Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
CosgroveEnglish Habitational name from Cosgrove in Northamptonshire, named with an Old English personal name Cof + Old English graf "grove", "thicket".
CossartEnglish, French From French, referring to "a dealer of horses" (related to the English word "courser"). This surname was brought to England in the wake of the Norman Conquest of 1066, and became one of the many Anglo-Norman words that made up Middle English.
CossigaItalian, Sardinian Sardinian translation of the place name Corsica. A famous bearer of the name is Francesco Cossiga (1928-2010), Italian politician who served as Prime Minister (1979-1980) and as President (1985-1992).
CostainEnglish, Scottish, Manx When originating in Scotland Northern Ireland, and the Isle of Man the surname is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Mac Austain, meaning "son of Austin"... [more]
CostelloIrish Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Oisdealbhaigh meaning "son of Oisdealbhach". The given name Oisdealbhach is derived from Irish os meaning "deer, fawn" and dealbhach meaning "resembling, shapely".
CosterEnglish Metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of costards (Anglo-Norman French, from coste 'rib'), a variety of large apples, so called for their prominent ribs.
CotnerMedieval Low German (Americanized) Likely originating from an Americanized spelling of Kötner or Köthner, status names for a cotter. Derived from Middle Low German kote ‘shelter’, ‘cottage’.
CottEnglish From the Old English personal name Cotta. Possibly an altered spelling of French Cotte, a metonymic occupational name for a maker of chain mail, from Old French cot(t)e ‘coat of mail’, ‘surcoat’... [more]
CotterEnglish Derived from the Old English elements cot "cottage, hut" and the suffix -er. In the feudal system a cotter held a cottage by service (rather than by rent). Reaney gives the surname deriving from the Old French cotier "cottager" (see: villein)... [more]
CotterIrish Reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Oitir "son of Oitir", a personal name borrowed from Old Norse Óttarr, composed of the elements ótti "fear, dread" and herr "army".
CottonEnglish, French English: habitational name from any of numerous places named from Old English cotum (dative plural of cot) ‘at the cottages or huts’ (or sometimes possibly from a Middle English plural, coten)... [more]
CottrellEnglish, French First found in Derbyshire where the family "Cottrell" held a family seat and were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege lord for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings, 1066CE... [more]
CoulibalyWestern African, Manding Francization of Bambara kulu bari meaning "without a canoe", referring to someone who crossed a river or another body of water without the use of a canoe.
CoullsonScottish Gaelic (Anglicized, Rare), English All origins of the name are patronymic. Meanings include an Anglicized version of the Gaelic Mac Cumhaill, meaning "son of Cumhall", which means "champion" and "stranger" and an Anglicized patronymic of the Gaelic MacDhubhghaill, meaning "son of Dubhgall." The personal name comes from the Gaelic words dubh, meaning "black" and gall, meaning "stranger."... [more]
CouncilEnglish, German 1 English: nickname for a wise or thoughtful man, from Anglo-Norman French counseil ‘consultation’, ‘deliberation’, also ‘counsel’, ‘advice’ (Latin consilium, from consulere ‘to consult’)... [more]
CountrymanEnglish Translation of German Landmann, Landsmann or Dutch Landman, Landsman, which means ‘countryman’ or ‘fellow countryman’.
CourcellesFrench The name of several places in France, Belgium and Canada. In Middle French the word courcelle was used to describe a "small court" or a "small garden". The word is derived from the medieval Gallo-Romance and Gallo-Italian word corticella, which was formed from the Latin word cohors, meaning "court" or "enclosure", and the diminutive –icella.... [more]
CouricFrench Originally a nickname given to a short person, derived from Middle Breton corr, korr meaning "dwarf, midget". A well-known bearer of this surname is the American journalist, television host and author Katie Couric (1957-).
CourtEnglish, French, Irish A topographic name from Middle English, Old French court(e) and curt, meaning ‘court’. This word was used primarily with reference to the residence of the lord of a manor, and the surname is usually an occupational name for someone employed at a manorial court.... [more]
CourtierFrench, Medieval French, Medieval English French: habitational name from places called Courtier (Seine-et-Marne, Aples-de-Haute-Provence), Courtié (Tarn), or Courtière (Loir-et-Cher). ... [more]
CourvilleFrench Derived from either of two communes in the departments of Marne and Eure-et-Loir in France. It is named with Latin curba villa, denoting a settlement in the curve of a road.
CouterEnglish The couter (also spelled "cowter") is the defense for the elbow in a piece of plate armour. Initially just a curved piece of metal, as plate armor progressed the couter became an articulated joint.... [more]
CovaCatalan, Galician Topographic name from Catalan and Galician cova ‘cave’, or a habitational name from a place named with this word, in the provinces of Lugo, Ourense, Pontevedra, Catalonia and Valencia.
CoventryEnglish habitational name from the city of Coventry in the West Midlands, which is probably named with the genitive case of an Old English personal name Cofa (compare Coveney) + Old English treow 'tree'.
CovertEnglish, French The surname is probably topographical, for someone who either lived by a sheltered bay, or more likely an area sheltered by trees. The formation is similar to couvert, meaning a wood or covert, and originally from the Latin "cooperio", to cover... [more]
CowburnEnglish The place-name, in turn, comes from the Old English cocc, meaning "rooster," and burna, meaning "a stream." As such, the surname is classed as a local, or habitational name, derived from a place where the original bearer lived or held land.
CowdellEnglish (British) Cowdell is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Coldwell' (v. Caldwell), a township in the union of Bellingham, Northumberland Also of Colwell, a township in the union of Hexham, same county.
CowieScottish habitational name from any of several places, especially one near Stirling, named Cowie, probably from Gaelic colldha, an adjective from coll ‘hazel’
CrabbEnglish, Scottish, German, Dutch, Danish English and Scottish, from Middle English crabbe, Old English crabba ‘crab’ (the crustacean), a nickname for someone with a peculiar gait. English and Scottish from Middle English crabbe ‘crabapple (tree)’ (probably of Old Norse origin), hence a topographic name for someone who lived by a crabapple tree... [more]
CrabtreeEnglish The ancestors of the Crabtree surname lived in the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. It comes from when they lived in the county of Yorkshire. Their name, however, indicates that the original bearer lived near a prominent crabtree.
CraigheadScottish Habitational name for someone who lived in places of this name in Scotland.
CraigmileScottish Derived from Craigmyle, a place in the village of Kincardine O'Neil, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It could also be an occupational name for a baker who made cracknel biscuits.
CranAnglo-Saxon This picturesque name is of Anglo Saxon origin and is a nickname surname given to a tall thin man, or someone with long legs, or some other fancied resemblance to the bird. The derivation is from the old English "cran(uc)", "cron(uc)", "cren(uc)", which means a crane and until the introduction of a separate word in the 14th Century also a heron... [more]
CraneEnglish, Dutch 1. English: nickname, most likely for a tall, thin man with long legs, from Middle English cran ‘crane’ (the bird), Old English cran, cron. The term included the heron until the introduction of a separate word for the latter in the 14th century... [more]
CranfordEnglish English: habitational name from any of several places, for example in the county of Middlesex (now part of Greater London) and Northamptonshire (Cranford St. Andrew and Cranford St. John), named with Old English cran ‘crane’ + ford ‘ford’.
CranleyIrish The surname Cranley was first found in Ulster (Irish: Ulaidh), where they held a family seat but were also to be found in County Offaly and Galway. The sept is styled the Princes of Crich Cualgne and are descended from Cu-Ulladh, a Prince in 576.
CranshawEnglish From Cranshaw in Lancashire, named from Old English cran(uc) ‘crane’ + sceaga ‘grove’, ‘thicket’.
CranstonScottish Combination of the Old English byname Cran "crane" and Old English tun "settlement".
CratchitLiterature Bob Cratchit is a fictional character in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" novella. Bob Cratchit works for Ebenezer Scrooge as an underpaid clerk.
CrauwelsFlemish, Dutch, German Derrives from the Middle Dutch (medieval Dutch) word "crauwel" and Middle High German word "kröuwel" which means "flesh hook", "curved fork" or "trident". The word is no longer used. The first person with this name was most likely a farmer, butcher or a person that runned an inn or a hostel that was named after this tool.
CravenIrish, English Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Crabháin (County Galway) or Mac Crabháin (Louth, Monaghan) ‘descendant (or ‘son’) of Crabhán’... [more]
CravottaSicilian From a Sicilian immigrant to America, Cravotta was changed to Cravatta upon arrival at Ellis Island. The name means "bowtie."
CrawEnglish, Scottish, Northern Irish One who had characteristics of a crow; sometimes used as an element of a place name e.g. Crawford, and Crawfordjohn in Lanarkshire, Crawshawbooth in Lancashire, and Crawley in Sussex
CrawfordjohnMedieval Scottish One who came from Crawfordjohn in Lanarkshire; not to be confused with nearby Crawford, also in Lanarkshire.
CrawleyEnglish, Irish (Anglicized) English: habitational name from any of the many places called Crawley, named with Old English crawe ‘crow’ + leah ‘woodland clearing’. Compare Crowley... [more]
CreightonEnglish From Irish 'crioch' meaning "border", and Old English 'tun' meaning "town".
CrellinManx Manx: shortened form of Gaelic Mac Nialláin ‘son of Niallán’ a diminutive of the personal name Niall. This name has been explained as a metathesized form of Crennall
CrenshawEnglish The derivation of this surname is from the Old English pre 7th Century "Crawa", a crow, with "sceaga" a grove, thus "Crowswood". The earliest recording of this placename is in the Lancashire Inquests of 1324 and appears as "Croweshagh".
CrepeauFrench From the Latin word, crispus, meaning "curly hair".
CressGerman, Jewish, Belarusian A variant of the German surname Kress. From the Middle High German "kresse" meaning "gudgeon" (a type of fish) or the Old High German "krassig", meaning "greedy". Can also be from an altered form of the names Erasmus or Christian, or the Latin spelling of the Cyrillic "КРЕСС".
CrestaItalian, Romansh Derived from Italian and Romansh cresta "crest" (ultimately from Latin crista). This name was perhaps applied as a topographic name for someone who lived by the crest of a mountain or as a nickname with reference to the comb of a rooster.
CreteFrench French (adjectival form Crété ‘crested’): nickname for an arrogant individual, from Old French creste ‘crest (of a hill)’ (Late Latin crista), used with reference to the comb of a rooster... [more]
CreusCatalan Means "crosses" in Catalan, the plural of creu. Also compare Spanish Cruces. A famous bearer of this surname is the Spanish footballer Xavi Hernández Creus (1980-).
CribbsEnglish (Rare) Unknown origin. Likely either from the Old English given name Crispin, which derives from a Latin nickname meaning "curly-haired", or from the place Cribbis near Lauder, England.
CrivelliItalian From the Italian crivello, which is derived from the Latin cribrum, meaning "sieve," (a mesh food strainer); likely an occupational name for a maker or user of sieves.
CrnkovićCroatian Derived from crn "black". The name refers to a person who was dark-skinned, or a person from the region Crna Gora "Black Mountain" (modern-day Montenegro).
CroakerEnglish Meant "person from Crèvecoeur", the name of various places in northern France ("heartbreak", an allusion to the poverty of the local soil).
CrockettEnglish, Scottish Nickname for someone who affected a particular hairstyle, from Middle English croket ''large curl'' (Old Norman French croquet, a diminutive of croque "curl", "hook").
CrofterEnglish A surname of Scottish origin used in the Highlands and Islands and means “an owner or a tenant of a small farm”. The Old English word croft seems to correspond with the Dutch kroft meaning “a field on the downs”.
CroftonEnglish Derived from a place name meaning "town with a small enclosed field" in Old English.