AbernathyScottish A different form of Abernethy, which originally meant "person from Abernethy", Perth and Kinross ("confluence of the (river) Nethy"). This was one of the surnames of the Scots who settled in northern Ireland during the ‘plantation’ in the 17th century, and it was brought to the U.S. as the name of a Southern plantation owner.
ÅhdalSwedish (Rare) Variant of Ådahl. There are no registered bearers of this name in Sweden, but people sometimes use a different spelling than the one recorded in the population registry.
AhlbornSwedish (Rare) Combination of Swedish al "alder" and -born, a Swedish surname suffix derived from German geboren "born".
AhlinSwedish Combination of Swedish al "alder" and the common Swedish surname suffix -in (ultimately derived from Latin -inus, -inius "descendant of").
AhtisaariFinnish (Rare) A notable bearer is Martti Ahtisaari (b. 1937), the tenth president of Finland (1994-2000), a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a United Nations diplomat and mediator noted for his international peace work... [more]
AisakaJapanese (Rare) Ai means "Indigo (blueish)", and Saka means "Hill,Slope".In 2014 Aisaka was ranked #9,579 for most used surnames in Japan and had only 5 occurrences that year. It's more popular in the U.S. than in the country it originated from... [more]
AlcottEnglish From the name of any of the various places in England so-called, all derived from Old English eald "old" and cot "cottage, small house"... [more]
AllemannGerman (Swiss) Derived from German Alemanne, originally "member of the Alemanni tribe", this word came to denote "of Germanic descent". It was used to refer to members of the German-speaking population of Switzerland (as opposed to those who spoke one of the Romance languages; compare Welsch).
ÅngströmSwedish Combination of Swedish ånga "steam" and ström "river, current, stream". A notable bearer was Swedish physicist Anders Ångström (1814-1874), one of the founders of the science of spectroscopy... [more]
AnzaiJapanese From Japanese 安 (an) meaning "peace" and 西 (sai) meaning "west", 斎 (sai) meaning "purification, worship", or 済 (sai) meaning "settle, finish".
AozakiJapanese (Rare) Ao means "blue,somewhat green" & zaki means "blossom". So, Nobutaka "Blue Blossom",is an artist who was born in Japan,but now lives in New York as an artist who has been featured in magazines.
ApsītisLatvian Derived from Latvian apse meaning "aspen tree".
ArablePopular Culture An occupational surname for people who are capable of being farmed productively. Also used in the novel Charlotte's Web (1952).
AradhyaIndian, Sanskrit Means "one who worships god". Commonly seen in India, Karnataka and other parts of India like kashi. They wear holy thread (yagnopaveetha).
ArayaJapanese From Japanese 荒 (ara) meaning "rough, wild" and 谷 (ya) meaning "valley".
ArmitageEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived on or near a hermitage or a habitational for places so called, derived from Middle English ermitage. A famous bearer of the name is English actor Richard Crispin Armitage (1971-).
ArnGerman (Swiss) From the name of a place in Switzerland. Otherwise derived from Middle High German arn "eagle"
ArneNorwegian (Rare) From the name of a place called Arna, derived either from Old Norse ǫrn "eagle" or from an Indo-European root meaning "to stream, to flow".
ArouetFrench A famous bearer was French philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778), whose birth name was François-Marie Arouet.
ArrheniusSwedish (Rare) The name of two separate family linages with no relation between each other. One family originates from Linköping, Östergötland and probably got its name from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓́ρρην (árrhēn) "male" (taken from the last syllable of ancestor's last name, Kapfelman)... [more]
AsatoJapanese (Rare) There are several readings for the name but 2 are Asa:"Morning",and To:"Door,Asa:"Safe" and To:"Village". There are multiple places in the Ryukyu's (where the name originates and mostly stays) that have that name;that could've been the influence... [more]
AschanSwedish Shortened form of Aschanius (now obsolete) taken from the name of a village whose name was derived from Swedish ask "ash tree".
AshmanEnglish, Anglo-Saxon Derived from Anglo-Saxon Æscmann, a byname meaning "pirate, seaman", composed of æsc "(boat or spear made of) ash tree" and man "person, man"... [more]
AsikkalaFinnish Indicates familial origin from Asikkala, a municipality in southern Finland.
AsimovRussian A notable bearer was author Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) whose name was derived from Russian озимый хлеб (ozímyj khleb) "winter grain" combined with the patronymic suffix -ov. His family name was originally spelled Азимов (Azimov), but it got anglicized to Asimov with an S instead of Z when the family immigrated to the United States... [more]
AskeladdFolklore The main character in Asbjornsen and Moe's Norwegian Folktales, Askeladd is usually the youngest and smallest of three brothers who is left to sit by the fire in the ashes, hence his name (similar to Cinderella)... [more]
AxellSwedish Possibly a habitational name with the combination of ax, a Swedish word for the fruiting body of a grain plant, and the common surname suffix -ell.
BäcklundSwedish Combination of Swedish bäck "brook, stream" and Lund "grove".
BacklundSwedish Combination of Swedish backe "hill, slope" and Lund "grove".
BäckmanSwedish Combination of Swedish bäck "small stream" and man "man".
BackmanEnglish, Swedish, German Combination of Old English bakke "spine, back" and man "man". In Swedish, the first element is more likely to be derived from Swedish backe "hill", and in German the first element can be derived from German backen "to bake"... [more]
BäckstrandSwedish Combination of Swedish bäck "stream" and strand "shore".
BäckströmSwedish Combination of Swedish bäck "brook, small stream" and ström "stream".
BackströmSwedish Combination of Swedish backe "slope, hill" and ström "stream".
BaerGerman Derived from Old High German bero "bear".
BaezaSpanish From a place called Baeza in Andalusia, Spain.
BaggeSwedish From Swedish bagge "ram (male sheep)".
BalcomEnglish Altered spelling of English Balcombe, a habitational name from Balcombe in West Sussex, which is named with Old English bealu "evil, calamity" (or the Old English personal name Bealda) combined with cumb "valley".
BarkSwedish Perhaps derived from a place name containing either Old Swedish *barke "throat", Old Swedish biork "birch tree" or Swedish bark "bark (covering of the trunk of a tree)"
BarrowEnglish Habitational name from any of the numerous places named with Old English bearo, bearu "grove" or from Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, which is named with an unattested Celtic word, barr, here meaning "promontory", and Old Norse ey "island"... [more]
BarsiHungarian Name for someone living in a village named Bars. This was the surname of American child actress Judith Barsi (June 6, 1978 - July 25, 1988).
BaucomEnglish Variant spelling of BALCOMBE, a habitational name from West Sussex derived from Old English bealu "evil" and cumb "valley".
BavieraSpanish, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan Means "Bavaria" in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Catalan. Indicating for someone from Bavaria a state in Germany.
BayEnglish, French, Dutch Derived from Middle English and Old French bay, bai and Middle Dutch bay, all meaning "reddish brown". It was originally a nickname for someone with a hair color similar to that.
BeachEnglish Name for someone living near a beach, stream, or beech tree.
BeamEnglish From Old English beam "beam" or "post". It could be a topographic name from someone living near a post or tree, or it could be a metonymic occupational name for a weaver.... [more]
BecquerelFrench A notable bearer was French scientist Henri Becquerel (1852-1908) who discovered radioactivity. A becquerel (Bq), the SI unit for radioactivity, is named after him.
BellmanEnglish Occupational name for someone who worked as a bell-ringer.
BellmanSwedish, English Swedish and English form of Bellmann. A notable bearer was Swedish composer, poet and entertainer Carl Michael Bellman (1740-1795).
BellmannGerman Habitational name derived from places in Germany named either Bell, Belle, or Bellen.
BerglinSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain" and the surname suffix -in.
BerglindSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain, hill" and lind "linden tree".
BerglingSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain" and the common surname suffix -ing "belonging to, coming from". It has also been found as a spelling variant of similarly spelled names, such as Berlin... [more]
BergmarkSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain, hill" and mark "land, ground, field".
BerlinSwedish Of uncertain origin. The name could be a shortened form of Berglin. It could also be a habitational name from the city in Germany or from a place in Sweden named with ber or berg "mountain"... [more]
BerlinGerman, English Habitational name from the city in Germany, the name of which is of uncertain meaning. It is possibly derived from an Old Slavic stem berl- meaning swamp or from a West Slavic word meaning "river lake".
BernadotteFrench, Swedish Possibly from the name of a historical province in Southern France named Béarn. This was originally a French non-noble surname. French general Jean Baptise Bernadotte (1763-1844) became the king of Sweden as Charles XIV John (Swedish: Karl XIV Johan) in 1818 and founded the current royal house in Sweden, House of Bernadotte.
BerzeliusSwedish Derived from the name of an estate named Bergsätter located near Motala, Östergötland, Sweden. Bergsätter is composed of Swedish berg "mountain" and säter "outlying meadow"... [more]
BhaerGerman Likely a variant of German Baer, meaning "bear". A notable bearer is character Friedrich Bhaer, Jo's husband in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
BiddleEnglish, Irish Variant of English BEADLE or German BITTEL. The name is now popular in the north east region of America, where it was brought by English and Irish immigrants.
BigelowEnglish Habitational name from a place in England called Big Low meaning "big mound".
BildtSwedish (Rare) Bildt is a Danish-Swedish-Norwegian noble family originating from Jutland in Denmark and now domiciled in Bohus county in southwest Sweden. The Norwegian branch of the family died out in the beginning of the 18th century... [more]
BilslandScottish From a place near Kilmaurs in East Ayrshire, Scotland. Allegedly a combination of Bil and land "farm, land, property".
BirchEnglish, German, Danish, Swedish (Rare) From Middle High German birche, Old English birce, Old Danish birk, all meaning "birch". This was likely a topographic name for someone living by a birch tree or a birch forest... [more]
BjörkqvistSwedish Combination of Swedish björk "birch tree" and qvist, an obsolete spelling of kvist, "twig".
BjörnSwedish Means "bear" in Swedish. Either taken directly from the given name (see Björn) or from a nickname for a big, hairy person. It may also be derived from a place named with the element björn.
BjörnbergSwedish Ornamental name derived from Swedish björn meaning "bear" and berg meaning "mountain".
BlacksmithEnglish Occupational name for a blacksmith, a smith who work with iron. The name is rare in England and mostly found in North America, suggesting that it's a translation of a non-English name meaning "blacksmith" (see Kowalski, Raudsepp and Lefèvre for example).
BlackwellEnglish From an English place name derived from Old English blæc meaning "black" and wille meaning "well, spring, water hole".