LautermilchGerman (Modern) Comes from German words Lauter, meaning 'pure', or 'nothing but', and Milch, meaning 'milk'. This could mean that the people who first used this name were farmers.
LavenderEnglish, Dutch Occupational name for a washerman or launderer, Old French, Middle Dutch lavendier (Late Latin lavandarius, an agent derivative of lavanda "washing", "things to be washed"). The term was applied especially to a worker in the wool industry who washed the raw wool or rinsed the cloth after fulling... [more]
LaverEnglish Occupational name for a washer, from French laveur (see Lavers). Also the name of a parish in Essex, England.
LaveranFrench The surname Laveran probably became popular as a first name thanks to the French Nobel Prize in Medicine Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran. Laveran discovered that protozoan parasites were the causative agent of malaria.
LaverdièreFrench Habitational name from various places named La Verdière in France, or a variant of the name Leverdier (see Verdier).
LaverdiereFrench (Quebec) Said to be a locational or occupational name related to land and greenery. Related to the Cauchons, descended from Quebec. A noble Paris woman was sent to Quebec for marriage in the 17th century.
LaversEnglish English (chiefly Devon and Cornwall): Medieval English and occupational, from pre-10th century Old French "lavandier". Introduced by the Normans after 1066, originally described a worker in the wool industry, and was a metonymic or nickname for a person employed to wash raw wool or rinse the cloth after fulling... [more]
LaveryIrish, Northern Irish From the Gaelic Ó Labhradha, "descendants of Labhradha" (speaker, spokesman, the father of Etru, chief of the Monagh of the Irish over-kingdom of Ulaid); the name of an ancient family originating from Magh Rath (present-day Moira, County Down, Northern Ireland)... [more]
LavieFrench Dialectal variant of French voie "way, road", ultimately from Latin via "road, street, path", combined with the French feminine article la.
LavioletteFrench, French (Quebec), French (Acadian) A secondary surname, associated with some forty family names in Canada and also used independently since 1698, a nickname from the flower violette ‘violet’, with the definite article la. In feudal France it was a name given to soldiers and domestic servants.
LawfordEnglish From any of several places in England called Lawford, derived from the personal name Lealla (cognate with Old High German Lallo), and ford "ford, river crossing".
LawlerIrish, Scottish This Irish surname is of Gaelic language origin. The surname derives from the original Gaelic 'O'Leathlobhair' meaning 'descendant of leathlobhair'. Leathlobhair derives from 'Leath' meaning 'Half' and 'Lobhar' meaning 'leper'.... [more]
LawtonEnglish Habitational name, common in Lancashire and Yorkshire, from Buglawton or Church Lawton in Cheshire, or Lawton in Herefordshire, named in Old English as ‘settlement on or near a hill’, or ‘settlement by a burial mound’, from hlaw ‘hill’, ‘burial mound’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’... [more]
LaxnessIcelandic (Rare) Derived from the name of a farm in Mosfellsbær parish in southwest Iceland. A notable bearer was author and Nobel Prize winner Halldór Laxness (1902-1998).
LaybournEnglish Habitational name from Leyburn in North Yorkshire, High Leybourne in Godalming in Surrey, or Leybourne in Kent. The North Yorkshire name may derive from Old English hlēg “shelter” and burna “spring, stream”... [more]
LaycockEnglish The name comes from a small village in England called "Laycock" and has something to do with "the place of the birds."... [more]
ŁazowskiPolish Habitational name for someone from any of various places called Łazy, Łazow, or Łazowa, named with łazy meaning "clearing in a forest".
LazrakArabic (Maghrebi) Derived from Arabic الأزرق (al ʾazraq) meaning "the blue (one)", from أَزْرَق (ʾazraq) "blue". It is chiefly used for Moroccan Arabic.
LearEnglish Means (i) "person from Leire", Leicestershire ("place on the river Leire", a river-name that may also be the ancestor of Leicestershire); or (ii) "person from Lear", any of several variously spelled places in northern France with a name based on Germanic lār "clearing"... [more]
LearnEnglish (American) The surname Learn is traced to an 18th-century settler and his family who lived in what is now Tannersville, Pa. It is an Anglicized version of the Germanic "Loehrner," which name the settler and his family also used.
LeatherEnglish, Scottish A metonymic occupational name for a leatherworker or seller of leather goods, and derived from Middle English and Old English lether meaning "leather".
LebaronFrench Either a variant of Baron "baron" with the French masculine definite article le. Or a habitational name from Le Baron the name of several places in various parts of France.
LebesgueFrench Means "the stammerer" in French, denoting a person with a stammer, from Old French beguer "stuttering, stammering", from Middle Dutch beggen “to chat”.
LebleuFrench From French bleu "blue" with the masculine element le from a nickname for someone who wore blue clothes with blue eyes or a person with a bluish complexion.
LeBoeufFrench Nickname for a powerfully built man, derived from French boeuf meaning "bull", with the definite article le. In some cases it may have been originally a metonymic occupational name for a herdsman.
LebonFrench Approbatory (or ironic) nickname from le bon "the good" a variant of Bon with fused masculine definite article le.
Le BrasBreton Altered form of Breton Ar Brazh meaning "the great, the imposing" or "the big, the fat", ultimately from Proto-Celtic *brassos "great, violent".
Le BretonFrench Describes someone from the French region Breton.
LebrónGalician This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the municipality of A Pobra do Brollón.
LebrónSpanish Lebrón is a surname most prevalent in the Autonomous Community of Andalucía. It is an augmentative of liebre (meaning "hare" in Spanish).
LeckeyScottish, English, Irish Originally Scottish, but also found in England, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Possibly derives from the barony of Leckie (meaning "place of flagstones", from Gaelic leac, "flagstone") in Stirlingshire.
LeddaItalian, Sardinian Probably from the former Medieval town of Lella, in northern Sardinia. The transformation of -ll- into -dd- is common in Sardinian.
LedgerEnglish From the given name Leodegar or Legier. Alternatively, could be an occupational name for a stonemason, ultimately derived from Old English lecgan "to put, place, lay (down)".
LeducFrench, Breton From the Old French title of rank duc "duke" (from Latin dux "leader" genitive ducis) with the French masculine definite article le used as a nickname for someone who gave himself airs and graces or else as a metonymic occupational name for a servant employed in a ducal household.
LeedsEnglish From the city of Leeds in Yorkshire. The name was first attested in the form Loidis in AD 731. In the Domesday Book of 1086, it is recorded as 'Ledes'. This name is thought to have ultimately been derived from an earlier Celtic name... [more]
LeegstraDutch Probably derived from either leeg "empty, hollow" or laag "low" combined with the West Frisian suffix -stra.
LeekEstonian Leek is an Estonian surname meaning "blaze" and "flame".
LeemetEstonian Leement is an Estonian surname (and masculine given name); a variation of the masculine given name Kleement.
LeemingEnglish Habitational name from either of two places, in West Yorkshire near Keighley and in North Yorkshire near Northallerton. Both are named with a river name, derived from the Old English word lēoma "gleam, sparkle".
LefilsFrench, Haitian Creole Derived from French le "the" and fils "son". This was originally a nickname to distinguish a son from his father with the same given name.
LefortFrench, Walloon Either a nickname from French le fort "the strong" (see Fort ). It is also found in Germany where it is probably of Alsatian origin (compare Lefor ) and in Haiti where it most likely originates from the nickname Lefort... [more]
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.
LeggEnglish From the Old Norse: 'long legged' or 'fast runner' (or both).
LeggioItalian From Sicilian leggiu "light, not heavy; superficial", a nickname for someone considered unreliable or irresponsible. Variant of Leggièri.
LegizamonBasque It indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the municipality of Etxebarri Doneztebeko Elizatea.
LegoreItalian Possibly Italian, a nickname for a fleet-footed or timid person, from a northern variant of lepre "hare". However, only the plural form Legori is attested in Italian records.