KaralIndian, Bengali This Surname was given in honour by the Britishers to Nikhil Chandra Banerjee to recognize his efforts in constructing The Karali Kali temple in Dhaka,now the capital of Bangladesh. It was a very expensive construction and still attracts tourists every year... [more]
KaramanlifGreek Feminine form of Karamanlis. Anna Karamanli (1968-) is a Greek politician, sports journalist, and former athlete.
KaramanlismGreek Originally indicated a person who came from Karaman, a city located in south-central Turkey, itself is derived from Karaman Bey, a Turkoman chieftain who ruled the Karamanids in the 13th century... [more]
KarasuJapanese (Rare) This surname is used as 烏 (u, o, izukunzo, karazu, nanzo) meaning "crow, raven" or 鴉, which is an outdated variant of 烏.... [more]
KarbowskiPolish Habitational name for someone from Karbowo in Torun voivodeship, a place so named from Polish karbowy "overseer (of farm laborers)", from karbowac "to make notches", i.e. to keep records.
KarchJewish 1 Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized spelling of Karcz .... [more]
KardashianArmenian Alternate transcription of Kardashyan. This is the name of an Armenian-American family of socialites.
KareninaLiterature In Leo Tolstoy's novel 'Anna Karenina' (1877), this is the title character's surname, the feminine form of her husband's surname, Karenin.
KariFinnish, German (Austrian), Slovene (?), Hungarian, Indian, Marathi As a Finnish name, it is a topographic and ornamental name from kari "small island", "stony rapids", "sandbar", or "rocky place in a field". This name is found throughout Finland.... [more]
KariatsumariJapanese (Rare) Combination of 狩り (kari) meaning "hunt(ing)" and 集まり (atsumari) meaning "gathering, meeting, assembly," mainly concentrated in Kagoshima prefecture in southern Japan.... [more]
KarinEstonian Possibly derived from Estonian kari "reef, outcrop of stone in water".
KarineemeEstonian Karineeme is an Estonian surname meaning "reef cape". It is also the name of several locations in Estonia.
KarjalaFinnish Finnish from karja ‘cattle’ + the local suffix -la, or possibly from a word of Germanic origin, harja- ‘host’, ‘crowd’, Old Swedish haer. Historic records suggest that the Germanic inhabitants of the area around Lake Ladoga (in present-day Russia) used this term to refer to the Finns who once lived there.
KarkavandianArmenian, Iranian Those belonging to the Karkevand/Garkevand district of Iran who are most likely of Armenian origin. Typical modern Armenian last names end with the originally patronymic suffix -յան or -եան, transliterated as -yan, -ian, or less often '-jan'... [more]
KarkiNepali Occupational name for a tax collector from Nepali कर (kar) meaning "tax" (ultimately of Sanskrit origin).
KärkinenFinnish Combination of Finnish kärki "peak, point, tip" and the common surname suffix -inen.
KarlgrenSwedish Combination of the given name Karl and Swedish gren "branch".
KärlinGerman German surname from the personal name Karl. Also an altered spelling of German Gerling.
KarlinJewish Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic) habitational name for someone from Karlin, a suburb of Pinsk in Belarus, in which the Jews formed the majority of the population until the Holocaust. A well-known Hasidic sect originated in Karlin and at one time it attracted so many followers that a (now obsolete) Russian word for ‘Hasid’ was Karliner (of Yiddish origin)... [more]
KarmazinasLithuanian Perhaps a habitational name taken from the Lithuanian village Karmazinai. The name of the village is allegedly derived from Polish karmazyn "crimson". See also Karmazsin, a Hungarian occupational name for a dyer or for someone making dyestuff (taken directly from Hungarian karmazsin "crimson").
KarpPolish From Middle High German karp(f)e Middle Low German karpe or Slavic (Russian and Polish) and Yiddish karp ‘carp’ hence a metonymic occupational name for a carp fisherman or seller of these fish or a nickname for someone thought to resemble the fish.... [more]
KarpińskimPolish Derived from karp, the Polish spelling of "carp." Historically, the Karpiński family was part of the royal Clan of Korab, one of the twelve noble tribes of Poland.
KarrantzaBasque Habitational name from Basque Country, Spain, a Basque adaptation of Carrantia, a toponym probably of Cantabrian origin meaning "high rocks" (compare Basque harri "rock, stone" and (h)andi "big, large").
KartashyanArmenian Means "son of the stonemason" from Armenian քարտաշ (kʿartaš) meaning "stonecutter, stonemason".
KarterBreton Breton form of Carter. This was the birth surname of Breton-French explorer Jacques Cartier (1491-1557), who is known for discovering the gulf of St. Lawrence.
KarunasiriSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit करुणा (karuna) meaning "compassion, mercy" and श्री (shri) meaning "diffusing light, radiance, splendour, beauty".
KäserGerman, German (Swiss) occupational name for a cheesemaker or a cheese merchant (see Kaeser ). topographic name for someone who lived by a summer dairy in the Alps from a Tyrolean dialect word derived from Ladin casura... [more]
KashaniPersian Indicated a person from the city of Kashan in Isfahan province, Iran. The name may be derived from the Kasian, the original inhabitants of the area.
KashevarovRussian Derived from Russian кашевар (kashevar) meaning "cook (in military unit or team of workers)".
KashgariUyghur, Arabic Originally denoted someone who came from the city of Kashgar, located in the Xinjiang region of western China. The city's name is of Persian origin probably meaning "rock mountain".
KasongoCentral African A Congolese surname derived from the town with the same name, located in the Maniema Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
KasperovichBelarusian The last name taken literally is Kasper's son with -vich being a common patronymic suffix in Belarus and other slavic countries. The Kasper likey refers to an unknown Kasper in the family. However some stories tie the name to one of the wise men who visited Jesus after his birth - not named in the Bible but later referred to as Gaspar or Caspar/Kaspar in Eastern European traditions.
KasselGerman habitational name mainly from a place of this name in northeastern Hesse so named from Frankish castellacassela "fortification" a military term from Late Latin castellum "fortified position fort" or a topographic name from the same word.
KasselmannGerman Combination of the German place name Kassel (or Cassel) and German Mann "man".
KatsavHebrew Occupational name for a butcher, derived from Hebrew קַצָּב (qatzav) meaning "butcher, purveyor of meat". A famous bearer is former Israeli president Moshe Katsav (1945-), born Musa Qassab.
KatzenJewish (Ashkenazi) Katzen is a variant of Kotzen, or a shortened version of Katzenellenbogen. Its origins can also be traced back to a habitational form of Katzenelnbogen. There is no clear answer of where this surname exactly came from... [more]
KatzenbergJewish Elaboration of Katz with the old German word berg meaning "mountain".
KaukGerman probably a variant of Kauke from Middle Low German koke "cake" (dialect kauke) hence a metonymic occupational name for a baker or confectioner or a nickname for a cake lover.
KaukaLow German, Sorbian Best known as the surname of a certain Rolf. It is perhaps a Sorbian and Northeast Low German variant of Kafka and Kawa, both of which mean ‘Jackdaw’ in Czech and Polish.... [more]
KaukeGerman Variant of Kauk from Middle high German kauke "cake" hence a metonymic occupational name for a baker or confectioner or a nickname for a cake lover.
KaunasLithuanian From Kaunas, the name of a city in Lithuania, itself most likely derived from a given name.
KauppiFinnish From the medieval variant of the given name Jaakob. In some cases from the Finnish archaic term meaning "merchant, trader".
KausGerman From a regional (Hessian) variant of the habitational name Kues, from a place on the Mosel river, probably so named from Late Latin covis "field barn", "rack" and earlier recorded as Couese, Cobesa.
KauschGerman Pet name derived from the Old High German personal name Gozwin, of uncertain origin.
KauschGerman From a medieval form of the Old High German personal name Chuzo.
KautGerman Netonymic occupational name for a flax grower or dealer, from Middle High German kute, from Kaut(e) "male dove", hence a metonymic occupational name for the owner or keeper of a dovecote.
KautzmannGerman Variant of Kautz, with the addition of Middle High German -man "man".
KavakamiJapanese (Russified) Alternate transcription of Kawakami more commonly used by ethnic Japanese living in parts of the former Soviet Union and Sakhalin Japanese residing on Sakhalin Island in Russia.
KavasakiJapanese (Russified) Alternate transcription of Kawasaki more commonly used by ethnic Japanese living in parts of the former Soviet Union and Sakhalin Japanese residing on Sakhalin Island in Russia.
KavkaSlovak, Ukrainian, Czech Yet another variant of Kafka and its pop culture equivalents Kefka and Cefca. Also like Kaffka, it simply means ‘Jackdaw’ in Slovak.
KawabataJapanese 'Side or bank of the river'; written two ways, with two different characters for kawa ‘river’. One family is descended from the northern Fujiwara through the Saionji family; the other from the Sasaki family... [more]
KayanoJapanese (Rare), Brazilian Kaya means "yew tree",and No means "field,meadow,wilderness".People with this last name are Kayano Gonbei (a samurai),Ai Kayano(a voice actress of MANY characters /more than 30),and Shigeru Kayano(an Ainu politician who lived well up to 2006)... [more]
KazakhKazakh Derived from a geographical locality. 'of Kazakhstan.'
KazamatsuriJapanese From Japanese 風祭 (Kazamatsuri) meaning "Kazamatsuri", an area in the city of Odawara in the prefecture of Kanagawa in Japan.
KazanGreek Reduced form of Kazandis which is an occupational surname for a maker of cauldrons or someone who uses a cauldron for the distillation of ouzo or raki... [more]
KazanovRussian Means "of Kazan", either referring to the city of Kazan in Tatarstan, Russia, or from a given name. The name is most likely of Turkic origin, possibly from Bulgar qazan meaning "cauldron, pot", which would have been used to denote someone who made pots.
KebelGerman (Americanized) Possibly an Americanized form of German Kübel "tub, vat", a metonymic occupational name for a cooper or barrel-maker.
KeelEnglish English habitational name from Keele in Staffordshire, named from Old English cy ‘cows’ + hyll ‘hill’, or from East and West Keal in Lincolnshire, which are named from Old Norse kjolr ‘ridge’... [more]
KeelerEnglish English: occupational name for a boatman or boatbuilder, from an agent derivative of Middle English kele ‘ship’, ‘barge’ (from Middle Dutch kiel). Americanized spelling of German Kühler, from a variant of an old personal name (see Keeling) or a variant of Kühl.
KeetonEnglish Habitational name from a place called Ketton in Durham or one in Rutland or from Keaton in Ermington, Devon. The first is named from the Old English personal name Catta or the Old Norse personal name Káti and Old English tūn "settlement"; the second is probably from an old river name or tribal name Cētan (possibly a derivative of Celtic cēd "wood") and Old English ēa "river"; and the last possibly from Cornish kee "hedge, bank" and Old English tūn.
KehlerGerman Habitational name from various places called Kehl, notably the town across the Rhine from Strasbourg. In some cases it may be a variant of Köhler.
KeigwinWelsh From "kei", meaning 'a dog' and "gwyn", meaning, 'white' in Cornish.(a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family.)... [more]
KeinerGerman Reduced form of the personal name Kagenher, from Old High German gagan 'against' + heri 'army'.
KeiperGerman Similar to the origins of Kuiper (Dutch) and Cooper (English), Keiper was an occupation which means "cooper" or "barrelmaker".
KeirnanIrish Gaelic form of Keirnan is Mac Thighearnain, which is derived from the word tighearna, meaning "lord." First found in County Cavan, Ireland.
KeirnsEnglish Name for someone who works at a mill of makes butter.
KeirseyIrish Topographic name of Norman origin name dating back to the 13th century.
KekkeJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 結解 (kekke), a variant reading of 結解 (ketsuge) meaning "klesha to nirvana".
KekkeJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 結解 (kekke), a variant reading of 結解 (ketsuge) meaning "account settlement", referring to someone who would deal with settlement of accounts.
KelchGerman nickname from Middle High German kelch "double chin", "goiter". from another meaning of Middle High German kelch "glass", "chalice", hence a metonymic occupational name for a chalice maker or a habitational name for someone living at a house distinguished by the sign of a chalice.
KelhamEnglish Derived from the village of Kelham, near Newark-upon-Trent, Nottingham.
KelleherIrish From Gaelic Ó Céileachair meaning "son of Céileachar". The Irish given name Céileachar means "companion-dear", i.e., "lover of company".
KellenGerman From the name of a place in Rhineland, which is derived from Middle Low German kel (a field name denoting swampy land) or from the dialect word kelle meaning "steep path, ravine".
KellnerGerman, Dutch, Jewish, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Hungarian, French Means "waiter, cellarman" in German, ultimately derived from Latin cellarium "pantry, cellar, storeroom". This was an occupational name for a steward, a castle overseer, or a server of wine.
KelmGerman Germanized form of Polish Chelm ‘peak’, ‘hill’, a topographic name for someone who lived by a hill with a pointed summit, or habitational name from a city in eastern Poland or any of various other places named with this word.
KelsallEnglish Habitational name probably derived from Kelsall in Cheshire, England, derived from the Old English given name Kell combined with halh "nook, recess", or possibly from Kelshall, Hertfordshire, meaning "Cylle’s hill", or Kelsale, Suffolk, meaning "Ceol’s nook"... [more]
KemererGerman From the Old German word "kämmerer," which means "chamberlain." A chamberlain was the person in charge of the noble household; to him would fall the duty of ensuring that the castle and court of the noble ran smoothly.
KemmerGerman Kemmer is a surname. The surname Kemmer is an occupational surname. Further research revealed that the name is derived from the Old German word "kämmerer," which means "chamberlain." A chamberlain was the person in charge of the noble household; to him would fall the duty of ensuring that the castle and court of the noble ran smoothly... [more]
KemperGerman, Dutch From Kamp "field, piece of land", an occupational name denoting a peasant farmer. It could also indicate someone from a place named using the element. Alternatively, a variant of Kempf meaning "fighter".
KempesGerman, Dutch German and Dutch variant of Kemp or Kamp. It could also be a habitational name for a person from any of the various places named Kempen on the border between Germany and the Netherlands (for example the town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, close to the Dutch border), a status name for a peasant farmer or serf, or an occupational name for an official calibrator who marked the correct weight and measures for verification, derived from Middle Low German kempen... [more]
KemptonEnglish From the name of a place in Shropshire meaning "Cempa's town" or "warrior town", from a combination of either the Old English word cempa "warrior" or the byname derived from it and tun "farmstead, settlement".
KennerkEnglish The surname Kennerk was first found in Westphalia, where the name emerged in mediaeval times as one of the notable families in the western region. From the 13th century onwards the surname was identified with the great social and economic evolution which made this territory a landmark contributor to the development of the nation.