dirk".

Dirckx Flemish, Dutch
Means "son of Dirk".

Dirix Flemish, Dutch
Means "son of Dirk".

Dirks Dutch, German
Means "son of Dirk".

Dirkse Dutch
Means "son of Dirk".

Dirksen Dutch, German
Means "son of Dirk".

Dirkx Dutch, Flemish
Means "son of Dirk".

Disney English
Means "from Isigny", referring to the town of Isigny in Normandy. This surname was borne by the American animator and filmmaker Walt Disney (1901-1966).

Dittmar German
Derived from the given name Dietmar.

Dixon English
Means "son of Dick 1".

Dobbs English
Derived from the medieval given name Dobbe, a diminutive of Robert.

Dobson English
Means "son of Dobbe", a medieval diminutive of Robert.

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

Dodge English
From Dogge, a medieval diminutive of Roger.

Dohman German
Derived from a diminutive of the given name Thomas.

Donalds English
Derived from the given name Donald.

Donaldson English
Means "son of Donald". A notable bearer is the online personality Jimmy Donaldson (1998-), who goes by the alias MrBeast.

Dorsey English
Means "from Orsay", referring to the town of Orsay near Paris, its name deriving from the Latin personal name Orcius.

Downer English
Name for someone who lived on or near a down, which is an English word meaning "hill".

Drake English
Derived from the Old Norse byname Draki or the Old English byname Draca both meaning "dragon", both via Latin from Greek δράκων (drakon) meaning "dragon, serpent".

Draper English
Occupational name for a maker or seller of woollen cloth, from Anglo-Norman French draper (Old French drapier, an agent derivative of drap "cloth").

Drechsler German
Variant of Dressler.

Drees Dutch
Variant of Dries.

Dreesen Dutch
Variant of Driessen.

Dreesens Dutch
Variant of Driessen.

Dreessen Dutch
Variant of Driessen.

Dreher German
Means "turner" from Middle High German drehen "to turn". A turner was a person who used a lathe to create small objects from wood or bone.

Dreier German
Variant of Dreher.

Dreschner German
Derived from Middle High German dreschen "to thresh". A thresher was a person who separated the grains from a cereal plant by beating it.

Dresdner German
Originally indicated a person who came from the city of Dresden in German.

Dressler German
Means "turner" from Middle High German dreseler, an agent derivative of drehen "to turn". A turner was a person who used a lathe to create small objects from wood or bone.

Dreyer German
Variant of Dreher.

Dries Dutch
From the given name Dries.

Driessen Dutch
Means "son of Dries".

Dudley English
From a place name meaning "Dudda's clearing" in Old English. The surname was borne by a British noble family.

Duerr German
Variant of Dürr.

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.

Dukes English
Patronymic form of Duke.

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.

Dunst German
Derived from Middle High German dunst "haze".

Durand French, English
From Old French durant meaning "enduring", ultimately from Latin durans. This was a nickname for a stubborn person.

Durant English, French
Variation of Durand.

Dürr German
Means "thin" in German.

Dustin English
From the Old Norse given name Þórsteinn.

Dwerryhouse English
Indicated a person who worked or lived at a dyehouse, which is a place where dyeing was done.

Dwight English
From the medieval feminine name Diot, a diminutive of Dionysia, the feminine form of Dionysius.

Dyer English
Occupational name meaning "cloth dyer", from Old English deah "dye".

Dyson English
Means "son of Dye".

Eads English
Means "son of Eda 2" or "son of Adam".

Eady English
From a diminutive of the given name Eda 2 or Adam.

Earl English
From the aristocratic title, which derives from Old English eorl meaning "nobleman, warrior". It was either a nickname for one who acted like an earl, or an occupational name for a person employed by an earl.

Earls English
Patronymic form of Earl.

Easom English
Variant of Eads.

Eason English
Variant of Eads.

Easton English
From the name of various places meaning "east town" in Old English.

Eaton English
From any of the various English towns with this name, derived from Old English ea "river" and tun "enclosure, yard, town".

Eberhardt German
Derived from the given name Eberhard.

Ebner 1 German
Originally indicated a dweller on a flat piece of land, derived from Middle High German ebene "plateau".