YasuraJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 安良 (Yasura) meaning "Yasura", a former village in the former district of Izushi in the former Japanese province of Tajima in parts of present-day Hyōgo, Japan.
YelleyEnglish (British) The surname Yelley was first found in Oxfordshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed... [more]
YellowhairNavajo, Cheyenne Native American (mainly Navajo; also Yellow Hair): translation into English of a personal name such as Navajo BitsiiʼŁitsoii (literally ‘His Yellow Hair’), which is derived from bitsiiʼ ‘his hair’ and łitso ‘yellow’, or Cheyenne Heova'ehe, derived from the prefix heov- ‘yellow’ and the suffix -a'e ‘hair’.
YellowmanIndigenous American Native American (also Yellow Man): translation into English of a personal name such as Navajo HastiinŁitso, based on hastiin ‘man’ and łitso ‘yellow’, referring to the color of the complexion or the hair (Juxtapose Yellowhair).
YewdaleEnglish Derived from Yewdale, which is the name of a village near the town of Skelmersdale in Lancashire. Its name means "valley of yew trees", as it is derived from Middle English ew meaning "yew tree" combined with Middle English dale meaning "dale, valley".... [more]
YezhovmRussian Derived from Russian word "ёж (yozh)" meaning hedgehog. Yezhov was the last name of Nikolay Yezhov, the leader of the Soviet NKVD from 1936-38 who is known for Yezhovshchina.
YimKhmer Meaning uncertain, probably of Chinese origin.
YinChinese From Chinese 殷 (yīn) referring to the ancient city of Yin, which existed in what is now Henan province and served as the capital of the Shang dynasty (which reigned from 1600 to 1045 BC and was also called Yin).
YinChinese From Chinese 尹 (yǐn), a title for a ministerial position in ancient China. It may also refer to the ancient fief of Yin, which existed in what is now either Shanxi or Henan province.
YíngChinese (Rare) From the name of the royal house of the Qin Dynasty from the ancient Chinese state also known as Qin.
YingChinese From Chinese 应 (yīng) referring to the ancient state of Ying, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Henan province.
YlvisåkerNorwegian (Rare) Meaning unknown. Famous bearers of this name are the Norwegian comedy duo "Ylvis" consisting of brothers Vegard (b. 1979) and Bård Ylvisåker (b. 1982).
YomohiroJapanese (Rare) This is a very rare surname with the kanji of all four directions: (東西北南) "east, west, north, south", in that order. Yomo literally means "four directions" and hiro means "extension".
YonaoJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 与 (yo) or 與 (yo), both meaning "to bestow, to participate, to provide, cause, gift, godsend" or referring to a given name with one of those characters and 猶 (nao) meaning "still".
YongKorean Korean form of Long from Sino-Korean 龍 (yong).
YongChinese From Chinese 雍 (yōng) either referring the ancient state of Yong, located in what is now Henan province, or the ancient fief of Yong, which existed during the Shang dynasty in what is now Shaanxi province.
YoshiizumiJapanese formed with 吉 (Yoshi, Kichi, Kitsu) meaning "good luck; joy; congratulations" and 泉 (Izumi, Sen) meaning "spring; fountain". So the meaning could be interpreted as “Fountain of Good Luck” or “Lucky Fountain”
YoshiyasuJapanese From Japanese 吉 (yoshi), an alternative spelling of 吉し (yoshi) meaning "good luck" and 安 (yasu) meaning "peaceful, tranquil, safe, simple, ammonium".
YotsuyanagiJapanese From Japanese 四柳 (Yotsuyanagi) meaning "Yahaba", a former village in the district of Kashima in the former Japanese province of Noto in parts of present-day Ishikawa in Japan.... [more]
YottFrench (Americanized) Americanized form of French Huot (which is derived from a diminutive of the Old French personal name Hue).
YouensScottish comes from the Gaelic personal name Eógan, which comes from the Latin name, Eugenius, which means well born. Youens is a patronymic surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames.
YoungerEnglish, American English (mainly Borders) from Middle English yonger ‘younger’, hence a distinguishing name for, for example, the younger of two bearers of the same personal name. In one case, at least, however, the name is known to have been borne by an immigrant Fleming, and was probably an Americanized form of Middle Dutch jongheer ‘young nobleman’ (see Jonker)... [more]
YounghusbandEnglish Combination of Middle English yong ”young” and husbonda ”farmer”.
YoungkinScottish (?), Irish (?) Possibly derived from Younkin; A Strathclyde-Briton family from the Scottish/English Borderlands was the first to use the surname Younkin. It is a name for a person who was very young, from the Old English word yong and yung... [more]
YousafzaiPashto Alternate transcription of Pashto يوسفزی (see Yusufzai). A notable bearer is Pakistani education activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai (1997-).
YueChinese From Chinese 岳 (yuè) referring to the ancient title Tai Yue (太岳), which was used by officials in charge of sacrificial rituals on mountain sites.
YuehTaiwanese Alternate romanization of Yue chiefly used in Taiwan.
YuhannaJudeo-Arabic (?) Yuhanna or John is one of the apostles of Christ, the prophet of Christians and the religion of Christianity, who believe that he ascended to heaven.
YuleMedieval English Nickname for someone who was born on Christmas Day or had some other connection with this time of year, from Middle English yule ‘Christmastide’ (Old English geol, reinforced by the cognate Old Norse term jól).
YumbeJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 弓 (yun), a contraction of 弓 (yumi) meaning "bow, archery" and 部 (be) meaning "division", possibly referring to a fighter who specialized in archery.
YurovskiymRussian, Polish (Russified) Alternate transcription of Yurovsky. This was the last name of Yakov Yurovskiy, a notable Bolshevik. He led the execution of the Romanovs.
YushchenkoUkrainian Means "child of Yukhym". Viktor Yushchenko was the Ukrainian president from 2005 to 2010, and a major figure in the Orange Revolution.
ZachowGerman Meaning unknown. A notable bearer of this name is Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, a organist, musician, and composer who lived from 1663 to 1712. Zachow, Wisconsin is an unincorporated community named after a local landowner, William Zachow.
ZackyGerman Americanized form of German Zacher . German: occupational name for a farmer, from dialect zackern 'to plow', from Middle High German ze acker gān 'to go to the field'.
ZadehPersian From Persian زاده (-zâde) meaning "offspring (of)", also often used as a suffix for patronymic-based Persian surnames.
ZafriHebrew From the name Ẓafār (Arabic: ظفار), also Romanized Dhafar or Dhofar, is an ancient Himyarite site situated in Yemen, some 130 km south-south-east of today's capital, Sana'a (Arabic: صَنْعَاء)... [more]
ZagórowskiPolish This indicates familial origin within either the Lesser Polish village of Zagórowa or the Greater Polish town of Zagórów.
ZagurskiPolish Derived from the Polish places Zagórz and Zagórze. Also given to those who lived on the side of a hill opposite a main settlement - za means "beyond" and góra means "hill".
ZahnGerman Zahn was a nickname given to a person with a peculiar tooth or a strange or defective set of teeth. It comes from the Middle High German Zan(t), which means "tooth".
ZaimTurkish Zaim may be a representation of the male Arabic given name Za'im / Zaeim (Arabic: ضعیم / زاعِم/ زاعيم), meaning leader, chief. Correspondingly al-Za'im (Arabic: الزعيم) means "the leader".
ZajączkowskiPolish A habitational name that was given to someone from any of the various places named Zajączki, Zajączkowo, or Zajączków (which were named for 'zajączek', a diminutive of the Polish word 'zając', meaning ‘hare’.)
ZakhaevRussian Russian surname, likely a derivative of the given name Zakhey combined with the Russian suffix "-ev" ("of"), therefore meaning "of Zakhey."... [more]
ZakowskiPolish a Polish surname which is most frequent in the cities of Warszawa, Płońsk and Bydgoszcz in central Poland and is also to be found as Zakowski among the Polish diaspora.
ZakuroJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 柘榴 (Zakuro) meaning "Zakuro", an area in the town of Seika in the district of Sōraku in the prefecture of Kyōto in Japan.
ZalbideaBasque Habitational name derived from Basque zalbide "horses’ road", ultimately composed of zaldi "horse" and bide "path, track, way; journey".
ZaldibarBasque From the name of a town and municipality in Biscay, Basque Country, derived from Basque zaldi "horse" and ibar "valley". Alternatively, the first element could instead be zaldu "wood, copse, forest".
ZaleEnglish (American), Polish (Anglicized) Possibly a habitational name derived from the Polish toponym Żale meaning "on the other side of the wood", from za "beyond" and las "forest".