Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Goodenough EnglishFrom a medieval nickname probably applied either to someone of average abilities or to an easily satisfied person; also, perhaps from a medieval nickname meaning "good servant".
Gooderham DanishIt is derived from a personal name, originally "
Gudormr", which has the rather unusual translation of "battle-snake".
Goodfellow EnglishGenerally explained as a nickname meaning 'good fellow' or 'good companion'.
Goodfriend EnglishNickname for a reliable friend or neighbor, from Middle English
gode meaning "good", and
frend meaning "friend". It is an English translation and cognate of German
Gutfreund, from Middle High German
guot meaning "good" and
vriunt meaning "friend".
Gooding EnglishThe name Gooding comes from the baptismal name for "the son of Godwin"
Goodliffe EnglishDerived from the Middle English feminine given name
Godlieve, composed of the Germanic elements
god meaning "good" or
gud meaning "god", and
liub meaning "dear, beloved".
Goodloe EnglishGoodloe traces back to the English
Gidlow. The first recorded use of the name is from 1291; Robert de Gidlow was a freeholder in Aspull, Lancanshire, United Kingdom and the name occurs frequently down to the 17th century... [
more]
Goodluck EnglishEarly Anglo Saxon name from 6-7th century. Derived from Guolac,meaning battle play.
Goodrich EnglishDerived from the Middle English given name
Goderiche (itself derived from the Anglo-Saxon given name
Godric), composed of Old English
god meaning "good" and
ric meaning "ruler, mighty, god's ruler, power"... [
more]
Goodson EnglishNickname for a dutiful son, from Middle English
gode ‘good’ +
sone ‘son’.
Goodwill EnglishNickname for a friendly or amiable person; from Middle English
god(e),
gud(e) goud(e), meaning "good" and
wil(le), meaning "will, volition".
Goody Medieval EnglishFrom Middle English
god dai ‘good day’, possibly applied as a nickname for someone who frequently used this greeting.... [
more]
Goodyear EnglishProbably a nickname from Middle English expression
gode ‘good’ (Old English gōd) +
year,
yere ‘year’ commonly used as an intensifier in questions e.g. ‘What the good year?’... [
more]
Goos German, Flemish, DutchEither a metonymic occupational name for a breeder or keeper of geese, from Middle Low German
gōs and Middle Dutch
goes "goose", or a short form of an Old German personal name containing
Gote "Goth" or
got "god", particularly
Goswin or
Gozewijn (a compound name with the second element
wini "friend").
Goose English, NormanOccupational name for a goose-herd (a person who tends to geese) or a medieval nickname for a person who resembled a goose in some way. It could also be a English (of Norman French origins) cognate of
Gosse.
Góra PolishA Polish and Jewish name that means; ‘mountain’, ‘hill’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived on a hillside or in a mountainous district, or perhaps a nickname for a large person
Gorbachev RussianFrom Russian горбач
(gorbach) meaning "hunchback, humpback". A notable bearer is Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-), a former Soviet politician.
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."
Gorokhov m RussianProbably derived from гороховый (gorokhoviy), meaning pea.
Gorringe EnglishDerived from the name of the village of Goring-by-the-Sea in Sussex
Gorriti BasqueFrom the name of a town in Navarre, Spain, probably derived from Basque
gorri meaning "red" or "bare, stripped".
Gorsuch EnglishHabitational name from the hamlet of Gorsuch, Lancashire, earlier Gosefordsich, derived from Old English
gosford meaning "goose ford" and
sic meaning "small stream".
Gorter DutchOccupational name for someone who brewed beer or supplied ingredients for doing so, derived from either Dutch
gruit, an herbal mixture used to flavour beer, or from the related word
gort (also
grut) "groat, grit, husked barley, pearl barley".
Goryaynov m RussianDerived from горяй (goryay), the command form of горить (gorit'), which means "to burn".
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.
Goss EnglishDerived from the Old English word
gos meaning "goose."
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".
Gottstein GermanTopographic name from a field name meaning literally "God's rock" derived from the elements
got "god" and
stein "stone"... [
more]
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".
Goud Dutch, AfrikaansMeans "gold" in Dutch, an occupational name for a goldsmith, or possibly a nickname for a person with blonde hair. It could also be a variant form of
Gott.
Gouda DutchDerived from the name of the city of Gouda in the Netherlands.
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.
Gouweleeuw DutchMeans "golden lion", from an inflected form of
goud "gold" and
leeuw "lion". Probably given to someone who worked by or lived near a sign depicting a lion.
Govani IndianThe meaning of the word is made up of two parts i.e. Go and vani ... [
more]
Govorov Russian, UkrainianDenoted a talkative person or a storyteller, from Russian
говор (
góvor) meaning "the sound of talking, murmuring"
Gow ScottishOccupational name from Gaelic
gobha meaning "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".
Graanoogst Dutch, Dutch (Surinamese)Occupational name for a person who harvested grain, derived from Middle Dutch
grâen literally meaning "grain, cereal" and
ôgest meaning "harvest". A famous bearer is the Surinamese soldier and politician Ivan Graanoogst (c... [
more]
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.
Grabinsky UkrainianRussian and Ukrainian cognate of
Grabiński. A known bearer is the Ukrainian chess master Vladimir Grabinsky (1974-).
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).
Grajales SpanishTopographic name from the plural of Spanish grajal ‘place inhabited with rooks’ a derivative of the bird name graja feminine of grajo ‘rook (Corvus frugilegus)’.
Grajçevci Kosovar, Albanian, SerbianOriginally indicated a person from a place named
Greiçec in the town of Suva Reka in Prizren, Kosovo. In Serbian it is called
Grejčevce.
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"... [
more]
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, FrenchTopographic name for someone who lived by a granary, from Middle English, Old French
grange (Latin
granica "granary, barn", from
granum "grain"). In some cases, the surname has arisen from places named with this word, for example in Dorset and West Yorkshire in England, and in Ardèche and Jura in France... [
more]
Granier FrenchFrench for a grain merchant (from Latin
granarius), a topographic name for someone who lived by a granary (from Latin
granarium) or a metonymic role name for someone who monitors or owned one.
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.