HousemanEnglish Referred to a man who lived or worked in a house, as opposed to a smaller hut (see House). Famous bearers of this name include Romanian-British-American actor John Houseman (1902-1988; real name Jacques Haussmann), Argentine soccer player René Houseman (1953-2018) and Canadian actor Tyson Houseman (1990-).
HowlettEnglish The name Howlett was brought to England in the great wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. It comes from the Norman personal name Hugh. Howlett was a baptismal name which means the son of Hugh... [more]
HuckabeeEnglish This surname originated as a habitational name, derived from Huccaby in Devon, England; this place name is derived from two Old English elements: the first, woh, meaning "crooked"; the second, byge, meaning "river bend".... [more]
HuckleberryEnglish From the name of the variety of shrubs (genus Vaccinium) or the berries that grow on them. This is also the anglicized form of the German surname Hackelberg.
HudspethEnglish English (northeastern counties): unexplained. Compare Hedgepeth.
HuttonEnglish, Scottish Scottish and northern English habitational name from any of the numerous places so called from Old English hoh ‘ridge’, ‘spur’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’.
InglestonEnglish (British) Ingleston is an exceptionally rare surname and seems to be posessed by a single family who much grew larger in the 19th century. ... [more]
InglisEnglish (British), Scottish Originates from the Scots word for English as in a person of English origin. Around 1395 after a dual, the family name became connected to the Scottish clan Douglas as a sept, or a follower, of the clan... [more]
InmanEnglish (British) Anglo-Saxon in Origin. Occupational surname given to a person who "tended a lodge or an inn". Surname first found in Lancashire, England.
IronmongerEnglish From Middle English ire(n)mongere, er(n)mongere meaning "ironmonger; dealer in household goods".
IshamEnglish The name of a village in Northamptonshire, England from the Celtic name of a local river Ise and the Anglo-Saxon term for a small settlement or homestead -ham.
JessieEnglish Possibly a variant of Jessey, an occupational name for someone making jesses (a short strap fastened around the leg of a bird used in falconry).
JollyEnglish 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.
KeetonEnglish Habitational name from a place called Ketton in Durham or one in Rutland or from Keaton in Ermington, Devon. The first is named from the Old English personal name Catta or the Old Norse personal name Káti and Old English tūn "settlement"; the second is probably from an old river name or tribal name Cētan (possibly a derivative of Celtic cēd "wood") and Old English ēa "river"; and the last possibly from Cornish kee "hedge, bank" and Old English tūn.
KemptonEnglish From the name of a place in Shropshire meaning "Cempa's town" or "warrior town", from a combination of either the Old English word cempa "warrior" or the byname derived from it and tun "farmstead, settlement".
KendrewEnglish Variant of Andrew, possibly influenced by Mcandrew. Notable namesake is Nobel Prize winning chemist John Kendrew (1917-1997).
KensleyEnglish This surname might derive from the surname Kinsley or from the locational surname Kelsey (denoting someone who is from either North or South Kelsey in Lincolnshire).
KentieScottish, English, Dutch Origin and meaning unknown. The name Kentie was spread in the Netherlands when a Scottish soldier, Alexander Kenti, settled at Woudrichem, the Netherlands around 1650. Alexander Kenti was born and raised in the Scottish highlands... [more]
KentonEnglish habitational name from any of various places so named Kenton, for example in Devon, Greater London (formerly Middlesex), Northumberland, and Suffolk... [more]
KerslakeEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a stream where cress grew, derived from Old English cærse meaning "watercress" and lacu meaning "stream".
KevilleEnglish Denoted someone from Keevil (recorded in the Domesday book as Chivele), a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, probably derived from Old English c¯f meaning "hollow" and leah meaning "woodland clearing".
KidwellWelsh, English The origins of this surname are uncertain, but it may be derived from Middle English kidel "fish weir", denoting a person who lived by a fish weir or made his living from it, or from an English place called Kiddal, probably meaning "Cydda's corner of land" from the Old English given name Cydda and halh "nook or corner of land".
KirklandEnglish, Scottish Derived from the Scottish 'kirk', meaning church, and land. This name denoted one who lived near or tended to the land belonging to or surrounding a church. A famous /fictional/ bearer is Arthur Kirkland, a main character in the highly popular anime/webmanga Axis Powers Hetalia... [more]
KirkmanEnglish A name originally found in both Scotland and England. From Kirk- meaning "church" and -man for someone who lived near or worked at a church.
KitchenerEnglish Variant spelling of Kitchen. A notable bearer was the Anglo-Irish senior British Army officer and colonial administrator Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850-1916).
KitcherEnglish (British) This name derives from the Old English word "Cyta", and describes 'the cat' or perhaps more specifically a wild cat. This name may also refer to someone who worked in a Kitchen.
KitzmillerEnglish (American) Americanized form of German Kitzmüller, literally ‘kid miller’ ( see Kitz + Muller ), a nickname for a miller who kept goats; alternatively, the first element may be from a personal name formed with the Germanic element Gid-, cognate with Old English gidd ‘song’.
KnopflerEnglish, German Derived from Knopf (German for "button"), this surname was originally given to button makers or button sellers. A famous bearer of this surname is English musician Mark Knopfler (1949-).
LampardEnglish Derived from the given name Lambert. A famous bearer of this surname is the retired English soccer player Frank Lampard (1978-).
LancasterEnglish From the name of a city in northwestern England derived from Middle English Loncastre, itself from Lon referring to an ancient Roman fort on the River Lune combined with Old English ceaster meaning "city, town".
LangfieldEnglish Habitational name for someone originally from any of the various locations in England named Langfield, from Old English lang meaning "long" and feld meaning "field".
LanierFrench, English Occupational name designating one who worked in the wool trade (see Lane 2), derived from Old French lanier (ultimately from laine) meaning "wool", or for a keeper of donkeys, from Old French asnier literally "donkey keeper, donkey driver"... [more]
LaramieEnglish From the French la ramée "the small wood, the arbour".
LavenderEnglish, Dutch Occupational name for a washerman or launderer, Old French, Middle Dutch lavendier (Late Latin lavandarius, an agent derivative of lavanda ‘washing’, ‘things to be washed’)... [more]
LaversEnglish English (chiefly Devon and Cornwall): Medieval English and occupational, from pre-10th century Old French "lavandier". Introduced by the Normans after 1066, originally described a worker in the wool industry, and was a metonymic or nickname for a person employed to wash raw wool or rinse the cloth after fulling... [more]
LeamonEnglish From an Old English word leof related to love and in this case meaning "beloved" plus the word man.
LeatherEnglish, Scottish A metonymic occupational name for a leatherworker or seller of leather goods, and derived from Middle English and Old English lether meaning "leather".
LeckeyScottish, English, Irish Originally Scottish, but also found in England, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Possibly derives from the barony of Leckie (meaning "place of flagstones", from Gaelic leac, "flagstone") in Stirlingshire.
LesterEnglish Habitational name from Leicester which is recorded as Ligeraceastre in the 10th century. The placename derives from an Old English folk name Legore "the dwellers by the river Legor (a lost river name)" and Old English ceaster "city Roman fortification" (from Latin castrum) "camp fortress".
LetcherEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived beside a stream. From Old English læcc, plus the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant.
LevertonEnglish This surname combines the Old English personal female name Leofwaru or the Old English word læfer meaning "rush, reed" with another Old English word tún meaning "enclosure, field, farm, dwelling." The etymology with the female name addition fits in with the town of the same name in Berkshire while the etymology with the word addition fits in with the one in Lincolnshire.
LiddiardEnglish From Celtic place names in England meaning "gray hill".
LilyEnglish Derived from Lily, a pet name for Elizabeth. It was also used as a nickname for someone with fair skin or hair, and is derived from Old English lilie meaning "lily (the flower)"... [more]
LinekerEnglish From a place name composed of Old English lin meaning "flax" and æcer meaning "field". A famous bearer is retired English soccer player Gary Lineker (1960-).
LinleyEnglish This surname can be derived from a place of the same name in Shropshire, which is derived from Old English lín meaning "flax, linen" and leah meaning "clearing." As a modern surname, it can also be a variant of Lindley (Lindley is used in 2 places in Yorkshire), which is derived from Old English lind meaning "lime tree" and leah.
LivelyEnglish A modern English surname possibly derived from a lost village called Laefer-leah which would give it the meaning "the farm by the lake".... [more]
LivingstonEnglish, Scottish This surname is thought to be derived from Middle English Levingestun meaning "Leving's town" or "Leving's settlement."
LomaxEnglish Lomax is a territorial surname, derived from the hamlet of Lumhalghs, near Bury, Greater Manchester, and meaning "pool nook" or "recess". Notable persons with the surname Lomax include: Alan Lomax (1915–2002) American musicologist, son of John Avery Lomax... [more]
LombardFrench, English, South African French and English cognate of Lombardi, or derived from the given name Lambert. A famous bearer of this name was the American actress Carole Lombard (1908-1942), born Jane Alice Peters.
LorraineFrench, English, Scottish Habitational name from Lorraine a region in the northeastern part of France. Its name derives from the name of the medieval kingdom of Lothari Regnum which in turn was named for its sovereign Lothar (a personal name composed of the elements hlud "famous renowned" and hari/heri "army").
LoshawEnglish English name this is the last name of singer Avril Lavigne’s Mother Judith Rosanne Loshaw
LouisvilleEnglish From the name of the largest city of Louisville in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The city was named for the 18th-century King Louis XVI of France, whose soldiers were then aiding Americans in the Revolutionary War.
LovecraftEnglish An English surname coming from the Old English lufu, meaning "love, desire", and cæft, meaning "strength, skill".... [more]
MagnumEnglish Possibly derived from the given name Magnus. It is borne by the fictional character Thomas Magnum, the protagonist on the American television series Magnum, P.I. (1980-1988).
MahloyEnglish (American) Mahloy is a misspelling of Malloy by Charles Malloy's (b. 1898, Scotland) elementary school teacher in the Ireland. The surname Malloy is derived from the pre 10th century Old Gaelic name O'Maolmhuidh, meaning the descendant of the Great Chief.
MaidmentEnglish Occupational name for a servant of maidens (such as nuns), from Middle English maiden (ultimately from Old English mægden) meaning "young girl, virgin, maiden" and man ending with an excrescent -t.
MaitlandEnglish, Scottish Possibly from Mautalant, the name of a place in Pontorson, France meaning "inhospitable" or "bad temper" in Norman French (ultimately from Late Latin malum "bad" and talentum "inclination, disposition"), which was so named because of its unproductive soil; or perhaps it was originally a nickname for an ungracious individual, derived from the same source.
MallettEnglish Possible origins Malet a medieval diminutive of Mal(le) being a pet form of and name Mary, could also be of Norman origin from the Old French personal name Malhard.
MalthouseEnglish Occupational name for a maker of malt or a malt merchant. It could also be a topographic name for a person who lived at a malt house.
ManfordEnglish Place name for "Munda's ford" from an Old English personal name Munda, the same element in the second syllable of Edmund and ford meaning a waterway crossing.
ManhattanEnglish 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]
ManleyEnglish Habitational name from places in Devon and Cheshire, named in Old English as "common wood or clearing", from (ge)mǣne "common, shared" and lēah "woodland clearing". The surname is still chiefly found in the regions around these villages.
MapleEnglish Name for a person who lived near a maple tree, from Middle English mapel, and Old English mapul.
MaplesEnglish Variant of Maple, probably a name for plural Maple, a famous bearer of this name is Marla Maples (1963-).
MarableFrench, English From the feminine personal name Mirabel, equated in medieval records with Latin mirabilis "marvelous", "wonderful" (in the sense "extraordinary").
MarklandEnglish From Old English mearc meaning "boundary" and lanu meaning "lane", it is a habitational name from a place in the town of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. It can also be a topographic name for someone who lived by a stretch of border or boundary land, or a status name for someone who held land with an annual value of one mark.
MarkleyEnglish From Old English mearc meaning "border, mark" combined with leah meaning "clearing, grove."
MarksmanEnglish An occupational surname indicating a person who was a hunter, especially a skilled one.
MarlboroughEnglish From the name of the market town and civil parish of Marlborough in Wiltshire, England, derived from the Old English given name Mǣrla and beorg meaning "hill, mound".
MarpleEnglish Means "boundary stream" from Old English maere (boundary), and pyll (stream).
MarquisFrench, English for someone who behaved like a marquis or an occupational name for a servant in the household of a marquis, from Old Northern French marquis... [more]
MarslandEnglish Probably derived from some place named as being a boggy place, from Old English mersc meaning "marsh" and land meaning "land". Alternatively, it may be a variant of Markland.
MarwoodEnglish From the name of two places named Marwood in England, or a nickname for a person who "casts an evil eye", derived from Norman French malreward meaning "evil eye, glance".
MastermanEnglish occupational name meaning "servant of the master" from Middle English maister "master" (Latin magister "teacher, master, leader") and mann "man".
MattinglyEnglish (British) This name dates all the way back to the 1200s and research shows that Mattingly families began immigrating to the United States in the 1600s and continued until the 1900s. However, the place name (Mattingley, England) dates back to the year 1086, but spelled as Matingelege... [more]
MauriceEnglish, French This surname is taken from a given name which is derived from the Roman name Mauritius, a derivative of Maurus.
MaverickEnglish (Rare) Surname notably borne by Texas lawyer, politician and land baron Samuel Maverick (1803-1870) to whom the word maverick was coined.
MaxfieldEnglish Habitational name from places so named in England.
MaxsonPopular Culture, English Means son of Max. This is the surname of the hereditary leaders of the Brotherhood of Steel in the popular Fallout game. The first bearer of the name was Captain Roger Maxson, who founded the BOS, with the most recent bearer being Arthur Maxson, the current leader of the BOS in Fallout 4.
McClurkinEnglish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of the Irish surname Mac Cléireacháin, a variant of Mac Cléirich. A famous bearer of this surname is pastor and gospel singer Donnie McClurkin (1959-).
MidlerEnglish Nickname for a person who causes trouble or meddles in the affairs of others, derived from Middle English medeler meaning "meddler, troublemaker, one who interferes". This name is borne by the American singer, actress and comedienne Bette Midler (1945-).
MinghellaEnglish (British) It derives from the Roman (Latin) "Dominicus", meaning "belonging to the lord god", from "dominus", lord or master. The name was given considerable impetus by the fame of the Spanish saint "Dominicus", who founded the Dominican order of monks, although it was already well established.
MistryEnglish Influenced by the English word mystery meaning unknown.
MontfordEnglish As a Shropshire name believed to mean "from a communal ford or water crossing" while the Norfolk origin is "from Munda's ford," Munda being an old English personal name meaning "protector, guardian," as seen in names such as Edmund.
MontpelierEnglish, French English and French variant of Montpellier. This is the name of several places in the United States, for example the capital city of the state of Vermont, which was named after the French city of Montpellier.
MoodyEnglish, Irish Either from Middle English modie "angry, haughty, impetuous", or Old English modig "brave, proud".
MotleyEnglish This surname may come from a nickname for someone wearing parti-coloured clothes (from Anglo-French motteley, which may come from Old English mot meaning "speck").
MoultonEnglish Derived from various places with the same name, for example in the counties of Cheshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Suffolk and North Yorkshire in England. It is either derived from the Old English given name Mūla, the Old Norse name Múli or Old English mūl meaning "mule" and tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town".
MountstuartEnglish Possibly derived from the mountain in the Cascade Range, in the state of Washington, United States.
NeighborEnglish From the Middle English word neighbor, derived from neghebour, which in turn comes from the Old English words neah, meaning "near", and gebur, meaning "a dweller". This may have been used as a nickname for someone who was a 'good neighbor', more likely it evolved from the term of address for someone living nearby.
NewbyEnglish Means "person from Newby", Newby being a combination of the Middle English elements newe "new" and by "farm, settlement" (ultimately from Old Norse býr "farm"). British travel writer Eric Newby (1919-2006) bore this surname.
NewcomerEnglish (American) Nickname for a person who was new to a town or location, from Old English niwe meaning "new" and cumen meaning "to come".
NeweyEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived at a "new enclosure", from Middle English newe "new" and haga "enclousire".
NottageEnglish Nickname referring to the nuthatch bird, derived from Middle English notehache meaning "nuthatch".
NugentEnglish, Irish, French An English, Irish (of Norman origin) and French habitational surname derived from any of several places in northern France (such as Nogent-sur-Oise), From Latin novientum and apparently an altered form of a Gaulish name meaning "new settlement".
NunnallysEnglish (American) A common surname in America, belonging to 4058 individuals. Nunnally is most common among White (63.36%) and Black/African American (30.93%) individuals.
NuttallEnglish English: habitational name from some place named with Old English hnutu ‘nut’ + h(e)alh ‘nook’, ‘recess’. In some cases this may be Nuthall in Nottinghamshire, but the surname is common mainly in Lancashire, and a Lancashire origin is therefore more likely... [more]
OakdenEnglish A variant of Ogden, from a place name derived from Old English āc "oak" and denu "valley". Famous bearers include British diplomat Edward Oakden and English cricketer Patrick Oakden.
OaklandEnglish This surname is derived from Old English āc and land and it, obviously, means "oak land."
OkeyEnglish Location name meaning "lives near oak trees".
OldroydEnglish Derived from Old English euld meaning "old" and royd meaning "clearing".
OldshieldEnglish Probably came from the occupation of being a shielder
OlinEnglish, Dutch English or Dutch name meaning either "from a low lying area" or from the word Hollander meaning "one from the Netherlands" a country well known for a low lying landscape.
OrbisonEnglish From a village in Lincolnshire, England originally called Orby and later Orreby that is derived from a Scandinavian personal name Orri- and the Scandinavian place element -by which means "a farmstead or small settlement."
OrleyDutch, Flemish, English A surname of uncertain origin found among the Dutch, Flemish and English. In England the name is primarily found in Yorkshire and Devon. Orley may be an adapted form of a French name D'Orley or a nickname for Orlando... [more]
OrmayEnglish (American) Believed to be the Americanization of the last name Ormoi from Hungary.