VorotyntsevRussian Derived from place names Воротынск (Vorotynsk), Воротынцево (Vorotyntsevo) or Воротынец (Vorotynets).
VorstDutch, Low German topographic name for someone who lived in a vorst "forest" or habitational name for someone from any of numerous places called Vorst or Voorst... [more]
VõruEstonian Võru is an Estonian surname meaning "circle" and "ring". "Võru" is also the name a county in southeastern Estonia ("Võru maakond", or more traditionally, "Võrumaa") and the name of the capital town and municipality of Võru County.
VorwaldGerman Topographic name for someone who lived "in front of (Middle High German vor) a forest (Middle High German wald)".
VõsaEstonian Võsa is an Estonian surname meaning "brush/thicket".
VosbergGerman Means "foxhole" or "fox hill", from vos "fox" and berg "hill, mountain".
VoughtGerman The surname Vought originates in the Latin form "vocatus" or "advocatus," and referred to someone who appeared in court on another's behalf. As a surname, Vought is an occupational hereditary surname for a "bailiff" or "overseer of a nobleman's estate".
VoulgarisGreek From Greek Βούλγαρος (Voulgaros) meaning "Bulgarian, person from Bulgaria".
VoytsekhovskyPolish, Russian, Belarusian, Kazakh, Ukrainian One of the most common Polish surnames goes back to toponyms which were named from the short form Voitsekh (Wojciech) of the male name Voitseslav (Wojciesław), consisting of two common Slavic roots «warrior» and «glory.» The popularity of the name arose with Bishop Wojciech, the baptist of Poland and the Western Slavic lands (10th century)... [more]
VrátilCzech Derived from the past participle of the verb vrátit "to return". The name was perhaps used to denote a person who came back to his home following a long absence.
VreelandDutch Habitational name for a person from a place bearing the same name in the province of Utrecht, which is itself derived from the Middle Dutch word vrede, meaning "peace; legal protection against armed violence".
VreeswijkDutch Habitational name from a former village and municipality in the province Utrecht, Netherlands, derived from Old Dutch Frieso "Frisian" and wic "village, town"... [more]
VrielinkDutch Etymology uncertain. Possibly from the name of a farmstead, itself perhaps derived from a given name such as Frigilo or Friedel... [more]
VriezeDutch From Middle Dutch Vrieze "Frisian", an ethnic name for a someone from Friesland.
VtorakUkrainian, Russian Derived either from Russian второй (vtoroy) meaning "second, other" or directly from dialectal Ukrainian вторак (vtorak) meaning "secondborn".
VuittonFrench Derived from the Old High German word "witu" and the Old English pre 7th century "widu" or "wudu", meaning a wood, and therefore occupational for one living by such a place.
WackerGerman From a nickname for a bold or energetic person, from Middle High German wacker meaning ‘fresh’, ‘lively’, ‘brave’, or ‘valiant’.
WackermanEnglish (American), German From the Americanized spelling of German Wackermann, a variant of Wacker, with the addition of Middle High German man, meaning ‘man’.
WacławskiPolish Name for someone from a place named Wacławice or Wacławów, both derived from the given name Wacław.
WacoIndigenous American, Comanche Is believed to have a Native American origin and may mean "the chosen ones" in the language of a tribe. However, the exact meaning of the name and the tribe's connection to the modern-day surname is not entirely clear.
WaddellEnglish Habitational name from Wadden Hall in Waltham, Kent, derived from either the Old English given name Wada or from wæden "made of woad, woaden, bluish" combined with halh "nook, recess".
WaddellEnglish Possibly derived from Woodhill in Wiltshire, England, derived from Old English wad "woad" and hyll "hill". Alternatively, could be from the Middle English given name Wadel.
WaddellEnglish Variant of Odell, derived from the toponym’s older spelling Wadehelle.
WaddingtonEnglish Habitational name from any of various places called Waddington. One near Clitheroe in Lancashire and another in Lincolnshire (Wadintune in Domesday Book) were originally named in Old English as the "settlement" (Old English tūn) associated with Wada.
WadsworthEnglish Location name from Yorkshire meaning "Wæddi's enclosure or settlement" with Wæddi being an old English personal name of unknown meaning plus the location element -worth. Notable bearer is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) for whom the middle name was his mother's maiden name.
WadzanaiShona Wadzanai means "Have fellowship, visit each other, be on good terms". The name may be given as a call to family to come together in fellowship, visiting and being on good terms
WaghmareIndian, Marathi Means "tiger killer" from Marathi वाघ (vagh) meaning "tiger" and मारणे (marne) meaning "to kill".
WagleNorwegian A habitational name derived from farmsteads in Rogaland named Vagle, from the Old Norse vagl meaning a '‘perch’' or '‘roost'’, referring to a high ridge between two lakes.
WagmannGerman Possibly derived from Swabian Wegman, meaning "herb".
WahlGerman, Jewish From Middle High German Walhe, Walch "foreigner from a Romance country", hence a nickname for someone from Italy or France, etc. This surname is also established in Sweden.
WainscottEnglish Meaning unknown. From Middle English Waynescot. The surname presumably arose from a nickname for someone who imported or used oak timber.
WainwrightEnglish Occupational name for a maker or repairer of wagons.
WäiteLuxembourgish (Germanized, Rare) The name originates from Luxembourg and the surrounding Germanic regions most notably the Rhenish Palatinate from around the 1800s. The word wäite is Luxembourgish for wide and also broad, the word wäit which is an alternative spelling of the Surname Wäite is Luxembourgish for far or distant.... [more]
WaiteEnglish Occupational name for a watchman, Anglo-Norman French waite (cf. Wachter).
WaititiMaori Meaning uncertain. It could derive from Maori waitī both meaning "sweet, melodious", denoting a sweet person, or "sap of the cabbage tree", possibly denoting an occupation. Taika David Cohen, known professionally as Taika Waititi (1975-), is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor and comedian.
WaitmanEnglish From Middle English and Older Scots waithman meaning "hunter; outlaw", equivalent to Old English waþ "hunt, chase; wandering" and mann "person, man".
WakatsuchiJapanese From the Japanese 若 (waka) "young" and 土 (tsuchi) "earth," "soil."
WakatsukiJapanese Combination of the kanji 若 (waka) meaning "young" and 槻 (tsuki) meaning "Zelkova tree". A famous bearer of this surname was Japanese Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijirō (若槻 禮次郎; 1866–1949).
WakeEnglish, Scottish From the Old Norse byname Vakr meaning "wakeful", "vigilant" (from vaka meaning "to remain awake"), or perhaps from a cognate Old English Waca (attested in place names such as Wakeford, Wakeham, and Wakeley).