BurmeisterGerman North German: status name for the mayor or chief magistrate of a town, from Middle Low German bur ‘inhabitant, dweller’, ‘neighbor’, ‘peasant’, ‘citizen’ + mester ‘master’.
BurridgeEnglish Derived from an English place name, derived from Old English burg "fortress, fortification, castle" and Old English hrycg, Old Norse hryggr "ridge" or from the name Burgric.
BustamanteSpanish Habitational name for someone originally from the town of Bustamante in Cantabria, Spain, derived from Latin bustum Amantii meaning "pasture of Amantius".
CarucciItalian Derived from Medieval Latin names Carutius or Caruccius or from the Italian term caruccio composed by caro meaning "dear" with the endearment suffix -uccio.
CavaItalian, Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese From cava ‘cave’, ‘cellar’ (from Latin cavea), hence a metonymic occupational name for someone employed in the wine cellars of a great house, a topographic name for someone who lived in or near a cave, or a habitational name from any of numerous places named with this word.
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.
ChalkokondylisGreek Chalkokondylis (or Chalkokondyles) was a Greek noble family of Athens which was elected during the Florentine possession of the city. The family can be traced back to the 11th century.
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]
ChapelleFrench Topographic name for someone who lived near a chapel from French chapelle "chapel" or from several places in France and Belgium called (La) Chapelle and variant of Lachapelle, Capelle, and Chappelle.
CoeEnglish English (Essex and Suffolk): nickname from the jackdaw, Middle English co, Old English ca (see Kay). The jackdaw is noted for its sleek black color, raucous voice, and thievish nature, and any of these attributes could readily have given rise to the nickname.
CordeiroPortuguese, Galician Means "young lamb" in Portuguese and Galician (Latin cordarius, a derivative of cordus "young", "new"). Occupational name for a shepard
CoulibalyWestern African, Manding Francization of Bambara kulu bari meaning "without a canoe", referring to someone who crossed a river or another body of water without the use of a canoe.
CoulonFrench From Old French colomb "pigeon" (from Latin columba) used as a metonymic occupational name for a breeder.
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]
DecazesFrench The surname Decazes was first found in Gascony (French: Gascogne), an area of southwest France bordering Spain, that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution, where the family held a family seat in ancient times.... [more]
DesruisseauxFrench, French (Quebec) Topographic name for someone who lived in an area characterized by streams, from the fused preposition and plural definite article des meaning "from the" and ruisseaux (plural of ruisseau) meaning "stream".
DialloWestern African, Fula Derived from the Fula clan name Jallo of uncertain meaning. Diallo is a common name throughout West Africa.
DiamantisGreek Derived from the Byzantine Greek word διαμάντιν (diamántin), itself from the Italian diamante (Late Latin diamas), ultimately from the Ancient Greek word ἀδάμας (adámas) meaning "diamond".
DrescherYiddish, German German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a thresher, German Drescher, Yiddish dresher, agent derivatives of Middle High German dreschen, Yiddish dresh(e)n 'to thresh'.... [more]
Du PlessisAfrikaans, French Creole, French (Cajun), French (Huguenot) French topographic name for someone who lived by a quickset fence, Old French pleis (from Latin plexum past participle of plectere ‘plait’, ‘weave’), with fused preposition and definite article du ‘from the’... [more]
EachusEnglish, Swiss Name is said to have originated in Cheshire and Lancashire. A variant of Etches, possibly a variant of Edge , with post-medieval excrescent -s and devoicing of the consonant, or an altered pronunciation of the nickname Edgoose (Middle English Edcus, early modern English Etcus)... [more]
EichhornGerman, Jewish, Belgian German topographic name for someone who lived on or near an oak-covered promontory, from Middle High German eich(e) ‘oak’ + horn ‘horn’, ‘promontory’. German from Middle High German eichhorn ‘squirrel’ (from Old High German eihhurno, a compound of eih ‘oak’ + urno, from the ancient Germanic and Indo-European name of the animal, which was later wrongly associated with hurno ‘horn’); probably a nickname for someone thought to resemble the animal, or alternatively a habitational name for someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of a squirrel... [more]