JanmaatDutch Possibly from janmaat, a slang term for a sailor or the collective nautical community, derived from a combination of the common given name Jan 1 and maat "shipmate, sailor; mate, buddy".
JanneyEnglish Derived from a diminutive of the Medieval English given name Jan 3. A famous bearer is American actress Allison Janney (1959-).
JaouiJudeo-Spanish Derived from Arabic لبان جاوي (luban jawiyy) referring to a type of balsamic resin used in perfumes and incense (literally meaning "Javanese frankincense").
JaraSpanish Habitational name any of the various places in southern Spain named Jara or La Jara, from jara meaning "rockrose", "cistus".
JaramilloSpanish, South American Spanish habitational name from either of two places in the Burgos province: Jaramillo de la Fuente or Jaramillo Quemada.
JardelFrench Of debated origin and meaning; theories include a derivation from Old French jardel, a diminutive of jard (jardin in Modern French), meaning "garden".
JardimPortuguese Means "garden" in Portuguese, either a topographic name or a habitational name for someone from any of various places called Jardim.
JastremskimPolish Derives from the Polish word jastrząb meaning "goshawk". It's a habitational name, meaning it originally indicated someone from a place called Jastrzębie or Jastrząbki, both of which are named after the goshawk.
JaukGerman (Austrian) The meaning of the name Jauk is similar to the word "acre" in English. It is a measure word for how much land an ox can plough in one day. People with the surname Jauk are likely to have descended from farmers... [more]
JaunzemeLatvian Feminine form of Jaunzems, a Latvian occupational surname meaning "new farmer", composed of jauns meaning "new" and zeme meaning "land" (compare zemlja).
JavertLiterature The name of the policeman in Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables." His name was taken from the word Javert, which means "to pursue relentlessly."... [more]
JaynesEnglish (British) The Jaynes surname is a patronymic name created from the personal name Jan, which was a Middle English variant of the name John, or as "son of Jan.
JazayeriPersian Derived from Persian جزایر (jazâyir) meaning "islands", of Arabic origin.
JazleneMexican the name Jazlene is of Puerto Rican origin and means "gift from god".
JeanpetitFrench Means "little Jean" from Old French petit "small" and the given name Jean 1, originally a nickname for a small man called Jean (or applied ironically to a large man), or a distinguishing epithet for the younger of two men named Jean.... [more]
JeffreyEnglish From a Norman personal name that appears in Middle English as Geffrey and in Old French as Je(u)froi. Some authorities regard this as no more than a palatalized form of Godfrey, but early forms such as Galfridus and Gaufridus point to a first element from Germanic gala "to sing" or gawi "region, territory"... [more]
JegličSlovene "The Slovenian word for the Carniolan primrose." This name would likely have been given to people who inhabited the meadows of northwestern Slovenia where this flower is endemic.
JehleHebrew Jehle-Romanov surname was given name of monarchical leaders over the areas of eastern Eurasia known as Russia and all Russia's yet upon revolution family erroneously reported all dead. Most family of Alexander died while remaining in Russia, while those whom escaped circa 1880 survived... [more]
JelušićCroatian The first ever appearance recorded to this date was even before the Turkish men (Ottoman) broke into the Kingdom of Croatia (around 13. century).... [more]
JendoubiArabic (Maghrebi) From Jendouba, the name of a large city in northwestern Tunisia. The name itself is derived from Berber (Tamazight) jen meaning "market" and douba meaning "wheat".
JenksEnglish, Welsh English (also found in Wales) patronymic from the Middle English personal name Jenk, a back-formation from Jenkin with the removal of the supposed Anglo-Norman French diminutive suffix -in.
JeschkeGerman Germanized form of Czech and Slovakian Ješko and Polish Jeszka, pet forms of given names beginning with Ja- or Je- such as Jan 1 or Jarosław, as well as various cognates or similar-sounding names, such as Ježek ("hedgehog").
JesselEnglish From a pet-form of Jessop (a medieval male personal name - a different form of Joseph). A literary bearer is Miss Jessel, the governess who has charge of the two troubled and enigmatic children in Henry James's ghost story 'The Turn of the Screw' (1898).
JessieEnglish Possibly a variant of Jessey, an occupational name for someone making jesses (a short strap fastened around the leg of a bird used in falconry).
JeterFrench (Huguenot), German Jeter is a French and German surname. It is the last name of former New York Yankees baseball player, Derek Jeter. It's also the last name of Carmelita Jeter, an American sprinter who specializes in the 100 meter sprint.
JiChinese From Chinese 纪 (jì) referring to the ancient state of Ji, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Shandong province.
JianChinese From Chinese 簡 (jiǎn) meaning "simple, uncomplicated", taken from the given name of several individuals.
JiangChinese From Chinese 蒋 (jiǎng) referring to the ancient state of Jiang, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Henan province.
JiaoChinese From Chinese 焦 (jiāo) referring to the ancient state of Jiao, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now the provinces of Shaanxi and Henan.
JibikiJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 字 (ji) meaning "letter; character" and 引 (biki), the joining form of 引 (hiki), from 引き (hiki) meaning "pull", referring to a dictionary.
JinJapanese From Japanese 神 (jin) meaning "deity; god". This may have been used by shrine masters, people who came from shrines, or people who were granted by the emperor of Japan.
JingūjiJapanese formed with 神 (Shin, Jin, Kami, Kan, Kou) meaning "God" and 宮 (Kyuu, Guu, Ku, Kuu, Miya) meaning "Palace". and 司 (Shi, Ji) meaning "Director". Which means the surname could possible come out as “God’s Palace of the Director”
JirōmanJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 次郎 (jirō) meaning "2nd son" and 万 (man), a character clipping of 万屋 (yorozuya) meaning "general store", referring to a general store that was run by a 2nd son.... [more]
JlassiArabic (Maghrebi), Berber From the name of an Tamazight (Berber) tribal confederation in Tunisia; the name could be from Arabic إِخْلَاص (ʾiḵlāṣ) meaning "sincerity, devotion, loyalty" or of unknown Berber meaning.
JobEnglish, French, German, Hungarian English, French, German, and Hungarian from the personal name Iyov or Job, borne by a Biblical character, the central figure in the Book of Job, who was tormented by God and yet refused to forswear Him... [more]
JocelynEnglish Another of the names brought to England in the eleventh century by the Normans, and mentioned in the Domesday Book. Originally a masculine name only.
JodłowiecPolish From a word that used to mean "juniper" in Polish (a dialectal variant of the word jałowiec), or a habitational name for someone from a place named Jodłowa or Jodłówka.
JollyEnglish From the English word jolly, which is ultimately from Old French joli# ("merry, happy"). Originally a nickname for someone of a cheerful or attractive disposition.
JolynFlemish Possibly a pet form or patronymic of the given name Joli.
JongbloedDutch Nickname for a young person, derived from Middle Dutch jonc meaning "young" and bloet meaning "blood". A famous bearer of this surname was the Dutch soccer goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed (1940-2023).
JooKorean Alternate transcription of Korean Hangul 주 (see Ju).
JoofSerer The surname Joof (English spelling in Gambia) whit its derivatives Juuf / Juf (Seereer proper) or Diouf (French spelling in Senegal and Mauritania) is a Senegambian surname found amongst the Seereer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania... [more]
JõõgerEstonian Jõõger is an Estonian surname, possibly a corruption of "jääger" meaning "hunter" and "trapper".
JoonasEstonian Joonas is an Estonian surname (and masculine given name); a variant of the name "Jonas".
JoplinEnglish Possibly derived from a Middle English diminutive of Geoffrey, a nickname from Middle English joppe "fool", or from the Biblical name Job... [more]
JourdemayneMedieval English Likely from Old French jor de main meaning "day labourer". This was borne by Margery Jourdemayne, an English woman known as the "Witch of Eye" who was burned at the stake in 1441 for conspiring to kill the king with witchcraft... [more]
JowettEnglish From the medieval male personal name Jowet or the female personal name Jowette, both literally "little Jowe", a pet-form of Julian... [more]
JoyEnglish Either derived directly from the word, indicating a nickname for a joyous person, or a variant of Joyce.
JoysonEnglish Metronymic of the name Joy from the female given name Joia, deriving from the Middle English, Old French "joie, joye" meaning "joy". It may also be a nickname for a person of a cheerful disposition.
JuKorean Korean form of Zhu, from Sino-Korean 朱 (ju).
JuanChinese Alternate transcription of Chinese 阮 (see Ruan).
JuandaChinese (Indonesian) Indonesianized form of Chinese surnames such as Zhou (周) or Zhuang (莊). Surnames like these were instituted during the New Order era (1966–1998) in Indonesia due to social and political pressure toward Chinese Indonesians.