Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Clavel SpanishMetonymic occupational name for a spice trader or a nail maker, derived from Spanish
clavel or Catalan
clavell meaning "nail", later also "clove", itself a derivative of Latin
clavellus "nail".
Clavel FrenchMetonymic occupational name for a nail maker, ultimately from Latin
clavellus "nail", but in some cases possibly from the same word in the sense "smallpox, rash". A fictional bearer is Miss Clavel, a nun and teacher in Ludwig Bemelmans's 'Madeline' series of children's books (introduced in 1939).
Clavell French, CatalanThe first documented records of the surname Clavell appear in Catalunya between 1291 and 1327. The word clavell traces back to the Indo-European words "kleu", later "klawo" meaning a metal tool. In Latin "clavus", it eventually became a surname "Clavell".
Clavero English, Catalan1 English: occupational name from Old French clavier ‘doorkeeper’ (from Latin clavis ‘key’).... [
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Claw EnglishThe surname Claw is a very rare English surname.
Claxon Anglo-Saxon, Medieval EnglishDerived from the Old English elements
clǽg, which denoted places with a clayey soil and
tūn, usually meaning "dwellings" or an "enclosed space", but was used in relation to any kind of human habitation... [
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Clayberg EnglishMeaning is unknown, but it most likely means "clay mountain", from surnames
Clay "clay" and
Berg "mountain".
Claypool EnglishDerived from
Claypole, a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, named from Old English
cl?g meaning "clay" and
pol meaning "pool".
Cleave EnglishFrom an English topographical name meaning "cliff".
Cleburne EnglishCleburne is a surname of Northern English and Southern Scottish Anglo-Saxon origin.
Clemenceau FrenchDerived from the French given name
Clément. A notable bearer was the French prime minister Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929), who successfully lead France through the end of World War I.
Clerc FrenchOccupational or status name for a member of a minor religious order or for a scholar Old French
clerc from Late Latin
clericus from Greek
klērikos a derivative of
klēros "inheritance legacy" with reference to the priestly tribe of Levites (see
Levy ) "whose inheritance was the Lord"... [
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Clerico ItalianOccupational or status name for a member of a minor religious order or for a scholar from Late Latin
clericus (see
Clerc ). Italian cognitive of
Clark.
Clerihew ScottishA Scottish surname of unknown origin and meaning. A clerihew is a humorous or satirical verse consisting of two rhyming couplets in lines of irregular metre about someone who is named in the poem. It was invented by the British author Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956; Clerihew was his mother's maiden name)... [
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Cleveland EnglishEnglish regional name from the district around Middlesbrough named Cleveland ‘the land of the cliffs’, from the genitive plural (
clifa) of Old English
clif ‘bank’, ‘slope’ +
land ‘land’... [
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Cleveland Norwegian (Anglicized)Americanized spelling of Norwegian
Kleiveland or
Kleveland, habitational names from any of five farmsteads in Agder and Vestlandet named with Old Norse
kleif "rocky ascent" or
klefi "closet" (an allusion to a hollow land formation) and
land "land".
Cleverley EnglishProbably means "person from Cleveley", Lancashire ("woodland clearing by a cliff").
Clift EnglishTopographic name for someone who lived by a crevice in rock, derived from Middle English
clift meaning "cleft". The American actor Montgomery Clift (1920-1966) was a famous bearer of this name.
Clisby EnglishSurname originating in the village of Cleasby in North Yorkshire's Richmondshire district.
Clive EnglishEnglish surname meaning "cliff" in Old English, originally belonging to a person who lived near a cliff.
Clooney English, IrishFrom Gaelic
Ó Cluanaigh meaning "descendant of
Cluanach". Cluanach was a given name derived from Irish
clauna "deceitful, flattering, rogue".
Clopton EnglishHabitational name from any of various places, for example in Essex, Suffolk, and Warwickshire, named Clopton from Old English clopp(a) meaning "rock", "hill" + tūn meaning "settlement".
Clore English (American)Americanized spelling of German
Klor (from a short form of the medieval personal name Hilarius (see Hillary) or Klar).
Closson Scottishthis name is of the noble family in Orkney islands known as the closson whom came to Orkney with the viking raiders in the early 900's and they founded the noble house of closson there of
Clotts EnglishFound in the United States, most likely either an English spelling of
Klutz, meaning "awkward, clumsy," or as a plural form of the English surname Clot, meaning "cloth ."
Cloud EnglishTopographic name for someone who lived near an outcrop or hill, from Old English
clud "rock" (only later used to denote vapor formations in the sky).
Cloud FrenchFrom the Germanic personal name
Hlodald, composed of the elements
hlod "famous, clear" and
wald "rule", which was borne by a saint and bishop of the 6th century.
Clough English (British)The distinguished surname Clough is of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin. It is derived from the Old English "cloh," meaning "ravine" or "steep-sided valley," and was first used to refer to a "dweller in the hollow."
Cluff EnglishDerived from pre 7th century word "cloh" meaning a ravine or steep-sided valley.
Clutterbuck English, Dutch (Anglicized, ?)English surname of unknown origin, possibly a corrupted form of a Dutch surname derived from Dutch
klateren "to clatter" and
beek "brook". The original surname may have been brought to England by Flemish weavers whom Edward III brought to England in the 14th century to teach their techniques to the English, or by Huguenots who fled the Netherlands in the 16th century to escape religious persecution... [
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Clwyd WelshThis indicates familial origin near the River Clwyd.
Cly NavajoFrom Navajo
tłʼaaí meaning "lefty, left-handed one", from the verb
nishtłʼa "to be left-handed".
Clyde ScottishA river in the south-west of Scotland, running through Inverclyde, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire, and the city of Glasgow. The second longest in Scotland; and the eighth longest in the United Kingdom... [
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Cmiel PolishFrom the Polish noun 'trzmiel', which means "bumblebee."
Coach IrishOrigin uncertain. Most probably a reduced form of Irish McCoach, which is of uncertain derivation, perhaps a variant of
McCaig.
Coach FrenchPossibly an altered spelling of French Coache, from the Norman and Picard term for a damson, probably applied as a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of plums.
Coakley IrishFrom Irish Gaelic
Mac Caochlaoich "son of
Caochlaoch", a personal name meaning literally "blind warrior".
Coard English, Northern IrishDerived from Old French
corde "string", a metonymic occupational name for a maker of cord or string, or a nickname for an habitual wearer of decorative ties and ribbons.
Coates EnglishName for a cottager or a person who lived in a humble dwelling, derived from Old English
cote meaning "cottage, hut". It could also be used as a habitational name for someone from any of numerous locations with this name.
Coatney EnglishThe initial bearer of this surname lived in a little cottage.
Cobain ScottishThis unusual surname is of Old Norse origin and is found particularly in Scotland. It derives from an Old Norse personal name
Kobbi, itself from an element meaning large, and the Gaelic
bain, denoting a fair person, with the diminutive ('little' or 'son of') form
Cobbie.
Cobbold EnglishFrom the medieval male personal name
Cubald (from Old English
Cūthbeald, literally "famous-brave").
Coccia ItalianMeaning uncertain, possibly from Sicilian
cocciu "grain, berry", denoting a kind of gruel; an occupational name for a farmer from Greek
κόκκος (
kokkos) "grain, seed"; or from Italian
coccia "head, shell", referring to someone with a large head, or who was stubborn.
Coccimiglio ItalianFrom Sicilian
cuccumeli, the name of several fruit-bearing deciduous trees or of the hackberry plant, itself borrowed from an Ancient Greek word; possibly
κοκκύμηλον (
kokkymelon) "plum", literally "cuckoo apple", or from
κόκκος (
kókkos) "grain, seed, kernel" and
μῆλον (
mêlon) "apple, any fruit from a tree".
Cocco ItalianPossibly from Italian
cocco, meaning "darling, favourite" or "hen's egg".
Cochet FrenchEither from
cochet a diminutive of
coq "rooster" used as a nickname for a vain conceited or womanizing individual. Or possibly also a habitational name from (Le) Cochet the name of several places in various parts of France.
Cocke Englishnickname from Middle English cok ‘cock’, ‘male bird or fowl’ (Old English cocc), given for a variety of possible reasons. Applied to a young lad who strutted proudly like a cock, it soon became a generic term for a youth and was attached with hypocoristic force to the short forms of many medieval personal names (e.g. Alcock, Hancock, Hiscock, Mycock)... [
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Coco Italian, Sicilianoccupational name for a cook a seller of cooked meats or a keeper of an eating house from southern Italian
coco "cook" (from Latin
cocus coquus).
Cocuzza ItalianFrom
cocuzza "gourd", "pumpkin", applied either as an occupational name for a grower or seller of gourds or a nickname for a rotund individual.
Codino ItalianMeans "pigtail, plait" in Italian, literally "tail's end". Ultimately from Latin
cauda "tail (of an animal)". Perhaps given to someone who often wore their hair in such a style, possibly given to orphans or foundlings.
Codispoti ItalianA Calabrian surname from Greek
οικοδεσπότης (
oikodespótis) "host, master of the house".
Coe EnglishEnglish (Essex and Suffolk): nickname from the jackdaw, Middle English
co, Old English
ca (see
Kay). The jackdaw is noted for its sleek black color, raucous voice, and thievish nature, and any of these attributes could readily have given rise to the nickname.
Coggeshall EnglishHabitational name from Coggeshall in Essex, England, which was derived from
Cogg, an Old English personal name, and Old English
halh meaning "nook, recess".
Coggill EnglishRecorded in several forms as shown below, this is a surname of two possible nationalities and origins. Firstly it may be of Scottish locational origins, from the lands of Cogle in the parish of Watten, in Caithness, or secondly English and also locational from a place called Cogges Hill in the county of Oxfordshire... [
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Cohen IrishEither a version of Cowan or Coyne, not related with the jewish surname.
Cohitmingao Filipino, CebuanoFrom Cebuano
kuhit meaning "pole (used to reach or hook something)" and
mingaw meaning "deserted, lonely".
Cois ItalianPossibly from the name of a lost town, Coni. Alternately, may be from dialectical words meaning "to cook" or "finch", referring to an occupation or nickname.
Coit Medieval Welsh, French, EnglishThe surname Coit was first found in Carnarvonshire, a former country in Northwest Wales, anciently part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, and currently is divided between the unitary authorities of Gwynedd and Conwy, where they held a family seat... [
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Cojuangco FilipinoFrom Hokkien 許寰哥
(Khó͘ Hoân-ko), which was the nickname of Co Yu Hwan (許玉寰), a Chinese migrant who arrived in the Philippines in the 19th century. This is the name of a prominent political and business family in the Philippines.
Cokayne EnglishMedieval English nickname which meant "idle dreamer" from
Cockaigne, the name of an imaginary land of luxury and idleness in medieval myth. The place may derive its name from Old French
(pays de) cocaigne "(land of) plenty", ultimately from the Low German word
kokenje, a diminutive of
koke "cake" (since the houses in Cockaigne are made of cake).
Colburn EnglishHabitational name from a place near Catterick in North Yorkshire.
Colden English, ScottishEnglish: habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire named Colden, from Old English
cald ‘cold’
col ‘charcoal’ +
denu ‘valley’.... [
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Coley EnglishWith variant
Colley can mean "dark" or "blackbird" or it can be a nickname for Nicholas.
Colfax EnglishFrom a medieval nickname for someone with dark or black hair, from Old English
cola "charcoal" and
feax "hair".
Colgate Englishhabitational name from Colgates in Kent named with Old English
col "charcoal" and
gaet "gate" indicating a gate leading into woodland where charcoal was burned... [
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