De MetzMedieval Jewish, Medieval French A medieval Ashkenazic French habitational name originally meaning "of Metz", from the city of Metz (now known as Mettis) in Lorraine, which was originally known as Mediomatrica, after the Gaulish tribe of the Mediomatrici... [more]
DemidovRussian Means "son of Demid". This was the name of a Russian industrialist family prominent in the 18th and 19th centuries. A bearer of the feminine form Demidova was Anna Stepanovna Demidova (1878-1918), a lady-in-waiting in the service of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna who acquired posthumous fame for being executed alongside her employer in 1918.
DeMilleFrench (Belgian) Denoted a person from Hamme-Mille, a section of the municipality of Beauvechain, in the province of Walloon Brabant in Wallonia, Belgium. This surname was borne by the American filmmaker and producer Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959).
DemontignyFrench habitational name with fused preposition de "from" for someone from any of several places in various parts of France named Montigny (see Montigny).
DempsterManx, English, Scottish The name for a judge or arbiter of minor disputes, from Old English dem(e)stre, a derivative of the verb demian ‘to judge or pronounce judgement’. Although this was originally a feminine form of the masculine demere, by the Middle English period the suffix -stre had lost its feminine force, and the term was used of both sexes... [more]
DemskyPolish, Jewish Derived from Polish dab and demb meaning "oak", which is either a habitational name from a place with the same name or an ornamental name with reference to the tree and its qualities of strength and durability.
DemuraJapanese The Japanese surname "Demura" (出村) consists of two kanji characters: "出" meaning "to go out" or "to leave" and "村" meaning "village" or "town." So, "Demura" could be interpreted as "from the village" or "originating from the village." However, as with many Japanese surnames, there may be variations in meaning and interpretation depending on the family's history and region.
DenhamEnglish From the name of various places in England, most of which meant "farm in the valley" (from Old English denu "valley" + ham "homestead"). Notable bearers of the surname included John Denham (1615-1669), an English poet; British Labour politician John Denham (1953-); and British actor Maurice Denham (1909-2002).
DennehyIrish Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic Ó Duineachdha meaning "descendant of Duineachaidh", a given name meaning "humane". A famous bearer was American actor Brian Dennehy (1938-2020).
DenningtonEnglish Habitational name from a place in Suffolk, recorded in Domesday Book as Dingifetuna, from the Old English female personal name Denegifu (composed of the elements Dene meaning "Dane" + gifu meaning "gift") + Old English tūn meaning "enclosure", "settlement".
DenothRomansh Derived from the preposition de "of" and the given name Not.
DepardieuFrench Means "of by God", derived from French pardieu meaning "by God", originally a nickname for someone who blasphemously uttered the name of God. It could also indicate a person who came from various places in France called Part-Dieu or Pardieu, for example the Lyon-Part-Dieu Business District in the city of Lyon... [more]
De PaulaSpanish a Metronymic from the female personal name Paula and from a shortened form of Francisco de Paula a personal name bestowed in honor of Saint Francis of Paola
DepederRomansh Derived from the preposition de "of" and the given name Peder.
D’épernonFrench Shortened form of the title duc d’Epernon, or "Duke of Épernon". Épernon is a place in Eure-et-Loir, France.
DepietriItalian The distinguished surname Depietri can be traced back to the ancient and beautiful region of Piedmont. Although people were originally known only by a single name, it became necessary for people to adopt a second name to identify themselves as populations grew and travel became more frequent... [more]
De PoorterFlemish, Dutch Means "the burgher, the citizen (of a city)", ultimately derived from poort "gate".
DepooterFlemish Variant of De Poorter, or alternatively, an occupational name for a farmer or gardener derived from poten "to plant, to sow seeds". Compare Potter.
DepuozRomansh Derived from the preposition de "of" and Romansh puoz "well, spring".
DepuydtBelgian Flemish (also De puydt): nickname from Middle Dutch puyt puut ‘frog’ with the addition of the definite article de ‘the’. "Depuydt" means "the frog". It's origins are in Ypres.
De RaisHistory Denoted a person from the historical subregion of France, once a part of the Duchy of Brittany, Pays de Retz, historically called Rais, Rays, or Raiz during the Middle Ages. Gilles de Rais (1405-1440) was a knight and lord from Brittany, known for his confession as a serial killer of children.
DerbyshireEnglish Shire of Derby; one who came from Derbyshire, a county in England.
DeremerDutch Occupational name for a belt maker or cutter of leather straps, from Dutch riem "belt, strap". It could also be a name for a peat digger, someone who "riems" peat.
De RomaMedieval Spanish (Rare) A Spanish locational surname meaning “Of Rome”, perhaps for a Spaniard who lived in Rome or an Italian expat who immigrated to Spain
DerrettEnglish (British) From a Middle English personal name Der(i)et, derived from Old English Dēorgēat, Dȳregēat, which are composed of the elements dēore meaning “dear” or dēor meaning “bold, fierce” + the tribal name Gēat... [more]
DerricottEnglish Habitational name, possibly a variant of Darracott, from Darracott in Devon. However, the present-day concentration of the form Derricott in the West Midlands and Shropshire suggests that this may be a distinct name, from a different source, now lost.
DerryIrish, English English variant of Deary, or alternatively a nickname for a merchant or tradesman, from Anglo-French darree ‘pennyworth’, from Old French denree... [more]
DerungsRomansh Derived from the preposition de "of" and Latin runcare "to weed out, to thin out, to root up", referring to someone who lived near a clearing.
DesaillyFrench Originally denoted a person who came from any of the various places in northern or eastern France called Sailly, which is possibly derived from Old French saillir, salir meaning "to spring", ultimately from Latin saliō... [more]
De SalvoItalian Meaning of "De" is "From", or "Of", so probably "From Salvo".
DesangesFrench (Rare) Means "from the angels", possibly connected to the French title of the Virgin Mary Notre Dame des Anges, meaning "Our Lady of the Angels". Bearers of this surname include Louis William Desanges (1822-1905), an English artist of French descent, and French historian Jehan Desanges (1929-).
De SantaItalian (Tuscan) The surname De Santa was first found in Lucca, a city and comune in Tuscany, capital of the province of Lucca and where Bascilican type churches abound. The history commences in 218 B.C., and passed through many hands in the intervening centuries... [more]
DesaulniersFrench (Quebec) Topographic name denoting a property distinguished by a grove of alder trees, derived from Old French au(l)ne meaning "alder".
De SaussureFrench (Swiss) Referred to a person who came from various places named Saussure, Saulxures or Saussay in northern France. Their names are derived from Medieval Latin salcetum, a derivative of Latin salix meaning "willow"... [more]
DeschainFrench, Literature Of French origin. This is the last name of the character of the Gunslinger Roland in Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series.
DeschanelFrench Derived from French eschamel meaning "stepladder" or des chanels meaning "from the channels, from the little jugs". An occupational nickname for a trader, it supposedly originated in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France... [more]
DeslauriersFrench (Quebec) A topographic name for someone living among laurels, a combination of the fused preposition and plural definite article des ‘from the’ + the plural of Old French lorier ‘laurel’.
DesmaraisFrench Habitational name for someone from any of various places named with Old French mareis, maresc ‘marsh’, as for example Les Marets, in Seine-et-Marne, Centre, Nord, and Picardy.
DesmoinesFrench (Archaic), French (American) An archaic French surname that begins in the US. It denotes a person who lived in places named Des Moines. From French meaning "from the monks" or "of the monks".
DesmoulinsFrench A French surname meaning “of the windmills.” A famous bearer of this surname is Camille Desmoulins, a journalist and politician during the French Revolution who was guillotined.
DesnoyersFrench (Quebec) Means "of the walnut trees", from French word "noyer", meaning walnut. "Des noyers" literally translates to "the walnuts".
DesogusItalian Denotes someone from the town of Sogus, which may have taken its name from Sa bia de is Ogus, "the road of the eyes".
De SouzaPortuguese Means "of Sousa" in Portuguese, referring to the River Sousa flowing through northern Portugal. The word Sousa itself is derived from the Latin saxa, saxum meaning "stone, rock". The surname is more commonly used in Brazil and Portuguese-speaking African countries today.
Des RochesFrench Either a topographic name for someone living among rocks or a habitational name from any of several places named with this word, meaning "from the rocks" in French.
DesrouleauxFrench, Haitian Creole Means "of the scrolls" in French. It is a occupational name for a scribe, a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing... [more]
DesruisseauxFrench, French (Quebec) Topographic name for someone who lived in an area characterized by streams, from the fused preposition and plural definite article des meaning "from the" and ruisseaux (plural of ruisseau) meaning "stream".
DesserJewish Habitational name from the city of Dessau in Germany.
DesslerGerman, Yiddish Meaning Unknown. Known primarily in pop culture as the surname of a certain Michelle in the Fox tv hit 24 and of a certain villain called Albert in Space Battleship Yamato.
De TalleyrandFrench A French noble surname. A cadet branch of the family of sovereign counts of Périgord, they took their name from the estate of Périgord owned by these counts, and date back to Boso I, count of la Marche... [more]
De TiberioItalian Ancient and noble family, originally from Lombardy propagated, over the centuries, in different regions of Italy where its members acquired the nobility and were welcomed in the important offices of the city where they lived... [more]
De ValeraSpanish Originally indicated a person from one of the two towns named Valera in the provinces of Cuenca and Badajoz in Spain. This name was borne by American-born Irish president and prime minister Éamon de Valera (1882-1975; birth name George de Valero, also known as Edward de Valera), who was born to an Irish mother and a Cuban-Spanish father.
DevallFrench, English Devall (also DeVall) is a surname of Norman origin with both English and French ties.Its meaning is derived from French the town of Deville, Ardennes. It was first recorded in England in the Domesday Book.In France, the surname is derived from 'de Val' meaning 'of the valley.'
DevaneyIrish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Duibheannaigh ‘descendant of Duibheannach’, a personal name of uncertain origin; the first element is dubh ‘black’, the second may be eanach ‘marshy place’... [more]
DevereauxEnglish Variant form of Devereux, based on the common English mis-pronunciation "Devero".
De VignerotFrench, French (Belgian) The surname Vignerot was first found in Belgium, where the name became noted for its many branches in the region, each house acquiring a status and influence which was envied by the princes of the region... [more]
De VilPopular Culture Cruella de Vil is fictional character appearing as the antagonist of the novel 'One Hundred and One Dalmatians' (1956) by Dodie Smith, as well as in the 1961 animated movie '101 Dalmatians' and the 1996 live-action movie with the same name... [more]
DevonEnglish Regional name for someone from the county of Devon. In origin, this is from an ancient British tribal name, Latin Dumnonii, perhaps meaning "worshipers of the god Dumnonos".
DevonJamaican Patois (Modern, Rare) The name Devon is of English and Irish origin and means "Warrior of God". This name is also very common in the British West Indies, especially Jamaica.
DevoreFrench French: variant of De Var, a habitational name for someone from a place named Var, for example in Charente. Respelling of French Devors, a habitational name, with the preposition de, for someone from Vors in Aveyron.
DevoyEnglish Anglicized form of Gaelic surname Ó Dubhuidhe ‘descendant of Dubhuidhe’, a name probably derived from dubh "dark, black" and buidhe "sallow".
De WaalDutch, Walloon Means "the Walloon" in Dutch, derived from Middle Dutch wale, originally indicating a person who came from Wallonia, a French-speaking region of southern Belgium. It could also possibly be a variant spelling of Van Der Walle and De Walle meaning "the wall"', though evidence for this is lacking... [more]
DewanIndian, Pakistani Status name for a treasurer or court official, from Arabic diwan "royal court", "tribunal of justice", or "treasury". Under the Mughal administration in India the dewan was usually the highest official in a state.
De WolfDutch, Flemish Means "the wolf", a nickname given to someone associated with wolves in some way, or a habitational name for someone who lived by a sign depicting a wolf. Could also be a patronymic form of Wolf.
DharmasiriSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit धर्म (dharma) meaning "that which is established, law, duty, virtue" and श्री (shri) meaning "diffusing light, radiance, splendour, beauty".
DhulgaleSomali Dhulgale – "Land Holder" (referring to someone who owns or works a large piece of land)
DhunganaNepali From the name of a village in Nepal called Dhungani.
ĐớiVietnamese Vietnamese form of Dai, from Sino-Vietnamese 戴 (đới).
DiabateWestern African From the name of the Diabaté clan of the Mandinka and the closely related Soninke peoples, usually interpreted as “the irresistible.”
DiakosGreek Meaning Deacon. Notable bearer of this name is Athanasios Diakos (1786–1821), a Greek military commander during the Greek War of Independence and a national hero.
DialScottish Variant of Dalziel, representing the usual pronunciation of this name in Scotland. Perhaps also an altered form of Irish Dyal.
DialIndian (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Dayal. It is also found in South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana.
DialWestern African From the name of the Dial clan of the Fulani people of unexplained etymology. The younger form of the clan name is Diallo.
DialloWestern African, Fula Derived from the Fula clan name Jallo of uncertain meaning. Diallo is a common name throughout West Africa.
DiamandisGreek "Diamonds" in Greek. One notable bearer of the surname is Marina Lambrini Diamandis, A Welsh/Greek Songwriter and Singer who preforms under the stage name of "Marina and the Diamonds"
DiamondJewish Americanized form of a Jewish surname, spelled in various ways, derived from modern German Diamant, Demant "diamond", or Yiddish dimet or diment, from the Middle High German diemant (via Latin from Greek adamas ‘unconquerable’, genitive adamantos, a reference to the hardness of the stone)... [more]
DiamondIrish Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Diamáin "descendant of Diamán", earlier Díomá or Déamán, a diminutive of Díoma, itself a pet form of Diarmaid.
DiamondEnglish English variant of Dayman (see Day). Forms with the excrescent d are not found before the 17th century; they are at least in part the result of folk etymology.
DiaoChinese From Chinese 刁 (diāo) referring to the ancient state of Diao, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Shaanxi province. It was adopted due to being homophonous with the character 雕, which was the actual name of the state.
DiasamidzeGeorgian Means "son of Diasami", from a Georgian given name of unknown meaning, perhaps meaning "master" or derived from Abkhaz дәаӡа (dwaʒa) meaning "uncultivated land, virgin soil" (thus used to refer to someone who plowed land)... [more]
DiawaraWestern African From the name of the Diawara clan and ethnic subgroup of the Soninke people which is apparently derived from the name of the town of Dia in Mali or from the name of the medieval Dia Dynasty of Gao, also in Mali.
Di'bonariaSardinian (Rare) (Our Lady of Bonaria) Also known as Blessed Virgin Mary located in Cagliari, Italy... Di meaning (of) and Bonaria meaning "Good Natured". Last name given to honor Our Lady of Bonaria.
Di CiuccioItalian Ciuccio is a surname especially Campano and more precisely of the provinces of Naples and Salerno, should derive from the medieval name Ciuccio, one of the many apheretic hypochoristic forms of the name Francesco, of which a hypochoristic is Francescuccio, which by apheresis becomes Cuccio
DickensheetsEnglish (American) Americanized spelling of German Dickenscheid, a habitational name from a place named Dickenschied in the Hunsrück region. The place name is from Middle High German dicke ‘thicket’, ‘woods’ + -scheid (often schied) ‘border area’ (i.e. ridge, watershed), ‘settler’s piece of cleared (wood)land’.
DickerEnglish Either an occupational name for a digger of ditches or a builder of dikes, or a topographic name for someone who lived by a ditch or dike, derived from Middle English dike or dik meaning "dyke.
DickeyIrish Northern Irish: from a pet form of the personal name Dick 1.
Di ColaItalian The surname Di Cola originates from the diminutive of the male name Nicola, widespread especially in the city of Bari, devoted to its patron saint.
DierJewish the name allegedly means "dyer (of clothes)"
DieringerGerman (Americanized) Americanized form of German Thüringer, regional name for someone from Thuringia, This was also used as a medieval personal name. Americanized form of German Tieringer, habitational name for someone from Tieringen in Württemberg.
DieuFrench, Walloon From French dieu "god" given as a nickname for someone who played Christ in medieval mysteries or for a presumptious or an overly religious person, or from a short for of the given name Dieudonné.
DieulafoyFrench From Old French Dieu la foy meaning "God the faith". Famous bearers were the married couple of French archeologists Marcel Dieulafoy (1844-1920) and Jane Dieulafoy (1951-1916). A medical condition of the stomach causing gastric bleeding called "Dieulafoy's lesion" was named after Dr... [more]
DigbyEnglish Derived from the name of an English town, itself derived from a combination of Old English dic "dyke, ditch" and Old Norse býr "farm, town".
DigginsNorman Diggins came to England in the 11th century wave of migration that was set off by the Norman Conquest of 1066; from the Norman baptismal name which means the son of Diccon, a diminution of the parent name, Richard.
DiggoryEnglish Possibly an anglicized form of Degaré, which might come from the French word egare. It might mean "the lost one".
DikshitIndian, Hindi, Odia From Sanskrit दीक्षित (dikshita) meaning "one who is initiated", ultimately from दीक्षा (diksha) meaning "initiation, dedication". The term was historically used to refer to teachers and scholars of the Brahmin caste.
DilabbioItalian A surname historically used in southern Italy, possibly derived from the Italian "dell avvio" meaning "of the beginning."
DillingerGerman Denoted a person from Dillingen, a district in the region of Swabia in Bavaria, Germany. This name was borne by the infamous John Dillinger (1903-1934), an American gangster and bank robber during the Great Depression.
DillinghamEnglish (British) Habitational name that probably derives from Dullingham in Cambridgeshire which was recorded as Dolingeham in 1214 and Dillyngham in 1298, named in Old English as ‘homestead (Old English hām) of the people (-inga-) of Dull(a)’.
DillonIrish, English Could be an Irish form of the Breton surname de Léon, meaning "of Léon", an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Duilleáen, from the given name Dallán "little blind one", or be from a Norman French personal name derived from Ancient Germanic Dillo, possibly a byname from dil- "destroy".
DilustroLiterature Madame diLustro is described as a fine cook and an excellent detective. She often hosts dinner parties and flies into a rage if one of her guests arrives even five minutes late. Snicket has to dash off to one of her dinner parties while in the middle of writing The Reptile Room.