LaiItalian Possibly denoting someone from Alà dei Sardi, or derived from the given name Nicola 1. Alternately, it may derive from lai, a type of lyrical poem.
LambrosGreek Alternate transcription of Greek Λαμπρος (see Lampros), derived from Greek λαμπρός (lampros) meaning "bright, shining, brilliant"... [more]
LanezoSpanish Means "Lanezo's street" from Basque abas "Lanezo" and kale "street".
LangPopular Culture From 狼 (láng) meaning "wolf". Shi-Long Lang is a character in the game Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, a wolf-themed Interpol agent who speaks mainly in quotes and metaphors about wolves... [more]
LapčevićSerbian Serbo-Croatian surname meaning "river" or "white". Likely from the river Elbe in Germany, which is called Labe and Laba in Slavic languages. Lab also having the meaning "white" in archaic Slavic (like the bird labud - swan).
LaversEnglish English (chiefly Devon and Cornwall): Medieval English and occupational, from pre-10th century Old French "lavandier". Introduced by the Normans after 1066, originally described a worker in the wool industry, and was a metonymic or nickname for a person employed to wash raw wool or rinse the cloth after fulling... [more]
LaveryIrish, Northern Irish From the Gaelic Ó Labhradha, "descendants of Labhradha" (speaker, spokesman, the father of Etru, chief of the Monagh of the Irish over-kingdom of Ulaid); the name of an ancient family originating from Magh Rath (present-day Moira, County Down, Northern Ireland)... [more]
LaxamanaFilipino, Pampangan, Tagalog Derived from Malay laksamana meaning "admiral, officer", ultimately from Sanskrit लक्ष्मण (lakshmana).
LedgerEnglish From the given name Leodegar or Legier. Alternatively, could be an occupational name for a stonemason, ultimately derived from Old English lecgan "to put, place, lay (down)".
LehtomäkiFinnish Lehto means "grove" and Mäki means "hill" in Finnish. This type of surname (combination of two nature related words) is very common in Finland.
LepsySlavic (Rare), Turkish (Rare) Possibly dating back to the Ottoman Empire's invasion of Europe, the original Turkic meaning is veiled in mystery, and possibly meant "one who comes from the edge of the lake." ... [more]
LeranArmesian (Dutchified, Rare) The surname Leran originates in the small dutch island called Armesa. It was the name of the Armesian ruling house from 1504-1884.
LesterEnglish Habitational name from Leicester which is recorded as Ligeraceastre in the 10th century. The placename derives from an Old English folk name Legore "the dwellers by the river Legor (a lost river name)" and Old English ceaster "city Roman fortification" (from Latin castrum) "camp fortress".
LeverettEnglish Diminutive of Lever, from the Middle English personal name Lefred, Old English Leofræd, composed of the elements leof ‘dear’, ‘beloved’ + red ‘counsel’.
LiebmanJewish Variant of German Liebmann, itself a variant of Libman and derived from the Yiddish personal name Lipman, from Middle High German liep "dear, beloved" and man "man"... [more]
LimanowskiPolish This indicates familial origin within the Lesser Polish town of Limanowa.
LindemannGerman Means "soft man" in German, from the elements lind meaning "soft, flexible", and man meaning "man".
LinelinGerman (Americanized) Of German origin, an anglicization of German "Leinlindt", which is a combination of surnames Lein meaning "linen" and Lindt meaning "gentle".
LiszovicsPolish, Jewish This surname has Eastern European connections and has been used by the Jewish population.
LittmanGerman (East Prussian), German (West Prussian), German, Jewish Derived from Germanized Czech personal names like Litomir (Czech: Ljutomir) and Litobor (Czech: Ljutobor) which ultimately go back to Old Slavic ljutu "grim; fierce; ferocious; wild". One theory suggests, however, that these given names might have been influenced by ljub- "love; dear".... [more]
LiwoszPolish It comes from the name "liswoze" which means to be a all around "good person". Even though it is a nickname, It may have been derived from occupation because of the name's meaning to be a "Funny man".
ŁobaczewskiPolish This indicated familial origin within either Łobaczew Duży or Łobaczew Mały, 2 Polesian villages in Gmina Terespol.
LobatoAmerican (Hispanic) Lobato variant of Lovato, a Hispanic last name originating from Spanish colonial New Mexico and Colorado. That surname is common with Native New Mexicans... [more]
LonsdaleEnglish Habitational name from the district of Lonsdale (straddling Lancashire Yorkshire and Westmorland) and also from Lonsdale in Great Ayton (North Yorkshire). The district takes its name from the river Lune (of uncertain origin) annd Old English dæl "valley"... [more]
LooneyIrish From the Irish name O'Luanaigh, "descendant of Luanach," a personal name meaning warrior.
LorraineFrench, English, Scottish Habitational name from Lorraine a region in the northeastern part of France. Its name derives from the name of the medieval kingdom of Lothari Regnum which in turn was named for its sovereign Lothar (a personal name composed of the elements hlud "famous renowned" and hari/heri "army").
LothropEnglish Habitational name from Lowthorpe in East Yorkshire named with the Old Norse personal name Logi and þrop "outlying farmstead".
LotspeichEnglish possibly from Bavarian lott ‘mud’ + speich ‘spittle’, ‘moist dirt’, either a topographic name for someone who lived on land in a muddy area or a nickname for someone who had a dirty appearance... [more]
LottFrench From the Department (Region/State)in France, "Lot" and "Lot-et-Garrone"; also a river in France (Lot). Brought to the British Isles, Holland (Netherlands) and later the United States, Canada and South Africa, by French Huguenots.
LovatoSpanish (Latin American), Italian Northern Italian from the Late Latin personal name Lupatus, derivative of Latin lupus "wolf". This is one of several medieval personal names which became popular under the influence of Germanic compound personal names formed with wolf-.
LovedayEnglish Means either (i) "person particularly associated with a 'loveday'" (a day when, by custom, old differences were settled and reconciliations were made); or (ii) from the medieval female personal name Loveday, a descendant of Old English Leofdæg, literally "beloved day"... [more]
LovelandEnglish From a surname which was derived from a place name, possibly meaning "Lufa's land" in Old English or "leaf land" in Norwegian.
LowensteinJewish Combination of German Löwe "lion" and stein "stone". In some cases an ornamental name associated with the name Levi (see also Levy and Lew 2).
LöwenthalGerman Habitational name from any of various places called Löwenthal.
LöwenthalJewish, Swedish Ornamental name composed of German Löwe "lion" and T(h)al "valley". In some cases the Jewish name would have been an ornamental elaboration associated with the personal name Levi (or other names meaning "lion").
LupinFrench Lupin is a variant on the Latin word "lupus", meaning "wolf". Two important literary characters, Arsène Lupin, the famous French gentleman-burglar, and Professor Remus Lupin, from the world of Harry Potter, have this name... [more]
LurieJewish It is one of the oldest family trees in the world, tracing back at least to King David born c. 1037 BCE, as documented by Neil Rosenstein in his book The Lurie Legacy... [more]
LuxtonEnglish English habitational name from a minor place, probably one of two in Devon, so called from the possessive form of the Middle English personal name or surname Lugg (from Old English Lugga) + Middle English tune, tone ‘settlement’ (Old English tun).
MabiniFilipino, Tagalog Means "modest, prudent, civil" in Tagalog. A notable bearer was Apolinario Mabini y Maranan (1864-1903), a Filipino revolutionary.
MacchioneItalian Originally from the south of italy (Calabria or Sicily), from an augmentative of Macchia (stain), in some cases, a habitational name from various places so named in Campania and Puglia.
MacConallScottish (Anglicized, Rare), Irish (Anglicized, Rare) Anglicized form of Scottish and Irish Gaelic Mac Conaill 'son of Conall', the personalized name composing of the elements con, which is an inflected form of cú 'wolf' + gal 'valor'. Giving the ultimate meaning due to variegated spellings of this specified name, is "Battle-Wolf of High Valor."
MacGillisScottish The MacGillis surname is a very rare surname from Scotland. It means "Mac Giolla Iosa", and translates to "son of the servant of Jesus". The surname was first found in Perthshire in central Scotland.... [more]
Mac Giolla ChudaIrish Meaning ‘son of the servant of (Saint) Chuda’, a personal name of unexplained origin. This was the name of a 7th-century abbot-bishop of Rathin in County Westmeath.... [more]
MaciupaPolish (Anglicized, ?) Ukrainian/Polish (Historically Galicia/Western Ukraine/Austro-Hungary); although it is often seen spelt this Anglicized way; due to the changing land-borders and occupation of land throughout history, it has been spelt with a slightly different transliteration pronunciation in Cyrillic (phonetic sound in Cyrillic is 'ts' as opposed to 'ch').
MackinawIrish First found in County Monaghan located in the Northern part of the Republic of Ireland in the province of Ulster, at Truagh where they were known as the Lords of Truagh.... [more]
MadigaIndian, Telugu Telugu occupational name for a leather worker, a job historically considered polluting and impure in India, where the surname belongs to Dalit, or "Untouchables" - members of the lowest caste.
MaffessantiItalian Meaning is overall unknown, but might come from Saint of Matthew. In Italian the name “Maffeo” is an Italian spelling of Matthew and “Santi” means saints, so combined it would be Maffessanti... [more]
MagañaSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Castilian municipality.
MaggioriItalian Recorded in many spelling forms including the 'base' form of Maggi, and the diminutives and double diminutives Maggiore, Maggiori, Di Maggio, Maggorini, and many others, this is an Italian surname of Roman (Latin) origins... [more]
MaguadokChamorro Chamorro action word for "to dig a hole (in the ground)".
MahalahAfrican zambian (tumbuka) name meaning intelligent. "mwana wa mahalah" means intelligent child
MaherIrish (Rare) The originally spelling was "O'Meachair" which means the 'kindly' or the 'generous'. The Maher family resided in the O'Carrol... [more]
MaidesEnglish Maides is an almost extinct surname which has decreased significantly in popularity since the 19th century, though has always been relatively uncommon. The surname is today most popular in Leicestershire but the family bearing the surname from that area seem to have originated from the south of Warwickshire... [more]
MajerleSlovene Slovene surname Majerle, a variant of the Polish, Czech, and Slovak Majer, which was a status name for "steward, bailiff, tenant farmer, or village headman", from the German Meyer 1.
MakhovCircassian (Russified) Russified form of a Circassian surname derived from Kabardian махуэ (māx°ă) meaning "day".
MakitaJapanese I'm not sure how the surname is usually written, but 真 (Ma) means "Genuine, Real, Sincere" and 北 (Kita) means "North". On the other hand, 牧 (Maki) means "Shepard, Tend cattle" and 田 (Ta) means "Rice Field, Rice Paddy"... [more]
MalinovBulgarian, Russian From Bulgarian and Russian малина (malina) meaning "raspberry", probably indicating a person who lived near a raspberry bush.
MalletAnglo-Norman, Medieval English, French, Catalan Originated in Norman France and spread to England following the Norman conquest of 1066. The surname comes from the given name Malle, an Old English diminutive of Mary or from the given name Malo, a popular form of the name of Saint Maclovius, a 6th-century Welsh monk who the church of Saint Maclou in Rouen is named for.... [more]
MallettEnglish Possible origins Malet a medieval diminutive of Mal(le) being a pet form of and name Mary, could also be of Norman origin from the Old French personal name Malhard.
MaloItalian Possibly from Italian mano "hand", a nickname for a skillful person, or a short form of a given name such as Romano.
MalsagovIngush (Russified) Russified form of the Ingush clan name Малсагнаькъан (Malsagnaqan) meaning "tribe of Malsag", from a given name derived from Ingush малх (malkh) meaning "sun, solar" and саг (sag) meaning "person, man".
ManabeJapanese From Japanese 真 (ma) meaning "real, genuine" or 間 (ma) meaning "among, between" and 鍋 (nabe) meaning "pot, pan" or 部 (be) meaning "part, section".
ManfordEnglish Place name for "Munda's ford" from an Old English personal name Munda, the same element in the second syllable of Edmund and ford meaning a waterway crossing.
ManjarrésSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Riojan municipality.
MannSanskrit (Anglicized) Originally Sanskrit, now in Punjabi and Hindi - used by Jats predominantly in Punjab area of NW India. Well represented in Sikhs. Also spelled as {!Maan} when anglicized. Belonged to landholding nobility of warrior caste (knights) that at one time held a strong and established kingdom.... [more]
ManousosGreek Surname associated with the name Manouel in Crete. Another possible origin is a Hellenized version of the Venetian surname Manuzio.
MaquedaSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 eponymous localities: the Manchego municipality or the neighborhood of the Andalusian municipality of Málaga.
MastGerman, Dutch Derived from Middle High German and Middle Dutch mast "mast (fodder made of acorns and beechnuts); the process of fattening livestock", an occupational name for a pig farmer or a swineherd. In some cases, however, the German name may also have been derived from Middle High German mast, mastic "fat, stout".
MatharuIndian (Sikh, Modern) Matharus were fierce warriors especially during, the time when the Matharu tribe, had converted to Sikhism; they fought numbers of wars for Guru Gobind Singh, Banda Singh Bahadur and Jassa Singh Ramgarhia.... [more]
MathenyFrench (Anglicized) Of French origin. According to Matheny family tradition, this surname comes from the name of a village in France named Mathenay. This may also have been a French Huguenot surname.
MathewIndian (Christian) Named based of off a Biblical character named St. Matthew. The way the name is pronounced as a first name in the native language is different. However, the last name "Mathew" is pronounced the same.
MatlockEnglish Derived from a place name (Matlock in Derbyshire) meaning ‘meeting-place oak’ from Old English mæthel ‘meeting’, ‘gathering’, ‘council’ and ac ‘oak’.
MatovicMontenegrin, Serbian Patronymic last name - descendants of Mato. Originally from Kotor, Montenegro.
MatsukawaJapanese From Japanese 松 (matsu) meaning "pine tree, fir tree" and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream".
MatsupaUkrainian (Anglicized, ?) Ukrainian; although may also have found in other forms in other countries such as Galicia (Western Ukraine), Poland and Hungary; due to the changing borders and occupation of land at various points in history.
MaudlingEnglish From the medieval female personal name Maudeleyn, the English form of Greek Magdalene, the sobriquet in the New Testament of the woman Mary who was cured of evil spirits by Jesus... [more]
MaughanIrish, English Anglicized from the original Irish Gaelic form Ò Mocháin meaning 'descendant of Mochain'. This name was one of the earliest known Irish surnames brought to England and remains a fairly common surname in the North East of the country.
MaukCzech, Russian The word Mauk is the Eastern European meaning for night. In the early ages a small group of people in the area now known to be in or around Russia and the czech republic founded this word and made it their name... [more]
MauleonSpanish (Archaic) All I know is that there is a place in spain "Basque Country" that their town, apartments, holtes are named Mauleon. The language spoken is Basque a form of "Spanish and French"
MaysonetProvençal Deriving from the Old French word machun, which meant 'stone cutter.' Inferring the original bearer of the name worked in stone or mason.
MbenguzanaHlubi (?), African Hlubi word referring to an old cat with grey beard but in this instance it means grey-bearded leopard. Originates from one of the Nkwali tribe's early head?king Lusulengwe(Leopard's face)
McClartyScottish, Irish The surname McClarty originated in the ancient Scottish kingdom of Dalriada. This name comes from the personal name Lawrence. And in Scottish Gaelic 'Mac Labhruinn' translates to 'son of Lawrence'. ... [more]
MccorsleyIrish My guess is that my surname was changed sometime in the early 1800's but have never learned how my family name derived from or from where it originated.
McGeehanIrish Irish (Ulster) anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Gaoithín ‘son of Gaoithín’, a personal name derived from the diminutive of gaoth ‘clever’, ‘wise’.
McgonagleAmerican Irish (Donegal) and Scottish (Glasgow): Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Conghail, a patronymic from the personal name Conghal, composed of Celtic elements meaning 'hound' + 'valor'.