ElwellEnglish Means "person from Elwell", Dorset (probably "spring from which omens can be read").
ElwoodEnglish It's either from a place name in Gloucestershire, England called Ellwood that is derived from Old English ellern "elder tree" and wudu "wood", or a form of the Old English personal name Ælfweald, composed of the elements ælf "elf" and weald "rule".
EmajõeEstonian Emajõe is an Estonian surname meaning "mother river" (a genitive form of "ema jõgi"). The Emajõgi is a 100km river flowing through Estonia.
EmerJewish, Anglo-Saxon Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name from Yiddish emer ‘pail’, ‘bucket’. ... [more]
EpemaFrisian "Son of Epa" or "Son of Eepa". The name was applied starting around 1620 C.E. to the descendants of Eepa, matriarch of a family of the "grytman" type of elected nobility who held political power in and around the town of Sneek/Snits... [more]
ErberJewish, German Meaning uncertain. Either a habitational name for someone living in a place named Erb or Erp, a name for a owner of a farm named Erbhof (derived from MIddle High German erbære "honorable, noble"), or derived from the given name Erpo.
ErmanGerman (Modern), French (Modern) Erman is a shortened French adaption of the Swiss-German surname Ermendinger, itself derived from the older surname Ermatinger, a name connected to the village of Ermatingen on the Swiss shore of Lake Constance, and came into existence during the early or middle 18th century when Jean-Georges Ermendinger (1710-1767), a Swiss fur trader from Geneva, married into a French speaking Huguenotte family... [more]
ErmişTurkish Means "saint, holy person" in Turkish.
EroğluTurkish Means "son of the warrior" in Turkish.
ErsoyTurkish From Turkish er meaning "man, male, soldier" and soy meaning "ancestry, descent".
ErtaşTurkish From Turkish er meaning "man, hero, brave" and taş meaning "stone".
ErtürkTurkish From Turkish er meaning "man, brave" and türk meaning "Turk".
EvloevIngush (Russified) Russified form of an Ingush name, which is derived from Yovloy, the name of an Ingush teip (clan), which is of unknown meaning. It may be from the name of the Alans, a medieval Iranian nomadic group (the word itself derived from Sanskrit आर्य (ā́rya) meaning "noble, honourable") or from Adyghe елъы (ełăə) meaning "to sharpen" combined with елъэ (ełă) meaning "to jump over".
EyreEnglish Truelove the "Eyr" or "Heyr" was granted land in Derby as a reward for his services at the 1066 Battle of Hastings, together with a coat of arms featuring "a human leg in armour couped at the thigh quarterly argent and sable spurred", in reference to the sacrifice of his limb... [more]
EzzoMedieval Italian Derived from a Germanic name Azzo, based on the element z , which originates debated; between the various hypotheses are: ... [more]
FairbrotherEnglish From a medieval nickname probably meaning either "better-looking of two brothers" or "brother of a good-looking person", or perhaps in some cases "father's brother".
FaireyEnglish Either (i) meant "person from Fairy Farm or Fairyhall", both in Essex (Fairy perhaps "pigsty"); or (ii) from a medieval nickname meaning "beautiful eye". This was borne by Fairey Aviation, a British aircraft company, producer of the biplane fighter-bomber Fairey Swordfish... [more]
FanshaweEnglish Meant "person from Featherstonehaugh", Northumberland (now known simply as "Featherstone") ("nook of land by the four-stones", four-stones referring to a prehistoric stone structure known technically as a "tetralith")... [more]
FantiItalian Derived from the given name Fante, or another name containing the medieval element fante "child, boy".
FaradayIrish From Irish Gaelic Ó Fearadaigh "descendant of Fearadach", a personal name probably based on fear "man", perhaps meaning literally "man of the wood". A famous bearer was British chemist and physicist Michael Faraday (1791-1867).
FariesScottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic Faries (meaning: fair, beautiful, or handsome) is derived from ancient Scottish Dalriadan MacFergus clans of the mountainous west coast of Scotland... [more]
FilkinsEnglish Means either (i) "person from Filkins", Oxfordshire ("settlement of Filica's people"); or "son of Filkin", a medieval personal name meaning literally "little Phil", from Philip.
FilleryEnglish From a medieval nickname derived from Anglo-Norman fitz le rei "son of the king" (see also Fitzroy), probably applied mainly (and ironically) to an illegitimate person or to someone who put on quasi-royal airs.
FillionFrench, French (Quebec) Probably a diminutive of fils or fille, respectively "son" and "daughter". May have alluded to the bearer being the youngest amongst siblings.
FilsFrench From fils "son", used to identify the younger of two bearers of the same personal name in a family.
FirmanEnglish, French From a medieval personal name meaning "firm, resolute, strong man." Borne by early saints and bishops. First name variants Firman and Firmin... [more]
FischmannGerman, Jewish Cognate of Fishman. occupational name for a fish seller from Middle High German visch Yiddish fish (German fisch) "fish" and Middle High German and Yiddish man (German mann) "man".
FitzEmpressHistory, Anglo-Norman Means "son of the empress" in Anglo-Norman French. The three sons of Empress Matilda (1102-1167) were known as Henry FitzEmpress (King Henry II of England), Geoffrey FitzEmpress, Count of Nantes, and William FitzEmpress, Count of Poitou.
ForsmanSwedish Combination of Swedish fors "rapid" (geology) and man "man".
ForsytheScottish, Northern Irish This surname has two possible origins. The more accepted explanation is that it comes from the Gaelic given name Fearsithe, which means "man of peace" from the elements fear "man" and sithe "peace"... [more]
FortuneScottish Originally meant "person from Fortune", Lothian ("enclosure where pigs are kept").
FreimannGerman German cognate of Freeman. from Middle High German vriman "free man" status name in the feudal system for a free man as opposed to a bondman or serf derived from the elements fri "free" and man "man".
FridmanJewish, Yiddish derived from the Yiddish Frid (see fridu) meaning "peace" combined with man meaning "man, person"... [more]
FrisbyEnglish Means "person from Frisby", Leicestershire ("farmstead of the Frisians"). A frisbee is a plastic disc thrown from person to person as a game; the trademarked name, registered in 1959 by Fred Morrison, was inspired by the Frisbie bakery of Bridgeport, Connecticut, whose pie tins were the original models for the plastic discs.
GallandFrench Nickname for a cheerful or high-spirited or bold person from Old French galant "lively vivacious" also "bold valiant" (the meanings "gallant" and "attentive to women" developed only in the 16th century) the present participle of Old French galer "to be in good humor to enjoy oneself" a word of ancient Germanic origin... [more]
GallantEnglish Nickname for a cheerful or high-spirited person, from Old French, Middle English galant "bold, dashing, lively". The meanings "gallant" and "attentive to women" are further developments, which may lie behind some examples of the surname.
GarabedianArmenian Means "son of Garabed", an Armenian personal name meaning literally "leader, precursor" and traditionally used as an epithet of John the Baptist in the Armenian church.
GarcésSpanish Meaning "son of García" ultimately from medieval spanish Garsea, using the patronymic suffix és/ez
GartmannGerman (Swiss) Derived from Middle High German garte "garden; yard" and German Mann "man", this was occupational name for a gardener. In some cases it may have been a status name referring to the owner of a small (enclosed or fenced) farm or an occupational name for a worker at a deer preserve.
GąsiorPolish Means "gander (male goose)" in Polish. It was used as a nickname for a person who resembled a gander or as an occupational name for a keeper of geese.
GeesonIrish This unusual name is the patronymic form of the surname Gee, and means "son of Gee", from the male given name which was a short form of male personal names such as "Geoffrey", "George" and "Gerard"... [more]
GeipelhorstGerman This rather rare surname is appears to be the combination of "Geipel", which is a variant of "Geibel" originating from a personal name or topographic name formed with Old High German gawi ‘fertile region’, ‘countryside’ (as opposed to a town), and "Horst" which came from of Old High German, meaning "man from the forest", "bosk" or "brushwood"... [more]
GeiselhartGerman (Silesian, Rare), Lombardic (Rare), Old High German (Rare) Possibly after the Geisel, a river in Saxony-Anhalt, which likely received its name from either the Lombardic patronym Giso, meaning "noble, precious promise" or from the Old High German gewi, from the Gothic gavi, or gaujis, a which is a medieval term for a "region within a country", often a former or actual province combined with the suffix Hart, which means "stag", and comes from the Middle English hert and the Old English heort.... [more]
GellerYiddish, German, Russian The name may derive from the German word "gellen" (to yell) and mean "one who yells." It may derive from the Yiddish word "gel" (yellow) and mean the "yellow man" or from the Yiddish word "geler," an expression for a redheaded man... [more]
GendronFrench Either a diminutive of French gendre meaning "son-in-law" or a habitational name for someone from the town of Gendron in Belgium.
GentryFrench From the English word, which is in turn from French gentrie, referring to that which is "noble," or the "nobility." From earlier gentillece, which was originally from gentil, "refinement."
GermanEnglish, Norman, German, Jewish, Greek From Old French germain meaning "German". This sometimes denoted an actual immigrant from Germany, but was also used to refer to a person who had trade or other connections with German-speaking lands... [more]
GillanIrish The Gillan surname is a reduced Anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic Mac Gille Fhaoláin, which means "son of the servant of St Faolán." While the name may have originated in Ireland, this line was extant by the beginning of the 17th century, only to find many of the family to return to Ireland about 100 years later with the Plantation of Ulster.... [more]
GiorgainaGreek (Archaic) Andronymic meaning "wife of Georgios". This was used in early modern Greece, at which time a married woman's surname was formed from her husband's given name and the suffix -αινα (-aina)... [more]
GlockGerman Meant "person who lives by a church bell-tower or in a house with the sign of a bell", "bell-ringer" or "town crier" (German Glocke "bell"). It was borne by Sir William Glock (1908-2000), a British music administrator.
GogoiIndian, Ahom Means "younger brother" or "king" in Ahom.
GoldmannGerman, Jewish occupational name for someone who worked with gold denoting anything from a gold-miner to a maker of gold jewelry or a gilder (someone skilled in decorating surfaces with a very thin layer of gold leaf)... [more]
GormleyIrish (Anglicized) Anglicised form of Ó Gormghaile meaning "descendant of Gormghal," Gormghal, a personal name, being derived from gorm meaning "noble, (dark) blue" and gal meaning "valour, ardour."
GourkuñvBreton Breton combination of gour and kuñv meaning "a charming, affable, gentle or conciliatory man". The digraph -ff was introduced by Middle Ages' authors to indicate a nasalized vowel.
GraupmanGerman Occupational name for someone who produced or dealt with grits and legumes, from early modern German graupe "pot barley" (bohemian krupa) and man "man".
GribbenIrish This surname is of Old Gaelic origin, and is a variant of "Cribben", which itself is the Anglicized form of the Gaelic name "MacRoibin", meaning "son of (mac) Robin", a patronymic from the Anglo-Norman French given name "Robin"... [more]
GukasyanArmenian Means "son of Gukas", the Armenian equivalent of Luke.
GulianArmenian From Armenian word gul meaning "rose", as well as "laughter", combined with the common suffix of ian meaning "son of".
GulliverEnglish From a medieval nickname for a greedy person (from Old French goulafre "glutton"). Jonathan Swift used it in his satire 'Gulliver's Travels' (1726), about the shipwrecked ship's surgeon Lemuel Gulliver, whose adventures "offer opportunities for a wide-ranging and often savage lampooning of human stupidity and vice."
GummEnglish From a nickname or byname from Middle English gome, Old English guma "man".
GuthrieScottish, Irish As a Scottish surname, this is either a habitational name for a person from the village of Guthrie near Forfar, itself from Gaelic gaothair meaning "windy place" (a derivative of gaoth "wind") and the locative suffix -ach, or alternatively it might possibly be an Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mag Uchtre meaning "son of Uchtre", a personal name of uncertain origin, perhaps related to uchtlach "child".... [more]
GutmannGerman German cognate of Goodman. from Middle High German guot man literally "good man, capable man" derived from the elements guot "good" and man "man"... [more]
GyljárlaugssonIcelandic The name Gyljárlaugsson combines two Icelandic words, "gylja" meaning "to roar" and "laug" meaning "hot spring". Therefore, the name Gyljárlaugsson could be interpreted as "son of the roaring hot spring".