Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
BaumfreeDutch, American, African American This name is clearly derived from Sojourner Truth, a former African-American slave who was born as Isabella Bomefree (but at some point the surname was changed to the more German-looking Baumfree). Although Sojourner's original owners - James and Elizabeth Bomefree/Baumfree - were apparently of Dutch descent, it is questionable whether the surname is really of Dutch origin... [more]
BaumkötterGerman (Modern) From the German words 'Baum' meaning 'tree' and 'Kötter' a type of villager who dwelt in a cottage, similar to the Scottish Cotter. "Presumably a 'Baumkötter' earned money from a small orchard on their property."
BavieraSpanish, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan Means "Bavaria" in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Catalan. Indicating for someone from Bavaria a state in Germany.
BawaPunjabi Sikh name based on the name of a Jat clan. It is also a title given to the male descendants of the first three Sikh gurus.
BaxendaleEnglish Habitational name, probably an altered form of Baxenden, a place near Accrington, which is named with an unattested Old English word bæcstān meaning "bakestone" (a flat stone on which bread was baked) + denu meaning "valley"... [more]
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.
BayerstoweEnglish From a locational name from Bairstow in West Yorkshire, probably so-called from the Old English elements beger "berry" and stow place.
BaygentsEnglish (American) Possibly derived from Old French bezant, a kind of silver or gold coin minted in Byzantium, ultimately derived from Latin byzantius "of Byzantium"... [more]
BayındırTurkish Means "prosperous, rich, developed" in Turkish.
BayırTurkish Means "slope, incline, hill" in Turkish.
BaykalovRussian Derived from the name of Lake Baikal, derived from Turkish baiköl meaning "rich lake".
BaylisEnglish Derived from the Middle English 'bail(l)i', a development of the Old French 'baillis'. In Scotland the word survives as 'bailie', the title of a chief magistrate for a part of a county or barony. The word survives in England as 'bailiff', an officer who serves writs and summonses for the court.
Baz-oolTuvan (Rare) Means "another boy" from Tuvan база (baza) meaning "also, too, another" combined with оол (ool) "son, boy".
BazzatyOssetian Derived from Georgian ბაზი (bazi) meaning "falcon" or from a given name derived from Tatar базу (bazu) meaning "to dare" (given in hopes that a son would become a warrior).
BeaSpanish Habitational name from a place of this name in Teruel.
BeaberEnglish (American) Americanized spelling of German Bieber or Biber, from Middle High German biber ‘beaver’, hence a nickname for someone thought to resemble the animal in some way, a topographic name for someone who lived in a place frequented by beavers or by a field named with this word, or a habitational name from any of various place names in Hesse containing this element.
BeachEnglish Name for someone living near a beach, stream, or beech tree.
BeakleyEnglish The surname Beakley is a nickname for a person with a prominent nose. Looking back further, we find the name Beakley was originally from the Old English word beke or the Old French word bec, each of which referred to the beak of a bird.
BeallScottish Derived from the Gaelic word beal, which means "mouth" or "opening." It could have been a nickname for someone with a large or prominent mouth.
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]
BeamishEnglish Habitational name for someone from Beaumais-sur-Dire in Calvados Beaumetz in Somme or one of three places called Beaumetz in Pas-de-Calais, all in northern France. In some cases it may be derived from a place called Beamish in County Durham... [more]
BearEnglish From the Middle English nickname Bere meaning "bear" (Old English bera, which is also found as a byname), or possibly from a personal name derived from a short form of the various Germanic compound names with this first element... [more]
BeardEnglish (American) Nickname for a bearded man (Middle English, Old English beard). To be clean-shaven was the norm in non-Jewish communities in northwestern Europe from the 12th to the 16th century, the crucial period for surname formation... [more]
BeardenEnglish English habitational name, a variant of Barden, or from places in Devon and Cornwall called Beardon.
BeardmoreEnglish A habitational name from a lost place (probably in the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands of England, where the surname is particularly common).
BeatonEnglish As an English surname, it is derived from either the French town of Béthune, or from the medieval diminutive Beaton, short for Bartholomew or Beatrice... [more]
BeauFrench Nickname for a handsome man (perhaps also ironically for an ugly one) from Old French beubel "beautiful, handsome" (from Late Latin bellus)... [more]
BeaubienFrench (Quebec), English From French beau meaning "beautiful" and bien meaning "well, good". The name referred to someone with physical beauty.
BeauchampEnglish, French From the name of various places in France, for example in Manche and Somme, which was derived from Old French beu, bel meaning "fair, lovely" and champ, champs "field, plain".
BeaufayFrench (Rare) In most cases, this surname is a locational surname that most likely took its name from the village of Beaufay, which is nowadays located in the Sarthe department of France. The village was called Bello Faeto, Bellofaido and Belfaidus during the Early Middle Ages, ultimately deriving its name from Latin bellus fagus (or bellum fagetum) meaning "beautiful beech tree(s)" or "beautiful beech woodland"... [more]
BeaufordEnglish Variation of Buford. It is derived from the French word "beau", meaning "beautiful", and "ford", an Old English word meaning "river crossing".
BeaufoyFrench (Anglicized, Rare), English (Rare) Anglicized form of Beaufay. Known bearers of this surname include the English astronomer and physicist Mark Beaufoy (1764-1827) and the British screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (b... [more]
BeauregardFrench Habitational name from any of various places in France named Beauregard for their fine view or fine aspect, for example in Ain, Dordogne, Drôme, Lot, and Puy-de-Dôme, from beau "fair, lovely" and regard "aspect, outlook".
BeauregardeFrench Variant of Beauregard used by one of the main characters in Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" as well as its film and broadway adaptations.
BeauséjourFrench (Rare) Literally means "beautiful sojourn", derived from French beau "beautiful, nice, fine" and French séjour "sojourn, short stay". As such, this surname is most likely a locational surname, in that it originally referred to a scenic place to sojourn in... [more]
BeausoleilFrench (Quebec) Surname of French origin. A topographic name from beau ‘lovely fair’ + soleil ‘sun’ probably denoting a place that was exposed to the sun or a habitational name from any of various minor places called so.... [more]
BeauvaisFrench From French place names derived from "beautiful sight".
BeauvoirEnglish From the surname of Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), a French feminist and philosopher.
BecerraSpanish, Galician Nickname probably for a high-spirited person from becerra "young cow, heifer". It may also have been a metonymic occupational name for a cowherd.
BecherGerman Shortened form of Becherer as well as a surname given to for someone who distilled or worked with pitch, in which case it is derived from Middle High German bech / pech "pitch".
BechmannGerman (Rare) Surname denoting someone who worked with pitch, from Middle High German bech / pech "pitch" and man, a suffix which can mean "man" or simply be used as a name suffix.
BechtleGerman The surname Bechtle was first found in Hessen, where the family contributed greatly to the development of an emerging nation. The earliest bearers of this name to be mentioned in ancient chronicles were Bechtold of Fulda in 1387, BechtoldSuleffel of Frankfurt in 1442, and TibertiusBechtolf of Frankfurt in 1568... [more]
BeckemeyerGerman Beckemeyer is a surname of German origin. The name likely traces back to a place named Beckum, located in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The "-eyer" suffix could potentially mean "from" or "of" in this context, so " Beckemeyer " could translate to "from Beckum".
BeckerEnglish Occupational name for a maker or user of mattocks or pickaxes, from an agent derivative of Old English becca "mattock".
BeckinghamEnglish From the name of two villages in England, one in Lincolnshire and one in Nottinghamshire.
BeckiusSwedish Combination of Swedish bäck "small stream, brook" and the common surname suffix -ius.
BecklesEnglish From a place in Suffolk named "Beccles". From Old English bæce meaning "stream" and les meaning "meadow".
BeckleyEnglish This surname was taken from an English habitational name from any of the various places, in Kent, Oxfordshire, and Sussex, named Beckley whose name was derived from the Old English byname Becca and the Old English lēah "woodland clearing".... [more]
BecksonEnglish (British) The name comes from having lived in an enclosed place, means dweller at the old enclosure or dwelling. The surname Aldeman was first found in Essex, Suffolk and Yorkshire at Aldham. In all cases, the place name meant "the old homestead," or "homestead of a man called Ealda," from the Old English personal name + "ham."
BeckwithEnglish (African) Habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire named Beckwith, from Old English bece "beech" + Old Norse viðr "wood" (replacing the cognate Old English wudu).
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.
BecraftEnglish (American) English, variant of Beecroft. topographic name for someone who lived at a place where bees were kept, from Middle English bee ‘bee’ + croft ‘paddock’, ‘smallholding’.
BeddoesWelsh “This name derives from Old Welsh name and patronymic surname “Morgetuid / Margetiud”, composed of two elements: “mere” (great, splendid) plus “iudd” (lord). As a personal name the origins are lost in the mists of time but it is certainly pre Roman, however the modern use of the name is commonly taken from Merdydd ap Bleddyn, prince of Powys who died in 1132... [more]
BeddowWelsh From the personal name Bedo, a pet form of Meredydd (see Meredith).
BedellEnglish This place name derives from the Old English words byde, meaning "tub," and "well," meaning a "spring," or "stream." As such, Bedell is classed as a habitational name.
BedfordEnglish From the English county Bedfordshire and its principal city or from a small community in Lancashire with the same name. The name comes from the Old English personal name Beda, a form of the name Bede and the location element -ford meaning "a crossing at a waterway." Therefore the name indicates a water crossing once associated with a bearer of the medieval name.
BediIndian Based on the name of a clan in the Khatri community. The name is derived from Sanskrit vedī ‘one who knows the Vedas’. Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the founder of the Sikh religion, was from the Bedi clan... [more]
BediIndian, Punjabi, Hindi Derived from Sanskrit वेदिन् (vedin) meaning "knowing, learned", used as a name for someone who was familiar with the Vedas.
BedoyaSpanish Castilianized form of Bedoia. Name for someone from Bedoña, in the Spanish province Gipuzkoa. Bedoña likely comes from Basque bedi "pasture grazing" and -oña, suffix for a place name.
BedwaniArabic (Egyptian) Possibly derived from bedouin, the term for a wandering tribe of arabs.
BedwaniArabic (Egyptian, Rare) Possibly derived from the English word bedouin, that comes from the Arabic badawī, which means "desert dweller". ... [more]
BedwellEnglish Derived from the town of Bidwell, Hertfordshire, England, from Old English words "Byde", which meant tub, and "Well", meaning fountain or spring. The surname is classified as a habitational name. The name Bedwell is most common in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, England, and the state of Indiana in the USA.
BedworthEnglish An English habitational surname from a place so named near Nuneaton, in Warwickshire, derived most likely from the Old English personal name Baeda (see Bede), suffixed with worþ, 'enclosure', denoting an enclosed area of land belonging to Baeda.
BeeEnglish From Middle English be meaning "bee", Old English beo, hence a nickname for an energetic or active person or a metonymic occupational name for a beekeeper.
BeedenEnglish (British) Probably means "from Beeden", a village near Newbury in Berkshire. Ultimately coming from either Old English byden, meaning "shallow valley", or from the pre 7th century personal name Bucge with the suffix dun, meaning "hill of Bucge".
BeekmanDutch, German (Americanized) Means "creek man" in Dutch, a topographic name for a person who lived by a creek, or an Americanized form of the German cognate Beekmann.
BeeksDutch From Dutch beek meaning "brook, stream".
BeemanEnglish (British) The name Beeman first arose amongst the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. It is derived from their having lived near a mountain. This name was brought to England by the Normans, and is a corruption of the Norman French name Beaumont, which means beautiful mountain.
BeendersDutch Possibly an occupational name for a bookbinder or barrel maker, from Middle Dutch binden "to bind, to tie". Alternatively, could be related to been "bone".
BeerEnglish Habitational name from any of the forty or so places in southwestern England called Beer(e) or Bear(e). Most of these derive their names from the West Saxon dative case, beara, of Old English bearu "grove, wood"... [more]
BeerGerman, Dutch From Middle Low German bare, Middle Dutch bere "bear". Given as a nickname to someone who was thought to resemble a bear, a metonymic occupational name for someone who kept a performing bear, or a habitational name for someone who lived near a sign depicting a bear... [more]
BeeraleSomali The surname "Beerale" in Somali means "farmer" or "agriculturist." It refers to someone involved in farming or agricultural activities.
BeersEnglish Name for someone who lives in a grove of woods.
BeersDutch Could be a habitational name from either of two Dutch villages called Beers, or derived from a short form of the personal name Bernhard.
BeeryIrish Anglicized form of Ó Béara. This name was borne by brothers Noah (1882-1946) and Wallace Beery (1885-1949), and Noah's son Noah Beery Jr... [more]
BegayNavajo Derived from the Navajo word biyeʼ meaning "his son". This was frequently adopted as a surname among the Navajo when Native Americans were required by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to formally adopt surnames for the purpose of official records.
BeginBelarusian, Jewish Nickname for a runner, derived from Belarusian бегун (begun) meaning "one who walks quickly". A noteworthy bearer was Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin (1913-1992), who is best remembered for signing a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, for which he and Anwar Sadat were both awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
BégonFrench Probably from French béguin "(male) Beguin", referring to a member of a particular religious order active in the 13th century, and derived from the surname of Lambert le Bègue, the mid-12th-century priest responsible for starting it... [more]
BègueFrench Means "stutterer, stammerer" in French, used as a nickname for someone with a stutter.
BéguinFrench Nickname from beguin, a member of a medieval Christian male religious community (ultimately named after a priest called Lambert le Bègue) that followed a monastic rule without making perpetual vows and was quickly considered heretic; by extension the term came to mean "sanctimonious person".
BehnGerman From the German male personal name Behn, a shortened form of Bernhard. A famous bearer was the English novelist and dramatist Aphra Behn (1640-1689).
BehringerGerman Habitational name for someone from either of two places called Behringen, near Soltau and in Thuringia, or from Böhringen in Württemberg.
BeiChinese From Chinese 贝 (bèi) referring to the ancient fief of Bei, which was part of the state of Jin during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Hebei province.
BeifongPopular Culture Surname of Toph from the American TV show "Avatar: The Last Airbender". Could be derived from the Chinese word "北方 (Běifāng)" meaning "north".
BeiningGerman This famous surname, one of the earliest recorded in history, and recorded in over two hundred spellings from Benedicte, Benech and Bennet, to Banish, Beinosovitch and Vedyasov, derives from the Roman personal name "Benedictus", meaning blessed.