BosleyEnglish English habitation surname derived from the Old English personal name Bosa and the Old English leah "clearing, field". It's also possibly a variant of the French surname Beausoleil meaning "beautiful sun" from the French beau 'beautiful, fair' and soleil 'sun'... [more]
BosshartGerman (Swiss) Derived from Middle High German bōzen "to thrash" and hart "hard".
BossoItalian Derived from Italian bosso "box tree", probably applied as a topographic name but possibly also as a metonymic occupational name for a wood carver or turner.
BostwickEnglish From an English surname which was from a lost or unidentified place name. The second element is clearly Old English wic "outlying (dairy) farm".
BrahamEnglish From the name of a town called Braham, probably derived from Old English brom meaning "broom (a type of plant)" and ham meaning "home, settlement" or hamm meaning "river meadow".
BrennerGerman, German (Austrian), Jewish Derived from Middle High German brennen "to burn". Both as a German and a Jewish name, this was an occupational name for a distiller of spirits. As a German surname, however, it also occasionally referred to a charcoal or lime burner or to someone who cleared forests by burning.
BridonFrench (Rare) Patronymic surname derived from French bride "bridle, harness", this name used to denote a maker or merchant of bridle, harness or horse-gear and more generally a saddler.
BrinkleyEnglish "From Brinca's Field" or "Field in the forest"
BrintonEnglish English locational surname, taken from the town of the same name in Norfolk. The name means "settlement belonging to Brun" - the personal name coming from the Old English word for "fire, flame".
BrodJewish Either derived from German Brot "bread" or taken from one of the various towns named Brod in Bosnia, Croatia and Macedonia or from one of the towns named Brody in Ukraine and Poland.
BulstrodeEnglish Locational surname referring to the medieval village of Bulstrode in Berkshire. ... [more]
BundiRomansh Derived from Romansh bun "good" and di "day" (compare Bongiorno and Bonasera). Another theory, however, derives this name from the given name Abundius.
ButkereitGerman (East Prussian) Derived from Prussian-Lithuanian butkėrė (Standard Lithuanian butkėrė), a Balticized form of German Böttcher "cooper, barrel maker" combined with the East Prussian German patronymic suffix -eit.
ByamEnglish Probably means "person from Bytham", Lincolnshire ("homestead in a valley bottom"). Glen Byam Shaw (1904-1986) was a British theatre director.
CableEnglish English: metonymic occupational name for a maker of rope, especially the type of stout rope used in maritime applications, from Anglo-Norman French cable ‘cable’ (Late Latin capulum ‘halter’, of Arabic origin, but associated by folk etymology with Latin capere ‘to seize’).... [more]
CanellaItalian Italian regional surname denoting someone who lived by a canal. From the Italian canale 'canal', from the Latin canalis meaning "canal; conduit; groove; funnel; or ditch". Alternatively, it may come the genus name of wild cinnamon, a diminutive of the Latin canna "reed, cane".
CardwellEnglish From the traditionally British surname, which is a variant of the British surname Caldwell, a from the Old English cald "cold" and well(a) "spring, stream".
CarisbrookEnglish Carisbrooke is a village on the Isle of Wight; the name is thought to mean "Carey's brook". When in 1917 the British royal family changed its name from the "House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha" to the "House of Windsor" and renounced all German titles, the title of Marquess of Carisbrooke was created for the erstwhile German Prince Alexander of Battenberg.
CarischRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Risch.
CarmichaelScottish, English From the name of a village in Scotland meaning "fort of Michael", from Welsh caer meaning "fortress" and the given name Michael.
CarringtonEnglish, Scottish English: habitational name from a place in Greater Manchester (formerly in Cheshire) called Carrington, probably named with an unattested Old English personal name Cara + -ing- denoting association + tun ‘settlement’.... [more]
CassarMaltese Of debated origin and meaning. Theories include a derivation from the Italian given name Cesare (via the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) and a Maltese adoption of the Sicilian surname Cassarà... [more]
CaveltiRomansh The first element is derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family". The second element is of debated origin and meaning; theories include an adoption of Swiss German Welti.
CaverlyEnglish English surname, a variant of the English surname Calverley, itself derived from the Old English calf "calf" and leag "field, clearing".
CaviezelRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Viezel, a Romansh form of Wetzel.
CavigelliRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Vigelli (see Vigeli).
CawoodEnglish Traditional English habitational surname meaning "jackdaw wood" from the Old English ca referring to 'jackdaw' (a member of the crow family), and wudu 'wood'.
CaylusFrench Of debated origin and meaning; theories include a Southern French corruption of Latin castellum "castle, fort, citadel, fortress, stronghold".
ChalkEnglish English: from Old English cealc 'chalk', applied as a topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of chalk soil, or as a habitational name from any of the various places named with this word, as for example Chalk in Kent or Chalke in Wiltshire.
ChampionEnglish, French Derived from the Middle English and Old French words campion, champiun and champion all meaning "athlete" such as a wrestler or boxer; also "warrior hired to do battle in single combat on behalf of others" (from Late Latin campio genitive campionis a derivative of campus "plain field of battle")... [more]
ChamplinBelgian, English Means Champion, was a family name in Belgium, a status and influence that was envied by the princes of the region.... [more]
ChénierFrench French surname which indicated one who lived in an oak wood or near a conspicuous oak tree, derived from Old French chesne "oak" (Late Latin caxinus). In some cases it may be from a Louisiana dialectical term referring to "an area of shrub oak growing in sandy soil" (i.e., "beach ridge, usually composed of sand-sized material resting on clay or mud... [more]
CheyneEnglish Locational or topographical surname derived from Old French chesne, chesnai "oak tree, oak grove", ultimately derived from medieval Latin casnetum.