Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Gaines English, Norman, WelshEnglish (of Norman origin): nickname for a crafty or ingenious person, from a reduced form of Old French
engaine ‘ingenuity’, ‘trickery’ (Latin
ingenium ‘native wit’). The word was also used in a concrete sense of a stratagem or device, particularly a trap.... [
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Gainsborough EnglishFrom the city of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, England. A famous bearer of this surname includes English painter Thomas Gainsborough.
Gaintza BasqueThis indicates familial origin within either of 2 eponymous municipalities, the one in Leitzaldea or the one in Goierri.
Gaitán SpanishOriginated from the Spanish word "gato," which means "cat." It is thought that the name may have been used to describe someone who had cat-like qualities, such as being agile or quick on their feet.
Gaitanos GreekDerived from the Ancient Greek Καίετανος (
Kaietanos) meaning "who come from the cave/port" or "who come from Gaeta", an ancient Greek port that is located in the Italian modern province of Lazio.
Gaither EnglishOccupational name for a goatherd, derived from Middle English
gaytere literally meaning "goatherd".
Gajda Serbian, Croatian, CzechA slavicized variant of the German surname,
Geidl. This was most notably used by Radola Gajda, a Czech military commander and politician who slaviczed his name from Rudolf Geidl.
Gakpo Western African, EweMeans "iron, metal" in Ewe, possibly derived from a nickname or an occupation. It is usually found in Ghana and Togo. Dutch soccer player Cody Gakpo (1999-) bears this name.
Galanis GreekMeans 'someone with blue, pale eyes', derived from the Greek "galanos", meaning 'azure', 'milky' or 'blue'.
Galano ItalianA Campanian name from Greek
γαλανός (
galanós) "light blue, pale blue", denoting someone with blue eyes.
Galante Italian, French, JewishComes from the ancient French word "galant" meaning someone in love or who has fun. In the case of Mordecai Galante, a Spanish exile in 16th century Rome, his courteous manners won for him from the Roman nobles the surname "Galantuomo" (gentleman), from which Galante was eventually derived.... [
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Galartza BasqueThis indicates familial origin within either of 3 eponymous neighborhoods: the one in Etxebarria, Comarca of Lea-Artibai, the one in Larrabetzu, Comarca of Bilbo, or the one in Aretxabaleta, Comarca of Debagoiena.
Galbier RomanshDerived from Romansh
casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name
Albert.
Galbraith Scottish, Scottish GaelicEthnic name for someone descended from a tribe of Britons living in Scotland, from Gaelic
gall ‘stranger’ +
Breathnach ‘Briton’ (i.e. ‘British foreigner’). These were either survivors of the British peoples who lived in Scotland before the Gaelic invasions from Ireland in the 5th century (in particular the Welsh-speaking Strathclyde Britons, who survived as a distinctive ethnic group until about the 14th century), or others who had perhaps migrated northwestwards at the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions.
Galewski PolishHabitational name for someone from Galew, Galewice, or Galów in the voivodeships of Kalisz, Kielce, or Konin.
Galicia SpanishSpanish: ethnic name for someone from the former kingdom of Galicia, now an autonomous region of northwestern Spain.
Galicki Jewish, PolishA Jewish and Polish surname for someone from a lost location called 'Galice'
Galifianakis GreekPatronymic derived from
Galifa, a small village near the former municipality of Episkopi in the regional unit of Heraklion, in Crete, Greece. The place name itself is possibly derived from Greek γαλίφης (
galífis) meaning "flatterer", a cognate of Italian
gaglioffo... [
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Galindo SpanishEither from the given name
Galindo or from the name of the Galindians, an ancient Baltic tribe.
Galishoff Upper German, German (Austrian)Derived from the ancient Roman name
Gallus, meaning "rooster" in Latin.
Hoff meaning house combines the growing or tending to poultry on a farm house, hence the name
Galishoff which has been modified over the millennia... [
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Galkin RussianDerived from Russian галка
(galka) meaning "jackdaw".
Gałkowski PolishHabitational name for someone from a place called Gałkowo or Gałków, both derived from Polish
gałka meaning "knob, handle, lump".
Gall Scottish, Irish, EnglishNickname, of Celtic origin, meaning "foreigner" or "stranger". In the Scottish Highlands the Gaelic term
gall was applied to people from the English-speaking lowlands and to Scandinavians; in Ireland the same term was applied to settlers who arrived from Wales and England in the wake of the Anglo-Norman invasion of the 12th century... [
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Galland FrenchNickname 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... [
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Gallant EnglishNickname 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.
Gallegos SpanishHabitational name from any of various places named Gallegos, derived from Spanish
gallego meaning "Galician".
Galliard FrenchIt resembles the French word "galliard," meaning "brave, cheerful, spirited." Marcel and Porco Galliard from Attack on Titan are known bearers of this name.
Galligan IrishShortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Gealagáin 'descendant of Gealagán' a personal name from a double diminutive of geal 'bright white'.
Galloway ScottishScottish: regional name from Galloway in southwestern Scotland, named as ‘place of the foreign Gaels’, from Gaelic
gall ‘foreigner’ +
Gaidheal ‘Gael’. From the 8th century or before it was a province of Anglian Northumbria... [
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Gally FrenchDerived from southern French
gal "rooster", this name was used as a nickname for a vain or conceited person.
Galovac CroatianPossibly originates from a village, castle and/or lake in Croatia with the same name.
Galpin EnglishEnglish: occupational name for a messenger or scullion (in a monastery), from Old French galopin ‘page’, ‘turnspit’, from galoper ‘to gallop’.
Galt EnglishAn early member was a person with a fancied resemblance to the wild boar.
Gálvez SpanishThis indicates familial origin within the eponymous Castilian municipality in the Province of Toledo.
Gam KoreanSouth Korean, from Sino-Korean "甘" (Gam) meaning "Sweet".
Gama PortugueseProbably from gama ‘fallow deer doe’, feminine form of gamo, possibly as a topographic or habitational name.
Gamage SinhaleseMeans "of the village", from Sinhala ගම
(gama) meaning "village" and the locative suffix -ගේ
(-ge) meaning "home, house".
Gamberini ItalianPossibly from the given name Gambrinus or Gambarus. The Italian word
gambero "prawn, shrimp" has also been suggested as an origin.
Gambier FrenchDerived from
gambier, a Northern French variant of
jambier, the masculine form of
jambière "greave (a piece of armour that protects the leg, especially the shin, and occasionally the tops of the feet)"... [
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Gambino Italianfrom a diminutive of gamba ‘leg’, probably applied as a nickname for someone with short legs.
Gamble Englishfrom the Old Norse byname Gamall meaning "old", which was occasionally used in North England during the Middle Ages as a personal name. ... [
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Gambon English, IrishDerived from Anglo-Norman French
gambon meaning "ham", itself derived from a Norman-Picard form of Old French
jambe meaning "leg". A famous bearer is the Irish-English actor Sir Michael Gambon (1940-).
Gamelin FrenchFrom pet form of any of the compound personal names formed with gamal, related to Old Norse gamall, Old German gamel "old", "aged". ... [
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Gamez SpanishPatronymic from Gamo, a personal name of unexplained etymology.
Gamgee LiteratureIn J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", the surname of Samwise "Sam" Gamgee, Frodo Baggins' gardener.
Gamiz BasqueThis indicates familial origin within either of 2 eponymous neighborhoods: the one in the municipality of Gasteiz or the one in the municipality of Gamiz-Fika.
Gammelgaard DanishDerived from Danish
gammel meaning "old" and
gård meaning "enclosure, farm".
Gammon EnglishFrom a medieval nickname applied to a merry or sportive person (from Middle English
gamen "game"), or to someone who walked in a strange way or had some peculiarity of the legs (from Anglo-Norman
gambon "ham").
Gamon IrishThis name is a last name for the Irish it means Liam Gamon.
Gamp English (British)This surname is thought to originate from Sarah or Sairey Gamp, Mrs. Gamp as she is more commonly known, in the novel Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens.... [
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Gamzee fictional (?)Gamzee is based on a fictional character by the same name. Its origins may be from a Turkish name Gamze which means dimple or the German word Gämse, a type of goat.
Gan ChineseFrom Chinese 甘
(gān) of uncertain origin, possibly from the name of Shang dynasty minister Gan Pan or from the name of an ancient territory called Gan that existed in what is now Shaanxi province.
Ganaha JapaneseFrom Japanese 我 (
ga) meaning "selfish", 那 (
na) meaning "what" and 覇 (
ha) meaning "supremacy".
Ganas GreekOccupational name for a coppersmith, from
gana "coating", "verdigris". Possibly also a variant of
Ganis.
Gandaloev Ingush (Russified)Russified form of the Ingush clan name Гӏоандалой
(Ghoandaloy), derived from the name of the ancient village of Gandaloy in present-day Ingushetia.
Gándara GalicianIt refers to a type of unproductive wetland, of alluvial origin, rich in gravel and sand.
Gandhi Indian, Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi, PunjabiDerived from Sanskrit गान्धिक
(gandhika) meaning "perfumier, perfume seller". Notable bearers include Indian civil rights leader Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948), also known as Mahatma Gandhi, and Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi (1917-1984).
Gandin FrenchFrom the French
gandin, pronounced /ɡɑ̃dœ̃/, which is a word used for a dandy, an elegant young man with affected, quite often ridiculous, manners.
Ganesan IndianIndian (Kerala, Tamil Nadu): Hindu name from Sanskrit gaṇeṣa ‘lord of the army’ ( see Ganesh ) + the Tamil-Malayalam third-person masculine singular suffix -n. This is found only as a given name in India, but has come to be used as a family name in the U.S.
Gangopadhyay BengaliFrom the name of the Ganges River combined with Sanskrit उपाध्याय
(upadhyaya) meaning "teacher, instructor, priest".
Ganiku OkinawanFrom Okinawan 我如古 (
Ganiku) meaning "Ganeko", an area in Ginowan, Okinawa, Japan.
Ganji IndianDerived from the Sanskrit word “ganja”, which means “cotton”.
Ganjoo Indian, Urdu, PersianGanjoo is a surname from Kashmiri Pandit clan . The original name was
Ganwar, meaning Person in charge of Treasury in Kings court. This name gradually changed to Ganjoo or
Ganju.
Gann GermanTopographic name for someone who lived near an expanse of scree, Middle High German gant.
Gans German, DutchMeaning "goose", perhaps referring to someone who worked with geese, related to
Ganser.
Ganser GermanFrom the Middle High German word
ganser meaning "gander", occupational name for a geese shepherd.
Ganta FrisianProbably a habitational name for someone from Bant, in the 17th century an island in Friesland, now the village north of Emmeloord in the Noordoostpolder.
Ganus Russian, UkrainianPossibly derived from Russian анис
(anis) referring to the anise (
Pimpinella anisum) plant or from the Turkish given name
Gainislam itself from Arabic عَيْن
(ʿayn) meaning "spring, source" combined with the name of the religion
Islam.
Ganzon FilipinoFrom Hokkien 顏
(gân) meaning "face, colour, hue" and 孫
(sun) meaning "grandchild".
Garabedian ArmenianMeans "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.
Garaikoetxea BasqueIt indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the municipality of Hondarribia.
Garand Frenchnickname or status name from the Old French legal term
garant "guarantor". perhaps from a personal name based on the ancient Germanic element
warin "protection shelter" or "guard".
Garate BasqueHabitational name from a town called Garate in Basque Country, or topographic name, possibly from a derivative of Basque gara ‘height’, ‘peak’.
Garau ItalianPossibly from a Sardinian modification of the given name
Gherardo. Alternately, it may be from a Spanish surname derived from Basque
garau "grain, wheat".
Garay HungarianHabitational name for someone from a place called
Gara.
Garczyński Polishhabitational name for someone from a place called Garczyn, in Gdańsk and Siedlce voivodeships.
Garde IndianFound among the Konkanasth Brahmins, probably from Marathi gəṛda ‘belch’.
Garde Frenchfrom Old French
garde "watch", "protection"; an occupational name for someone who kept watch or guard, or a topographic name for someone who lived near a vantage point or watchtower.
Gardea BasqueThis indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the municipality of Laudio.
Garfinkel YiddishJewish (Ashkenazic) ornamental name or nickname from Yiddish
gorfinkl ‘carbuncle’, German
Karfunkel. This term denoted both a red precious or semi-precious stone, especially a garnet or ruby cut into a rounded shape (in which case it is an ornamental name), and a large inflamed growth on the skin like a large boil (in which case it is a descriptive nickname).
Garfunkel Jewish, YiddishFrom גאָרפֿינקל (
gorfinkl), "carbuncle" in Yiddish, which in turns derives from German
Karfunkel. A notable bearer of this surname is Art Garfunkel.... [
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Garibai BasqueThis indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the municipality of Oñati in the Comarca of Debagoiena.
Garlick English(i) "grower or seller of garlic"; (ii) perhaps from a medieval personal name descended from Old English
Gārlāc, literally "spear-play"; (iii) an anglicization of the Belorussian Jewish name
Garelick, literally "distiller"
Garmendia Basque, SpanishGarmendia is the surname of a family of the Basque Country region of Guipuzcoa, in Spain. The surname means "wheat mountain" in Basque from
gar meaning "wheat" and
mendi meaning "mountain"... [
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Garneau FrenchFrom a pet form of the Germanic given name
Warinwald, composed of the elements
war(in) meaning "guard" and
waldan meaning "to govern".
Garnica SpanishThe surname is of local origin, derived from the name of the place where a man once lived or held land. In this instance the surname, Garnica, is derived from the place-name Guernica. Thus, the name Garnica signifies "one who hails from Guernica".
Garrighan Irishto denote 'son of Geargain' a name which originally in derived from 'gearg' which meant grouse but which was often used figuratively for warrior