This is a list of submitted surnames in which the description contains the keywords ruler or of or water.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
CruikshankScottish From a medieval Scottish nickname for someone with a crooked leg (from Scots cruik "bent" + shank "leg"). This was the surname of British caricaturist George Cruikshank (1792-1872) and British actor Andrew Cruikshank (1907-1988).
CrumbleGerman Probably an altered form of German Krumpel or Krümpel a nickname from Middle High German krum(p) 'deformed crooked'; skeletal deformities were common in the Middle Ages often as a result of childhood illnesses such as rickets.
CrytesGerman (Americanized), Dutch It may be an Americanized or altered spelling of a German surname, such as Kreutz, Kreitz, or Kritz, all of which are based on the root kreuz meaning "cross" in German... [more]
CuartoSpanish Means "fourth" in English. It is derived from the Latin word "quartus," which means "fourth." The surname may have originally been used to denote a fourth child in a family or to indicate that the family lived on the fourth floor of a building.
CuatonFilipino Possible alternate transcription of Chinese 廣東 (Guǎngdōng) referring to a coastal province in the South China region.
CuayaAsturian This indicates familial origin within the eponymous parish of the municipality of Grau.
CubaPortuguese, Asturian-Leonese, Galician, Spanish habitational name from any of the places in Portugal (in the provinces of Alentejo and Beira Baixa) or Spain (in Aragon, Asturies, and Galicia) named Cuba, from cuba ‘barrel’ (from Latin cupa)... [more]
CubbonManx Manx contracted form of the Irish Gaeilge "Mac Ghiobúin". See also McCubbon
CuberoSpanish occupational name for a cooper, from an agent derivative of cuba ‘barrel’, ‘tub
CubillasSpanish Denoted a person from one of the various places of this name in Castile and León, Spain, which may derive from a diminutive of Old Spanish cuba meaning "barrel", ultimately from Latin cupa (see Cuba)... [more]
CuerdenEnglish Derived from a geographical locality. 'of Cuerden,' a township in the parish of Leyland, Lancashire.
CuetoSpanish Habitational name from any of numerous places especially in Asturias named with the topographic term cueto meaning “hill, or fortified settlement.”
CuginoItalian Means "cousin" in Italian, with the archaic meaning "relative, kinsman". It may have been a nickname for a prominent or well-connected individual, or for someone who often used the term as a form of address to others.
CulbertEnglish, Scottish, Irish Meaning and origin are uncertain. Possibly derived from an unattested given name composed of beorht "bright" and an uncertain first element, or an altered form of Cuthbert... [more]
CulkinIrish Reduced anglicization of Irish Gaelic Mac Uilcín meaning "descendant of Uilcín", a diminutive of Ulick, itself an Irish diminutive of William... [more]
CullimoreEnglish (Rare) Apparently a habitational name from an unidentified place. There is a place called Colleymore Farm in Oxfordshire, but it is not clear whether this is the source of the surname, with its many variant spellings
CullyEnglish From an Irish surname which was derived from Ó Colla meaning "descendant of Colla". The Old Irish name Colla was a variant of Conla (perhaps the same Connla).
CulpeperEnglish Variant of Culpepper. A famous bearer of the name was English botanist Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654).
CulverEnglish Means "person who keeps or looks after doves", or from a medieval nickname for someone thought to resemble a dove (e.g. in mild disposition) (in either case from Middle English culver "dove")... [more]
CulvértFrench, English, Irish English version of the Old French, Culvere. Means Peaceful and Mildest of tempers.
CumberbatchEnglish Variant of Comberbach. A famous bearer of the name is English actor Benedict Cumberbatch (1976-).
CumberlandEnglish Regional name for someone from Cumberland in northwestern England (now part of Cumbria).
CummerEnglish The surname Cummer has origins in both English and Scottish cultures. In English, it's thought to be a topographic name for someone who lived by a bend in a river, derived from the Middle English word "cummer," meaning "bend" or "meander." In Scottish, it could also be a variant of the surname Comer, derived from the Gaelic word "comar," meaning "confluence" or "meeting of waters."
CurcioItalian Could be derived from the Ancient Roman gens Curtius, or directly from a regional descendant of Latin curtus meaning "shortened, short" or "mutilated, broken, incomplete"... [more]
CureFrench From curé which means “(parish) priest” used as a metonymic occupational name for a servant in the household of a priest or applied as an ironic nickname.
CurialeItalian (Rare) In ancient Rome, the curiales (from co + viria, 'gathering of men') were initially the leading members of a gentes (clan) of the city of Rome. Their roles were both civil and sacred. Each gens curialis had a leader, called a curio... [more]
CurielSpanish Habitational name that comes from the town of Curiel in the Valladolid province of Spain.
CurrentIrish The surname of Current, is of Irish/Scottish with several different families, and meanings of this name. There are many spelling variations of this name.
CurrieScottish, Irish, English Irish: Habitational name from Currie in Midlothian, first recorded in this form in 1230. It is derived from Gaelic curraigh, dative case of currach ‘wet plain’, ‘marsh’. It is also a habitational name from Corrie in Dumfriesshire (see Corrie).... [more]
CusackIrish An Irish family name of Norman origin, originally from Cussac in Guienne (Aquitaine), France. The surname died out in England, but is common in Ireland, where it was imported at the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century.
CusimannoItalian, Sicilian from the personal name Cusimano which may be a fusion of two Christian saints' names: Cosma and Damiano with a loss of the last syllable of one and the first of the other... [more]
CuspedalLeonese It indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the municipality of Santu Miḷḷanu.
CusterGerman (Anglicized) Anglicization of the German surname Köster or Küster, literally "sexton". A famous bearer was George Custer (1839-1876), the American cavalry general. General Custer and his army were defeated and killed by Sioux and Cheyenne forces under Sitting Bull in the Battle of Little Bighorn (1876; also known colloquially as Custer's Last Stand).
ĆwiklińskiPolish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 Masovian villages in Gmina Płońsk: Ćwiklinek or Ćwiklin.
CwynarPolish Polonized form of the German surname Zwirner, an occupational name for a yarn or twine maker, from an agent derivative of Middle High German zwirn ‘twine’, ‘yarn’
CyganPolish Ethnic name or nickname from a word meaning ‘gypsy’, ‘Romany’.Altered spelling of eastern German Zigan, from Hungarian cigány ‘gypsy’.
CypressEnglish Translation of German Zypress, a topographic name for someone living near a cypress tree or a habitational name for someone living at a house distinguished by the sign of a cypress, Middle High German zipres(se) (from Italian cipressa, Latin cupressus), or possibly of any of various Greek family names derived from kyparissos ‘cypress’, as for example Kyparissis, Kyparissos, Kyparissiadis, etc.
CyprianEnglish Possibly an altered spelling of French Cyprien, from a medieval personal name, from Latin Cyprianus (originally an ethnic name for an inhabitant of Cyprus), or a shortened form of Greek Kyprianos, Kyprianis, Kyprianidis, ethnic names for an inhabitant of Cyprus (Greek Kypros), or patronymics from the personal name Kyprianos (of the same derivation)... [more]
CzechPolish, English From the ethnonym meaning "Czech", or from the short form of a personal name such as Czesław. The English surname is borrowed from the Polish surname, or from Czech or Slovak Čech.
CziborHungarian Hungarian surname derived from the Slavic given name Ctibor. The Hungarian soccer player Zoltán Czibor (1929-1997) was a famous bearer of this name.
CzyżewskimPolish Name for someone from any of various places called Czyżew or Czyżewo, derived from Polish czyż meaning "siskin".
CzyżykiewiczPolish Means "son of the one nicknamed or associated with a siskin" from Czyżyk meaning "siskin (bird)".
DaaeLiterature, Norwegian, Danish (Rare), Swedish (Rare) Norwegian surname, originating in Trondheim in the 17th century. Also a variant of Daa, the name of a Danish noble family which originated in Southern Jutland in the 14th century... [more]
D'abbevilleFrench Means "of Abbeville" Abbeville is a commune in France. Takes its name from Latin Abbatis Villa meaning "Abbot's Village".
DabieAkan (Latinized, Modern) Dabie was originally from the Bono people of Ghana and it is portrayed as a royal name amongst the people. Many individuals who have inherited this name are Chiefs. It's meaning is someone who's a Warrior.
D'AbruzzoItalian Variant of Abruzzo. It is the real surname of the American actor Alan Alda (1936-), who was born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo.
DaceyEnglish, Irish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Déiseach meaning "of the Déisi", the name of an archaic Irish social class derived from Old Irish déis "vassal, tenant, subject".
DaftEnglish This is an English surname which was especially associated with the Midland counties of the country. It derived from the Old English word of the pre-7th century "gedaeft" meaning "meek" or "mild", and as such it was a pre-Medieval personal name of some kind of popularity.
DagenaisFrench (Quebec) Denotes a person originally from the prefecture of Agen in southwestern France.
DaggettEnglish Derived from the Old French word "Dague", meaning knife or dagger, and as such was a Norman introduction into England after the 1066 Conquest. The name is a medieval metonymic for one who habitually carried a dagger, or who was a manufacturer of such weapons.
DağlıoğluTurkish Means "son of the mountaineer" from Turkish dağlı meaning "mountaineer, highlander".
DagohoyFilipino, Cebuano From a shortened form of the Cebuano phrase dagon sa huyuhoy meaning "talisman of the breeze", which was the nom de guerre of Filipino rebel Francisco "Dagohoy" Sendrijas (1724-1800).
DagotFrench Derived from the Old French word "fagot", meaning "bundle of firewood". This was likely given as an occupational surname to a gatherer or seller of firewood.
DahanJewish (Sephardic) Occupational name for a painter or a seller of oils from Arabic دُهْن (duhn) meaning "grease, fat, oil".
DahlénSwedish, Norwegian Combination of Swedish dal "valley" and the common surname suffix -én.
DahlerGerman From a short form of an ancient Germanic personal name, possibly a cognate with Anglo-Saxon deal, the first part of which means “proud” or “famous.”
DahlerNorwegian Habitational name from the farm name Daler, a plural indefinite form of dal meaning “valley.”
DahlgrenSwedish Combination of Swedish dal "valley" and gren "branch".
DahlinSwedish Combination of Swedish dal "valley" and the common surname suffix -in.
DahlkeGerman Eastern German: from a pet form of the Slavic personal names Dalibor or Dalimir, which are both derived from dal- ‘present’, ‘gift’.
DahlqvistSwedish Combination of Swedish dal "valley" and qvist "twig, branch".
DahmerGerman, Danish A northern German or Danish habitual name for someone from one of the many places named Dahme in Brandenburg, Holstein, Mecklenburg, or Silesia. A famous bearer of this name was Jeffrey Dahmer, serial killer (1960 - 1993).
ĐáiVietnamese Vietnamese form of Dai, from Sino-Vietnamese 戴 (đái).
DaiChinese From Chinese 戴 (dài) referring to the ancient state of Dai, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Henan province.
DainoFilipino From daino ‘fallow deer’, applied as a nickname, perhaps for someone who was timid or fleet of foot, or as a metonymic occupational name for a game warden or hunter.
DaintonEnglish Habitational name possibly derived from an older form of Doynton, a village in Gloucestershire, England, meaning "Dydda’s settlement", or perhaps from the hamlet Dainton in Devon meaning "Dodda’s settlement".
DakeEnglish The origins of the name Dake are from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It is derived from the personal name David. Daw was a common diminutive of David in the Middle Ages. The surname is a compound of daw and kin, and literally means "the kin of David."
DakurigeJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 駄栗毛 (Dakurige) meaning "Dakurige", a division in the area of Sawane in the city of Sado in the prefecture of Niigata in Japan.
DalbyEnglish, Danish, Norwegian From any of the locations call Dalby from the old Norse elements dalr "valley" and byr "farm, settlement" meaning "valley settlement". Used by one of the catholic martyrs of England Robert Dalby... [more]
DallimoreEnglish An English surname probably derived from the French de la mare, meaning "of the sea", though some contend that "mare" springs from the English word moor. This surname probably arose after the Norman conquest of Britain.
DallowayEnglish Meant "person from Dallaway", West Midlands (perhaps from a Norman personal name, "person from (de) Alluyes", northern France). A fictional bearer of the surname is Mrs Dalloway, central figure of the eponymous novel (1925) by Virginia Woolf.
DalrympleScottish Habitational name from Dalrymple, a village and civil parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland, said to be named from Gaelic dail chruim puill meaning "field of the crooked stream" or "dale of the crooked pool".
Da LuzPortuguese From a religious epithet meaning ‘of the light’, specifically the Marian name "Nuestra Señora da Luz" (which means "Our Lady of the Light").
DalzielScottish Means "person from Dalyell", in the Clyde valley (probably "white field"). The name is standardly pronounced "dee-el". A fictional bearer is Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel, one half of the detective team of 'Dalziel and Pascoe' in the novels (1970-2009) of Reginald Hill.
ĐàmVietnamese Vietnamese form of Tan, from Sino-Vietnamese 譚 (đàm).
DamasFrench French form of Damascus. Famous bearer Léon-Gontran Damas (1912-1978) was a French poet and politican from French Guiana, cofounder of the Négritude Mouvement and author of the collection "Black Label".
DamaskEnglish Presumably an occupational name for someone who sold damask a richly woven material of a kind originally made in Damascus.
DameronFrench Nickname for a foppish or effeminate young man, Old French dameron, a derivative of Latin dominus "lord", "master" plus two diminutive endings suggestive of weakness or childishness.
DamianFrench, Spanish, Italian, Czech, Slovak, Polish From the medieval personal name Damian, Greek Damianos (from damazein "to subdue"). St. Damian was an early Christian saint martyred in Cilicia in ad 303 under the emperor Domitian, together with his brother Cosmas... [more]
DampierEnglish Habitational name from any of various places in northern France called Dampierre named in honor of St. Peter. The first element Dam- or Don is an Old French title of respect, from Latin dominus meaning “lord,” often prefixed to the names of saints.
DanesiEdo THERE ARE TWO SETS OF DANESI. ONE IN ITALY AND THE OTHER IN EDO STATE, NIGERIA, WEST AFRICA. DANESI ITALIAN MEANS «MAN FROM DENMARK» AFRICAN DANESI MEANS «PRAISE BE TO THE CREATOR»
DangalNepali (Modern) The surname Dangal is supposed to be the shortened form of the demonym Dangali (pronounced DHAA-NGAA-LEE) for Dang (pronounced DHAA-NG), a district in Mid-Western Nepal. The surname is found to have been adopted by various communities, especially the Tiwaris (for the surname Tiwari), after they migrated to various regions of the countries and the locals in those regions referred to them as Dangalis (later shortened to Dangal) instead of their original surnames.
DangerEnglish (Rare), Popular Culture This has been seen in records of the most uncommon American surnames. It has also been used in popular culture, in the show Henry Danger. Although, it's not the character's actual last name.
DangerfieldEnglish Habitational name, with fused preposition d(e), for someone from any of the various places in northern France called Angerville, from the Old Norse personal name Ásgeirr and Old French ville "settlement, village"... [more]
DangersGerman Patronymic from the personal name Anger. Habitational name for someone from the city of Angers.
DannebergJewish Jewish (Ashkenazic): possibly a habitational name from any of various places in Germany named Dannenberg.
D'annunzioItalian Patronymical form of Annunzio, Italian form of the Latin given name Annuntius. A famous bearer of this surname is Italian poet Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863-1938).
DanoFrench Perhaps an altered spelling of French Danot or Danon, from pet forms of Jourdain or Daniel.
DanprontamEnglish (Latinized, ?) A unknown form of Daniel, Dan, and Danny originating from the 17th century. While also being a slang term for a language.
DanzGerman Derived from a given name, a short form of the name Tandulf, the origins of which are uncertain. (In some cases, however, this surname may have originated as a nickname denoting a person who liked to dance, from the Middle High German word tanz, danz "dance".)
DanzaItalian Probably a habitational name from a place in Salerno, Italy. In the case of American actor Tony Danza, it’s a shortened form of Iadanza, used as a stage name.
DanzaItalian Means "dance" in Italian, a nickname for a dancer. Alternatively, it could derive from an Italian form of the given name Abundantius.
DänzerGerman Occupational name for a professional acrobat or entertainer; variant of Tanzer.
DanzigGerman Denoted a person who was from the city of Gdańsk, Poland (called Danzig in German).
ĐàoVietnamese Vietnamese form of Tao, from Sino-Vietnamese 陶 (đào).