Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Bovary FrenchIt is the surname of the famous fictional character Emma Bovary protagonist of Gustave Flaubert's novel.
Bow English, ScottishHabitational name from any of various minor places called with Old English
boga, meaning "bow, arch, bend".
Bowden EnglishHabitational name from any of several places called Bowden or Bowdon, most of them in England. From Old English
boga "bow" and
dun "hill", or from Old English personal names
Buga or
Bucge combined with
dun.... [
more]
Bowdler Flemish, EnglishOriginally de Boelare it evolved to Bowdler or Bowdle after Baldwin de Boelare came to England in 1105 & was given a lordship over Montgomery, Wales.
Bowe Medieval English, English, Irish (Anglicized)There are three possible sources of this surname, the first being that it is a metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of bows, a vital trade in medieval times before the invention of gunpowder, and a derivative of the Old English
boga "bow", from
bugan "to bend"... [
more]
Bowker EnglishA surname of French origin, from the occupational term for 'butcher' (boucher). Some theories have it that it derives from OE 'bocer', meaning a scribe, but the former is more likely and is more widely affirmed.
Bowland EnglishFrom any variety of places in England with this name. These places are likely from with Old English boga ‘bow’ (in the sense of a bend in a river) and land ‘land’.
Bowser EnglishNickname from the Norman term of address beu sire ‘fine sir’, given either to a fine gentleman or to someone who made frequent use of this term of address.
Bowyer EnglishEnglish: occupational name for a maker or seller of bows (see
Bow), as opposed to an archer. Compare
Bowman.
Boyajyan ArmenianMeans "son of the painter" from Armenian պոյաճի
(poyači) meaning "dyer, painter".
Boydston ScottishHabitational name from a place called Boydston near Glasgow. This surname is no longer found in the British Isles.
Boykins English (American)Americanized form of Dutch Boeijkens: patronymic from the personal name Boye with the diminutive element -ken and genitive -s. Compare the English cognate Boykin and North German Boyken.... [
more]
Boys EnglishFrom the Old French word
bois, which means "wood," indicates that the original bearer lived near a wooded area, such as a forest.
Bozan TurkishMeans "witherer, expunger, spoiler" in Turkish.
Bozkurt TurkishMeans "grey wolf" from Turkish
boz meaning "grey" and
kurt meaning "wolf".
Braafheid Dutch, Dutch (Surinamese)Means "braveness" in Dutch, derived from
braaf meaning "brave, well-behaved, obedient" and the suffix -
heid denoting a condition or state of being. This was originally a nickname for a strong or brave person... [
more]
Braaksma Frisian (Dutchified, Modern, Rare)Topographic name for someone who lived by a piece of wasteland or newly cultivated land, from Frisian, Dutch braak ‘fallow’, ‘waste’ + Frisian ma ‘man’. The suffix -ma indicating that it is of Frisian origin.
Bracamontes SpanishProbably a habitational name from the French town of Bracquemont near Dieppe.
Bracco ItalianEither a nickname derived from Calabrian
braccu meaning "small, chubby", or probably for someone thought to resemble a hunting dog, from Italian
bracco literally meaning "hunting dog, bloodhound"... [
more]
Bracken IrishFrom Irish Ó Breacáin meaning "descendant of Breacán", a personal name from a diminutive of breac 'speckled', 'spotted', which was borne by a 6th-century saint who lived at Ballyconnel, County Cavan, and was famous as a healer; St... [
more]
Bradfield Englishhabitational name from any of the places in Berkshire Devon Essex Suffolk South Yorkshire and elsewhere named
Bradfield from Old English
brad "broad" and
feld "open country" meaning "wide field".
Bradshaw EnglishHabitational name from any of the places called Bradshaw, for example in Lancashire and West Yorkshire, from Old English
brad "broad" +
sceaga "thicket".
Bradstreet EnglishA notable bearer is Anne Bradstreet, essentially known as America's first famous poet.
Braff AmericanJewish (from Poland): probably an ornamental name from German brav 'good', 'upright'. Swedish: an old spelling of Brav, possibly a soldier's name.
Braga PortugueseThe first man to own this name was a feudal lord on Portugal, near to the region of Coimbra. Could also come from the other surname "Bragança".
Bragança PortugueseFrom the city of Bragança in Portugal. It's also the name of the Royal House that ruled Portugal from 1640 to 1910.
Bräger GermanHabitational name for someone from Bräg in Bavaria.
Brager Norwegian (Rare)From the name of any of the various farmsteads in eastern Norway, which may have derived their name from a river name meaning "roaring", "thundering".
Bragg English, WelshFrom a nickname for a cheerful or lively person, derived from Middle English
bragge meaning "lively, cheerful, active", also "brave, proud, arrogant".
Braham EnglishFrom the name of a town called Braham, probably derived from Old English
brom meaning "broom (a type of plant)" and
ham meaning "home, settlement" or
hamm meaning "river meadow".
Brahe Danish (Rare), Swedish (Rare)Danish and Swedish noble family with roots in Scania and Halland, southern Sweden (both provinces belonged to Denmark when the family was founded). A notable bearer was Danish astronomer
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601).
Brailey EnglishHabitational name for a person from Brayley Barton in Devon, which is derived from the name of the Bray river (a back formation from High Bray which is from Celtic
bre meaning "hill" or Old English
brǣg "brow") combined with Old English
leah "woodland, clearing".
Braille FrenchBraille is a writing system used by people with vision impairment. It was named after its inventor
Louis Braille (1809-1852).
Brainin JewishMeans "son of Brayne",
Brayne being a short form of the Yiddish feminine name
Brayndl, literally "little brown one" (cf.
Breindel).
Braithwaite EnglishNorthern English habitational name from any of the places in Cumbria and Yorkshire named Braithwaite, from Old Norse
breiðr "broad" +
þveit "clearing".
Braley English (American)A New England variant spelling of Brailey. French: from a diminutive of Brael, from Old French braiel, a belt knotted at the waist to hold up breeches; presumably an occupational name for a maker of such belts... [
more]
Bramah EnglishFrom a place called either
Bramall, or
Bramhall formerly
Bromale. From old english
brom "broom" and
halh, "nook, recess"
Bramble EnglishThis surname is taken from the word which refers to a common blackberry (British) or any of several closely related thorny plants in the Rubus genus (US). It also refers to any thorny shrub. The word is derived from Old English
bræmbel with a euphonic
-b- inserted from the earlier
bræmel or
brémel, which is then derived from Proto-Germanic
*bræmaz meaning "thorny bush."
Branagh IrishAnglicisation of Irish
Ó Branduibh meaning "descendant of Breathnach", a given name meaning "Welshman". A famous bearer is British actor and filmmaker Sir Kenneth Branagh (1960-).
Brancaccia Italian (Rare)Derived from the medieval Italian given name
Brancazia, which is the feminine form of the masculine given name
Brancazio. For more information, please see the entry for the patronymic surname
Brancazio... [
more]
Brancaccio ItalianVariant form of
Brancazio. There are a few sources that claim that the surname is derived from a place name (which would make it a locational surname), but that claim is incorrect, as all Italian geographical places carrying the name
Brancaccio were either established long after the Middle Ages (by which time virtually all Italians already had a hereditary surname) or were named after a person who had Brancaccio for a surname... [
more]
Brancaleone ItalianDerived from the medieval Italian masculine given name
Brancaleone, which means either "a lion's paw" or "he who captures the lion". In the case of the former meaning, the name is derived from Italian
branca meaning "paw, claw" combined with Italian
leone meaning "lion"... [
more]
Brancatella Italian (Rare)Derived from the feminine given name
Brancatella, which is a diminutive of the medieval Italian given name
Brancazia, the feminine form of the masculine given name
Brancazio. For more information about this, please see the entry for the patronymic surname of
Brancazio... [
more]
Brancatello Italian (Rare)Derived from the masculine given name
Brancatello, which is a diminutive of the medieval Italian given name
Brancazio, itself ultimately derived from the late Latin given name
Brancatius... [
more]
Brancato ItalianThis surname can be derived from a given name (thus making it a patronymic surname) as well as from a place name (thus making it a locational surname). In the case of a patronymic surname, the surname is derived from the medieval Italian given name
Brancato, which is a variant form of the given name
Brancazio, itself ultimately derived from the late Latin given name
Brancatius... [
more]
Brancazio Italian (Rare)Derived from the medieval Italian masculine given name
Brancazio, which itself is derived from
Brancatius (also found spelled as
Brancaccius and
Brancatus), a late Latin corruption of the given name
Pancratius... [
more]
Branche FrenchFrom Old French
branche meaning ‘branch’ (which is from Late Latin
branca meaning ‘foot’, ‘paw’), the application of which as a surname is not clear. Compare
Branch.
Brandeis JewishDerived from
Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav (known as
Brandeis-Altbunzlau or
Brandeis an der Elbe in German), a town located in the Prague-East District, in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic... [
more]
Brandenburg German (East Prussian, Rare)From a state in eastern Germany, formerly known as Prussia, containing the capital city of Berlin. Ancient. Associated with the Margravate (Dukedom) of Brandenburg, the seat of power in the Holy Roman Empire... [
more]
Brandis German, Jewish, SwissGerman & Swiss: Habitational name from a former Brandis castle in Emmental near Bern, Switzerland, or from any of the places so named in Saxony, Germany. A famous bearer of the name is
Jonathan Brandis (1976-2003).... [
more]
Brandybuck LiteratureBrandybuck is the surname of Meriadoc, a young Hobbit in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings." Possibly derived from the
Brandywine River, which in turn is derived from Sindarin
Baranduin, "Brown River"... [
more]
Brannock IrishOriginally taken from the Welsh place name
Brecknock. Medieval settlers brought this name to Ireland.
Bransby English (British)English locational name from the village of Bransby in Lincolnshire. The place name is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Branzbi' and later (1115) as 'Brandesby'. These recordings showing that the derivation is from the Old Norse personal name
Brandr meaning "sword" and
byr, the whole meaning being "Brand's village" or "homestead"... [
more]
Branting SwedishA combination of Swedish
brant "steep hill" and the suffix
-ing. A famous bearer was
Hjalmar Branting (1860–1925), Prime Minister of Sweden in the 1920s.
Bras Dutch, Low GermanDutch and North German: from Old French and Middle Dutch bras ‘arm’. This was probably a descriptive nickname for someone with some peculiarity of the arm, but the word was also used as a measure of length, and may also have denoted a surveyor.
Brassard FrenchDerivative of
bras "arm" most likely applied as a nickname denoting a person with strong arms or perhaps a pugilist.
Brasse EnglishLikely derived from the name of the village of Brace in Shropshire, England. The name of the village likely came from the Old English word
braec, which was used for small forests and thickets, or the later Old English word
braec, which was used for ground broken up for cultivation.
Brasseur FrenchFrench and English (of both Norman and Huguenot origin): occupational name for a brewer, from Old French
brasser ‘to brew’. See also
Brasher.
Bråthen NorwegianDerived from Old Norse
broti "land cleared for cultivation by burning". This was a common farm name in southeastern Norway.
Bratov RussianDerived either from Russian брат
(brat) meaning "brother" or from a short form
Brat of various Old Russian given names.
Brattén Swedish (Rare)Composed of the personal name
Bratt and the common surname suffix
-én (ultimately from Latin
-enius "descendant of").
Bratten Scottish (Anglicized)Anglicized form of the Gaelic surname Mac an Bhreatnaich ‘son of the Briton’, originally denoting a Strathclyde Welsh-speaking Briton. It was applied in Ireland also to people from Brittany.
Bratu RomanianRomanian surname; derives from "brat", the Slavic word for brother.
Brau ItalianMeaning uncertain, possibly from the dialectical term
brau, meaning "wild, untamed" in Sardinian and "brave, fierce" or "bull" in Catalan, or from
blau "blue, turquoise".
Braunershrither German, Dutch, EnglishThis name mean Leather (Tanned) Knight, or a fighter of leather armor, or in Dutch, Leather writer, one who branded print on leather
Bräunlich GermanOriginally a nickname for a person who had brown hair or skin, meaning "brownish" in German.
Braunschweig German, JewishDenoted a person from the city of
Braunschweig in Lower Saxony, Germany, which is of Old Saxon origin meaning "
Bruno's settlement".
Braunsteiner German (Austrian)This surname means brown stone in German and it may be an ornamental surname or an occupational surname for someone who may have been a miner.
Braxiatel Popular CultureIrving Braxiatel or Cardinal Braxiatel is a fictional character from the Virgin New Adventures—spin-off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. He subsequently became a regular character in novels and audio dramas in the Bernice Summerfield series... [
more]
Brayboy LumbeeThis name origin has roots in a court case in 1716 involving a slave named John. He was charged as "Jack Braveboy, a negro". The spelling Brayboy is scene in 1801 with Stephen Brayboy. It was identified as Native American in 1900 Indian Census Schedule of Robeson County, North Carolina.
Braybrooke EnglishFrom the name of the Northamptonshire village of Braybrooke, meaning "the broad brook."
Brayton EnglishDerived from the Old Norse name breithr meaning "broad", or the Old Norse personal name Breithi, combined with the Old English suffix
tun meaning "town, farmstead".
Breakspear EnglishFrom a medieval nickname for someone who had achieved notable success in jousts or in battle. Nicholas Breakspear (?1100-1159) was the original name of Pope Hadrian IV, the only English pope.
Brearley EnglishVariation of
Brierley possibly originating in Yorkshire, England. A well-known bearer is former English cricketer Mike Brearley.
Brecht GermanFrom a short form of any of various personal names formed with Germanic element
berth " bright" "famous".
Breed EnglishHabitational name from any of various minor places, for example Brede in Sussex, named with Old English
brǣdu "breadth, broad place" (a derivative of
brād "broad").
Breeding GermanFrom the Low German
brēde "open field". Denotes a person from such a place.
Breedlove EnglishProbably from a medieval nickname for a likable or popular person (from Middle English
breden "to produce" +
love). This surname is borne by Craig Breedlove (1937-), US land-speed record holder.
Brehme GermanVariant form of
Bremer. German former soccer player Andreas Brehme (1960-) bears this name.
Breiding GermanFrom the name of a place in the Lippe area in northwestern Germany.
Breit GermanFrom Middle High German
breit meaning "broad". a nickname for a stout or fat person.
Breithaupt GermanNickname for someone with a broad head, from Middle High German
breit "broad" and
houbet or
houpt "head".
Breitkreutz Germanprobably a nickname for a person with a broad butt. Breitkreutz replaced an earlier more transparent form of the surname Breitarsch the use of
kreuz (literally "cross") as a euphemism for "buttocks" first occurring in the 17th century... [
more]
Breitzmann GermanEastern German topographic name for someone who lived by a birch wood, ultimately derived from the Slavic stem
bres "birch".