Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
BangDanish Originally a nickname denoting a loud or brash person, from Old Danish bang "noise" (from Old Norse banga "to pound, hammer" of echoic origin). A literary bearer was Danish author Herman Bang (1857-1912).... [more]
BangKorean Bang is derived from the Korean word ‘sarangbang’ referring to a ‘room’.
BanglaBengali From বাংলা (Bangla), the endonym of the Bengali people, the region of Bengal (including Bangladesh), and the Bengali language. The word itself is derived either from Vanga, the name of an ancient kingdom on the Indian subcontinent, or from an Austric word meaning "sun god".
BanjarArabic From the name of the Banjar people, itself derived from Javanese mbanjarke meaning "separate, rearrange, organize". This surname is borne by people of Indonesian ancestry in Saudi Arabia.
BankheadScottish, Northern Irish Topographic name for someone who lived at the top or end of a bank or hill, derived from Middle English bank meaning "bank" and hed meaning "head". There are several minor places in Scotland so called, but the most likely source of the surname is one on the border between the parishes of Kilmarnock and Dreghorn in Ayrshire, Scotland.
BankokuJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 万国 meaning "all nations; the whole world; universal". The fact that it is homophonous as Japanese バンコク (Bankoku) meaning "Bangkok", the city in Thailand, is coincidental.
BankovRussian Feminine Bankova (Russian: Банкова) is a Russian surname derived from банковское meaning Bank, Banking.
BankstonEnglish Derived from the old English world "Banke" usually given to a family who lived near a hill or a slope.
BanksyEnglish, Popular Culture This is pseudonyms Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter. Banksy's real name might be Robin Gunningham. How Banksy got his pseudonym is unknown... [more]
BanovićSerbian, Croatian "Son of a Ban", the -ić "son of" suffix with ban, the title of class of Croatian nobility beginning in the 7th century approximately equivalent to viceroy, lord or duke, stemming potentially from the Turkic bajan ("rich, wealthy").
BansalIndian, Hindi, Punjabi Most likely derived from Sanskrit वंश (vansha) meaning "lineage, clan, race" or "bamboo".
BantadtanThai From Thai บรรทัด (banthat) meaning "ruler; straight line" and ฐาน (than) meaning "base; location".
BantanArabic From the name of the Indonesian province of Banten, originally indicating a person originally from that region.
BanuelosSpanish Spanish (Bañuelos): habitational name from any of various places, primarily Bañuelos de Bureba in Burgos, named for their public baths, from a diminutive of baños ‘baths’ (see Banos)
BaradBiblical Hebrew (Rare) It's the Hebrew name of one the biblical plagues in the Hebrew bible that God cast on Egypt. It means Hail as in the Ice storm.
BaragaSlovene A Slovene surname of unknown origin. A notable bearer was Slovene-American Roman Catholic bishop Frederic Baraga (1797-1868), who was the bishop of Marquette, a town in Upper Michigan, USA. There is also a village in Upper Michigan named Baraga, which was named after the bishop.
BarakiEthiopian, Amharic From the given name Baraki, meaning "one who blesses" in Amharic. It is possibly related to Arabic Barak 2 and Hebrew Baruch, also meaning "blessed".
BaramHebrew Combination of the word am, means "people, nation" and the name Bar. This surname means "son of the nation" in Hebrew and its variant is Ambar which is the same elements but in reverse order.
BaranesJudeo-Spanish From the name of the Baranis tribe of the Amazigh (Berber) people, derived from an Arabic plural form of the name of the tribe's founder, Burnus. His name has been connected to the Arabic word برنس (burnus) meaning "burnoose, cloak".
BarbagelataItalian Named after the hamlet of Barbagelata, located in the commune of Lorsica, Genoa, Liguria, Italy. The name possibly means "cold beard", as it derives from "barba" (beard) and "gelata" (female form of cold).
BarbeGerman From Middle High German barbe, the name of a species of fish resembling the carp; hence by metonymy an occupational name for a fisherman or fish dealer, or possibly a nickname for someone thought to resemble the fish in some way.
BarbeauFrench Derived from barbeau meaning "barbel", a type of fish, hence a metonymic occupational name for a fisherman, or a nickname for a man with a sparse beard, the fish being distinguished by beardlike growths on either side of its mouth... [more]
BarberaItalian Derogatory nickname from barbera ‘barber’s wife’, a term also used to denote a prostitute or dishonest woman. Catalan (Barberà): habitational name from a place in Tarragona province, named with Late Latin Barbarianum ‘place of Barbarius’, a derivative of Barbarus (see Barbaro)... [more]
BarberoSpanish Spanish occupational name for a barber-surgeon (see Barber), Spanish barbero, from Late Latin barbarius, a derivative of barba ‘beard’ (Latin barba).
BarbonFrench (Quebec) Derived from the nickname barbon meaning "old codger" as well as referring to a "confirmed bachelor".
BarbosaPortuguese denoting a person who lived by land that contained overgrown leafy vegetation from the portuguese word barba "leaf" + oso/osa (adjective suffix); variant of Barboza
BarcelóCatalan Apparently from a personal name Barcelonus (feminine Barcelona), originally denoting someone from the city of Barcelona.
BarcelonaCatalan, Spanish Habitational name from Barcelona, the principal city of Catalonia. The place name is of uncertain, certainly pre-Roman, origin. The settlement was established by the Carthaginians, and according to tradition it was named for the Carthaginian ruling house of Barca; the Latin form was Barcino or Barcilo.
BárcenasSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the Castilian municipality of Espinosa de los Monteros.
BarchardEnglish The name is derived from when the family resided in Cheshire, where they held a family seat near Birkenhead at the estuary of the River Birket. It is from the name of the river that their name is derived.
BarchoCircassian Possibly derived from an Adyghe word meaning "band, lace", referring to someone who made ropes or binding tapes, or from a Chechen word referring to a tailor.
BarcroftEnglish English habitational name from for example Barcroft in Haworth, West Yorkshire, so named with Old English bere (barley) and croft (smallholding).
BardellEnglish Originally meant "person from Bardwell", Suffolk ("Bearda's spring"). A fictional bearer of the surname is Mrs Bardell, Mr Pickwick's widowed landlady in Charles Dickens's 'Pickwick Papers' (1837), who misconstrues an innocent remark about having a companion as a marriage proposal, which leads to her suing Pickwick for breach of promise.
BardenEnglish English: habitational name from places in North and West Yorkshire named Barden, from Old English bere ‘barley’ (or the derived adjective beren) + denu ‘valley’.
BardwellEnglish From the name of a town in Suffolk, derived from Old English "Bearda’s spring", or a combination of breord "rim, edge, brim" and wella "well, spring, stream".
BarefootEnglish English: nickname for someone who was in the habit of going about his business unshod, from Old English bær ‘bare’, ‘naked’ + fot ‘foot’. It may have referred to a peasant unable to afford even the simplest type of footwear, or to someone who went barefoot as a religious penance.In some instances, probably a translation of German Barfuss, the northern form Barfoth, or the Danish cognate Barfo(e)d.
BareillesFrench, Occitan Derived from the place name Bareilles, a village in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitania region of France. A famous bearer is the American musician and actress Sara Bareilles (1979-).
BaresiItalian Variant of Barrese. A famous bearer is Franchino "Franco" Baresi (1960-), as well as his brother Giuseppe Baresi (1958-), both former Italian soccer players.
BarhamEnglish English: habitational name from any of the various places so called. Most, for example those in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, are named with Old English beorg ‘hill’ + ham ‘homestead’. The one in Kent, however, is from an unattested Old English byname Biora, Beora (a derivative of bera ‘bear’) + ham.
BarilFrench During the middle ages, when people were named after their given job, Baril was what winemakers and brewers were named. Baril simply means "Barrel" or "Keg"
BarileItalian From Italian barile "barrel" either an occupational name for a Cooper or a nickname for a fat man.
BarillaItalian Occupational name from medieval Greek barellas "cooper" from Italian barella "barrel" with the suffix (e)as.
BarjaktarovićMontenegrin Derived from barjaktar (барјактар), meaning "flag bearer, standard bearer".
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)"
BarkerEnglish SURNAME Town cryer, or someone who shouts out notices
BarkisEnglish Meant "person who works in a tannery" (from Middle English barkhous "tannery" - bark was used in the tanning process). A fictional bearer is Barkis, a carrier in Charles Dickens's 'David Copperfield' (1849) who sends a message via David to Clara Peggotty that "Barkis is willin'" (i.e. to marry her).
BarkusEnglish Probably a reduced form of Barkhouse, a topographic name for someone who lived by a tannery, Middle English barkhous, or an occupational name for someone who worked in one.
BarkwayEnglish Derived from the locality of Barkway 'Birch Road'.
BarkworthEnglish Location based surname from Barkwith in Lincolnshire, England.
BarnabyEnglish Either (i) means "person from Barnaby", Yorkshire ("Beornwald's settlement"); or (ii) from the medieval male personal name Barnaby, the English form of Barnabas, a biblical name ultimately from Aramaic Barnabia "son of Nabia".
Bar NaimHebrew Combination of Bar and Naim with the meaning of "son of pleasantness".
BarnewallAnglo-Norman, Irish A locational surname given to those who lived by a stream in either Cambridgeshire, which derives its name from the Olde English beorna meaning "warrior" and wella meaning "stream", or from one in Northamptonshire, which got its name from the Olde English byrge meaning "burial mound" and well, which also means "stream." a burial mound and 'well(a)'... [more]
BarnoItalian, Ukrainian, French, Ancient Aramaic, Russian The surname Barno was first found in the north of Italy, especially in Tuscany. The name occasionally appears in the south, usually in forms which end in "o," but the northern forms ending in "i" are much more common... [more]
BarónSpanish nickname from the title barón "baron" applied as a nickname or as an occupational name for a member of the household of a baron; or from an old personal name of the same origin in the sense "free man"... [more]
BaronEnglish, French From a title of nobility derived from Old French baron of uncertain origin and meaning, possibly from Frankish barō meaning "servant, man, warrior". It was used as a nickname for someone who worked for a baron or for a peasant with ideas above their station.
BaronJewish From German or Polish baron or Russian барон (baron) meaning "baron". In Israel the name is often interpreted to mean "son of strength" from Hebrew בר און (bar on).
BarrScottish, Northern Irish Habitational name from any of various places in southwestern Scotland, in particular Ayrshire and Renfrewshire, named with Gaelic barr "height, hill" or a British cognate of this.
BarreauFrench Possibly a variant of Barreur, an agent derivative of barrer ‘to bar’, ‘to close or block off’, hence possibly an occupational name for a jailer or doorkeeper.
BarreiraPortuguese, Galician From several habitations in Galicia and Portugal, from barreira meaning "clay or loam hollow".
BarreiroGalician, Portuguese Barreiro is a habitational name from any of numerous places in Galicia (Spain) and Portugal named with a derivative of barro 'clay loam'.
BarreirosPortuguese, Galician Habitational name from any of various places in Galicia called Barreiros, from Portuguese and Galician barreiro meaning "slough, clay".
BarreraSpanish, Catalan Either a topographic name for someone who lived near a gate or fence, from Spanish and Catalan barrera meaning "barrier", or a topographic name for someone who lived by a clay pit, from Spanish barrero, derived from the Spanish word barro meaning "mud, clay".
BarreseItalian, Sicilian Denoted a person from any of the various minor places named Barra in southern Italy (for example the large district in the eastern part of Naples), derived from Italian barra meaning "barrier, bar, obstacle".
BarretoPortuguese Occupational name for a cap maker. Comes from barreto which means ‘cap’.
BarriereFrench Occupational name for a gatekeeper, from Old French barier.
BarrineauFrench The history of the Barrineau family goes back to the Medieval landscape of northern France, to that coastal region known as Normandy. Barrineau is a habitation name, derived from the place name Barrault, in Normandy.... [more]
BarringtonEnglish, Irish English: habitational name from any of several places called Barrington. The one in Gloucestershire is named with the Old English personal name Beorn + -ing- denoting association + tun ‘settlement’... [more]
BarriosSpanish Habitational name from any of the numerous places named with Spanish barrio "outlying suburb (especially an impoverished one), slum", from Arabic barr "suburb, dependent village". It may also be a topographic name for someone originating from a barrio.
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]
BarrowmanEnglish A man employed in wheeling a barrow; specifically, in coal-mining, one who conveys the coal in a wheelbarrow from the point where it is mined to the trolleyway or tramway on which it is carried to the place where it is raised to the surface.
BarrundiaBasque This indicates familial origin within the eponymous municipality.
BarryAfrican A Guinean surname meaning the family comes from the Peul, Fulani, or Foulbe ethnic groups of West Africa.