ChryslerGerman, Jewish From a German name referring to spinning or related to a Yiddish word, krayzl meaning "spinning top." The name can refer to a potter who spun a wheel to make utensils or to a person with curly hair or someone known for being continually active... [more]
ChubaHungarian A name that deserves better knowledge of for how it may soon disappear in my family.
ChubbEnglish English (mainly West Country): nickname from Middle English chubbe ‘chub’ a common freshwater fish Leuciscus cephalus. The fish is notable for its short fat shape and sluggish habits and the word was used in early Modern English for a lazy spiritless person a rustic or a simpleton... [more]
ChucklerIndian, Telugu Telugu occupational name for a leather worker, a job historically considered spiritually polluting and impure in India, where the surname belongs to Dalit, or "Untouchables" - members of the lowest caste.
ChughtaiUrdu From the name of 13th-century Mongol ruler Chagatai Khan, borne by his present-day descendants in South Asia.
ChuibekovSlavic (Rare) The name Chuibekov means "son of Chuib". It originates from Eastern Europe/Russia, and is very rare today. It is most prevalent in Central Asia, especially Kyrgyzstan, where the majority of the population is descended from early Siberians, and first found in Mongolia... [more]
ChulanontThai From Thai จุลา (chula) of unknown meaning and นนท์ (non) meaning "fun; joy".
ChurchwardEnglish Occupational name for a churchwarden, someone who handled the secular affairs of a parish.
ChurchyardEnglish It comes from when the family lived in or near the precincts of a church. Churchyard belongs to the large class of Anglo-Saxon topographic surnames, which were given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as "a hill", "stream", "church", or "type of tree".
ChuuJapanese Variant transcription of Japanese Kanji 中 or 仲 (see Chū).
ChviedarovičBelarusian (Rare) Means "son of Chviedar". A notable bearer is Mikalaj Čarnuševič (1904-1981), the Belarusian poet, prose writer and translator better known by his nickname Mikola Chviedarovič.
ChydeniusFinland Swedish From the name of the Kytyniemi estate in Nykyrko (now Uusikaupunki), Finland.
CianciItalian The surname Cianci is a name for a person of small financial means. The surname Cianfari is derived from the Italian words cianfrone and cianferone, which referred to a type of medieval coin.
CiechanoverPolish, Jewish Variant of Ciechanower. It is borne by the Israeli biologist Aaron Ciechanover (1947-), who is known for characterising the method that cells use to degrade and recycle proteins using ubiquitin.
CiechanowerPolish, Jewish Denoted a person who came from one of the places in Poland called Ciechanów, for example the city in the Mazovia province.
CiechiItalian Means "blind (people)" in Italian, from Latin caecus "devoid of light, blind; invisible; aimless".
CieszyńskiPolish Habitational name for a person from the town Cieszyn in southern Poland, derived from a diminutive of the given name Ciechosław.
CifrinoItalian (Rare) Possibly from an inflection of Italian cifrare, meaning "to monogram, to abbreviate (a name) to initials; to encode, to cypher", or perhaps a derived term meaning "little nothing". Ultimately from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr) "empty, zero".
CifuentesSpanish Habitational Name Probably From Cifuentes In Guadalajara Named From Spanish Cien ‘Hundred’ (From Latin Centum) + Fuentes ‘Springs’ (From Latin Fontes; See Font ) Because Of The Abundance Of Natural Springs In The Area.
CimineraItalian from a dialect variant of ciminiera "chimney" hence a metonymic occupational name for someone who built chimneys or worked a furnace oven or kiln with a chimney or a nickname for a tall thin person.
CiminoItalian Possibly derived from Italian cimino or Sicilian ciminu "cumin" as a metonymic occupational name for a spice merchant. Alternatively, it could be a diminutive of a shortened form of names such as Decimius or Ecimius.
CisnerosSpanish Habitational name from Cisneros, a place in the province of Palencia, named with a derivative of Spanish cisne 'swan' (via Old French and Latin from Greek kyknos).
CiuffiItalian Probably from Italian ciuffo "tuft (of hair)".
CivillaItalian Possibly derived from the Roman cognomen Civilis, taken from Latin civilis meaning "civic, civil (of or pertaining to civilians)" or "courteous, polite".
ClaassenGerman The name Claassen means "son of Klaus." It's primarily German, but it's also Dutch and Danish.
ClagueManx Shortened Anglicization of either Gaelic Mac Luathóg "son of Luathóg", itself derived from a diminutive of Gaelic luath, Manx leah "swift", or from Gaelic Mac Laoghóg "son of Laoghóg", which is derived from a diminutive of Gaelic laogh and Manx lheiy "calf".
ClaineScottish, Irish Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Gille Eathain, a patronymic name meaning "son of the servant of Saint John."
ClaremontFrench Means "clear hill" in French, from the Latin clarus "clear" and French mont "mountain", A cognate of Clairmont.
ClaretCatalan Diminutive of clar meaning "clear, bright". This is the name of various towns in Catalonia. A famous bearer of this surname is Catalan saint and missionary Antonio María Claret (1807-1870).
ClavelSpanish Metonymic occupational name for a spice trader or a nail maker, derived from Spanish clavel or Catalan clavell meaning "nail", later also "clove", itself a derivative of Latin clavellus "nail".
ClavelFrench Metonymic occupational name for a nail maker, ultimately from Latin clavellus "nail", but in some cases possibly from the same word in the sense "smallpox, rash". A fictional bearer is Miss Clavel, a nun and teacher in Ludwig Bemelmans's 'Madeline' series of children's books (introduced in 1939).
ClavellFrench, Catalan The first documented records of the surname Clavell appear in Catalunya between 1291 and 1327. The word clavell traces back to the Indo-European words "kleu", later "klawo" meaning a metal tool. In Latin "clavus", it eventually became a surname "Clavell".
ClaxtonEnglish From the names of any of several settlements in England, derived from either the personal name Clacc (from Old Norse Klakkr "bump, hillock") or the Old English word clacc "hill, peak" combined with tun "town, settlement".
ClaymanEnglish, Jewish (Ashkenazi) Anglicized form of Ashkenazic Jewish Kleimann or Kleiman, from German 'Klei' meaning "clay" and "mann" meaning "man".
ClaypoolEnglish Derived from Claypole, a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, named from Old English cl?g meaning "clay" and pol meaning "pool".
ClefItalian At the end of the 10th century, Gregorian musical scribes increased the precision of early notation by introducing a horizontal line to indicate a base pitch. The pitch of this line was indicated by a letter at its start... [more]
ClemenceauFrench Derived from the French given name Clément. A notable bearer was the French prime minister Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929), who successfully lead France through the end of World War I.
ClercFrench Occupational or status name for a member of a minor religious order or for a scholar Old French clerc from Late Latin clericus from Greek klerikos a derivative of kleros "inheritance legacy" with reference to the priestly tribe of Levites (see Levy ) "whose inheritance was the Lord"... [more]
ClericoItalian Occupational or status name for a member of a minor religious order or for a scholar from Late Latin clericus (see Clerc ). Italian cognitive of Clark.
ClerihewScottish A Scottish surname of unknown origin and meaning. A clerihew is a humorous or satirical verse consisting of two rhyming couplets in lines of irregular metre about someone who is named in the poem. It was invented by the British author Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956; Clerihew was his mother's maiden name)... [more]
ClevelandEnglish English regional name from the district around Middlesbrough named Cleveland ‘the land of the cliffs’, from the genitive plural (clifa) of Old English clif ‘bank’, ‘slope’ + land ‘land’... [more]
ClevelandNorwegian (Anglicized) Americanized spelling of Norwegian Kleiveland or Kleveland, habitational names from any of five farmsteads in Agder and Vestlandet named with Old Norse kleif "rocky ascent" or klefi "closet" (an allusion to a hollow land formation) and land "land".
CliffEnglish habitational name from any of numerous places called Cliff(e), Cle(e)ve, or Clive, from Old English clif "slope, bank, cliff", or a topographic name from the same word... [more]
CliftEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a crevice in rock, derived from Middle English clift meaning "cleft". The American actor Montgomery Clift (1920-1966) was a famous bearer of this name.
ClingerEnglish (American) Americanized spelling of German Klinger.Possibly a variant of Clinker. an English occupational name for a maker or fixer of bolts and rivets.
ClooneyEnglish, Irish (Anglicized) From Gaelic Ó Cluanaigh meaning "descendant of Cluanach". Cluanach was a given name derived from Irish clauna "deceitful, flattering, rogue".
ClopathRomansh Derived from a diminutive form of the given name Clo.
CloptonEnglish Habitational name from any of various places, for example in Essex, Suffolk, and Warwickshire, named Clopton from Old English clopp(a) meaning "rock", "hill" + tūn meaning "settlement".
CloreEnglish (American) Americanized spelling of German Klor (from a short form of the medieval personal name Hilarius (see Hillary) or Klar).
ClossGerman Variant of Kloss and, in North America, also an altered form of this. It is also found in Lorraine, France.
ClossonScottish this name is of the noble family in Orkney islands known as the closson whom came to Orkney with the viking raiders in the early 900's and they founded the noble house of closson there of
ClottsEnglish Found in the United States, most likely either an English spelling of Klutz, meaning "awkward, clumsy," or as a plural form of the English surname Clot, meaning "cloth ."
CloudFrench From the Germanic personal name Hlodald, composed of the elements hlod "famous, clear" and wald "rule", which was borne by a saint and bishop of the 6th century.
CloughEnglish (British) The distinguished surname Clough is of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin. It is derived from the Old English "cloh," meaning "ravine" or "steep-sided valley," and was first used to refer to a "dweller in the hollow."
ClutterbuckEnglish English surname of unknown origin, possibly a corrupted form of a Dutch surname derived from Dutch klateren "to clatter" and beek "brook", or from klateren and bok "buck, billy goat", or from an older form of kladboek meaning "account book, minute book".
ClydeScottish A river in the south-west of Scotland, running through Inverclyde, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire, and the city of Glasgow. The second longest in Scotland; and the eighth longest in the United Kingdom... [more]
ClydesdaleEnglish, Scottish From the name of a location in Lanarkshire, Scotland, meaning "Clyde’s valley", derived from the name of the river Clyde.
CoachIrish Origin uncertain. Most probably a reduced form of Irish McCoach, which is of uncertain derivation, perhaps a variant of McCaig.
CoachFrench Possibly an altered spelling of French Coache, from the Norman and Picard term for a damson, probably applied as a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of plums.
CoadyIrish Coady or Cody originated in the Southern Counties of Ireland. The Norman family Odo le Ercedekne acquired land in Kilkenny, Ireland in early 1300's. In medieval records it was spelled Lerceddkne and then Archdeken and then Archdeacon... [more]
CoakleyIrish From Irish Gaelic Mac Caochlaoich "son of Caochlaoch", a personal name meaning literally "blind warrior".
CoardEnglish, Northern Irish Derived from Old French corde "string", a metonymic occupational name for a maker of cord or string, or a nickname for an habitual wearer of decorative ties and ribbons.
CoatesEnglish Name for a cottager or a person who lived in a humble dwelling, derived from Old English cote meaning "cottage, hut". It could also be used as a habitational name for someone from any of numerous locations with this name.
CoatneyEnglish The initial bearer of this surname lived in a little cottage.
CobainScottish This unusual surname is of Old Norse origin and is found particularly in Scotland. It derives from an Old Norse personal name Kobbi, itself from an element meaning large, and the Gaelic bain, denoting a fair person, with the diminutive ('little' or 'son of') form Cobbie.
Çoban-zadeCrimean Tatar Means "son of a sheperd" from Crimean Tatar сопан (çopan) meaning "sheperd" and Persian زاده (zade) meaning "born, offsping, child".
CocciaItalian Meaning uncertain, possibly from Sicilian cocciu "grain, berry", denoting a kind of gruel; an occupational name for a farmer from Greek κόκκος (kokkos) "grain, seed"; or from Italian coccia "head, shell", referring to someone with a large head, or who was stubborn.
CoccimiglioItalian From Sicilian cuccumeli, the name of several fruit-bearing deciduous trees or of the hackberry plant, itself borrowed from an Ancient Greek word; possibly κοκκύμηλον (kokkymelon) "plum", literally "cuckoo apple", or from κόκκος (kókkos) "grain, seed, kernel" and μῆλον (mêlon) "apple, any fruit from a tree".
CockeEnglish nickname from Middle English cok ‘cock’, ‘male bird or fowl’ (Old English cocc), given for a variety of possible reasons. Applied to a young lad who strutted proudly like a cock, it soon became a generic term for a youth and was attached with hypocoristic force to the short forms of many medieval personal names (e.g. Alcock, Hancock, Hiscock, Mycock)... [more]
CockerEnglish, German (Anglicized) Originally a nickname for a bellicose person, from Middle English cock "to fight". Also an anglicized form of Köcher.
CocoItalian, Sicilian occupational name for a cook a seller of cooked meats or a keeper of an eating house from southern Italian coco "cook" (from Latin cocuscoquus)... [more]
CocuzzaItalian, Sicilian Means "gourd, pumpkin", possibly a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of gourds, or perhaps a nickname for someone with a large head or rotund figure.
CodaItalian Means "tail" in Italian, from Latin cauda, probably referring to the bearer living on a long, narrow piece of land.
CodinoItalian Means "pigtail, plait" in Italian, literally "tail's end". Ultimately from Latin cauda "tail (of an animal)". Perhaps given to someone who often wore their hair in such a style, possibly given to orphans or foundlings.
CodispotiItalian A Calabrian surname from Greek οικοδεσπότης (oikodespótis) "host, master of the house".
CoetseeAfrikaans Coetsee is a rare Afrikaans given name derived from a historically significant South African surname. Coetsee/Coetzee is a Dutch-influenced adaptation of the French Huguenot surname, Couché, which means "to lay down" or "to place." The name has occupational origins, referencing upholsterers, bedmakers, or those who crafted bedding, as well as scribes and record keepers... [more]
CoetseeAfrikaans The surname Coetsee is of French Huguenot origin, derived from the Old French surname Couché or Cossé, meaning “laid down” or “placed in a reclining position.” It originally referred to craftsmen involved in bed-making and upholstery, as well as scribes who recorded information by “laying down” words on paper... [more]
CoggillEnglish Recorded in several forms as shown below, this is a surname of two possible nationalities and origins. Firstly it may be of Scottish locational origins, from the lands of Cogle in the parish of Watten, in Caithness, or secondly English and also locational from a place called Cogges Hill in the county of Oxfordshire... [more]
CoisItalian Possibly from the name of a lost town, Coni. Alternately, may be from dialectical words meaning "to cook" or "finch", referring to an occupation or nickname.
CoishEnglish Variant of Cosh, derived from Middle English cosche "small cottage, hut, hovel".
CoitMedieval Welsh, French, English The surname Coit was first found in Carnarvonshire, a former country in Northwest Wales, anciently part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, and currently is divided between the unitary authorities of Gwynedd and Conwy, where they held a family seat... [more]
CojuangcoChinese (Filipino) From the name of family patriarch Kho Giok Hoan (許玉寰), a 19th-century Chinese-Filipino businessman originally from Fujian. He was also known by his Hokkien nickname Khó͘ Hoân-ko (許寰哥) meaning "brother Kho Hoan", comprised of 許 (Khó͘), the Hokkien romanization of his surname, 寰 (Hoân), the second syllable of his given name, and 哥 (ko), a male honorific meaning "brother"... [more]
CokayneEnglish Medieval English nickname which meant "idle dreamer" from Cockaigne, the name of an imaginary land of luxury and idleness in medieval myth. The place may derive its name from Old French (pays de) cocaigne "(land of) plenty", ultimately from the Low German word kokenje, a diminutive of koke "cake" (since the houses in Cockaigne are made of cake).
ColdenEnglish, Scottish English: habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire named Colden, from Old English cald ‘cold’ col ‘charcoal’ + denu ‘valley’.... [more]
ColgateEnglish Habitational name for a person from any of the places named Colgate or similar in England, from Old English col "coal, charcoal" and gæt "gate", indicating a gate leading into a woodland where charcoal was burned... [more]
ColleyEnglish With variant Coley, can mean "dark" or "blackbird" or it can be a nickname for Nicholas. Colley was used as a surname for generations of students from the same family taught by a teacher over many years in James Hilton's sentimental novel "Goodbye, Mr... [more]
CollinSwedish Either a combination of an unknown first name element (possibly derived from a place name) and the common surname suffix -in, or a variant of German Colin.
ColoItalian From the personal name Colo, a short form of Nicolo (see Nicholas). (Colò) nickname from medieval Greek kolos ‘lame’, classical Greek kylos.
ColombFrench from Old French colomb "pigeon" (from Latin columbus) applied as a metonymic occupational name for a keeper of pigeons or doves... [more]
ColoneItalian From an augmentative form meaning “big Nicolas” of the personal name Cola.
ColonelAmerican From a French word for a military rank of an officer who led a column of regimental soldiers. Could be a nickname for someone with a military bearing or demeanor.
CombeFrench Either a topographic name for someone living in or near a ravine from combe "narrow valley ravine" (from Latin cumba a word of Gaulish origin); or a habitational name from Combe the name of several places in the southern part of France of the same etymology.
CombeferreLiterature (?) Combeferre is the surname of one of the strong, persuasive members of the ABC in Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables. Meaning is unknown.
ComberbachEnglish Habitational name for a person from the village of Comberbach in Cheshire, from the Old English byname or given name Cumbra "Cumbrian" and bæc "stream, brook".
CombèsFrench Either a topographic name from combe "narrow valley ravine" (see Combe ) or a habitational name from any of various places in southern France for example in Hérault named Combes.
ComerEnglish Occupational name for a maker or seller of combs, or to someone who used them to prepare wool or flax for spinning, derived from Middle English combere, an agent derivative of Old English camb meaning "comb"... [more]
ComishManx Manx: from Gaelic Mac Thómais ‘son of Thomas’. The main seat of the family in the Isle of Man was Ballacomish ‘Comish's (or Thomas's) farm’ (Arbory, IoM).
ComitoItalian From the medieval Latin comitus, meaning "count", or the medieval Greek form of this word, komitos, used as a nickname for someone who put on airs and graces or worked for a count.
CommonsBreton It's generally believed this name comes from a Breton personal name, derived from element "cam," meaning "bent," or "crooked;" or from the herb "cummin" (cumin). Or from the place name Comines, in Flanders, Northern France.... [more]
ČomorBosnian (Rare), Bosnian Čomor is a rare surname in the world and has (mostly) Herzegovenian origins. You can find most Čomors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Only 400 people bare the surname. Čomor has two meanings; First meaning is 'buttercup' and the second one is 'a disease that comes from eating fatty (oily) foods, fever with a constant feeling of nausea and disgust'
ComptonEnglish Habitational name from any of the numerous places throughout England (but especially in the south) named Compton, from Old English cumb meaning "short, straight valley" + tūn meaning "enclosure", "settlement".
ComsaRomanian (Rare), Romanian The surname Comsa likely has Eastern European origins, particularly in Romania. It may derive from a variation of the name Coman, relating to the Cumans, a historical group.
ComteFrench Nickname for someone who worked for a count or for someone acting haughty from Old French contecunte "count"... [more]
CondeSpanish 1 Spanish and Portuguese: “nickname from the title of rank conde ‘count’, a derivative of Latin comes, comitis ‘companion’.”... [more]
CondéFrench habitational name from any of several places in Normandy and Picardy called Condé a French form of the Gaulish condate "junction of rivers".
ConeyEnglish Means "seller of rabbits", or from a medieval nickname for someone thought to resemble a rabbit (in either case from Middle English cony "rabbit").
ConfaloneItalian from gonfalone "standard banner" from Old French gonfalon (of ancient Germanic origin) a metonymic occupational name for a standard bearer either in a military context or as the officer of a guild responsible for carrying the banner in religious processions... [more]
CongdonIrish, English A variant of Irish "Condon". In English usage: a habitational name from a lost or unidentified place; probably Devon or Cornwall, where the modern surname is most frequent.
ConiglioItalian, Sicilian From coniglio "rabbit" (from Latin cuniculus ) applied as a nickname for a timid person or a metonymic occupational name for a dealer in rabbits... [more]