AkutagawaJapanese Akuta (芥) means "mustard", kawa (川) means "river", kawa changes to gawa due to rendaku. Notable bearers of this surname are Ryuunosuke Akutagawa (芥川龍之介), a Japanese writer and Ryuunosuke Akutagawa from Bungou Stray dogs who shares the same name.
AkuzawaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 愛久沢 (Akuzawa) meaning "Akuzawa", a former large village in the former Japanese province of Kaga in parts of present-day Ishikawa, Japan.... [more]
AkuzawaJapanese From Japanese 阿久沢 (Akuzawa), a variant spelling of 悪沢 (Akuzawa) meaning "Akuzawa", a division in the area of Azuma in the city of Midori in the prefecture of Gumma in Japan.... [more]
AlabasterEnglish From the name of a whitish kind of gypsum used for vases, ornaments and busts, ultimately deriving from Greek alabastros, itself perhaps from Egyptian 'a-labaste "vessel of the goddess Bast"... [more]
AlamedaSpanish Topographic name from alameda meaning ‘poplar grove’, a collective form of álamo meaning ‘poplar’, or a habitational name from any of the many places named with this word.
AlamilloSpanish Spanish: topographic name from alamillo a diminutive of álamo 'poplar' or a habitational name from any of the many places called with this word in particular one in Ciudad Real.
ÁlamoSpanish, Portuguese Either a topographic name from álamo "poplar" or a habitational name from any of several places in Spain and Portugal named with this word.
AlaouiArabic (Maghrebi) From the given name Ali 1. This is the name of the current ruling royal family of Morocco, which was founded in 1631.
AlarcónSpanish Alarcón was a fort owned by the arabs in the Iberian Peninsula (Alarcón literally meaning 'the fort' in arabic), and the spaniards had the goal of owning it during the spanish reconquista. After 9 months of siege, Fernán Martínez de Ceballos climbed the walls of the fort using only two daggers and opened the gates from the inside allowing the castillan army to come in and conquer Alarcón... [more]
AlaricGerman From the given name Alaric. Historically, the name was borne by Alaric I, the Visigothic king renowned for the Sack of Rome in 410 CE.
AlbalatCatalan Means "white winged" from medieval Catalan alb ("white") and alat ("winged"), originally from Latin albalatus ("of white wings") and used by the Visigoths before the Umayyad conquest of Hispania to name the cotton thistle because of its whitish spiny-winged stems.
AlbaneseItalian Southern Italian : ethnic name from albanese ‘(an) Albanian’, applied to someone from Albania or from one of the Albanian settlements in Abruzzo, Apulia, Campania, and Sicily.
AlbanyScottish, English (American) From the title of the Dukes of Albany (House of Stuart), hence a name borne by their retainers. It is an infrequent surname in England and Scotland. The city of Albany, NY (formerly the Dutch settlement of Beverwijck or Fort Orange) was named for James Stuart, Duke of York and Albany; he was the brother of King Charles II and later king in his own right as James II... [more]
AlbeeScottish Means either "son of the blond one" or "son of Alpin".
AlbeizBasque (Rare) From the name of a village (also called Albéniz) in Álava, Spain, of uncertain etymology. Possibly derived from Basque albeni, which could mean "strand of thread", "thin, twisted", or "edge, bank, margin" combined with the toponymic suffix -iz, or perhaps (h)aitz "rock, stone"... [more]
AlbinetFrench Derived from the medieval French masculine given name Albinet, which was a diminutive (as the -et suffix indicates) of the given name Albin.... [more]
AlcaláSpanish (Latin American) Derived from numerous towns with this name (fortified villages during the Moorish occupation of Spain), derived from Arabic القلعة (al-qalʿah) meaning "fortress, fortification, citadel".
AlcaldeSpanish Spanish: from alcalde 'mayor' from Arabic al-qāḍī 'the judge' a title dating from the days of Moorish rule in Spain.
AlcántaraSpanish Habitational name denoting someone originally from the municipality of Alcántara in Extremadura, Spain. The name is ultimately derived from Arabic اَلْقَنْطَرَة (al-qanṭara) meaning "the bridge".
AlcázarSpanish Habitational name from any of various places for example in the provinces of Ciudad Real Cuenca and Granada named with the word alcázar "citadel" or "palace" (from Arabic al "the" and qaṣr "fortress" a borrowing of Latin castrum; see Castro).
AlcockEnglish From a diminutive of given names starting with Al-.
AlcornScottish Scottish variation of Allcorn, a name that originally came from Alchorn, a manor in the parish of Rotherfield, Sussex.
AlcottEnglish English: ostensibly a topographic name containing Middle English cott, cote ‘cottage’ (see Coates). In fact, however, it is generally if not always an alteration of Alcock, in part at least for euphemistic reasons.
AlcubierreAragonese This indicates familial origin within the vicinity of the Sierra d’Alcubierre.
AldaiaBasque, Spanish From the name of a municipality in Valencia, Spain, probably derived from Arabic الضيعة (ad-day'a) meaning "the village" (compare Aldea).
AldaneEnglish (Rare) Possibly derived from the place name Aldham, composed of either Okd English eald "old" or the Anglo-Saxon personal name Ealda combined with ham "farmstead, settlement".
AldatzBasque The name of two towns in Basque Country, Spain, derived from alde "side, slope" and the suffix -tza.
AldereteSpanish Habitational name from any of the places in Galicia (Spain) and Portugal called Alderete probably from a Gothic personal name or derived from the Old English personal, or first name “Aldrich,” which means old ruler
AldermanEnglish Status name from Middle English alderman, Old English ealdorman, "elder". In medieval England an alderman was a member of the governing body of a city or borough; also the head of a guild.
al-DosariArabic Means "the Dosari" in Arabic, referring to a person from the Dawasir (الدواسر) Bedouin tribe of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. The tribe was formed in the town of Wadi Al Dawasir, in the Riyadh Province of Saudi Arabia.
AldousEnglish Aldous is one of the thousands of new names that the Norman Conquest of 1066 brought to England. It comes from the Old English female given name Aldus. Ald, the first part of the name, means old.
AlduateBasque (Rare) From the name of a location in Urraulbeiti valley, Navarre, possibly derived from Basque altu "tall, high" combined with either una "pasture" or une "place" and -eta "place of, abundance of"... [more]
al-DulaimiArabic Means "the Dulaimi" in Arabic, referring to a person from the Dulaim (الدليم) royal tribe of Iraq, Syria, Kuwait and Jordan.
AleghieriMedieval Italian (Tuscan, Rare, Archaic) It has a hard to trace meaning, but the research shows that the meaning might be "clurgyman's family" or "son of professers." People know this last name for the poet Dante Aligheri who wrote the Dievine Comedy.
AlemdarTurkish Occupational name for a carrier of flags, banners or ensigns, from Turkish alem meaning "banner, flag".
AleongTrinidadian Creole, Caribbean, Chinese The surname Aleong is likely of Chinese origin, commonly found in Trinidad and Tobago and other parts of the Caribbean. It may be derived from the Chinese surnames Liang (梁), meaning "bridge" or "beam," or Long (龙), meaning "dragon," both of which carry symbolic cultural significance.
AlerEnglish (Rare), German From the alder tree, a tree found in the Americas, Europe and parts of Asia. The much less common given name Aler is possibly derived from it.
AlfanoItalian From the name of a town in Salerno, Campania, derived from the Ancient Greek toponym Αλφειός (Alpheios) meaning "whiteish". ... [more]
AlfesJewish Official website of the the City of Alfés (in the Province Lleida, Catalonia, Spain) says:... [more]
AlfordEnglish, Scottish Habitational name from any of several places in England, derived from Old English ford "ford, river crossing" and an uncertain first element, possibly eald "old", or the given name Ealdgyð.
AlforqueSpanish (Philippines) Possibly from the name of a place called Alforque in Zaragoza province, Spain, meaning uncertain.
Al-ghamdiArabic Means "the Ghamdi", referring to the Ghamd tribe of Saudi Arabia.
al-GhoulArabic (Mashriqi) Perhaps from the Arabic folklore tradition of the ghoul. In the English speaking world, this name is probably known from the Batman comic/movie characters Ra's al Ghul and Talia al Ghul.
AligRomansh Of debated origin and meaning; theories include a derivation from the given name Alexius.
AlighieriItalian From the given name Alighiero, Italian form of Aldiger. A famous bearer of this surname is Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), author of the Divine Comedy.
AlipantePortuguese (Portuguese-style, Rare) The meaning of the given name Alipante represents compassion, creativity, reliability, generosity, loyalty and a love for domestic life.... [more]
AljasEstonian Aljas is an Estonian surname. It is a corruption of "haljas" meaning "green" and "verdant".
Al-KadamaniArabic used Dutch "The Voice Of Holland"'s Hanin Al-Kadamani
AlkaiagaBasque From the name of a neighborhood in the municipality of Lesaka, Nevarre, of uncertain etymology. The last element is almost certainly -aga "place of, group of"; suggestions for the other elements include Basque a(ha)l "power, capacity, might" and kai "dock, pier, harbour", or alka "wild oats, wild grass", or alk "rock" and ai "slope".
al-KashgariUyghur, Arabic Alternate transcription of Uyghur كاشغەرىي and Arabic كاشغري (see Kashgari). A famous bearer was Mahmud al-Kashgari (1005-1102), an 11th-century Kara-Khanid scholar and lexicographer of the Turkic languages from the city of Kashgar in Xinjiang, China.
Al-khwārizmīMedieval Arabic This is the name of 9th century mathematician and astronomer Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmi, derived from the region of Khwarazm
AllaireBreton, French (Quebec) From the name of the town of Allaire (Alaer in Breton) in Brittany, France. Other theories suggest it may come from Hilaire or from Alor.... [more]
AllalaBasque, Spanish Variant spelling of Ayala, in at least one case altered to avoid confusion with an unrelated person of the same name, and apparently to distance the bearer from prejudice against hispanics.
AllelyIrish From Irish Mac Ailghile meaning "descendant of Ailghil".
AllemanFrench (Cajun), Spanish (Canarian), German From the French and Spanish word for "German". Believed to have originated in the Alsace-Lorraine region. Some holders of the name migrated to the Canary Islands and are part of the larger Isleños population that settled throughout the Americas... [more]
AllemannGerman (Swiss) Derived from German Alemanne, originally "member of the Alemanni tribe", this word came to denote "of Germanic descent". It was used to refer to members of the German-speaking population of Switzerland (as opposed to those who spoke one of the Romance languages; compare Welsch).
AllenEnglish Possibly derived from the feminine given name Aline, a medieval diminutive of Adeline.
AllgeierGerman The harried officials at Ellis Island began to assign surnames based upon the pronunciation of the name by the immigrant, rather than attempting to ferret out the actual spelling. ... [more]
AllgoodLiterature Combination of the English words "all" and "good". It is used to denote a virtuous or heroic character in works of fiction.
AlliluyevRussian Russian surname. The feminine form Alliluyeva was borne by Nadezhda Alliluyeva (1901-1932), the second wife of Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin.
AllisEnglish From the Middle English and Old French female personal name Alis (Alice), which, together with its diminutive Alison, was extremely popular in England in the Middle Ages. The personal name is of Germanic origin, brought to England from France by the Normans; it is a contracted form of Germanic Adalhaid(is), which is composed of the elements adal "noble" and haid "brilliance, beauty".
AllisterScottish The name Allister is derived from the given name Alexander, which in turn was originally derived from the Greek name, which means defender of men. In the late 11th century, Queen Margaret introduced the name, which she had heard in the Hungarian Court where she was raised, into Scotland by naming one of her sons Alexander... [more]
al-LogariPashto, Persian Denoted a person from Logar, one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan.
AllorFrench (Quebec) Common Canadian spelling of the French surname Allard, reflecting the French pronunciation.
AllowayEnglish Means (i) "person from Alloway, Alloa or Alva", the name of various places in Scotland ("rocky plain"); or (ii) from the medieval male personal name Ailwi (from Old English Æthelwīg, literally "noble battle").
AllredEnglish From the Middle English personal name Alured, a form of Alfred, which was sometimes written Alvred, especially in Old French texts.
AlmarzaSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 localities: the Castilian municipality of Almarza, Comarca of El Valle or the Riojan municipality of Almarza de Cameros.
AlmásiHungarian Habitational name for someone from any of various places called Almás, derived from Hungarian alma meaning "apple".
AlmazánSpanish Habitational name demoting someone originally from the municipality of Almazán in Castile and León, Spain. The name itself is derived from Arabic المكان المحصن (al-makān al-ḥiṣn) meaning "the fortified place" or "the stronghold".
AlmenaraSpanish Almenara in Spanish is "beacon", but it is an old kind of beacon that consisted of a fire that was lit on top of the battlements to give a signal.
AlmendingerUpper German, German (Swiss) Habitational name for someone from a place called Allmendingen, of which there are two examples in Switzerland, in the canton of Bern, and one in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
al-MohannadiArabic (Mashriqi) Originally indicated a person from the Al Muhannadi (أل مهند) or Al-Mahanda (المهاندة) tribe based primarily in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, especially in Qatar. The tribe itself is derived from the given name Muhannad.
Al MokaddemArabic History: Descendants of the blessed Fatima the daughter of prophet Mohammed in the Arabian Peninsula.... [more]
AlmondEnglish From the Middle English personal name Almund, from Old English Æthelmund, "noble protection" and variant of Allman, assimilated by folk etymology to the vocabulary word denoting the tree.
al-RumaithiArabic Originally indicated a person who came from the city of Al-Rumaitha in Iraq, or the Rumaithiya area in Kuwait City, Kuwait. The place names are derived from either the Arabic words الرمث (al-ramth) or حافة (rimth), both the names of a type of flowering plant (genus Haloxylon), called saxaul in English... [more]
AlsEnglish Means "son of Ale" in English, Ale being a short form of any of various personal names beginning with al-.
AlsopEnglish Habitational name, now chiefly found in the Midlands, for a person from Alsop-en-le-Dale, a chapelry in the parish of Ashborne, Derbyshire. The place name itself meant "Ælle's valley" from the genitive of the Old English personal name Ælle and Old English hōp meaning "enclosed valley" (compare Hope).
AlstonEnglish A locational surname, derived from the many townships in England of the same name, meaning 'of the old manor or of the hillside'
AltGerman, Jewish From German alt ‘old’, typically applied as a distinguishing epithet to the older of two bearers of the same personal name.
AltdorferGerman Denoted a person who lived in the capital of Uri canton in Switzerland or the municipality in Landshut, Bavaria, both derived from German alt "old" and Dorf "village" or Yiddish דאָרף (dorf) "village, countryside"... [more]
AlthamEnglish Altham is a surname of English origin, based on the placename Altham, Lancashire.
Al ThaniArabic Means "the second" in Arabic. This is the name of the royal family of Qatar.
AlthoffGerman A surname predominantly found in Westphalia and the Rhineland region of Germany which is derived from German alt "old" and Hof (Hoff in the local dialects) "farmstead; farm; manor".
al-TikritiArabic Originally indicated a person who came from the city of Tikrit in Iraq. This was the birth surname of the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein (1937-2006).
AltonEnglish From a place name meaning "town at the source of the river" in Old English.
AltounianArmenian Meaning unknown. A famous bearer was Roger Altounyan (1922-1987), Anglo-Armenian physician and the namesake of Roger in the Swallows and Amazons books series.
AltringerGerman Habitational name for someone from a place called Altringen or Aldingen, of which there are two in Württemberg.
AlukoYoruba From àlùkò ‘woodcock’, said to be a name adopted by Ijesha textile hawkers to deflect the curses of their debtors.