This is a list of submitted surnames in which the description contains the keywords bringer or of or light; and the gender is unisex.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
CadillacFrench From the name of a city in France, of origin I am not sure of (anyone who knows the name's etymology edit this). This is most notably the name of the car company of the same name, named after Detroit, Michigan founder Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac.
CádizSpanish Habitational name for a person from the city of Cádiz in southwestern Spain.
CadoganWelsh From the Welsh male personal name Cadwgan, literally probably "battle-scowler". Cadogan Estate is an area of Chelsea and Belgravia, including Cadogan Square, Sloane Street and Sloane Square, owned by the earls of Cadogan, descended from Charles Sloane Cadogan (1728-1807), 1st Earl Cadogan.
CaduffRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Duff, itself a diminutive of Rudolf.
CaesarAncient Roman, English An Ancient Roman political title that indicated a military leader. A famous bearer was Julius Caesar, Roman general, dictator, and politician. In modern times, the surname is used to refer to an individual with a tyrannical attitude, which references the connotative meaning of the word "caesar", meaning "a dictator".
CagadasFilipino The name Cagadas is most likely made or given to the Filipinos during the baptism of native Filipinos to Christianity in the 19th Century during the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan. Most Filipinos had no surnames prior to their baptism and these names are given by the Spanish colonizers.
CageEnglish from Middle English, Old French meaning "cage, enclosure". Denoting someone who lived by or was the keeper of a cage, in the sense "lock-up, prison for petty offenders".
CagianutRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and a diminutive of the given name Gian.
CagneyIrish Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic Ó Caingnigh meaning "descendant of Caingneach", a given name meaning "pleader, advocate". A famous bearer was American actor and dancer James Cagney (1899-1986).
CahanaJewish (Rare, Archaic) Jewish surname, originally of Eastern European Ashkenazi origin, found in Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Moldova. Currently a relatively common surname in Israel. Aramaic equivalent of Cohen.
CaillotFrench (African), English From Old French maillot ‘big mallet’, used as a metonymic occupational name for someone who worked with such an implement, e.g. a smith, and perhaps also as a nickname for a fearsome warrior (see English Mallett)... [more]
CairnsScottish From Gaelic carn "cairn", a topographic name for someone who lived by a cairn, i.e. a pile of stones raised as a boundary marker or a memorial.
CaithnessScottish Anglicized form of Scottish-Gaelic Gallaibh, which means "among the strangers" (referring to the Norse). The name of the Catti survives in the Gaelic name for eastern Sutherland, Cataibh, and in the old Gaelic name for Shetland, Innse Chat... [more]
CajavilcaQuechua From kaja (cold) and vilca (supreme) meaning supreme cold. Possibly when the inhabitants of upper Chavín had to cross to the Callejón de Huaylas by the pass near Ulta they described this place as being too cold... [more]
CajigasSpanish, Filipino Topographic name from the plural of Spanish cajigo, derived from quejigo meaning "gall oak".
CakebreadEnglish From Middle English cakebrede, bread made in flattened cakes, or of the finer and more dainty quality of cake.
ÇakmakTurkish Means "lighter" in Turkish, referring to a tool used to ignite fire. This is also the name of a village in Antalya Province, Turkey.
ÇakmakçıTurkish Occupational name for a maker or seller of lighters, from Turkish çakmak "lighter".
CalatayudSpanish From the city in Spain, in province of Zaragoza within the autonomous community Aragón. The name Calatayud came from the Arabic قلعة أيوب Qal‘at ’Ayyūb, "the qalat (fortress) of Ayyub".
CalliariItalian (Latinized, Archaic) This is an Italian surname, in the north of Italy. Calliari is the result of the deformation of the graphically Calligari, where you can clearly see excision of the letter or character D, which is located in the middle of the surname... [more]
CalliganIrish (Rare) Before Irish names were translated into English, Calligan had a Gaelic form of O Ceallachain, possibly from "ceallach", which means "strife".... [more]
CallowayEnglish Derived from the place name Caillouet-Orgeville, from Norman caillou "pebble". Alternately, a variant of Galloway.
CalneWelsh Calne is derived from the Welsh word "karn," which means "a pile of stones," such as was often used to mark a burial site. The forebears that initially bore the name Calne likely lived by a notable heap of stones.
CalonderRomansh Either derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Leonhard or from the name of the mountain Calanda.
CámaraSpanish Occupational name for a courtier or servant who could access the private quarters of a king or noble, from Spanish cámara meaning "room, chamber".
CambriaItalian Possibly denoted someone from Cambria, Sicily, which might be of Arabic origin and unrelated to the latinized form of Cymru; alternatively, it could derive from the Roman cognomen Cambria, which would be related to the Latin toponym Cambria.
CamembertFrench Named after the village of Camembert in Normandy, France
CameranoItalian From the name of the town of Camerano near the city of Ancona in Marche, Italy.
CamiuRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and a short form of the given name Barclamiu.
CammEnglish English (of Norman origin): habitational name for someone from Caen in Normandy, France.English: habitational name from Cam in Gloucestershire, named for the Cam river, a Celtic river name meaning ‘crooked’, ‘winding’.Scottish and Welsh: possibly a nickname from Gaelic and Welsh cam ‘bent’, ‘crooked’, ‘cross-eyed’.Americanized spelling of German Kamm.
CammarataItalian Habitational name from any of various places in Sicily named Cammarata, all derived from Greek καμάρα (kamara) meaning "vault".
CamoranesiItalian Originally indicated a person from Camerano, a small town near the city of Ancona in central Italy. A famous bearer of this name is the Argentine-born Italian former soccer player Mauro Camoranesi (1976-).
CampagnaItalian Name for someone originally from any of various locations named Campagna, all derived from Latin Campania, itself from campus meaning "field".
CamperEnglish Respelling of German Kamper or Kämpfer (see Kampfer). The surname Camper is recorded in England, in the London and Essex area, in the 19th century; its origin is uncertain, but it may have been taken there from continental Europe.
CampionNorman, French English (of Norman origin) and French: status name for a professional champion (see Champion, Kemp), from the Norman French form campion.
CampumanesAsturian This indicates familial origin within the eponymous parish of the municipality of Ḷḷena.
CamroseEnglish (Rare), Welsh (Rare) From the village of Camrose in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The surname itself is derived from Welsh cam meaning "crooked, bent", and rhos meaning "moor, heath."
CamusBasque From the name of a location in Bermeo, Vizcaya (or Biscay), a Basque region in Spain.
CấnVietnamese Vietnamese form of Gen, from Sino-Vietnamese 艮 (gèn).
CanTurkish Means "soul, life, being" in Turkish, ultimately of Persian origin.
CanabravaBrazilian Cana is the short form of 'cana de açucar' that means "sugar cane", and Brava is the feminine form of 'bravo' that means "angry". There is a municipality in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, called Canabrava do Norte, and according to oral tradition, the origin of the name is due to the disease and subsequent death of some animals after eating a plantation of sugar cane.
CanadaFrench, English It derives from the Middle English "cane", a development of the Old French "cane", meaning cane, reed.
CanakTurkish From the Turkish town of Çanakkale. Canak is the Anglicised form, which may or may not retain its Turkish pronunciation.
CanalesSpanish Spanish: habitational name from any of several places called Canales, from canales, plural of canal ‘canal’, ‘water channel’, from Latin canalis.
CanavanIrish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Ceanndubháin "descendant of Ceanndubhán", a byname meaning "little black-headed one", from ceann "head" combined with dubh "black" and the diminutive suffix -án.
CanchéMayan From Yucatec Maya ka'anche' referring to the button mangrove (Conocarpus erectus), a type of shrub. Alternately it may be derived from che' meaning "wood, stick, board", referring to a raised seedbed or floorboards used to beat and cut cobs.
CandyEnglish Unexplained.There was a family of this name in Roussillon, France, descended from a partisan of James II named Kennedy, who was exiled in France in the 17th century. The family died out in France in 1868, but may have had an American branch.
CanelaSpanish Derived from the word 'canela' meaning cinnamon in Spanish. It Could also be a variant of the Catalan surname Candela.
CanizalesSpanish (Latin American) This surname came from around the beginnings of 1800 in south regions of Colombia where sugar cane was cultivated. It's a variation of Cañizales, that literally means "sugar cane fields".
CannellaItalian Diminutive form of canna "cane, reed, pipe", possibly a nickname for a tall, thin person, or perhaps taken directly from cannella "cinnamon (spice)" as a metonymic name for a spice merchant.
CannerJewish (Anglicized, Modern, Rare) Anglicized (American) version of one of many Eastern European Ashkenazi surnames including Cahana, Cahane, Kahana, Kahane, etc. Cahana et al is a version of the common surname Cohen.
CannizzaroItalian Derived from Sicilian cannizzu "wattle", denoting a maker of reed matting. Stanislao Cannizzaro (1826-1910) was an Italian chemist. He is famous for the Cannizzaro reaction and his influential role in the atomic-weight deliberations of the Karlsruhe Congress in 1860.
CannockEnglish From from the town of Cannock in Staffordshire, England. The surname itself might be derived from Old English cnocc, meaning "hillock."
CanomanuelSpanish The first part of this surname is possibly derived from Spanish cano "hoary, white-haired, grey-haired". The second part is derived from the given name Manuel... [more]
CanovaRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and nova, the feminine form of the adjective nov "new".
CantagalloItalian From the name of a town, or possibly a nickname meaning "singing rooster".
CantalupiItalian Denoting a person from Cantalupo, the name of several towns and counties near wooded areas where wolves could be heard. From Italian canta "singing" and lupo "wolf". ... [more]
CantellowEnglish Means "person from Canteleu, Canteloup, etc.", the name of various places in northern France ("song of the wolf").
CanteloupFrench Name of several places in France. The surname means "Song of the Wolf" from canta and loup as in "place where the wolves howl".
CanterburyEnglish Habitational name from Canterbury in Kent, named in Old English as Cantwaraburg "fortified town (burgh) of the people (wara) of Kent".
CantoneItalian Habitational name for someone from any of various locations named Cantone, derived from Italian cantone meaning "canton, corner".
CañusaFilipino (Hispanicized, Modern, Archaic) Cañusa is the only variant of the family name of Cañusa. Used by the descendants of Ortillo Cañosa and Eulalia Cañosa in Agusan del Sur, Philippines.
CaoVietnamese Vietnamese form of Gao, from Sino-Vietnamese 高 (cao).
CaouetteFrench (Quebec) Altered form of French Cahouet, itself a regional form of chat-huant meaning "screech owl", hence a nickname referring to the bird.
CapaldoItalian Probably a diminutive of Italian capo meaning "head", perhaps used as a nickname for a stubborn or hard-headed person.
CapdevilaCatalan From Catalan cap meaning "chief, head" and de vila meaning "of the town".
CapeFrench, English (British) French and English: metonymic occupational name for a maker of capes and cloaks, or perhaps a nickname for someone who habitually wore a cloak or cape, from Middle English and Old Norman French cape ‘cape’, ‘cloak’, ‘hooded cloak’ (in French also ‘hood’ or ‘hat’), from Late Latin cappa, capa, probably a derivative of caput ‘head’ (see Capp)... [more]
CapecchiItalian Probably from Old Italian capecchio, either denoting a type of cheap batting and, by extension, upholsterers, who worked with it, or as a nickname for a person with bristly hair or beard.... [more]
ČapekCzech Derived from a diminutive of Czech cáp meaning "stork", applied as a habitational name for someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of a stork. In some cases the family name may have derived from a heraldic symbol.
CapelEnglish From the Domesday Book of 1086, from the old French word 'capele' meaning chapel.
CapelleFrench, English, Dutch, Flemish French topographic name for someone living by a chapel, from a regional variant of chapelle "chapel" (compare Chapell 2), or a habitational name from any of several places named La Capelle... [more]
CapuaItalian From the name of a city in Campania, Italy, possibly derived from Etruscan 𐌂𐌀𐌐𐌄𐌅𐌀 (capeva) meaning "city of marshes", though this etymology is disputed.
CapuletEnglish This is the last name of Juliet from William Shakepeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet.
CarabelliItalian Common surname in the Lombardy region of Italy.
CarabuzRomanian Carabuz is a combination betwen 2 Romanian words, ,,cărăbuș" the Romanian form of ,,beetle" and ,,autobuz" the Romanian form of ,,bus"
CaraccioloItalian Famous bearer of this surname is Canadian-Italian singer Alessia Caracciolo (1996-).
CaradineEnglish, German (Anglicized) Americanized form of German Gardein, itself a Germanized spelling of French Jardin. It could also denote someone from the village and civil parish of Carden in Cheshire, England.
CarafaItalian It could derive from toponyms such as Caraffa del Bianco in the province of Reggio Calabria or Caraffa in the province of Catanzaro.... [more]
CaramelleFrench Name given to a chalumeau player, derived from the old French chalemel, calamel or chalemie, which in turn were derived from the Latin word calamus meaning "reed". Italian variations of the surname are: Caramella, Caramelli, Caramello (diminutive: Caramellino) and Caramelo.
CarbajalSpanish, Judeo-Spanish Probably a habitational name denoting someone originally from any of the multiple locations called Carbajal in León, Asturias, or Zamora in Spain. Alternatively, it may be of pre-Roman origin from the word carbalio meaning "oak", denoting someone who either lived near an oak tree or who was like an oak tree in some way.... [more]
CarbreyIrish Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic Ó Cairbre and Mac Cairbre meaning "descendant of Cairbre", a given name meaning "charioteer".
CardEnglish English: metonymic occupational name for someone who carded wool (i.e. disentangled it), preparatory to spinning, from Middle English, Old French card(e) ‘carder’, an implement used for this purpose... [more]
CardellIrish Mac Ardghail, from the word ardghal, which means "high valor" (all together "son of high valor").
CardoSpanish, Italian From cardo "thistle, cardoon" (from Latin carduus) either a topographic or occupational name for using wool carder thistles, or from the given name Cardo a short form of given names Accardo, Biancardo, or Riccardo.
CardonFrench from the name of several places in southern France called (Le) Cardon. Or from Old Norman French cardon "thistle" (a diminutive of carde from Latin carduus) hence a topographic name for someone who lived on land overgrown with thistles an occupational name for someone who carded wool (originally a process carried out with thistles and teasels) or perhaps a nickname for a prickly and unapproachable person... [more]
CarducciItalian From Riccarduccio, an affectionate form of the given name Riccardo. A famous bearer of this surname is Italian poet Giosuè Carducci (1835-1907), winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1906.
CarganicoItalian Possibly from cargar, an Italic descendent of Latin carrico "to load", indicating someone who carried or loaded items for transport for a living.
CarharttEnglish, Cornish Habitational name from Carhart in Cornwall, possibly derived from Old English carr "rock, stone". Could also be an Americanized form of German Gerhardt.
CarisbrookEnglish Carisbrooke is a village on the Isle of Wight; the name is thought to mean "Carey's brook". When in 1917 the British royal family changed its name from the "House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha" to the "House of Windsor" and renounced all German titles, the title of Marquess of Carisbrooke was created for the erstwhile German Prince Alexander of Battenberg.
CarlanIrish Anglicized form of Irish O'Carlain or O'Caireallain, from the Irish carla meaning a "wool-comb" and an meaning "one who" which roughly translates as "one who combs wool"... [more]
CarlanderSwedish Combination of the given name Karl or Swedish karl "man" and ander, from classical Greek andros, "man".
CarlbergSwedish Combination of the given name Carl or Swedish karl "man", and berg "mountain".
CarlinSwedish (Rare) Combination of the given name Karl, which is also a common place name prefix, and the common surname suffix -in (originally from Latin -inus "descendant of").
CarlyonCornish Cornish: habitational name from any of three places in Cornwall called Carlyon, in St. Minver and Kea parishes. The first element is Celtic ker ‘fort’; the second could represent the plural of Cornish legh ‘slab’.
CarmichaelScottish, English From the name of a village in Scotland meaning "fort of Michael", from Welsh caer meaning "fortress" and the given name Michael.
CarmiggeltDutch Dutch cognate of Carmichael. This was the surname of the Dutch writer, journalist and poet Simon Carmiggelt (1913-1987).
CarneiroPortuguese, Galician Means "ram" in Portuguese and Galician, either used as an occupational name for a shepherd or a habitational name for someone from any of various places called Carneiro.
CarosellaItalian From carosello "carousel, merry-go-round", possibly a nickname for a farmer, as a carousel was an allotment of grain collected by farmers. Also a type of jousting tournament.
CarradineEnglish, German (Anglicized) Variant spelling of Caradine. This name is borne by members of the Carradine family of actors, notably the American actor John Carradine (1906-1988).
CarrasquilloSpanish The surname Carrasquillo is of Spanish origin and it is derived from the word "carrasca" which means "holm oak". Therefore, the name roughly translates to "a place where there are holm oaks".
CarrawayEnglish (British) The name Carraway belongs to the early history of Britain, and its origins lie with the Anglo-Saxons. It is a product of one having lived on a road near a field or piece of land that was triangular in shape... [more]
CarreauFrench Variant of Carrel. It could also be a habitational name from several places named Carreau in France.
CarrelFrench French: from Old French quar(r)el ‘bolt (for a crossbow)’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of crossbow bolts or a nickname for a short, stout man. The word also meant ‘paving slab’, and so it could also have been a metonymic occupational name for a street layer... [more]
CarrellEnglish English: from Old French carrel, ‘pillow’, ‘bolster’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of these. In some cases perhaps an altered spelling of Irish Carroll... [more]
CarrenderEnglish (American) Probably from Scottish kerr meaning "rough, wet ground" combined with ender (possibly related to the end of something). It probably denoted someone who lived between rough, wet ground and normal ground.
CarreraSpanish, Italian Spanish: topographic name for someone living by a main road, carrera ‘thoroughfare’, originally a road passable by vehicles as well as pedestrians (Late Latin carraria (via), a derivative of carrum ‘cart’), or a habitational name from any of various places named with this word.... [more]
CarreyIrish Variant of Carey. A famous bearer is Canadian-American actor and comedian Jim Carrey (1962-).
CarrickScottish The possible roots of the Carrick family name may be from the ancient Strathclyde people of the the Scottish/English Borderlands. Carrick may also be of local origin, referring to those who lived in or near the place called Carrick in Ayrshire... [more]
CarringtonEnglish, Scottish English: habitational name from a place in Greater Manchester (formerly in Cheshire) called Carrington, probably named with an unattested Old English personal name Cara + -ing- denoting association + tun ‘settlement’.... [more]
CarriónSpanish It comes from the knight Alonso Carreño, who distinguished himself in the conquest of the town of Carrión de los Condes (Palencia), where he founded his solar house.
CarrowEnglish English: habitational name from either of two places: Carrow in Norfolk or Carraw in Northumberland. The first is thought to be named from Old English carr ‘rock’ (a Celtic loan word) + hoh ‘spur of a hill’, while the last may be named either from an Old British plural of carr, or from carr + Old English raw ‘row’... [more]
CarruthersScottish This old Scottish surname was first used by Strathclyde-Briton people. The Carruthers family in the land of Carruthers in the parish of Middlebie, Dumfriesshire. In that are it is pronounced 'Cridders'.... [more]
CartagenaSpanish From the name of the city of Cartagena in southeastern Spain, derived from Latin Carthāgō Nova meaning "New Carthage" (ultimately derived from Phonecian qrt-ḥdšt meaning "new city").
CartierFrench, Norman Original Norman French form of Carter. A notable bearer was Breton-French explorer Jacques Cartier (1491-1557), who is known for discovering the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
CartmellEnglish Denoted a person from Cartmel, a village in Cumbria, England (formerly in Lancashire). The place derives its name from the Cartmel Peninsula, which is composed of Old Norse kartr "rocky ground" and melr "sandbank, dune".
CasabuenaSpanish (Modern, Rare) Means "Happy House" or "House of Happiness" in Spanish, with the Spanish word "Casa", which means "House" and Buena, meaning "Happy" or "Happiness".