Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Benz GermanSouth German: (in Alemannic areas) from a short form of the Germanic personal name Berthold, or to a lesser extent of Bernhard
Ben Zaken HebrewMeans "son of the old man" or "son of the elder" in Hebrew.
Benzema Arabic (Maghrebi)This is the surname of French professional footballer Karim Benzema who is of Algerian descent.
Beppu JapaneseFrom Japanese 別府 (
Beppu), the name of several Japanese towns and divisions. In some cases these places names are normally read Byū or Befu. In other cases Beppu is a clipping of longer names such as 別府門 (
Beppumon), 西別府 (
Nishibeppu) or 上別府 (
Kamibeppu).
Beramendi BasqueDerived from Basque
behera "below, under" and
mendi "mountain".
Berastegi BasqueFrom the name of a town in Basque Country, Spain, derived from the Basque suffix
-(t)egi "house, workshop; place of" and an uncertain first element. Possibly from the given name
Beraxa (also written
Beratza,
Berasa, or
Beraza), itself possibly from
beratz "soft", or from the element
beratz which means "meadow, grassy place"... [
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Berber GermanPossibly a habitational name from a place called Berber near Kevelaer.
Berberić BosnianOccupational name for a barber, from berber(in) meaning "barber", from Turkish.
Beres HungarianOccupational name for a farm laborer or casual harvest hand, béres, a derivative of bér 'wage', 'payment'.
Beresford EnglishEnglish: habitational name from a place in the parish of Alstonfield, Staffordshire named Beresford, from Old English beofor ‘beaver’ (or possibly from a byname from this word) + Old English ford ‘ford’... [
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Berethnet LiteratureUsed by Samantha Shannon in her book The Priory Of The Orange Tree as the surname of the queens of Inys, a fictional queendom in the book.... [
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Bergamin ItalianTraced to 1437, Bergamo. A 'bergamini' was known as a person famrmed and sold milk cows
Bergara BasqueFrom the name of a town and municipality in Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, of uncertain etymology. Possibly contains the Basque element
garai "high, tall; top" or
kala "cove; place for fishing".
Bergdahl SwedishCombination of Swedish
berg "mountain, hill" and
dal "valley".
Bergdorf GermanOrigin unidentified. Possibly a German habitational name from places in Hamburg and Lower Saxony called Bergedorf, Bargdorf in Lower Saxony, or Bergsdorf in Brandenburg.
Bergen German, Dutch, Flemish, JewishOriginally denoted a person from any of the various places named
Bergen in Germany and the Netherlands. It is also a variant of
Berg. Famous bearers include the Americans Candice Bergen (1946-), an actress, and Polly Bergen (1930-2014), an actress, singer and television host.
Berghorst GermanTopographical name for someone who lived by a wilderness area on a mountain, from Berg 'mountain', 'hill' + Horst 'wilderness' (see
Horst).
Bergin SwedishDerived from Swedish
berg "mountain" and the common surname suffix
-in.
Bergkamp Dutch, GermanFrom the name of various places in the Netherlands and Germany, derived from Old Dutch and Old High German
berg meaning "mountain" and
kamp meaning "field". This name is borne by Dutch former soccer player Dennis Bergkamp (1969-).
Berglin SwedishCombination of Swedish
berg "mountain" and the surname suffix
-in.
Berglind SwedishCombination of Swedish
berg "mountain, hill" and
lind "linden tree".
Bergling SwedishCombination of Swedish
berg "mountain" and the common surname suffix
-ing "belonging to, coming from". It has also been found as a spelling variant of similarly spelled names, such as
Berlin... [
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Bergmark SwedishCombination of Swedish
berg "mountain, hill" and
mark "land, ground, field".
Bergoglio ItalianFrom the name of a village in Piedmont, Italy. A notable bearer is
Jorge Mario Bergoglio (1936-), better known as Pope Francis, the current head of the Catholic Church.
Bergschneider Germantopographic name for someone living by a mountain trail (as in cut into the hillside) from
Berg "mountain hill" and
Schneit "trail path running on a border" (Old High German
sneita).
Berisha AlbanianFrom the name of a tribe and historical region in northern Albania, meaning uncertain.
Beriya Georgian (Russified)Russified form of
Beria. This is the way the last name of Lavrentiy Beria, the head of the NKVD from 1938-1946, last name was spelled in the official Soviet language (Russian).
Berkhout DutchHabitational name derived from Dutch
berk "birch (tree)" and
hout "wood, forest".
Berki HungarianFrom a placename in Hungary derived from Hungarian "berek" meaning "grove".
Berlanga SpanishFrom the village or castle named "Berlanga de Duero" from Soria, Spain. Berlanga itself was derived from "berlain" which comes from the name of a precious stone derived from the Greek. So it could be related to stones.
Berlin SwedishOf uncertain origin. The name could be a shortened form of
Berglin. It could also be a habitational name from the city in Germany or from a place in Sweden named with
ber or
berg "mountain"... [
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Berlin German, EnglishHabitational name from the city in Germany, the name of which is of uncertain meaning. It is possibly derived from an Old Slavic stem
berl- meaning
swamp or from a West Slavic word meaning "river lake".
Berlinerblau German, JewishMeans “Prussian blue” in German. A notable bearer of this surname is Jacques Berlinerblau, a professor of Jewish civilization, and Stefania Berlinerblau, an American anatomist and physician.
Bermejo SpanishOriginally a nickname for a man with red hair or a ruddy complexion, from Spanish
bermejo "reddish, ruddy" (itself from Latin
vermiculus "little worm", from
vermis "worm", since a crimson dye was obtained from the bodies of worms).
Bermeo BasqueFrom the town Bermeo in Biscay (Basque Country, Spain). Origin likely pre-Roman.
Bermingham English (Modern, Rare)Bermingham is the Gaelicised version of 'De Birmingham' and is descended from the family of Warwickshire, England. The Irish version of the name MacFeorais/MacPheorais is derived from Pierce de Bermingham.
Bern German, Scandinavian, German (Swiss)German and Scandinavian: from the personal name Berno, a pet form of
Bernhard. In South German it comes from the habitational name from Bern, Switzerland, notably in the south; in other parts from the personal name
Berno.
Bernabéu Catalan (Valencian)From the given name
Bernabé. A famous bearer was Santiago Bernabéu (1895-1978), a Spanish soccer player and the eleventh president of the soccer club Real Madrid CF.
Bernadotte French, SwedishPossibly from the name of a historical province in Southern France named
Béarn. This was originally a French non-noble surname. French general Jean Baptise Bernadotte (1763-1844) became the king of Sweden as Charles XIV John (Swedish: Karl XIV Johan) in 1818 and founded the current royal house in Sweden, House of Bernadotte.
Bernasconi ItalianThe surname of BERNASCONI is of Italian origin, a locational name meaning the dweller on or near a small hill. The names of habitation are derived from pre-existing names denoting towns, villages, farmsteads or other named habitations... [
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Bernell EnglishFrom the Old French word
brunel, a diminutive of
brun, describing someone who had brown hair. It was occasionally also used as a descriptive first name during the middle ages in England.
Berner German, Low GermanGerman habitational name, in Silesia denoting someone from a place called Berna (of which there are two examples); in southern Germany and Switzerland denoting someone from the Swiss city of Berne. ... [
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Bernfield GermanAn Americanized variant of the German surname, "Bergfeld", meaning "mountain field".
Bernini ItalianBernini was the surname of famous sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680).
Bernitt German (Rare)Derived from the name of
Bernitt, a municipality in the Rostock district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
Bernthal JewishOrnamental name derived from the Yiddish given name
Ber meaning "bear" and German
thal meaning "valley". A famous bearer is American actor Jon Bernthal (1976-).
Berrada MoroccanMeaning unknown. A famous bearer is novelist/literary critic/translator Mohammed Berrada.
Berretta ItalianFrom
berretta, originally meaning ‘hooded cloak’ (Latin
birrus), later ‘headdress’, ‘bonnet’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of such headgear or a nickname for an habitual wearer.
Berruguete SpanishFrom Catalan
berruga "wart", possibly denoting a person who has warts or lives in a warty place.
Berruti ItalianFrom Late Latin
berrutum "cart", indicating someone who drove or made carts.
Berryann Medieval English (Rare)The name is pre 7th century Olde English and later Olde French. It derives from the word
burri or
berri, translating as a fortress or castle and means 'one who dwelt at the castle'. The suffix 'man' also indicates that it was job descriptive for a guard or keeper of the castle... [
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Berrycloth English (Rare)This name is of English locational origin, from the place called
Barrowclough near Halifax in West Yorkshire.
Bertagni ItalianBertagni has a lineage in Genoa and one in Lucca. Possibly derives from Gothic, Lombard and Germanic names containing the root germanica bertha (bright) or the celtic bert (bearer).
Bertarelli ItalianProbably from a given name containing the Germanic root
behrat "bright" or Celtic
berta "to carry, to bear".
Berthiaume FrenchFrench: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’ + helm ‘helmet’.
Bertin FrenchFrom the given name
Bertin a diminutive of the ancient Germanic personal name
Berhto a short form of various compound names formed with
berht "bright famous".
Bertiz BasqueFrom the name of a neighborhood in the municipality of Bertizarana, Spain, of uncertain etymology. Possibly derived from Basque
berta "near, close, next to" or
bertze "other" combined with either
(h)aitz "rock, stone" or the toponymic suffix
-iz.
Bérubé FrenchHabitational name from some minor place named with Old French
bel ru "beautiful stream", with the subsequent pleonastic addition of
bé, variant of
bel "beautiful".
Beruška CzechAllegedly derived from Czech
beruška "ladybird; ladybug".
Berzelius SwedishDerived from the name of an estate named
Bergsätter located near Motala, Östergötland, Sweden. Bergsätter is composed of Swedish
berg "mountain" and
säter "outlying meadow"... [
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Besalú CatalanThis indicates familial origin within the eponymous municipality.
Besançon FrenchHabitational name for a person from the eponymous capital city of Doubs in France, ultimately from Latin
Vesontiō, derived from Proto-Celtic *
ves "mountain". Folk etymology states that it is associated with the place name with Old French
bison "wisent".
Beshimov KyrgyzPossibly derived from the given name Beshim. A known bearer is Bakyt Beshimov, the deputy chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan.
Beskow SwedishDerived from the name of the city Beeskow in Germany. A notable bearer was Swedish author and illustrator Elsa Beskow (1874-1953).
Beskrovnyy m RussianMeans "bloodless, without blood" in Russian, probably denoting to a peaceful or innocent person.
Bess EnglishPopularly grown surname from the diminuative form of "Elizabeth" during any time of a Queen Elizabeth
Bessel GermanOf uncertain origin; possibly from the name of a place or river.
Bessho JapaneseFrom 別 (
be, betsu) meaning "separate, another different" and 所 (
sho) meaning "place, plant, institute, station".
Bestauty OssetianDerived from Ossetian бистэ
(biste) meaning "village, suburb" or from Persian به
(beh) meaning "good, excellent, better". In the case of the former, it would have been used to indicate the place of residence of an ancestor.
Beste French, EnglishNickname from Middle English
beste Old French
beste "beast animal" (especially those used for food or work) applied either as a metonymic occupational name for someone who looked after beasts such as a herdsman or as a nickname for someone thought to resemble an animal... [
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