This is a list of submitted surnames in which the description contains the keywords bringer or of or light.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
GoodliffeEnglish Derived 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".
GoodloeEnglish Goodloe 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]
GoodrichEnglish Derived 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]
GoodrichEnglish Derived from the given name Godric or a habitational name from a village called Goodrich in Herefordshire, of the same origin.
GoodyMedieval English From Middle English god dai ‘good day’, possibly applied as a nickname for someone who frequently used this greeting.... [more]
GoodyearEnglish Probably 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]
GoosGerman, Flemish, Dutch Either 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").
GooseEnglish, Norman Occupational 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.
GorenJewish Jewish (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.
GorsuchEnglish Habitational name from the hamlet of Gorsuch, Lancashire, earlier Gosefordsich, derived from Old English gosford meaning "goose ford" and sic meaning "small stream".
GoryaynovmRussian Derived from горяй (goryay), the command form of горить (gorit'), which means "to burn".
GosdenEnglish From 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".
GoswamiIndian, Bengali, Hindi, Assamese Derived 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".
GottsteinGerman Topographic name from a field name meaning literally "God's rock" derived from the elements got "god" and stein "stone"... [more]
GötzGerman Originally 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.
GoudDutch, Afrikaans Means "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.
GoudaDutch Derived from the name of the city of Gouda in the Netherlands.
GoudeauGermanic (Rare, Archaic), French Possible variant of the surname Goethe. It also possibly derives from the diminutive Old French of "gode", meaning "happy-go-lucky, debauched".
GoudierGerman Germanic patronym from "godhari" meaning "army of God".
GouldingEnglish From the late Old English personal name Golding, which was derived from Golda (or the feminine form Golde) and the patronymic suffix -ing.... [more]
GouletFrench (Quebec), French Of 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.
GoulterEnglish (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".
GoupilFrench nickname 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.
GourkuñvBreton Breton 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.
GouweleeuwDutch Means "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.
GovaniIndian The meaning of the word is made up of two parts i.e. Go and vani ... [more]
GraafDutch Means "count, earl", a Dutch cognate of Graf.
GraanoogstDutch, 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]
GrabarekPolish Occupational name from a diminutive of Polish grabarz meaning "gravedigger".
GrąbczewskiPolish It indicates familial origin within the Masovian village of Grąbczewo.
GrabeGerman Topographic 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.
GrabińskiPolish Habitational name for someone from a settlement named Grabienice, Grabin, Grabina, Grabiny, etc.; ultimately from grab meaning "hornbeam" or, in the case of Grabienice, possibly from gręba meaning "hill".
GrabinskymRussian Russian form of Grabiński. A known bearer is the Ukrainian chess master Vladimir Grabinsky (1974-).
GrableGerman Means "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).
GrafJewish, Yiddish Ornamental name selected, like Herzog and other words denoting titles, because of their aristocratic connotations.
GraffEnglish Metonymic 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).
GrajalesSpanish Topographic name from the plural of Spanish grajal ‘place inhabited with rooks’ a derivative of the bird name graja feminine of grajo ‘rook (Corvus frugilegus)’.
GrajçevciKosovar, Albanian, Serbian Originally indicated a person from a place named Greiçec in the town of Suva Reka in Prizren, Kosovo. In Serbian it is called Grejčevce.
GrammerGerman, English Variant 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]
GranadoSpanish Occupational 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).
GranadosSpanish Occupational 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).
GranataItalian Granata is an Italian word for a shade of red (maroon), and the Latin name of the city of Granada.
GranatoItalian Means "having grains" in Italian, and "pomegranate (fruit, tree)" in archaic Italian, giving rise to the later meanings of "garnet (gemstone)" and "crimson"; ultimately derived from Latin granatus "having many grains"... [more]
GrangeEnglish, French From Old French grange "granary, barn", denoting someone who lived or worked in a granary, or who came from any of several places in France called Grange... [more]
GranlundSwedish Combination of Swedish gran "spruce" and lund "grove".
GranqvistSwedish Combination of Swedish gran "spruce" and kvist "twig, branch".
GrantEnglish, Scottish From a medieval personal name, probably a survival into Middle English of the Old English byname Granta (see Grantham).
GrantaireLiterature This is the name of a minor character in Victor Hugo's novel 'Les Misérables' (1862), a follower of the revolutionary Enjolras.
GranthamEnglish Habitational 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"... [more]
GrapeLow German Metonymic occupational name for a maker of metal or earthenware vessels, from Middle Low German grope "pot".
GrattàLate 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.
GratzGerman From a short form of a Germanic personal name reflected by Old High German gratag 'greedy'
GraveFrench Topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of gravelly soil, from Old French grave "gravel" (of Celtic origin).
GraveGerman Either 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.
GraylingEnglish (British) Uncommon surname of unclear origin; possible medieval locational name, or a derivative of the French surname Grail or the diminutive Graillon.... [more]
GreeleyEnglish, Norman English (of Norman origin): nickname for someone with a pock-marked face, from Old Northern French greslé ‘pitted’, ‘scarred’ (from gresle ‘hailstone’, of Germanic origin).
GreenbergerGerman, Jewish Anglicized 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.
GreenblattJewish Ashkenazi 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.
GreenfeldEnglish Partly 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).
GreenhillEnglish The 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... [more]
GreenlandEnglish (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'.
GreenlawEnglish From one of two placenames, located near the Anglo-Scottish border. Named with Old English grēne, 'green' and halw, 'hill, mound'.
GreenleafEnglish From Old English grēne "green" and lēaf "leaf", presumably applied as a nickname, the significance of which is now lost.
GreenleeEnglish habitational name from any of various minor places, for example in Staffordshire, so named from Old English grene ‘green’ + leah ‘woodland clearing’.
GreenwayEnglish Originally given to a person who lived near a grassy path, from Middle English grene "green" and weye "road, path" (cf. Way).... [more]
GreinerUpper 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")... [more]
GresleyEnglish From the name of either of two villages in Derbyshire, derived from Old English greosn "gravel" and leah "woodland clearing, glade".
GretzingerGerman Habitational name for someone from any of three places named Grötzingen (Old High German Grezzingun) in Baden-Württemberg.
GrewalPunjabi, Indian (Sikh) Referred to a person belonging to a Jat clan that descended from the Gaharwar subcaste of the larger Rajput caste. The subcaste originated from the prominent Gahadavala dynasty that ruled northern parts of the present-day states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in India.
GribbenIrish This surname is of Old Gaelic origin, and is a variant of "Cribben", which itself is the Anglicized form of the Gaelic name "MacRoibin", meaning "son of (mac) Robin", a patronymic from the Anglo-Norman French given name "Robin"... [more]
GriesUpper German Topographic name for someone who lived in a sandy place from Middle High German griez meaning “sand pebble” or a shortened form of German Griese.
GriesslerGerman Topographic name for someone who lived or farmed in an area of sand.
GriezmannGerman (Rare) This is the surname of French professional footballer Antoine Griezmann.
GriffinIrish (Anglicized) Anglicized (part translated) form of Gaelic Ó Gríobhtha "descendant of Gríobhtha", a personal name from gríobh "gryphon".
GriffioenDutch Dutch cognate of Griffin 2. Could be a habitational name referring to a sign depicting a griffin, or derived from a coat of arms.
GriffoItalian From grifo "gryphon" (Latin gryphus, Greek gryps, of Assyrian origin), hence a nickname for someone thought to resemble the mythical beast.
GriffonFrench From a diminutive of Old French griffe "claw", hence a nickname for a grasping or vicious person, or perhaps for someone with a deformed or otherwise remarkable hand.
GrigahcineBerber (Rare, ?) Meaning unknown, perhaps of Kabyle origin. A known bearer is DJ Snake, who was born William Grigahcine (1986-), an Algerian-French musician.
GrignonFrench From French 'grignard' meaning "angry" and "contemptuous", and Old French (of Germanic origin) 'grignier' "to grit the teeth" or "curl the lips".
GrijalvaSpanish, Central American Spanish: habitational name from any of various places called Grijalba in particular the one in Burgos province. The placename is from iglesia 'church' + Old Spanish alva 'white'.
GrillGerman From a nickname for a cheerful person, from Middle High German grille "cricket" (Old High German grillo, from Late Latin grillus, Greek gryllos). The insect is widely supposed to be of a cheerful disposition, no doubt because of its habit of infesting hearths and warm places... [more]
GrimkéGerman (Americanized) Americanised form of the German surname Grimk or Grimke with French inspiration. This was the name of a prominent American family of abolitionists.
GrimshawEnglish A habitational surname originating from the hamlet of Grimshaw in Lancashire, derived from Old English elements grīma "mask" and sċeaga "copse". Famous bearers of this surname include , English Victorian-era artist John Atkinson Grimshaw and Irish writer Beatrice Grimshaw, as well as the Grimshaw family in Coronation Street.
GrindstaffGerman (Anglicized) Americanized form of German Frenzhof or Grenzhof, a place near Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg or Granzow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany.
GrinerGerman (Anglicized), Jewish Americanised form of German Greiner. It could also denote a person who came from various German places called Grüna or Grünau. In Jewish, it is a topographic name for someone who lived in a green of leafy area, derived from Yiddish grin meaning "green" or Middle High German gruene meaning "greenery".
GrischottRomansh Variant of Grisch by way of combining it with the diminutive suffix -ott.
GriscomWelsh from phrase gris-y-cwm, welsh for 'steps of the valley'. Root word 'grisiau' meaning steps or stairs. A place name from an extant village in Wales.
GriselFrench, French (Swiss) Derived from the Old French adjective grisel, a variant of gris meaning "grey". It was a nickname for a person with grey hair a grey complexion or who habitually wore grey.
GrissomEnglish From a diminutive of Grice, which was originally a nickname for a grey-haired man, derived from Middle English grice, gris meaning "grey" (itself from Old French gris, apparently of Germanic origin).
GrodskyPolish, Jewish Altered spelling of Polish Grodzki, a habitational name from Grodziec or Grodzie, places named with gród ‘castle’, ‘fortification’ (cognate with Russian grad)... [more]
GroenewegDutch Dutch cognate of Greenway. habitational name from any of various minor places called Groeneweg a compound of groen "green" and weg "road path" for instance from the hamlets Groeneweg near Hoog Blokland in the province of South Holland and near Westbroek in the province of Utrecht.
GrońskiPolish Habitational name for someone from Grońsko in Greater Poland Voivodeship (named with the nickname Gron, Grono, from grono "bunch of grapes") or from Groń, the name of several places in southern, mountainous part of Lesser Poland (named with the regional word groń "ridge").
GrosvenorEnglish English surname of Norman origin meaning ‘the master huntsman’. Derived from Le Grand Veneur, this title was held by Hugh d'Avranches who accompanied William the Conqueror in the Norman invasion of England in 1066.
GrotiusDutch (Latinized) Latinized form of De Groot. This name was used by the Dutch humanist, theologian and jurist Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), born as either Huig de Groot or Hugo de Groot... [more]
GroveGerman Habitational name from any of several places named Grove or Groven in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, derived from Middle Low Germany grove "hole, pit, ditch, channel"... [more]
GrullonDominican, Mexican, French Possibly from a derivative of Spanish grulla "crane (bird)" presumably applied as a nickname for tall thin person; in Mexico however grulla denotes a crafty person
GrumbachGerman (Swiss), Alsatian From the name of various places in Switzerland and Germany, for example the municipality of Grumbach in Rhineland-Palatinate.
GrumpyEnglish, English (American) Grumpy was english name possibly origin of Germanic languages and other spoken languages or other European languages
GrünGerman, Jewish from Middle High German gruoni "green fresh raw" hence a nickname for someone who habitually dressed in green a topographic name for someone who lived in a green and leafy place or a habitational name for someone from a place called with this word such as GrunaGrunau in Silesia... [more]
GrünbaumGerman, Jewish from Middle High German gruoni "green" and boum "tree" probably a topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by the sign of a tree in leaf... [more]
GrundinSwedish Combination of Swedish grund "shallow (water)" and the surname suffix -in.
GrundyEnglish Probably a Middle English metathesized form of the Old French personal name Gondri, Gundric (see Gundry).
GrünfeldGerman, Jewish Habitational name from any of several places in northern and central Germany named Grünfeld named with elements meaning "green open country" derived from the elements gruoni "green" and feld "field"... [more]
GrunwaldGerman, German (Swiss), Jewish German and Swiss German (Grünwald): habitational name from any of various places named Grün(e)wald, from Middle High German gruene ‘green’ + walt ‘wood’, ‘forest’. ... [more]
GryllsEnglish (Rare) There was an old and distinguished family of Grylls of Tavistock (Devon) and Lanreath (Cornwall) in the 17th century; two high sheriffs of the county then bore the name. The manor of Gryils (commonly mispronounced Garles), near the rocks called the Gryils or Garles, from which they probably derive their name, is in the parish of Lesneweth in that county.
GuChinese From Chinese 顾 (gù) referring to the ancient state of Gu, which existed during the Xia dynasty in what is now Henan province.
GuChinese From Chinese 谷 (gǔ) referring to the ancient fief of Qin Gu, which existed in what is now the province of either Gansu or Shaanxi. Alternately it may come from the name of the fief of Jia Gu, which was part of the state of Qi during the Zhou dynasty.
GuChinese From Chinese 古 (gǔ) possibly derived from Kucheng (古成 or 苦城), the name of an ancient fief that may have existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Henan province... [more]
GuajardoSpanish Spanish: unexplained. Perhaps a habitational name from a place so named in Estremadura. This name is common in Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. ... [more]
GuanChinese From Chinese 管 (guǎn) meaning "administer, manage, control", also referring to the ancient state of Guan that existed in what is now Henan province.
GuancheSpanish (Canarian), Berber, Guanche Derived from the name of the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands before the Spanish conquest. The Guanche people were a Berber-speaking people who arrived in the Canary Islands in the 5th century AD... [more]