KazanGreek Reduced form of Kazandis which is an occupational surname for a maker of cauldrons or someone who uses a cauldron for the distillation of ouzo or raki... [more]
KazanovRussian Means "of Kazan", either referring to the city of Kazan in Tatarstan, Russia, or from a given name. The name is most likely of Turkic origin, possibly from Bulgar qazan meaning "cauldron, pot", which would have been used to denote someone who made pots.
KharaziaAbkhaz There are several theories on the origin of the name. It could be derived from Arabic حَارِس (ḥāris) meaning "guard, guardian, defender", from a contraction of a Hebrew term, or from the Abkhaz word ҳара (ḥārā́) meaning "we, ours" combined with the Abkhaz suffix -ya or -ia denoting descent.
KhatibArabic Means "speaker, orator" in Arabic. In Islam this is the name of the person who delivers sermons (khutbah) during Friday and Eid prayers.
KhatiwadaNepali From the name of a village in the Doti District of Nepal.
KhatriIndian, Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi, Punjabi, Nepali Name for a member of the Kshatriya caste, derived from Sanskrit क्षत्रिय (kshatriya) referring to the Hindu caste consisting of kings, warriors and soldiers, ultimately from क्षत्र (kshatra) meaning "power, might, dominion".
KhawajaUrdu Derived from the Persian title خواجه (khajeh) meaning "lord, master, owner".
KhaybulaevAvar, Crimean Tatar Means "son of Khaybulla", from a given name derived from Arabic حَيّ (ḥayy) meaning "alive" combined with الله (allāh) meaning "Allah, God".
KoKorean There is only one Chinese character for the surname Ko. There are ten different Ko clans, but they are all descended from the Ko clan of Cheju Island. There is no historical information regarding the founder of this clan, but there is a legend which tells of three men who appeared from a cave on the north side of Cheju Island’s Halla Mountain... [more]
KondōJapanese From Japanese 近 (kon) meaning "near, close" and 藤 (tō) meaning "wisteria". The latter character could indicate a connection to the Fujiwara clan.
KongChinese From Chinese 孔 (kǒng) meaning "hole, opening". According to legend, this name was created by Cheng Tang, the founder and first king of the Shang dynasty. He formed it by combining the character for his family name, 子 (zǐ) (his full personal name was Zi Lü), with 乙 (yǐ), the second part of his style name, Da Yi (or Tai Yi)... [more]
KoretskiyRussian Name for a person originally from the Ukrainian city of Korets, derived from Russian корец (korets) or корчик (korchik) both referring to a type of ladle.
KorolyovRussian Derived from Russian король (korol) meaning "king".
KortavaAbkhaz Mingrelian form of the Abkhaz surname Кәартаа (Kuartaa) of unknown meaning. During the reign of Stalin, the Abkhaz began adopting the Mingrelian spelling.
KrasnovRussian From Russian красный (krasniy) meaning "red".
KrautschatGerman (East Prussian) Derived from Prussian-Lithuanian kraucźius (kriaučius in Standard Lithuanian), meaning "tailor".
KreiselGerman, Jewish Jewish family name and originally a nickname for an active or disorganized person, derived from German kreisel meaning "spinning top, top", ultimately from kreis "circle". Alternatively, it could've be used as a nickname for a person with curly hair in the context of "spiral" or "curl".
KudashevBashkir, Tatar, Russian Means "son of Kudash", from a given name of Mordvin or Turkic origin possibly meaning "woman's son" or "wife's son", referring to a boy born from one father and another mother (in relation to his half-siblings)... [more]
KusamaJapanese From Japanese 草 (kusa) meaning "grass, herbs" and 間 (ma) meaning "among, between".
KuularTuvan Derived from Tuvan куу (kuu) meaning "swan" or "gray". Names bearing unfavourable meanings were traditionally used by Tuvans to ward off evil spirits.
KuwaharaJapanese From Japanese 桑 (kuwa) meaning "mulberry" and 原 (hara) meaning "field, plain".
KvitsiniaAbkhaz Mingrelian form of the Abkhaz surname Kutsnia; the Abkhaz name was replaced by the Mingrelian spelling during the era of Joseph Stalin. It is most likely derived from Abkhaz икуцны иааз (ikutsny iaaz) meaning "one who migrates", though the word квици (kvitsi) has no real meaning in Abkhaz... [more]
KwakKorean From Sino-Korean 郭 (gwak) meaning "outer city" (making it the Korean form of Guo) or 霍 (gwak) meaning "quickly, suddenly".
LaayouniArabic (Maghrebi) From Laayoune, the name of a city in the Western Sahara (chiefly Moroccan).
LabakhuaAbkhaz Abkhaz name derived from Arabic لَاحَظَ (lāḥaẓa) meaning "to notice, to look" combined with بَهِيجَة (bahīja) meaning "delightful, joyous" (see Bahija)... [more]
LaiChinese From Chinese 赖 (lài) meaning "rely", also referring to the ancient state of Lai that existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Henan province.
LakerbaiaAbkhaz Mingrelian form of the Abkhaz aristocratic family name Lakrba possibly from Abkhaz а-лакра (a-lakra) meaning "in thickets, to catch in thickets" or "to rank, to include". It was most likely used to refer to a hunter or a member of a large group of peasants.
LalIndian, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi From Sanskrit लाला (lālā) meaning "caressing, cajoling". It can also be interpreted to mean "garnet" or "red, ruby" from Persian لال (lâl) or لعل (la'l).
LalievOssetian (Russified) Russified form of an Ossetian surname derived from Georgian ლალი (lali) meaning "ruby", ultimately from Sanskrit लाल (lāl).
LâmVietnamese Vietnamese form of Lin from Sino-Vietnamese 林 (lâm).
LamichhaneNepali Means "long roof" from Nepali लामो (lāmo) meaning "long" and छाना (chānā) meaning "roof". It was traditionally used to refer to families that lived in houses with longer roofs.
LamraniArabic (Maghrebi) Alternate transcription of El Amrani. A famous bearer is former Moroccan prime minister Mohammed Karim Lamrani (1919-2018).
LanChinese From Chinese 蓝 (lán) referring to a place called Lantian that existed in what is now Shaanxi province.
LancasterEnglish From the name of a city in northwestern England derived from Middle English Loncastre, itself from Lon referring to an ancient Roman fort on the River Lune combined with Old English ceaster meaning "city, town".
LangelandNorwegian Derived from the elements lang meaning "long" and land meaning "land" or "farmstead".
LangevinFrench From French l'Angevin meaning "the Angevin", denoting a person from the French province of Anjou.
LangfieldEnglish Habitational name for someone originally from any of the various locations in England named Langfield, from Old English lang meaning "long" and feld meaning "field".
LazrakArabic (Maghrebi) Derived from Arabic الأزرق (al ʾazraq) meaning "the blue (one)", from أَزْرَق (ʾazraq) "blue". It is chiefly used for Moroccan Arabic.
LedouxFrench Means "the amiable" from French doux meaning "sweet, soft, gentle".
LefrançoisFrench From the given name François. It may also mean "the Frenchman", probably used to denote someone who came from the region of Île de France in France.
LemaîtreFrench Means "the master" in French, either used as a nickname for someone who behaved in a masterful manner or an occupational name for someone who was a master of their craft.
LessardFrench Name for someone who lived in a clearing, derived from French l'essart meaning "the assart" (a term for cleared forest land used for agriculture). It is also a habitational name for someone from any of various locations named Lessard or Lessart, of the same origin and meaning.
LeszczyńskiPolish Name for someone from any of various places called Leszczyna, Leszczyno, Leszczyny or Leszczynek, all derived from Polish leszczyna meaning "hazel".
LétourneauFrench Nickname for a chatty, gregarious person or an occupational name for a birdcatcher, derived from French l'étourneau meaning "the starling".
LillyEnglish Derived from Lilly, a pet name for Elizabeth. It was also used as a nickname for someone with fair skin or hair, and is derived from Old English lilie meaning "lily (the flower)"... [more]
LingChinese From Chinese 凌 (líng) meaning "ice", originally used as an occupational name for a palace official who was in charge of storing and handling ice.