Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Goren JewishJewish (Ashkenazic) altered form of
Horn (5), under Russian influence; since Russian has no
h and alters
h in borrowed words to
g. In Israel the name has been reinterpreted by folk etymology as being from Hebrew
goren 'threshing floor', which is in fact etymologically and semantically unrelated.
Gorets RussianDerived from Russian горец
(gorets) meaning "highlander".
Gorga ItalianTopographic name from Sicilian gorga, Catalan gorg(a) ‘place where water collects’, ‘mill pond’, ‘gorge’.
Gorham EnglishA name originating from Kent, England believed to come from the elements
gara and
ham meaning "from a triangular shaped homestead." Compare
Gore.
Görlitz GermanThe name of a small town in Saxony. Derived from old Sorbian word "Zgorelc" meaning "settlement on a burned-out forest."
Gormley Irish (Anglicized)Anglicised form of
Ó Gormghaile meaning "descendant of Gormghal," Gormghal, a personal name, being derived from
gorm meaning "noble, (dark) blue" and
gal meaning "valour, ardour."
Gorringe EnglishDerived from the name of the village of Goring-by-the-Sea in Sussex
Gorriti BasqueThis indicates familial origin within the eponymous Navarrese locality.
Gorsuch EnglishHabitational name from the hamlet of Gorsuch, Lancashire, earlier Gosefordsich, derived from Old English
gosford meaning "goose ford" and
sic meaning "small stream".
Goscinny PolishDerived from Polish adjective
gościnny from word
gość meaning 'guest'.
Gosden EnglishFrom the name of a lost place in the village and civil parish of Slaugham in West Sussex, England, derived from Old English
gos meaning "goose" and
denn meaning "woodland pasture".
Goshawk EnglishProbably referring to a breeder of Eagle-Owls or an eagle-tamer. Shares its name with the Wizarding World author, Miranda Goshawk.
Goswami Indian, Bengali, Hindi, AssameseDerived from Sanskrit गोस्वामिन्
(gosvamin) meaning "religious mendicant" (literally "owner of cows" or "lord of cows"), from गो
(go) meaning "cow" and स्वामिन्
(svamin) meaning "owner, lord, master".
Gotham EnglishEnglish: habitational name from Gotham in Nottinghamshire, so named from Old English
gat ‘goat’ +
ham ‘homestead’ or
hamm ‘water meadow’.
Gotō JapaneseFrom Japanese 後
(go) meaning "behind, back" and 藤
(tō) meaning "wisteria".
Götz GermanOriginally a hypocorism of
Gottfried, which is derived from an Old High German given name. Variants include the surnames
Getz and
Goetz, as well as the given name
Götz.
Gou ChineseFrom Chinese 苟
(gǒu) meaning "careless, casual, indifferent".
Goudier GermanGermanic patronym from "godhari" meaning "army of God".
Goulet French (Quebec), FrenchOf uncertain origin and meaning. Theories include a derivation from Old French
goule "mouth" (combined with a diminutive suffix), in which case this name would have been a nickname for a glutton.
Goulter English (Rare)This very unusual name has long been recorded in England but perhaps surprisingly as a Norman personal name. The first recording in England was as "Galterii" which appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 for London as a French form of the Olde German "Walter" translating as "Mighty Army".
Goupil Frenchnickname for someone with red hair or for a cunning person from Old French
goupil "fox" Late Latin
vulpiculus a diminutive of classical Latin
vulpes a distant cognate of
Wolf . This was replaced as a vocabulary word during the Middle Ages by Renard originally a personal name.
Gourkuñv BretonBreton combination of
gour and
kuñv meaning "a charming, affable, gentle or conciliatory man". The digraph
-ff was introduced by Middle Ages' authors to indicate a nasalized vowel.
Gourmaud FrenchA famous bearer is a journalist well known from the educational TV,
Jamy Gourmaud
Gousset FrenchIt is derived from the Old French word
gousset, which means "purse" or "wallet". It is likely that this surname was originally given to someone who was a purse maker or a merchant who dealt in small items.
Govani IndianThe meaning of the word is made up of two parts i.e. Go and vani ... [
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Gow ScottishOccupational name from Gaelic
gobha "smith".
Gowan IrishReduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Gobhann ‘descendant of the smith’.
Goya Japanese (Rare)This is variously written, but is usually written with the characters meaning "Barbarian Room" or "Give Room".
Gozar FilipinoA filipino surname from the Spanish word "gozar," meaning "to enjoy."
Gozon FilipinoFrom Min Nan 五孫
(gō͘-sun) or 五孙
(gō͘-sun) meaning "fifth grandchild".
Grabarek PolishOccupational name from a diminutive of Polish
grabarz meaning "gravedigger".
Grąbczewski PolishIt indicates familial origin within the Masovian village of Grąbczewo.
Grabe GermanTopographic name for someone who lived by a dike or ditch, or habitational name from either of two places in Thuringia named with this word: Grabe and Graba.
Grable GermanMeans "digger of ditches or graves" (from a derivative of Middle High German
graben "ditch"). A famous bearer was US actress, dancer and singer Betty Grable (1916-1973).
Graceffa ItalianMeaning uncertain, possibly from a southern Italian place name in the comune of Aragona in the province of Agrigento, Sicily, Italy.
Graden ScottishHabitational name from the lands of Graden in Berwickshire.
Gradowski PolishHabitational name for someone from a place called Gradowo in Włocławek voivodeship.
Graf Jewish, YiddishOrnamental name selected, like
Herzog and other words denoting titles, because of their aristocratic connotations.
Graff EnglishMetonymic occupational name for a clerk or scribe, from Anglo-Norman French
grafe "quill, pen" (a derivative of
grafer "to write", Late Latin
grafare, from Greek
graphein).
Grämlich GermanNickname for an irascible person, derived from Middle High German
gramelich,
gremlich meaning "angry".
Grammer German, EnglishVariant of
Krämer or a habitational name for someone possibly from German places called
Gram or
Grammen. It can also be an English occupational name for a scholar or an astrologer, derived from Old French
gramaire meaning "grammarian, scholar, astrologer"... [
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Granado SpanishNickname from Spanish
granado "mature", "experienced", "distinguished".
Granado SpanishOccupational name for a grower or seller of pomegranates, or a topographic name for someone who lived near a pomegranate tree, from
granado "pomegranate tree" (cf.
GARNETT).
Granados SpanishOccupational name for a grower or seller of pomegranates, or a topographic name for someone who lived near a pomegranate tree, from
granado "pomegranate tree" (cf.
GARNETT).
Granata ItalianGranata is an Italian word for a shade of red (maroon), and the Latin name of the city of Granada.
Granato ItalianOccupational name for a jeweler or lapidary, from
granato "garnet".
Grand French, RomanshDerived from Old French
grand, grant and Romansh
grand "tall; large".
Grange English, FrenchEnglish and French topographic name for someone who lived by a granary, from Middle English, Old French
grange (Latin
granica ‘granary’, ‘barn’, from
granum ‘grain’)... [
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Grano Italian, Spanishfrom
grano "grain" (from Latin
granum) probably applied as a metonymic occupational name for a farmer or grain merchant.
Grañón SpanishThis indicates familial origin within the eponymous Riojan municipality.
Grant English, ScottishFrom a medieval personal name, probably a survival into Middle English of the Old English byname
Granta (see
Grantham).
Grantaire LiteratureThis is the name of a minor character in Victor Hugo's novel 'Les Misérables' (1862), a follower of the revolutionary
Enjolras.
Grantham EnglishHabitational name from Grantham in Lincolnshire, of uncertain origin. The final element is Old English
hām "homestead"; the first may be Old English
grand "gravel" or perhaps a personal name
Granta, which probably originated as a byname meaning "snarler"... [
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Grape Low GermanMetonymic occupational name for a maker of metal or earthenware vessels, from Middle Low German
grope "pot".
Grass English, GermanTopographic name for someone who owned or lived by a meadow, or a metonymic occupational name for someone who made or sold hay, from Middle English
gras, Middle High German
gras "grass, pasture, grazing".
Grass ScottishOccupational name, reduced from Gaelic
greusaiche "shoemaker". A certain John Grasse alias
Cordonar (Middle English
cordewaner "shoemaker") is recorded in Scotland in 1539.
Grässli RomanshDerived from Romansh
grass "fat" in combination with the diminutive suffix
-li.
Grato EnglishFrom a nickname given to somebody with grass-like hair, making this surname’s meaning “he with grass-like hair.”
Grattà Late Greek (Italianized, Modern, Archaic, Expatriate)Historical origins of Grattà are found in The Southern Region of Italy in The Province of Catanzaro, Calabria; predominately in the Comune of Girafalco and Palermiti. There is also at least one Coat of Arms that place the name being used in the The Commune of Lucca, Region of Tuscany in Central Italy.
Gratz GermanFrom a short form of a Germanic personal name reflected by Old High German gratag 'greedy'
Grau German, JewishNickname for someone with gray hair or a gray beard, from German
grau "gray".
Graue GermanHabitational name from a place so named near Hannover.
Graupman GermanOccupational name for someone who produced or dealt with grits and legumes, from early modern German
graupe "pot barley" (bohemian krupa) and
man "man".
Grave EnglishOccupational name from Middle English greyve "steward", from Old Norse greifi or Low German greve
Grave FrenchTopographic name for someone who lived on a patch of gravelly soil, from Old French
grave "gravel" (of Celtic origin).
Grave GermanEither from the northern form of
Graf, but more commonly a topographic name from Middle Low German
grave "ditch", "moat", "channel", or a habitational name from any of several places in northern Germany named with this word.
Grawert Low German, German (East Prussian)As a Low German name, Grawert is derived from Middle High German
grā and Old High German
grāo "gray" (originally "shimmery, gleaming"). As a surname, it was a nickname given to someone with gray hair.... [
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Grayling English (British)Uncommon surname of unclear origin; possible medieval locational name, or a derivative of the French surname Grail or the diminutive Graillon.... [
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Grealish EnglishThe name derives from the Old Norman French word "greslet", meaning pitted or scarred, and is itself derived from the very early Germanic word "gresle", or hailstone.
Greasby EnglishOne who came from Greasby, a parish on the Wirral Peninsula, in Cheshire, now Merseyside.
Greaves Popular CultureBorne by Lucien Greaves, a social activist and the spokesman and co-founder of The Satanic Temple.
Greay English (Rare)The name Greay originated when a family matriarch changed the name to differentiate between the two families with the same name
Grey. There was a wedding between the two families and it was easier if the name was changed.
Grebenstein GermanMeans "stone from the cliff or ridge" from German
greben, (cliff or ridge) and
stein (stone).... [
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Greeley English, NormanEnglish (of Norman origin): nickname for someone with a pock-marked face, from Old Northern French
greslé ‘pitted’, ‘scarred’ (from
gresle ‘hailstone’, of Germanic origin).
Greenberger German, JewishAnglicized form of the German surname
Grünberger, which is formed from the words
grün "green",
Berg "mountain", and the habitational suffix -er. This name indicated a person who lived on or near a forest-covered mountain.
Greenblatt JewishAshkenazi Jewish Surname incorporating Yiddish/German elements meaning “Greenleaf.” Writer and storyboard artist C. H. Greenblatt (born 1972) most known for SpongeBob SquarePants is a famous bearer of this name.
Greenburgh German, JewishThe surname Greenburgh is anglicized for the German Jewish surname Greenberg which translates into English as green mountain.
Greenfeld EnglishPartly Americanized form of the Ashkenazic Jewish ornamental name Grun(e)feld or Grinfeld, a compound of Yiddish grin + German Feld 'field', or of German Grünfeld (see Grunfeld).
Greengrass EnglishNotable bearers include film director Paul Greengrass and baseball player Jim Greengrass.
Greenhill EnglishThe name is derived from a geographic locality, "at the green hill", or rather, more specifically of "Greenhill". The surname could also derive from the liberty on the wapentake of Corringham in Lincolnshire, or a hamlet in the parish of Harrow in Middlesex... [
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Greenidge EnglishFrom Greenhedge Farm in Aslockton, Nottinghamshire, itself derived from Old English
grene “green” +
hecg “hedge”.
Greenland English (Germanized)Greenland Name Meaning. English: topographic name for someone who lived near a patch of land left open as communal pasturage, from Middle English grene 'green' + land 'land'. Translated form of German Grönland, a topographic name with the same meaning as 1, from Low German grön 'green' + Land 'land'.
Greenlaw EnglishFrom one of two placenames, located near the Anglo-Scottish border. Named with Old English
grēne, 'green' and
halw, 'hill, mound'.
Greenleaf EnglishFrom Old English
grēne "green" and
lēaf "leaf", presumably applied as a nickname, the significance of which is now lost.
Greenlee Englishhabitational name from any of various minor places, for example in Staffordshire, so named from Old English grene ‘green’ + leah ‘woodland clearing’.
Greenway EnglishOriginally given to a person who lived near a grassy path, from Middle English
grene "green" and
weye "road, path" (cf.
Way).... [
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Greif GermanMeans "Griffin" in German. From the mythological creature.
Greiner Upper German, German (Swiss)Nickname for a quarrelsome or cantankerous person, derived from Middle High German
grīner meaning "squabbler, quarreler" (ultimately an agent derivative of
grīn meaning "loud, cry, screaming, shouting")... [
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Grell GermanNickname for an irritable or irascible person, from Middle High German, Middle Low German
grellen "to be angry".
Grell GermanHabitational name from a place named Grelle.
Grenier FrenchOccupational name for a grain merchant (from Latin granarius), or a topographic name for someone who lived by a granary (from Latin granarium) or a metonymic occupational name for someone who supervised or owned one.