CabeleiraPortuguese Likely originates from the Portuguese word "cabeleira," which means "head of hair" or "hairpiece." It might have been used as a nickname to describe someone with a notable or distinctive head of hair... [more]
CabellCatalan, English, German As a Catalan name, a nickname for "bald" from the Spanish word cabello. The English name, found primarily in Norfolk and Devon, is occupational for a "maker or seller of nautical rope" that comes from a Norman French word... [more]
CableEnglish English: metonymic occupational name for a maker of rope, especially the type of stout rope used in maritime applications, from Anglo-Norman French cable ‘cable’ (Late Latin capulum ‘halter’, of Arabic origin, but associated by folk etymology with Latin capere ‘to seize’).... [more]
CacioppoItalian, Sicilian Derived from Sicilian cacioppu meaning "dried tree trunk", presumably applied as a nickname for someone with wizened skin, or from caciopu meaning "short-sighted" (derived from Greek kakiopes, literally meaning "having bad eyes").
CacoubJudeo-Spanish Derived from Arabic كوكب (kawkab) meaning "star" (with the votive meaning of "lucky star").
ČádaCzech Descriptive nickname from Old Czech čad- "smoke", applied to someone with dark skin.
CadafalchCatalan Derived from Catalan cadafal meaning "burial mound" or "platform, stage", ultimately from Latin catafalicum meaning "scaffold, wooden siege tower, catafalque". A famous bearer was the Catalan architect and politician Josep Puig i Cadafalch (1867-1956).
CadalbertRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the German given name Adalbert.
CaddickWelsh From the Welsh male personal name Cadog, a pet-form of Cadfael (a derivative of Welsh cad "battle").
CadedduItalian From Sardinian cadeddu "puppy, whelp", ultimately from Latin catellus.
CadenaSpanish From Aguilar de Campoo, a district of Villalon in Valladolid.
CaderasRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and dera "free area".
CaderousseFrench, Literature A character in the classic novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. In the novel, Caderousse is a tailor and inkeeper who aids in the arrest of Dantès.
CadillacFrench From the name of a city in France, of origin I am not sure of (anyone who knows the name's etymology edit this). This is most notably the name of the car company of the same name, named after Detroit, Michigan founder Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac.
CadiñanosSpanish It indicates familial origin within the eponymous minor local entity.
CadischRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family", in combination with Disch.
CádizSpanish Habitational name for a person from the city of Cádiz in southwestern Spain.
CadoganWelsh From the Welsh male personal name Cadwgan, literally probably "battle-scowler". Cadogan Estate is an area of Chelsea and Belgravia, including Cadogan Square, Sloane Street and Sloane Square, owned by the earls of Cadogan, descended from Charles Sloane Cadogan (1728-1807), 1st Earl Cadogan.
CaesarAncient Roman, English An Ancient Roman political title that indicated a military leader. A famous bearer was Julius Caesar, Roman general, dictator, and politician. In modern times, the surname is used to refer to an individual with a tyrannical attitude, which references the connotative meaning of the word "caesar", meaning "a dictator".
CaflischRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family", in combination with Flisch.
CagadasFilipino The name Cagadas is most likely made or given to the Filipinos during the baptism of native Filipinos to Christianity in the 19th Century during the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan. Most Filipinos had no surnames prior to their baptism and these names are given by the Spanish colonizers.
CagneyIrish Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic Ó Caingnigh meaning "descendant of Caingneach", a given name meaning "pleader, advocate". A famous bearer was American actor and dancer James Cagney (1899-1986).
CahanaJewish (Rare, Archaic) Jewish surname, originally of Eastern European Ashkenazi origin, found in Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Moldova. Currently a relatively common surname in Israel. Aramaic equivalent of Cohen.
CairdScottish Derived from Scottish Gaelic ceard meaning "craftsman, artist mechanic, travelling tinker".
CairnsScottish From Gaelic carn "cairn", a topographic name for someone who lived by a cairn, i.e. a pile of stones raised as a boundary marker or a memorial.
CaithnessScottish Anglicized form of Scottish-Gaelic Gallaibh, which means "among the strangers" (referring to the Norse). The name of the Catti survives in the Gaelic name for eastern Sutherland, Cataibh, and in the old Gaelic name for Shetland, Innse Chat... [more]
CaixetaPortuguese (Brazilian) Portuguese common name for Tabebuia cassinoides, a tree native to Central and South America.
CajacobRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Jacob.
CajavilcaQuechua From kaja (cold) and vilca (supreme) meaning supreme cold. Possibly when the inhabitants of upper Chavín had to cross to the Callejón de Huaylas by the pass near Ulta they described this place as being too cold... [more]
CajigasSpanish, Filipino Topographic name from the plural of Spanish cajigo, derived from quejigo meaning "gall oak".
CajochenRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the German given name Jochen.
CajöriRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Jöri.
CakeEnglish From the Middle English cake denoting a flat loaf made from fine flour (Old Norse kaka), hence a metonymic occupational name for a baker who specialized in fancy breads. It was first attested as a surname in the 13th century (Norfolk, Northamptonshire).
CakebreadEnglish From Middle English cakebrede, bread made in flattened cakes, or of the finer and more dainty quality of cake.
ÇakırTurkish Means "greyish blue (eyes)" in Turkish.
CalabazaSpanish, Indigenous American Nickname from ‘calabaza’ meaning pumpkin squash. This is commonly used by Pueblos (Native Americans) in New Mexico.
CalahatianTagalog From Tagalog kalahatian meaning "halfway, midway".
CalamariItalian From Latin calamarius "relating to a writing reed, ink pen", a name for a scribe, or perhaps a fisherman from the Italian descendant calamaro "squid, calamari".
CalassoItalian Possibly from the given name Galasso, or from the dialectical word cala "cove, inlet, creek".
CalatayudSpanish From the city in Spain, in province of Zaragoza within the autonomous community Aragón. The name Calatayud came from the Arabic قلعة أيوب Qal‘at ’Ayyūb, "the qalat (fortress) of Ayyub".
CalcaterraItalian Nickname from calcare meaning "to tread", "to stamp" + terra meaning "land", "earth", "ground", probably denoting a short person, someone who walked close to the ground, or an energetic walker.
CalderScottish Habitational name from any of the places called Calder in Midlothian and Caithness, or Cawdor in Nairnshire.
CalderaSpanish Derived from Spanish caldera meaning "basin, crater, hollow", ultimately from Latin caldarium or caldaria both meaning "hot bath, cooking pot". The word also denotes a depression in volcanoes, and it is commonly used as an element for surnames denoting streams or mountains.
CalieschRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Aliesch.
CalieziRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Gliezi.
CaliforniaSpanish (Latin American) It is thought that it might've been derived from Latin calida fornax meaning "hot furnace", or from Native American, kali forno meaning "high hill, native land". It is also thought to have derived from the given name Khalif or Khalifa.
CaligiuriItalian Comes from the Greek words "kalos" meaning "beautiful" and "gheros" meaning "elderly," and was often given to children in the hopes that they would retain their beauty in their old age.
CalihuaNahuatl Meaning uncertain, possibly related to calli "house".
CalimerisGreek It can be Kalimeris as well and it means good morning.
CalimlimPangasinan, Tagalog From Pangasinan and Tagalog kalimlim denoting a person who lived in a shaded area, from the word limlim meaning "shade, impending darkness".
CallenderEnglish Occupational name for a person who finished freshly woven cloth by passing it between heavy rollers to compress the weave. From Old Franch calandrier, calandreur.
CalliariItalian (Latinized, Archaic) This is an Italian surname, in the north of Italy. Calliari is the result of the deformation of the graphically Calligari, where you can clearly see excision of the letter or character D, which is located in the middle of the surname... [more]
CalliganIrish (Rare) Before Irish names were translated into English, Calligan had a Gaelic form of O Ceallachain, possibly from "ceallach", which means "strife".... [more]
CalneWelsh Calne is derived from the Welsh word "karn," which means "a pile of stones," such as was often used to mark a burial site. The forebears that initially bore the name Calne likely lived by a notable heap of stones.
CalonderRomansh Either derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Leonhard or from the name of the mountain Calanda.
CalungsodCebuano From Cebuano kalungsod meaning "townsperson, townmate", derived from the word lungsod meaning "town". A notable bearer was Filipino saint Pedro Calungsod (1654-1672).
CaluoriRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and a contraction of the given names Gallus and Uori.
CaluziRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Luzi.
CalvanderSwedish (Rare) Possibly a combination of a place name and the common surname suffix -ander (from Greek ἀνδρός (andros) "man").