TannenGerman, Jewish German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) habitational name from any of several places in Lower Saxony or Baden named with German Tannen ‘pine’, or from a short form of any of the many compound names formed with this element... [more]
TannhäuserGerman Habitational name for someone from any of the places called Tannhausen in Brandenburg, Silesia or Württemberg.
TappEnglish, German Derived from an Old English given name Tæppa, of uncertain origin and meaning. In German, it is a nickname for a clumsy person or a simpleton, derived from Middle Low German tappe meaning "oaf".
TapuMoriori Tapu in the Moriori language means sacred. This was the surname of a 19th century Owenga Moriori leader named Hirawanu Tapu (?-1900).
TarabayArabic History of this surname is unknown. A famous bearer with this last name is Nick E. Tarabay, a Lebanese-American actor.
TarafdarBengali From a title which denoted a holder of a taraf (a type of administrative division formerly used in South Asia), itself derived from Arabic طرف (taraf) meaning "area, section, side" and the Persian suffix دار (dar) indicating ownership.
TarantoItalian Habitational name from the southern Italian city and provincial capital of this name (from Latin Tarentum from Greek Taras). Variant of Tarantino and Di Taranto.
TarbellEnglish Tarbell is an alteration of the English placename Turville in Buckinghamshire in England.
TarchaneiotesGreek (1) Either from the village of Tarchaneion in Thrace, (2) from Mongol word targan, for "smith",(3) from the Khazar noble title tarkhan, ultimately of Sogdian/Saka origin.
TardáguilaSpanish Tardáguila is a Spanish surname that is believed to have originated from the Basque region of Spain. The surname is a combination of the words "tarda", which means late, and "aguila", which means eagle... [more]
TarguistiArabic (Maghrebi) Moroccan (northern): habitational name for someone from the town of Targuist.
TarkowskiPolish Habitational name for someone from Tarkowo in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship or Tarków in Masovian Voivodeship (of uncertain origin compare tarka ‘grater rasper’).
TaronGerman (Rare) The standardized variant of Tarruhn which has origins in the Neumark region of Brandenburg, Prussia dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. The Taron family was one of many German families who left the Neumark region and moved eastward into present-day Poland and Ukraine... [more]
TartakovskyRussian, Jewish Name for someone originally from the town of Tartakiv (or Tartakov) in Ukraine, derived from Ukrainian тартак (tartak) meaning "sawmill".
TartuEstonian Tartu is an Estonian surname derived from the city of the same name in Tartu County.
TarverEnglish Uncertain etymology. Possibly derived from Thorferth, a variant of the Old Norse given name Þórfreðr (compare Tolfree), or perhaps from Torver, the name of a former village in Lancashire... [more]
TasmanDutch Derived from Dutch tas "bag" and man "person, man". Usually a metonymic name for someone who made bags, though in at least one case it was taken from the name of a ship, De Tas.
TassiItalian Could be a patronymic form of the given name Tasso, indicate the bearer is from one of several municipalities called Tasso, or be a nickname from Italian tasso meaning "badger (animal)" or "yew".
TataraJapanese From 多 (ta) meaning "many", 々, a phonetic character indicting a duplication of the beginning kanji, combined with 良 (ra) meaning "good".
TauntonEnglish Habitational name from Taunton in Somerset, Taunton Farm in Coulsdon, Surrey, or Tanton in North Yorkshire. The Somerset place name was originally a combination of a Celtic river name (now the Tone, possibly meaning ‘roaring stream’) + Old English tūn ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’... [more]
TawneyEnglish, Norman Habitational name from either of two places, Saint-Aubin-du-Thennay or Saint-Jean-du-Thennay, in Eure, Normandy, both so named from an uncertain first element (possibly a Gallo-Roman personal name or the Gaulish word tann ‘oak’, ‘holly’) + the locative suffix -acum.
TeagardenLow German The surname Teagarden was first found in Bavaria, where the name Tiegarten was anciently associated with the tribal conflicts of the area. The name appeared in Solingen as Thegarden as early as 1374 and was recorded as Tegarden in 1488... [more]
TeareManx Manx form of McIntyre, from Manx "mac y teyr" and Irish "mac an tSaoir" meaning "son of the craftsman"
TeasdaleEnglish From Teesdale, the name of a valley of the River Tees in northern England, derived from the river's name (meaning "warmth" in Old English) combined with dæl meaning "valley".
TecsonFilipino From Hokkien 德孫 (tiak sun) meaning "virtuous grandchild, benevolent grandchild". The bearers of this name are said to be descended from any of the three Tek Son brothers who originally came from Guangzhou, China.
TecuceanuRomanian A topographical Romanian surname meaning "from Tecuci". Tecuci is a city in the Galaţi county of Romania.
TedderEnglish From the Middle English word Thedere or Teddere which either comes from the Old English name Thēodhere or the Germanic name Theudher. Alternatively, it could be an occupational name from the Middle English Teddere, meaning “one who teds”... [more]
TederichGerman, Swiss, Scandinavian The origin and meaning of the surname Tederich is uncertain. It may be derived from the German word "Teder," which means tender or soft, or a variation of the surname Tiederich, which is a habitational name derived from Tiederen, a place name in Holstein.... [more]
TefftEnglish Variant of English Taft. This surname was already well established in Connecticut and Rhode Island by 1715.
TegaldoItalian This surname is the Piedmontese origin. The Tegaldo last name comes from the Latin Teca (= shell beans). Its meaning is grower of vegetables (bean). Also it is known as vegetable farming... [more]
TegginMedieval Welsh derived from tha ancient area of now Flintshire which was named Tegeingl
TegnérSwedish Derived from the name of Tegnaby parish in Småland, Sweden. The name was originally spelled Tegnérus, but was later shortened to Tegnér. Notable bearers include Alice Tegnér (1864-1943), composer of many Swedish hymns and children's songs, and Esaias Tegnér (1782-1846), bishop and writer.
TelfordEnglish From the words taelf meaning "plateau" and ford meaning "river crossing"... [more]
TelgerLow German Derivative of Telge, a topographic name denoting an enclosed tree nursery.
TellecheaBasque Castilianized spelling of Telletxea, a habitational name meaning "(from) the house with tiles", composed of teila "roof tile" and etxe "house, home, building".
TéllezSpanish from the given name Tello which is the Spanish form of the name Tellus, meaning "earth" in Latin
TempestEnglish (British) English (Yorkshire): nickname for someone with a blustery temperament, from Middle English, Old French tempest(e) ‘storm’ (Latin tempestas ‘weather’, ‘season’, a derivative of tempus ‘time’).
TempleEnglish, French Occupational name or habitational name for someone who was employed at or lived near one of the houses ("temples") maintained by the Knights Templar, a crusading order so named because they claimed to occupy in Jerusalem the site of the old temple (Middle English, Old French temple, Latin templum)... [more]
TemplerEnglish Templer is an Old English surname denoting either a servant of one of the Knights Templar, or a person living near or serving at a church. The meaning is “church attendant”.
TemplierFrench French variant of Temple, given to someone who was a member of the Templar order.
TemplinGerman German habitational name from a place so named in Brandenburg, of Slavic origin.
Ten BoomDutch Means "at the tree" in Dutch. A notable bearer of this surname was Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983), a German woman who helped Jewish people take refuge into her home during the Second World War.
TennantEnglish, Scottish The Strathclyde-Briton people of ancient Scotland were the first to use the name Tennant. It is a name for someone who works as a tenant farmer. The name was applied to those who paid for the rent on their land through working the fields and donating a percentage of the take to the landlord... [more]
TennōjiJapanese (Rare) Composed of Japanese ten 天 meaning "heaven," ō (which becomes nō due to renjō) 王 meaning "king," and ji 寺 meaning "temple" or "Buddhist temple."
TennōjiyaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 天王寺谷 (Tennōjiya), script-changed from 天王寺屋 (Tennōjiya) meaning "Tennōji Store", a store that was in the ward of Tennōji in the city of Ōsaka in the prefecture of Ōsaka in Japan.
Te PokiMaori The word Te means "the." The word Poki possibly means "to clear the garden." This was the name of a Ngati Mutunga tidewaiter and constable on what is now the Chatham Islands named Toenga Te Poki.
Ter-grigoryanArmenian The surname Grigoryan derives from the name Grigor, which is Armenian pronunciation of the name Gregory (it derives from Greek word, γρηγορος, and means 'watchful', 'alert'). Adding to the name the prefix Ter- is the way people call the priests in Armenia (in English often the word "Father" is used instead)... [more]
TerpstraWest Frisian, Dutch Derived from terp, a kind of artificial hill used as shelter during floods or high tide, and the Frisian habitational suffix -stra.
TerraccianoItalian Derived from Italian terrazzano "inhabitant of a walled city or castle; fellow countryman, villager, peasant", ultimately derived from Latin terra "land, earth, country".
TerracinaItalian From the name of a city in Lazio, Italy, called Tarracina in Latin.
TerrienFrench Topographic name from an adjectival derivative of terre "land", denoting someone who lived and worked on the land, i.e. a peasant. It is Americanized frequently as Landers, and occasionally as Farmer.
TesauroItalian metonymic occupational name for a treasurer or person in charge of financial administration from Old Italian tesauro "treasure treasury" (from Latin thesaurus "hoard"). It may also be from the personal name Tesauro with the same origin.
TesoroSpanish, Italian from tesoro "treasure" (from Latin thesaurus "hoard") applied as a metonymic occupational name for a treasurer. In some cases this may be a habitational name from El Tesoro in southern Spain... [more]
TessierFrench Occupational Name For A Weaver, From Old French Tissier (From Late Latin Texarius, A Derivative Of Texere ‘To Weave’). It Is Also Found In England As A Surname Of Huguenot Origin. Compare Tacey.
TestaburgerPopular Culture Wendy Testaburger is one of the reoccurring characters on the animated TV series South Park
ThackerayEnglish Famous bearer is William Makepeace Thackeray, author of the novel Vanity Fair. ... [more]
ThackeryEnglish English (Yorkshire) habitational name from Thackray in the parish of Great Timble, West Yorkshire, now submerged in Fewston reservoir. It was named with Old Norse þak ‘thatching’, ‘reeds’ + (v)rá ‘nook’, ‘corner’.
ThamesEnglish Derived from the name of the River Thames, a major river in England. It is thought to have derived from Celtic Tamesis, which may have meant "dark, cloudy" or "turbid, turbulent".
ThanosGreek From a short form of the personal name Athanasios, literally "immortal". This was the name of several saints venerated in the Greek Orthodox Church, the most important of them being Athanasios the Great (293–373), theologian and patriarch of Alexandria in Egypt.
ThapaNepali, Indian, Bengali, Assamese, Hindi, Odia From an ancient military rank used in the Khasa Kingdom, which ruled parts of South Asia from the 11th to 14th centuries.
TharuNepali Possibly refers to the Tharu, an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal.
TheriaultFrench (Rare) Possibly from the Greek "therion" which means a beast of a nondescript nature.
TheronSouthern African, Afrikaans, Occitan Habitational name for someone from any of various locations in Occitanie named Théron or Thérond, ultimately from Latin torus meaning "elevation, height, embankment". A famous bearer is South African and American actress Charlize Theron (1975-).
TherouxFrench (Quebec) Southern French (Théroux): of uncertain origin; perhaps a topographic name for someone living by "the wells", from a plural variant of Occitan théron "well".
ThevarTamil The Mukkulathor people, who are also collectively known as Thevar, are a community or group of communities native to the central and southern districts of Tamil Nadu, India. They comprise the Agamudayar, Kallar and Maravar communities that share a common myth of origin and claim to have once been members of various ancient South Indian dynasties.
ThiVietnamese Vietnamese form of Shi, from Sino-Vietnamese 施 (thi).
ThirringUpper German (Rare) The name Thirring has many different forms/variant spellings. These include Thiering, Thiring, Thuring,Thuringer, Turinger, Duringer, Diringer, Diring and During. One of the reasons for all the variant spellings is that the church scribes in Hungary originally all recorded the name differently... [more]