BenthallEnglish From Old English beonet meaning "bent-grass" and halh meaning nook.
BenthamEnglish Habitational name from any of various places named Bentham, from Old English beonet "bent grass" + ham "homestead" or hamm "enclosure hemmed in by water".
BentinckDutch Patronymic of the given name Bent 2 with the suffix inck meaning "people".
BeppuJapanese From Japanese 別府 (Beppu), the name of several Japanese towns and divisions. In some cases these places names are normally read Byū or Befu. In other cases Beppu is a clipping of longer names such as 別府門 (Beppumon), 西別府 (Nishibeppu) or 上別府 (Kamibeppu).
BerentzenGerman The surname is derived from the given name Bernd and was formerly written "Bernd sin Sohn" which meant "son of Bernd"... [more]
BeresHungarian Occupational name for a farm laborer or casual harvest hand, béres, a derivative of bér 'wage', 'payment'.
BeresfordEnglish English: habitational name from a place in the parish of Alstonfield, Staffordshire named Beresford, from Old English beofor ‘beaver’ (or possibly from a byname from this word) + Old English ford ‘ford’... [more]
BerethnetLiterature Used by Samantha Shannon in her book The Priory Of The Orange Tree as the surname of the queens of Inys, a fictional queendom in the book.... [more]
BergaraBasque This indicates familial origin within the eponymous municipality.
BergdahlSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain, hill" and dal "valley".
BergdorfGerman Origin unidentified. Possibly a German habitational name from places in Hamburg and Lower Saxony called Bergedorf, Bargdorf in Lower Saxony, or Bergsdorf in Brandenburg.
BergenGerman, Dutch, Flemish, Jewish Originally denoted a person from any of the various places named Bergen in Germany and the Netherlands. It is also a variant of Berg. Famous bearers include the Americans Candice Bergen (1946-), an actress, and Polly Bergen (1930-2014), an actress, singer and television host.
BergeronFrench Diminutive of French berger meaning "shepherd".
BerghorstGerman Topographical name for someone who lived by a wilderness area on a mountain, from Berg 'mountain', 'hill' + Horst 'wilderness' (see Horst).
BerginSwedish Derived from Swedish berg "mountain" and the common surname suffix -in.
BergincSlovak Original spelling of Slovene surname "Boreanaz".... [more]
BergkampDutch, German From the name of various places in the Netherlands and Germany, derived from Old Dutch and Old High German berg meaning "mountain" and kamp meaning "field". This name is borne by Dutch former soccer player Dennis Bergkamp (1969-).
BerglinSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain" and the surname suffix -in.
BerglindSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain, hill" and lind "linden tree".
BerglingSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain" and the common surname suffix -ing "belonging to, coming from". It has also been found as a spelling variant of similarly spelled names, such as Berlin... [more]
BergmarkSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain, hill" and mark "land, ground, field".
BergoglioItalian From the name of a village in Piedmont, Italy. A notable bearer is JorgeMario Bergoglio (1936-), better known as Pope Francis, the current head of the Catholic Church.
BergschneiderGerman topographic name for someone living by a mountain trail (as in cut into the hillside) from Berg "mountain hill" and Schneit "trail path running on a border" (Old High German sneita).
BergsmaDutch The surname Bergsma had orinally been German. It was then taken over to Holland possibly in the sixteenth century.... [more]
BerkeleyEnglish From any of the locations called Berkeley derived the elements beorc "birch" and leah "clearing, wood" meaning "birch clearing"... [more]
BerlangaSpanish From the village or castle named "Berlanga de Duero" from Soria, Spain. Berlanga itself was derived from "berlain" which comes from the name of a precious stone derived from the Greek. So it could be related to stones.
BerlinSwedish Of uncertain origin. The name could be a shortened form of Berglin. It could also be a habitational name from the city in Germany or from a place in Sweden named with ber or berg "mountain"... [more]
BerlinGerman, English Habitational name from the city in Germany, the name of which is of uncertain meaning. It is possibly derived from an Old Slavic stem berl- meaning swamp or from a West Slavic word meaning "river lake".
BerlinerblauGerman, Jewish Means “Prussian blue” in German. A notable bearer of this surname is Jacques Berlinerblau, a professor of Jewish civilization, and Stefania Berlinerblau, an American anatomist and physician.
BermejoSpanish Originally a nickname for a man with red hair or a ruddy complexion, from Spanish bermejo "reddish, ruddy" (itself from Latin vermiculus "little worm", from vermis "worm", since a crimson dye was obtained from the bodies of worms).
BermeoBasque From the town Bermeo in Biscay (Basque Country, Spain). Origin likely pre-Roman.
BerminghamEnglish (Modern, Rare) Bermingham is the Gaelicised version of 'De Birmingham' and is descended from the family of Warwickshire, England. The Irish version of the name MacFeorais/MacPheorais is derived from Pierce de Bermingham.
BernGerman, Scandinavian, German (Swiss) German and Scandinavian: from the personal name Berno, a pet form of Bernhard. In South German it comes from the habitational name from Bern, Switzerland, notably in the south; in other parts from the personal name Berno.
BernabéuCatalan (Valencian) From the given name Bernabé. A famous bearer was Santiago Bernabéu (1895-1978), a Spanish soccer player and the eleventh president of the soccer club Real Madrid CF.
BernadotteFrench, Swedish Possibly from the name of a historical province in Southern France named Béarn. This was originally a French non-noble surname. French general Jean Baptise Bernadotte (1763-1844) became the king of Sweden as Charles XIV John (Swedish: Karl XIV Johan) in 1818 and founded the current royal house in Sweden, House of Bernadotte.
BernasconiItalian The surname of BERNASCONI is of Italian origin, a locational name meaning the dweller on or near a small hill. The names of habitation are derived from pre-existing names denoting towns, villages, farmsteads or other named habitations... [more]
BernerEnglish, Norman From the Norman personal name Bernier from Old English beornan ‘to burn’, hence an occupational name for a burner of lime (compare German Kalkbrenner) or charcoal... [more]
BernerGerman, Low German German habitational name, in Silesia denoting someone from a place called Berna (of which there are two examples); in southern Germany and Switzerland denoting someone from the Swiss city of Berne. ... [more]
BernthalJewish Ornamental name derived from the Yiddish given name Ber meaning "bear" and German thal meaning "valley". A famous bearer is American actor Jon Bernthal (1976-).
BerrettaItalian From berretta, originally meaning ‘hooded cloak’ (Latin birrus), later ‘headdress’, ‘bonnet’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of such headgear or a nickname for an habitual wearer.
BerroaBasque This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the municipality of Baigorri in the French canton of Euskal Mendialdea.
BerrutiItalian From Late Latin berrutum "cart", indicating someone who drove or made carts.
BerryannMedieval English (Rare) The name is pre 7th century Olde English and later Olde French. It derives from the word burri or berri, translating as a fortress or castle and means 'one who dwelt at the castle'. The suffix 'man' also indicates that it was job descriptive for a guard or keeper of the castle... [more]
BerryclothEnglish (Rare) This name is of English locational origin, from the place called Barrowclough near Halifax in West Yorkshire.
BerryhillEnglish A name for someone who worked as a servant at the manor house.
BertagniItalian Bertagni has a lineage in Genoa and one in Lucca. Possibly derives from Gothic, Lombard and Germanic names containing the root germanica bertha (bright) or the celtic bert (bearer).
BertinFrench From the given name Bertin a diminutive of the ancient Germanic personal name Berhto a short form of various compound names formed with berht "bright famous".
BérubéFrench Habitational name from some minor place named with Old French belru "beautiful stream", with the subsequent pleonastic addition of bé, variant of bel "beautiful".
BerzeliusSwedish Derived from the name of an estate named Bergsätter located near Motala, Östergötland, Sweden. Bergsätter is composed of Swedish berg "mountain" and säter "outlying meadow"... [more]
BeshimovKyrgyz Possibly derived from the given name Beshim. A known bearer is Bakyt Beshimov, the deputy chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan.
BessonFrench, Provençal, Occitan Southern French nickname from Occitan besson "twin" (from Latin bis) or from the various places (Le) Besson in southern France.
BestautyOssetian Derived from Ossetian бистэ (biste) meaning "village, suburb" or from Persian به (beh) meaning "good, excellent, better". In the case of the former, it would have been used to indicate the place of residence of an ancestor.
BesteFrench, English Nickname from Middle English beste Old French beste "beast animal" (especially those used for food or work) applied either as a metonymic occupational name for someone who looked after beasts such as a herdsman or as a nickname for someone thought to resemble an animal... [more]
BethanyEnglish Possibly a topographic name derived from the Old English plant name betonice meaning "betony". The form of the name has been altered by folk association with the New Testament place name.
BetheaWelsh Possible altered form of the Welch surname Bethel
BethencourtFrench, English, Portuguese (Rare) Bettencourt and Bethencourt are originally place-names in Northern France. The place-name element -court (courtyard, courtyard of a farm, farm) is typical of the French provinces, where the Frankish settlements formed an important part of the local population... [more]