LescherGerman German metonymic occupational name for a mediator or arbitrator, or possibly for a fireman, from Middle High German leschære ‘extinguisher’.
LesieurFrench From old French sieur "lord, overlord" (from Latin senior "elder") fused with le either an occupational name for someone in service of a great lord or an ironic nickname for someone who gives himself airs or graces.
LesińskiPolish Habitational name for someone from any of the places called Lesin Lesina or Leśna named with les dialect form of standard Polish las ‘forest’.
LeskinenFinnish From Leski, meaning "widow". Notable people with this name are Otto Leskinen, a Finnish ice hockey player, and Alexis Leskinen, a character from Steins;Gate 0
LesnarGerman Variant spelling of German Lessner, a habitational name from any of various places in eastern Germany called Lessen, all named with Slavic les 'forest'.
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.
LesterEnglish Habitational name from Leicester which is recorded as Ligeraceastre in the 10th century. The placename derives from an Old English folk name Legore "the dwellers by the river Legor (a lost river name)" and Old English ceaster "city Roman fortification" (from Latin castrum) "camp fortress".
LeszczyńskiPolish Name for someone from any of various places called Leszczyna, Leszczyno, Leszczyny or Leszczynek, all derived from Polish leszczyna meaning "hazel".
Le TallecBreton Tallec derives from talek which means someone with a large forehead in Breton.
LetoItalian From the personal name Leto. From Latin Laetus meaning "happy, joyful"... [more]
LétourneauFrench Nickname for a chatty, gregarious person or an occupational name for a birdcatcher, derived from French l'étourneau meaning "the starling".
LeusinkMedieval Dutch Descendants from farmers from the Overijssel Province in the Netherlands. History can be traced to the middle ages, perhaps to a farm called Lossyng in the village of Neede.
LevaiJewish Comes from the Levitic surnames of 'Levi' and 'Levy', signifying the descendants from the Tribe of Levi. All bearers today are of Hungarian–Jewish descent.
LevantEnglish Derived from the Italian word levante, meaning "rising" and the French word levant, meaning "to rise". The term entered the English language in 1497 and was used to describe the "Mediterranean lands east of Italy" by referring to the rising of the sun in the east... [more]
LevensteinJewish, Yiddish Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name, or perhaps an ornamental elaboration associated with the name Leyb; from Middle High German lewe ‘lion’, translating the Yiddish male personal name Leyb (see Low) + German stein ‘stone’, ‘rock’... [more]
LeverFrench, English Nickname for a fleet-footed or timid person, from Old French levre "hare" (Latin lepus, genitive leporis). It may also have been a metonymic occupational name for a hunter of hares.
LeverEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived in a place thickly grown with rushes, from Old English lǣfer "rush, reed". Compare Laver. Great and Little Lever in Greater Manchester (formerly in Lancashire) are named with this word, and in some cases the surname may also be derived from these places.
LeverettEnglish Diminutive of Lever, from the Middle English personal name Lefred, Old English Leofræd, composed of the elements leof ‘dear’, ‘beloved’ + red ‘counsel’.
LeverichEnglish The surname Leverich was first found in West Yorkshire at Liversedge, a township that dates back to the Domesday Book where it was listed as Livresec, a manor belonging to Radulf, a vassal of Ilbert de Lacy... [more]
LevertFrench Means "the green", from French vert "green".
LevertonEnglish This surname combines the Old English personal female name Leofwaru or the Old English word læfer meaning "rush, reed" with another Old English word tún meaning "enclosure, field, farm, dwelling." The etymology with the female name addition fits in with the town of the same name in Berkshire while the etymology with the word addition fits in with the one in Lincolnshire.
LevobFrench The family name Levob is believed to be from Lorraine, an ancient province of the East of France. Some of the variations are Lavoye, Lavois, Lavoi, Levoi, Levoie, Levoy, Levois, Levot, Lavot to distinguish but a few.
L'hernaultMedieval French Originating in Northern France, Rouen River Valley, Normandie, L'Hernault is an Old French word for a "heralder", one who would act as an announcer, diplomat or town crier.... [more]
LhommeFrench From the name of the commune of Lhomme, located in the Sarthe department in northwestern France.
L'HuillierFrench Denoted a person who produces or sells oil, from French huile "oil" with fused definite article l'. Anne Geneviève L'Huillier (1958-) is a French physicist who beat the world record for the shortest laser pulse, of 170 attoseconds.
LhuillierCebuano, Filipino Borrowed from French L'Huillier used in the Philippines. Jean Henri Diago Lhuillier (1969) is a Filipino businessman, diplomat, and sports patron.
LhuydWelsh Edward Lhuyd has been called "the first Welsh archaeologist".... [more]
LichtJewish From the German word meaning "light", possibly derived from a given name meaning "light" such as Uri or Meir.
LichtGerman, Dutch, Yiddish Means "light" or "candle". Could be an occupational name for a chandler, a topographic name for someone who lived in a clearing (see Lichte), or a nickname for someone who had light hair, or who was agile and slender.
LichtblauYiddish Means "light blue" in German. Leon Lichtblau was a pro-revolution communist who was imprisoned in Romania in 1921.
LichteGerman Habitational name for someone who lived in a clearing (see Lucht) or topographic name from a town in Germany, situated by the Lichte river. Alternatively, a variant of Licht.
LichtenGerman, Jewish From German licht meaning "light". Nickname for someone with a light complexion.
LichterGerman, Jewish Occupational name for someone who made candles or possibly for someone who tended a light, from an agent derivative of from Middle High German lieht, Yiddish likht "candle, light".
LickertGerman (East Prussian) Derived from the German feminine name Luitgard, and thus ultimately from Old High German liut "people" and garto "garden; enclosure".
LickfoldEnglish Derives from a hamlet in West Sussex, England. All known holders, worldwide, of this rare surname can be traced back to Lickfolds who lived within 20 miles of Lickfold in the 16th century.
LiddiardEnglish From Celtic place names in England meaning "gray hill".
LiddingtonEnglish, Scottish (Rare) This surname is derived from a geographical locality. "of Liddington", a parish in Rutland, near Uppingham; a parish in Wiltshire, near Swindon.
LidmanSwedish Combination of Swedish place name element lid "slope, hillside" and man "man". A notable bearer was Swedish writer Sara Lidman (1923-2004).
LidströmSwedish Combination of the Swedish place name element lid "slope, hillside" and ström "stream, flow". A notable bearer is Swedish ice hockey player Nicklas Lidström (b. 1970).
LiebGerman, Jewish Nickname for a pleasant or agreeable person, from Middle High German liep "dear, beloved"; Yiddish lib or German lieb. This word was also used as a personal name, both alone (German) and in compounds (German and Jewish).
LiebGerman From a short form of the various compound Slavic personal names formed with lubo- "love" as the first element.
LieberknechtGerman A compound name where lieber is derived from the given name Liebert and kneckt is an occupational surname for a journeyman, derived from the Middle Low German knecht meaning "knight’s assistant, servant".
LiebermannGerman, Jewish Derived from German lieb or Yiddish lib meaning "dear, beloved". Many Liebermann families originally spelled the name in Hebrew or Cyrillic characters, so variations in the spelling occurred during transliteration to the Latin alphabet.
LiebhartGerman From a Germanic personal name, composed of the elements liub "beloved, dear" and hard "brave, strong".
LiebknechtGerman Karl Liebknecht was a German socialist revolutionary.
LieblingGerman, Yiddish, Jewish Derived from German lieb meaning "dear, beloved" or German liebling meaning "darling".
LiebmanJewish Variant of German Liebmann, itself a variant of Libman and derived from the Yiddish personal name Lipman, from Middle High German liep "dear, beloved" and man "man"... [more]
LiellEnglish (British) Meaning: from the isle, from an island. Early versions of the name can be traced back to the Norman invasion in 1066, and a variation (de Insula) can be found in the Domesday Book... [more]
LiemDutch Habitual surname for Lieme in Eastphalia, which is from lim meaning "mire".
LiemanDutch From a Germanic personal name composed of liut "people", or possibly liob "dear, beloved", combined with man "person, man" (see Liutman, Liefman).
LieshoutDutch Originally indicated a person from the village of Lieshout in the province of North-Brabant, Netherlands. It is possibly derived from either Dutch lies meaning "great manna grass" (a grasslike plant that grows near riverbanks and ponds) or Middle Dutch lese meaning "track, furrow", combined with hout meaning "forest".
LietzenGerman Lietzen is a municipality in the district Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, Germany.... [more]
LifSwedish This is most likely a name adopted by soldiers in the 17th century. The actual meaning is unclear. It could be taken directly from the Swedish word liv meaning "life" or from a location named with this element.
LightEnglish Nickname for a happy, cheerful person, from Middle English lyght, Old English lēoht "light (not dark), bright, cheerful".
LightfootEnglish English (chiefly northern England, especially Liverpool): nickname for a messenger or for a fast runner, from Middle English lyght ‘light’, ‘nimble’, ‘quick’ (Old English lioht) + fote ‘foot’.
LighthallEnglish A habitational name from a place called Lightollars in Lancashire, so named from Old English leoht ‘light-colored’ + alor ‘alder’. The surname, however, is not found in current English sources.
LightyearPopular Culture From the English term light-year, a unit of length often used when measuring distances in space. Most often used in everyday speech and non-scientific publications. This is the surname of Buzz Lightyear, a fictional character in the Pixar animated film series 'Toy Story'.
LigiEstonian Ligi is an Estonian surname meaning "near" or "accessible".
LiinamäeEstonian Liinamäe is an Estonian surname meaning "straight hill"; derived from "liin" meaning "straight/line" and "mäe" meaning "hill/mountain".
LiistroItalian From Sicilian lijistru "privet", a kind of shrub or small tree.
LiitEstonian Liit is an Estonian surname meaning "alliance" or "union".
LilienthalJewish Means "valley of lilies" in German, being this word derived from Lilie "lily" and Thal "valley".
LilienthalGerman Habitational name from any of the places called Lilienthal in Schleswig-Holstein Lower Saxony and Baden-Württemburg named with Middle High German liljen "lilies" (from Latin lilium) and tal "valley".
LiljaSwedish, Finnish Means "lily" in Swedish and Finnish. It is also used as a first name (see Lilja).
LiljedahlSwedish, Norwegian Ornamental name derived from Swedish lilje, a genitive form of lilja "lily" used in compounds, and the archaic word dahl (Old Norse dalr) meaning "valley"... [more]