HovdaNorwegian Habitational name from the many farmsteads in Norway named Hovda. Derived from Old Norse hófði "rounded peak", itself derived from Old Norse hofuð "head".
HoyaSpanish is a habitational (local) name, taken on from any of several place names, such as from Hoyos in Cáceres province, or Hoyos in Ávila province. These place names come from the Spanish words "hoyo," meaning "pit," or "hole."
HrdinaCzech, Slovak Hrdina is a Czech and Slovak surname meaning "hero". Two notable bearers are Jan Hrdina, and Jiří Hrdina, both are ice hockey players.
HuitemaDutch Possibly a patronymic form of Hoite, a pet form of names containing the element hugu "mind, thought, spirit", using the Frisian suffix -ma "man of".
HuizingaWest Frisian, Dutch Habitational name from Huizinge, a town in Groningen, Netherlands, possibly derived from Old Frisian hūs "house" and dinge "newly cultivated lands"... [more]
IbarrolaBasque From the name of a village in Basque Country, derived from ibar "valley, riverbank" and ola "factory, forge, ironworks", or possibly -ola "location, place of".
IbukaJapanese From Japanese 井 (i) meaning "well" and 深 (fuka) meaning "depth". A notable bearer of this surname was the Japanese industrialist Masaru Ibuka who is known for have been a co-founder of Japanese electronics conglomerate Sony (1908 – 1997).
IchinomiyaJapanese This surname is used as 一宮, 一の宮, 一ノ宮, 一之宮 or 市之宮 with 一 (ichi, itsu, hito, hito.tsu) meaning "one," 市 (shi, ichi) meaning "city, market, town," 之 (shi, oite, kono, kore, no, yuku) meaning "of, this" or 宮 (kyuu, ku, kuu, guu, miya) meaning "constellations, palace, princess."... [more]
IchiokaJapanese From Japanese 一 (ichi) meaning "one" and 岡 (oka) meaning "hill".
IenagaJapanese From Japanese 家 (ie) meaning "house, home" and 長 (naga) meaning "long, chief".
IencaItalian (Rare) Allegedly derived from Italian giovenca "heifer". A heifer is a young cow that has not yet had a calf. Mount Jenca and Jenca Valley are located near Gran Sasso d'Italia in the Abruzzo region in Italy.
IesakaJapanese From 家 (ie) meaning "house, family, home" and 坂 (saka) meaning "hill, slope".
IgartuaBasque It indicates familial origin within the eponymous locality in the municipality of Gatika.
IharaJapanese From Japanese 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit" or 伊 (i) meaning "this" and 原 (hara) meaning "field, plain".
IhimaeraMaori This name in English means Ishmael. This name is not only a surname but was used at least in the past as a first name. This name could have another origin. This is the last name of the first Maori author to produce a book made up of stories Witi Ihimaera (1944- ).
InazumaJapanese (Rare) This surname is used as 稲妻 which means "(flash of) lightning" (from 稲 (te, tou, ina-, ine) meaning "rice plant" and 妻 (sai, tsuma) meaning "spouse, wife").... [more]
IngaItalian, Spanish Possibly from Sicilian inga "ink", an occupational name for a scribe. Alternatively, it could derive from the Germanic given name Inge.
IngogliaItalian Means "belonging to the family of Goglia" in Italian, derived from the prefix in- meaning "belonging to the family of" combined with the name Goglia... [more]
IniestaSpanish Possibly from iniesta meaning "leafhopper".
IniestaSpanish Habitational name from places called Iniesta in the province of Cuenca, in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. The Spanish former soccer player Andrés Iniesta (1984-) is a well-known bearer of this surname.
IsurietaBasque From the name of a neighborhood in the town of Aretxabaleta, Basque Country, derived from Basque izai "fir tree" and uri "town, settlement" combined with the toponymic suffix -eta "place of, abundance of"... [more]
ItamiyaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 伊丹屋 (Itamiya) meaning "Itami Store", a name of a store that was in the city of Itami in the prefecture of Hyōgo in Japan.... [more]
ItamuraJapanese Ita means "plank, board" and mura means "village, hamlet".
ItayaJapanese From Japanese 板 (ita) meaning "plank, board" and 谷 (ya) meaning "valley".
IzabaBasque From the name of a municipality in Navarre, Spain, of uncertain etymology. Proposed origins include Basque iz "water" combined with aba, which could mean "river, mouth, confluence" and/or be a variant of -aga "place of, abundance of".
IzarraBasque Derived from either the village Izarra in Álava, or the town Lizarra in Navarre. The etymology of the former is uncertain, but it coincides with a form of the Basque word izar "star"; the latter derives from lizar "ash tree", but is called Estella ("star") in Spanish due to confusion with the aforementioned word izar.
IzawaJapanese From Japanese 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit" and 沢 or 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh".