KaljupankEstonian Kaljupank is an Estonian surname meaning "cliff bank/escarpment".
LaveryIrish, Northern Irish From the Gaelic Ó Labhradha, "descendants of Labhradha" (speaker, spokesman, the father of Etru, chief of the Monagh of the Irish over-kingdom of Ulaid); the name of an ancient family originating from Magh Rath (present-day Moira, County Down, Northern Ireland)... [more]
BorresenDanish The Danish surname Borresen has two origins. Boerresen is composed of -sen 'son' + the given name Boerre, the modern equivalent of Old Norse Byrgir 'the helper' (from proto-Indo-European root BHER- 'to carry, bear')... [more]
AmaniTigrinya From the given name Amani (see user-submitted name) meaning "faith" in Tigrinya. It is possibly related to Arabic Iman or Swahili Imani, also meaning "faith".
KislyakBelarusian Fromn Belarusian кісла (kisla), meaning "bitter, sour".
MellerGerman Denoting someone hailing from Melle in Germany.
SabatFrench Nickname for a noisy, rowdy person, from Middle French sab(b)at "noise", "racket".
ÜrgüplüTurkish Denoted a person from Ürgüp (called Prokópio or Prokópi in Greek), the name of both a town and a district in central Turkey. The place name itself is derived via Ottoman Turkish اوركوب (ürgüb) from Greek Προκόπιο (Prokópio), a shortened form of Άγιος Προκόπιος (Ágios Prokópios) meaning "Saint Procopius", a 4th-century Christian martyr from Scythopolis for whom the town was originally named... [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-).
FarnworthEnglish Farnworth is a combination of two words: old-English fearn meaning "fern" and worth, making the full meaning of Farnworth "settlers from a place where ferns are abundant." The oldest known record of the surname was in Farnworth with Kearsley (modern-day Farnworth), Lancashire in 1185... [more]
PesurEstonian Pesur is an Estonian surname meaning "washer".
FerrandFrench, English This French surname can be derived from a given name (thus making it a patronymic surname) as well as from a nickname (thus making it a descriptive surname). In the case of a patronymic surname, the surname is derived from the medieval French masculine given name Ferrand, which was a variant form of the name Fernand, itself a contraction of Ferdinand.... [more]
LieberknechtGerman A compound name where lieber is derived from the given name Liebert and kneckt is an occupational surname for a journeyman, derived from the Middle Low German knecht meaning "knight’s assistant, servant".
GodinEnglish Comes from the Germanic personal name Godin-, a pet form of any of various compound names beginning with god, got ‘god’. Compare Godbold, Goddard, and Godfrey.
ManganaroItalian occupational name from manganaro agent noun from Mangano (see Mangano) in any of its various senses. Manganaris and Manganaras are also found as Greek surnames.
PurdomEnglish English: metathesized variants of Prudhomme; the -ru- reversal is a fairly common occurrence in words where -r- is preceded or followed by a vowel.
PecicAlbanian Derived from the name of the small town Peja (Pec) in western Kosovo. Most likely given to the inhabitants of the town and their descedents.
EggertGerman, Jewish Derived from the Proto-Germanic root agi meaning "edge".
AnstedEnglish Variant of Anstead, possibly derived from places named with Old English ham-stede meaning "homestead".
Van BronckhorstDutch Means "from Bronckhorst", a town in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands, itself derived from Dutch brink meaning "village green, edge, slope" and horst meaning "overgrown elevated place" or "higher located brushwood"... [more]
VermontFrench (Rare) Derived from french, meaning "green mountain" (Vert, "green"; mont, "mountain").
MitsuishiJapanese From 三 (mitsu) meaning "three" or 光 (mitsu) meaning "light, radiance" and 石 (ishi) meaning "stone".
Anay-oolTuvan Derived from Tuvan анай (anay) meaning "goat, kid" combined with оол (ool) meaning "son, boy".
FormanEnglish An occupational surname for a keeper of swine, Middle English foreman, from Old English for hog, "pig" and mann ‘man’. The word is attested in this sense from the 15th century but is not used specifically for the leader of a gang of workers before the late 16th century.
PiagetFrench (Swiss) Of uncertain origin and meaning. This name was borne by Jean Piaget (1896-1980), a Swiss child psychologist noted for his studies of intellectual and cognitive development in children.
GalliganIrish Shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Gealagáin 'descendant of Gealagán' a personal name from a double diminutive of geal 'bright white'.
MasseterEnglish Perhaps means "brewery worker" (from Middle English mash "fermentable mixture of hot water and grain" + rudder "rudder-shaped stirrer").
BowneWelsh The Welsh name Bowne is a patronymic surname created from the Welsh personal name Owen 1 or Owain... [more]
CordayFrench Either from the French word corde meaning "cord/rope/string", or from the Latin word cor meaning "heart." This was the surname of Charlotte Corday, the assassin who killed Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat during the French revolution.
LelumeesEstonian Lelumees is an Estonian surname meaning "bauble/toy man".
HickGerman From Hiko, a pet form of any of the Germanic personal names formed with hild "strife", "battle" as the first element.
KnausGerman Comes from Middle High German knuz ‘proud’, ‘arrogant’, ‘daring’, hence a nickname for a haughty person. In Württemberg knaus (and in Switzerland knus) also meant ‘gnarl’, hence a nickname for a short, fat, gnarled person; topographic name for someone living on a hillock, from knaus ‘hillock’ in the Swabian and Alemannic dialects of German
AmparoSpanish (Philippines) Means "protection, shelter, refuge" in Spanish. It is taken from the title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora del Amparo, meaning "Our Lady of Refuge".
TripoliItalian Habitational name from Tripoli in Libya, a place name of Greek origin meaning "triple city", from the elements τρι- (tri-) "three, thrice" and πόλις (polis) "city".
KolaFinnish From vernacular forms of Ancient Greek Νικόλαος (See Nikolaos). It could also be from Swedish kol "coal", possibly denoting a coal miner, or kota, a type of conical tent.
ArlottEnglish From a medieval nickname for a ne'er-do-well (from Middle English harlot or arlot "vagabond, base fellow"; "prostitute" is a 15th-century development). This surname was borne by Jack Arlott (1914-1991), a British journalist, poet and cricket commentator.
JourdemayneMedieval English Likely from Old French jor de main meaning "day labourer". This was borne by Margery Jourdemayne, an English woman known as the "Witch of Eye" who was burned at the stake in 1441 for conspiring to kill the king with witchcraft... [more]
RheinGerman From the German name for the River Rhine, denoting somebody whom lived within close proximity to the river. The river name itself comes from a Celtic word meaning 'to flow' (Welsh redan, 'run, flow').
WolfitEnglish From the medieval male personal name Wolfet or Wolfat (from Old English Wulfgēat, literally "wolf-Geat" (the name of a Germanic people)). This surname was borne by Sir Donald Wolfit (1902-1968), a British actor and manager.
LuijtenDutch From the given name Luit or Luitje, a diminutive form of names beginning with the element liud "people".
AonumaJapanese From Japanese 青 (ao) meaning "green, blue" and 沼 (numa) meaning "swamp, marsh".
MoriguchiJapanese From 森 (mori) meaning "forest" and 口 (kuchi) meaning "entrance, mouth."
LandibarBasque From the name of a neighborhood in the village of Urdazubi, Navarre, derived from Basque landa "field, prairie, plain" and ibar "valley, riverbank".
NakoJapanese From 名 (na) meaning "name, noted, distinguished, reputation" and 幸 (ko) meaning "happiness, blessing, fortune".
VaronFrench From the old high german name Waro short form of given names with the element war "aware,cautious".
GarthEnglish Means "garden" from northern Middle English garth (Old Norse garþr, garðr) "piece of enclosed ground; garden, paddock" originally denoting one who lived near or worked in a garden.
St AubinFrench Either a habitational name from any of several places in France called Saint-Aubin (from the dedication of their churches to Saint Albinus), or else a nickname with Saint as an (ironic) prefix to the personal name or surname Aubin.
GabathulerRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Berchtold.
SàbatCatalan From a nickname or personal name bestowed on someone born on a Saturday, which was considered a good omen (Late Latin sabbatum, Greek sabbaton, from Hebrew shabat "Sabbath").
KanDutch Means "jug, teapot, can" in Dutch, from Middle Dutch kanne "pitcher, tankard, flagon", a metonymic occupational name for a potter, pewterer, or tinsmith.
BrekkeNorwegian Derived from Old Norse brekka meaning "hill, slope".
BlasiusGerman, French From the Latin personal name Blasius. This was a Roman family name, originating as a byname for someone with some defect, either of speech or gait, from Latin blaesus "stammering, lisping", itself from Ancient Greek βλαισός (blaisos) "bent, crooked; bow-legged".
SebaldLiterature In 'A Series Of Unfortunate Events', Gustav Sebald was a film director who hid secret codes in his movies, a member of V.F.D., and the likely creator of the Sebald Code.