Browse Submitted Surnames

Adiong Filipino, Maranao
From Maranao adiyong meaning "to prepare, to make ready".

Alabaster English
From the name of a whitish kind of gypsum used for vases, ornaments and busts, ultimately deriving from Greek alabastros, itself perhaps from Egyptian 'a-labaste "vessel of the goddess Bast"... [more]

Alegre Spanish, Portuguese
Nickname from alegre "bright, merry" (Latin alacer).

Amai Japanese
This surname is used as 天井 or 甘井 with 天 (ten, ama-, amatsu, ame) meaning "heavens, imperial, sky", 甘 (kan, ama.i, ama.eru, ama.yakasu, uma.i) meaning "be content, coax, pamper, sugary, sweet" and 井 (shou, sei, i) meaning "community, town, well, well crib."

Astruc Judeo-Provençal
Means "happy, lucky" in Occitan and Provençal (see Astruc).

Atrdae Iranian
Avestan originating surname meaning either "giving fire" or "creating fire".... [more]

Balch Welsh
From the Welsh adjective balch, which has a range of meanings—"fine", "splendid", "proud", "arrogant", "glad"—but the predominant meaning is "proud" and from this the family name probably derives.

Ballaster English
Meant "person who makes or is armed with a crossbow" (from a derivative of Middle English baleste "crossbow", from Old French).

Bar Gil Hebrew (Modern)
Combination of Bar and Gil, with the meaning of "son of Gil" or "one who is joyful".

Batmaz Turkish
Means "unsinkable, buoyant" or "cheerful, carefree" in Turkish.

Benkirane Arabic (Maghrebi)
From Arabic بْن (bn) meaning "son" combined with كِيرَان (kīrān) meaning "forges, furnaces", possibly denoting descent of a blacksmith or metalworker (chiefly Moroccan).

Biggins English
Habitational name from any of the various places in England named with northern Middle English bigging "building" (from Old Norse). This word came to denote especially an outbuilding, and is still used in and around Northumberland and Cumbria.

Bindschädler German (Swiss)
Derived from German binden "to bind" and Swiss German schädlen "to make wood vessels", this is an occupational surname referring to a cooper, a barrel maker.

Blood English
Derived from the Old English byname Blīþa (meaning "happy, blithe").

Bogatyr Russian
Derived from Russian богатырь (bogatyr) meaning "bogatyr, strongly built man, hero".

Boukouras Greek
Name of Dacian/Illyrian or Thracian origin. It means "happy". Also, see the Romanian surname Bukur

Bouteflika Arabic (Maghrebi)
Possibly means "one who makes things explode" in Algerian Arabic. A famous bearer is Abdelaziz Bouteflika (1937-), who served as president of Algeria from 1999 to 2019.

Bragg English, Welsh
From a nickname for a cheerful or lively person, derived from Middle English bragge meaning "lively, cheerful, active", also "brave, proud, arrogant".

Bucur Romanian
A ancient Romanian name of Dacian origin. It means "happy". A legendary Romanian shepherd named Bucur it is said to have founded Bucharest, the present capital or Romania, giving his name to it (The Romanian city name is Bucureşti).

Buhat Filipino, Cebuano
Means "work, job, deed" or "make, create" in Cebuano.

Burr English, Scottish, German
Nickname for a person who is difficult to shake off, derived from Middle English burr meaning "bur" (a seedhead that sticks to clothing). It could also be a derivation from Old English bur meaning "small dwelling, building", or a German topographic name derived from burre meaning "mound, hill"... [more]

Carosella Italian
From carosello "carousel, merry-go-round", possibly a nickname for a farmer, as a carousel was an allotment of grain collected by farmers. Also a type of jousting tournament.

Casabuena Spanish (Modern, Rare)
Means "Happy House" or "House of Happiness" in Spanish, with the Spanish word "Casa", which means "House" and Buena, meaning "Happy" or "Happiness".

Chaucer English
Meaning a "worker who makes leggings or breeches". Notable bearer is author Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), most well known for his classic 'The Canterbury Tales'.

Chomchuen Thai
Means "congratulations" from Thai ชม (chom) meaning "see, watch, praise, admire" and ชื่น (chuen) meaning "happy, joyful, delighted".

Civelek Turkish
Means "lively, cheerful" in Turkish.

Cutler English
Given to a "knife maker" or a man that "makes cutlery"

Deforge French
This is a surname of French origins. Introduced into England after the famous Invasion and Conquest of 1066, it is residential, but also possibly occupational. It is a surname which in its different forms is widely recorded heraldically, and particularly in the French regions of Brittany and Normandy... [more]

De Talleyrand French
A French noble surname. A cadet branch of the family of sovereign counts of Périgord, they took their name from the estate of Périgord owned by these counts, and date back to Boso I, count of la Marche... [more]

Erg Estonian
Erg is an Estonian surname derived from "ergas" meaning "cheerful" and "alert".

Facente Italian
Nickname for an industrious person, from Latin facere "to make" "to do".

Falaguerra Italian
Possibly means "make war" in Italian, from fare "to make, to provoke" and guerra "war". Alternately, from a given name of the same origin. ... [more]

Fane English
From a medieval nickname for a well-disposed person (from Old English fægen "glad, willing"), or from a medieval Welsh nickname for a slim person (Welsh fain). This is the family name of the earls of Westmorland.

Farai Shona
Farai means "Rejoice, be happy".

Fayne English
The surname Fayne is derived from the Middle English words "fein," "fayn," or " fane," which all mean "glad." The name was a nickname for a happy or good-natured person.

Felice Italian
Given name Felice, which is the Italian form of Felix.... [more]

Feliz Spanish
Means “happy” or “fortunate” in Spanish.

Ferrigno Italian
Derived from the Italian adjective ferrigno meaning "made of or resembling iron" (a derivative of Latin ferrum meaning "iron"), applied as a nickname to someone who was very strong or thought to resemble the metal in some other way... [more]

Fettiplace English (British)
Means “make room” from Anglo-French fete place, probably a name for an usher.

Fishwick English
habitational name from a place in Lancashire so named from Old English fisc "fish" and wic "building"... [more]

Fraidstern Jewish (Anglicized, Rare)
Anglicized version of Freydshtern, Yiddish for "Joyful Star" literally "Joy Star".

Fraley English (American)
Anglicized/Americanized version of the German surname "Frohlich", meaning "happy" or "cheerful".

Fröhlich German
It literally means "happy".

Fukumura Japanese
It means "Happy Village" in Japanese.

Furutachi Japanese
From Japanese 古 (furu) meaning "old" and 舘 (tachi) meaning "large building, mansion, palace".

Galliard French
It resembles the French word "galliard," meaning "brave, cheerful, spirited." Marcel and Porco Galliard from Attack on Titan are known bearers of this name.

Gaye English
Possibly a nickname for a cheerful person, derived from the archaic word "gay" meaning "happy". A famous bearer was the American singer Marvin Gaye (1939-1984).

Gilmor Hebrew (Modern)
Combination of the surnames Gil and Mor, means "happy myrrh" in Hebrew, also a modern Hebrew version of the surname Gilmore.

Glad Swedish
Swedish soldier name meaning "happy". ... [more]

Glad English
From a short form of the various Old English personal names with a first element glæd "shining, joyful". Compare Gladwin.

Glad English, Scandinavian
Nickname for a cheerful person, from Middle English, Scandinavian glad "merry, jolly".

Güllü Turkish
Means "(made) with roses" in Turkish.

Hamadate Japanese
From the Japanese 浜 or 濱 (hama) "beach" and 舘 or 館(date or tate) "mansion," "large building," "palace"

Ieiri Japanese (Rare)
家 (Ie) means "building, residency, family, dwelling, home, habitation", and 入 (iri) means "enter, input". ... [more]

Ilomets Estonian
Ilomets is an Estonian surname meaning "merry forest".

Ilosaar Estonian
Ilosaar is an Estonian surname meaning "merry island".

Jolicoeur French (Quebec), Haitian Creole
From Old French joli "joyful, cheerful" and cuer "heart". It was originally a nickname for a cheerful person. This was a frequent French Canadian secondary surname (or dit name).

Jolly English
From the English word jolly, which is ultimately from Old French joli# ("merry, happy"). Originally a nickname for someone of a cheerful or attractive disposition.

Kaetsu Japanese
From Japanese 嘉 (Ka) meaning "applaud, praise, esteem, happy, auspicious", and 悦 (etsu) meaning "ecstasy, joy, rapture". Other kanji combinations are possible, and can create alternate meanings.

Kallweit German (East Prussian)
East Prussian German (and thus heavily Lithuanian influenced) name meaning "smith; blacksmith; farrier", derived from Old Prussian kalt "to forge; to hammer" and Old Prussian kalweitis "the village smith".

Karbowski Polish
Habitational name for someone from Karbowo in Torun voivodeship, a place so named from Polish karbowy "overseer (of farm laborers)", from karbowac "to make notches", i.e. to keep records.

Keçeci Turkish
Means "felt seller, person who makes felt" in Turkish, derived from keçe meaning "felt, cloth".

Khorsandi Persian
Derived from Persian خرسند (khorsand) meaning "happy, content, satisfied".

Kidate Japanese (Rare)
From Japanese 木 (ki) meaning "tree" and 建 (date), the joining continuative form of 建てる (tateru) meaning "to build; to construct".

Kutlu Turkish
Means "auspicious, blessed, happy, holy, lucky" in Turkish.

Labakhua Abkhaz
Abkhaz name derived from Arabic لَاحَظَ (lāḥaẓa) meaning "to notice, to look" combined with بَهِيجَة (bahīja) meaning "delightful, joyous" (see Bahija)... [more]

Leto Italian
From the personal name Leto. From Latin Laetus meaning "happy, joyful"... [more]

L'Heureux French
Means "the happy one" in French.

Light English
Nickname for a happy, cheerful person, from Middle English lyght, Old English lēoht "light (not dark), bright, cheerful".

Liné French (Rare)
From Old French liné meaning "made of linen". This name was an occupational name for someone who weaved linen or was a linen merchant.

Lou Chinese
From Chinese 楼 (lóu) meaning "storey, level, building".

Maker Dutch
From Dutch maken "to make or mend".

Malefeyt Dutch (Archaic)
Archaic Dutch surname that is now no longer in use (not in this exact spelling, that is): the spelling reflects the surname's origin from older times (as -eyt is an exclusively archaic spelling that has not survived into modern times like its counterparts -eit and -ijt did)... [more]

Malfatto Italian
Means "badly made, shoddy; deformed" in Italian, possibly originating with the nickname Malefactus "ugly, injured". Cognate to French Malfait.

Maligaya Filipino, Tagalog
Means "happy, pleasant" in Tagalog.

Manhattan English
From the name of the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City, in the U.S. state of New York. Derived from the Munsee Lenape language term manaháhtaan (where manah- means "gather", -aht- means "bow" and -aan is an abstract element used to form verb stems), meaning "the place where we get bows" or "place for gathering the (wood to make) bows"... [more]

Mast German, Dutch
Derived from Middle High German and Middle Dutch mast "mast (fodder made of acorns and beechnuts); the process of fattening livestock", this used to be an occupational name for a pig farmer or a swineherd... [more]

Meriwether English
Means "happy weather" in Middle English, originally belonging to a cheery person.

Mutlu Turkish
Means "happy, glad" in Turkish.

Nishidate Japanese
From Japanese 西 (nishi) meaning "west" and 舘 (tate) meaning "mansion, large building, palace".

Nonnenmacher German
Occupational name for a gelder of hogs, from Middle High German nunne, nonne meaning "nun", and by transfer "castrated hog" + an agent derivative of machen meaning "to make".

Õnnepalu Estonian
Õnnepalu is an Estonian surname meaning "benefic/happy heath".

Ōtsuki Japanese
This surname combines 大 (tai, dai, oo-, -oo.ini, oo.kii) "large, big" with 月 (gatsu, getsu, tsuki) meaning "moon, month," 槻 (ki, tsuki) meaning "Zelkova tree," 築 (chiku, kizu.ku, tsuki) meaning "build, construct, fabricate," 附 (fu, tsu.ku, tsu.keru) meaning "affixed, append, attach" or 即 (soku, sunawa.chi, tsu.ku, tsu.keru) meaning "adapt, agree, as is, conform, instant, namely." It can also be used to combine 王 (ou, -nou) meaning "king, magnate, rule" and 月.... [more]

Paglinawan Filipino, Tagalog, Cebuano
Means "to clarify" or "to make clear" in Tagalog and Cebuano.

Pamulaklakin Filipino (Rare), Tagalog (Rare)
Means "to make it bloom" in Tagalog.

Papaqui Aztec, Nahuatl
From Nahuatl pakini meaning "happy".

Paratore Italian
Derived from Italian paratore meaning "decorator, fuller", which refers to a craftsman who fulls coarse cloth. In other words: this surname is the Italian cognate of the English surname Fuller... [more]

Phasuk Thai
From Thai ผาสุก (phasuk) meaning "happy, content, comfortable".

Pulver Low German, French, English
I comes from the Latin verb meaning "to make powder." This name was given to either an alchemist or one who made gunpowder.

Quaderer German
Nickname for someone stocky, from Middle High German quader meaning "building stone".

Radolović Croatian
Possibly derived from rado lovi, meaning "glad to hunt".

Radulović Serbian
Possibly derived from rado lovi, meaning "glad to hunt".

Rausch German
Nickname for a noisy person, derived from ruschen, meaning "to make a noise" in Middle High German. ... [more]

Rikimaru Japanese
This surname is used as 力丸 with 力 (rii, riki, ryoku, chikara) meaning "bear up, exert, power, strain, strength, strong" and 丸 (gan, maru, maru.i, maru.meru) meaning "curl up, explain away, full, make round, month, perfection, pills, roll up, round, seduce."... [more]

Rodin Jewish
Metronymic from the Yiddish personal name Rode, and related to the Old Czech root rád "merry", "joyful".

Rõõmus Estonian
Rõõmus is an Estonian surname meaning "glad" or "joyful".

Rünne Estonian
Rünne is an Estonian surname meaning both "attack" and "to make inroads into something".

Saadatmand Persian
Means "happy, auspicious, blissful" in Persian.

Sadulaev Chechen
From the Arabic given name Saʼdulla meaning “happiness of Allah” from سَعِدَ (saʿida) “to be happy, to be lucky” combined with Allah.

Saeki Japanese
This surname is used as 佐伯, 三枝木 or 佐柄木 with 佐 (sa) meaning "assistant, help", 伯 (haku, eki) meaning "chief, count, earl, uncle, Brazil", 三 (san, zou, mi, mi'.tsu, mi.tsu) meaning "three", 枝 (shi, eda, e) meaning "bough, branch, twig, limb", 柄 (hei, gara, e, tsuka) meaning "design, pattern, build, nature, character, handle, crank, grip, knob, shaft" and 木 (boku, moku, ki, ko-) meaning "tree, wood."... [more]

Saensuk Thai
From Thai แสน (saen) meaning "very, extremely" and สุข (suk) meaning "happy, pleased".

Scafata Italian
Possibly denoting someone from the Italian town Scafati, from Latin scapha "skiff, light boat". Alternately, may be from Italian scafare "to husk peas", either literally referring to someone's occupation, or from the figurative meaning of "to make more confident; alert, shrewd".

Schmelzer German
occupational name for a smelter from an agent derivative of Middle High German smelzen German schmelzen "to smelt metal" or "make glass".

Schwandt German
Topographic name for someone who lived in a forest clearing, from Middle High German swant (from swenden "to thin out", "make disappear", causative from swinden "to disappear" modern German schwinden.

Schwandt German
Habitational name from any of the various places called Schwand or Schwanden, all in southern Germany, named with this element, from Middle High German swant (from swenden "to thin out", "make disappear", causative from swinden "to disappear" modern German schwinden.

Sealy English
Derived from Old English sælig "blessed, fortunate, prosperous, happy" and was used as a term to describe someone with a cheerful, happy disposition.

Seely Medieval English
Means "Blessed", "Happy", and/or "Lucky." By adding an Un- to Seely makes it "Unblessed", "Unhappy", and/or "Unholy." Used primarily in Northern England and Southern Scotland during the Middle English period but is derived from the Old English sǣl and gesǣlig... [more]

Şen Turkish
Means "happy, cheerful" in Turkish.

Şengül Turkish
From Turkish şen meaning "happy, cheerful" and gül meaning "rose".

Şentürk Turkish
From Turkish şen meaning "happy, cheerful" and Türk meaning "Turk".

Sok Khmer
Means "healthy, peaceful, happy, pleasant" in Khmer, ultimately from Sanskrit सुख (sukha).

Šťastný Czech, Slovak
From the word, meaning "happy".

Sterken Dutch, English
Means "strong". Derived either from the Old English term sterċan, meaning "to make rigid", or from the Old Saxon sterkian and Old High German sterken, both meaning "to strengthen."

Suksamran Thai
From Thai สุข (suk) meaning "joy, delight" and สำราญ (samran) meaning "happy, joyful".

Tafara Shona
Tafara means "We are happy or we rejoice". It is a name of rejoicing

Takamaru Japanese
This surname is used as 高丸 with 高 (kou, taka.i, taka, -daka, taka.maru, taka.meru) meaning "expensive, high, tall" and 丸 (gan, maru, maru.i, maru.meru) meaning "curl up, explain away, full, make round, month, perfection, pills, roll up, round, seduce."... [more]

Tatewaki Japanese
From the Japanese 舘 (tate) "mansion," "large building," "palace" and 脇 (waki) "side."

Tateyama Japanese
From Japanese 館 (tate) meaning "large building, mansion" and 山 (yama) meaning "mountain".

Tomiie Japanese (Rare)
Tomi means "wealth, abundance, fortune" and ie means "house, home, building, family, dwelling, residence, habitation".

Toodu Estonian
Toodu is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "toode" meaning "product", "manufacture", and "make".

Tsukiyama Japanese
From Japanese 築 (tsuki) meaning "fabricate, build, construct" and 山 (yama) meaning "mountain, hill".

Unagi Japanese (Rare)
From Japanese 宇 (u) meaning "eaves; roof; house; building" or "whole world; universe" and 梛 (nagi) meaning "nageia nagi".

Vadeboncœur French (Quebec)
From the French phrase va de bon cœur meaning "go with a good (merry) heart". This was a secondary surname, common among soldiers in colonial French Canada, which has been adopted as a principal surname.

Vasey English
Derived from the Norman french word enveisie "playful, merry"

Vassie French, English
Meaning "playful or merry" for a cheerful person.

Vig Hungarian
Derived from Hungarian víg "happy, cheerful".

Vigh Hungarian
Variant of Vig, a surname derived from Hungarian víg "happy, cheerful".

Whitby English
English surname which was from either of two place names, that of a port in North Yorkshire (which comes from the Old Norse elements hvítr "white" (or Hvíti, a byname derived from it) combined with býr "farm") or a place in Cheshire (from Old English hwit "white" (i.e., "stone-built") and burh "fortress").

Wirsig German
Means "happy" in German.

Yarbrough Anglo-Saxon
The ancient roots of the Yarbrough family name are in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The name Yarbrough comes from when the family lived in either the parish or the hamlet called Yarborough in the county of Lincolnshire... [more]

Żelazny Polish
Means "(made of) iron" in Polish, used as a nickname for a person with a strong personality.