LurieJewish It is one of the oldest family trees in the world, tracing back at least to King David born c. 1037 BCE, as documented by Neil Rosenstein in his book The Lurie Legacy... [more]
HodappGerman 1 South German: probably a nickname for a clumsy person, from Middle High German hōh ‘high’, ‘tall’ + the dialect word dapp ‘fool’.... [more]
SilbermannGerman, Jewish Variant of Silber. from Middle High German silber German silber "silver" and Middle High German Yiddish man "man" an occupation for a man who worked with silver.
BrionFrench Refers to any of several places of the same name. Derived from Gaulish briga "height, hill" and the suffix -one.
NiedbałaPolish Nickname from niedbały meaning "negligent", "careless", "untidy".
KnowlesIrish As an Irish surname it is an anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Tnúthghail meaning "descendant of Tnúthgal", a given name composed of the elements tnúth "desire, envy" and gal "valor".
ChitsawangdiThai (Rare) From Thai จิตต์ (chit) meaning "mind; heart; soul; spirit; mentality", สว่าง (sawang) meaning "bright; shining", and ดี (di) meaning "good".
VäitsEstonian Väits is an Estonian surname derived from "väit" meaning "insist".
FarthingEnglish (i) "someone who lives on a 'farthing' of land" (i.e. a quarter of a larger area); (ii) from a medieval nickname based on farthing "1/4 penny", perhaps applied to someone who paid a farthing in rent; (iii) from the Old Norse male personal name Farthegn, literally "voyaging warrior"
HamerEnglish, German From the town of Hamer in Lancashire from the old english word Hamor combining "Rock" and "Crag". It is also used in Germany and other places in Europe, possibly meaning a maker of Hammers.
KaukolinnaFinnish (Rare) Derived from Finnish kaukainen(kauko), meaning distant and linna, meaning castle
BrogdenEnglish From the name of a place in West Yorkshire meaning "valley brook", from Old English broc "brook" and denu "valley".
HerdDutch Comes from Middle Dutch hert, herte ‘hart’, ‘stag’; probably a nickname for someone who was fleet of foot, or a habitational name for someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of a deer; variant of Heard.
EsumiJapanese E means "river, inlet" and sumi mean "residence, dwelling, abide" or "nook, corner".
KostraCzech, Slovak Unusual surname found in Slovakia and the Czech Republic meaning "skeleton" from the word kostra, ultimately from the word kost meaning "bone". In Czech in particular, kostra refers only to the biological meaning of "skeleton" - a skeleton as an independent entity is known as a kostlivec.
CardinalEnglish, French From the rank of the Catholic Church, derived from Latin cardinalis "pertaining to a door hinge", through the notion of the function of such priests as ‘pivots’ of church life. It was used as a nickname for someone who habitually wore red or acted like a cardinal.
TampõldEstonian Tampõld is an Estonian surname derived from "tamm" ("oak") and "põld" ("field").
OreEnglish Habitational name from Woore (Shropshire, England).
MaivelEstonian Maivel is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "maidel" meaning "gudgeon" (a type of freshwater fish).
StangGerman, Jewish German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) from Middle High German stang, German Stange ‘pole’, ‘shaft’, hence a nickname for a tall, thin person, a metonymic occupational name for a maker of wooden shafts for spears and the like, or a metonymic occupational name for a soldier.
FitzEmpressHistory, Anglo-Norman Means "son of the empress" in Anglo-Norman French. The three sons of Empress Matilda (1102-1167) were known as Henry FitzEmpress (King Henry II of England), Geoffrey FitzEmpress, Count of Nantes, and William FitzEmpress, Count of Poitou.
KarjaneEstonian Karjane is an Estonian surname meaning "herdsman".
HisamuraJapanese From Japanese 久 (hisa) meaning "long time ago" and 村 (mura) meaning "town, village".
DeloreyFrench (Anglicized) Anglicized version of Deslauriers, a topographic name for someone living among laurels, a combination of the fused preposition and plural definite article des ‘from the’ + the plural of Old French lorier ‘laurel’.
KuurEstonian Kuur is an Estonian surname meaning "shed" or "hovel".
ArendiEstonian Arendi is an Estonian surname derived from "arendaja" meaning "developer".
BoşnakTurkish Means "Bosniak" in Turkish. One of the only major ethnic groups that adopted Islam during the Ottoman Empire. A huge diaspora of Bosniaks live in Turkey and many Turks have Bosniak heritage.
WallenEnglish Originated from the Old English words "waellan" or "weallan," which mean "to boil" or "to bubble." It is thought that the name may have been used to describe someone who lived near a boiling spring or a bubbling brook.
DemirchyanArmenian From Ottoman Turkish تیمورجی (demirci) "iron dealer, blacksmith".
BenArabic (Maghrebi) Maghrebi variant of Arabic بْن (bn), a form of اِبْن (ibn) meaning "son (of), offspring". It is often used as a prefix for other Maghrebi patronymic names (such as Benali "son of Ali 1" or Ben Amor "son of Amor").
BlandEnglish Bland is a habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire called Bland, the origin of which is uncertain. Possibly it is from Old English (ge)bland ‘storm’, ‘commotion’ (from blandan ‘to blend or mingle’), with reference to its exposed situation... [more]
XyoojHmong This name is possible from a location since Chinese during the 18th century gave Hmong surnames based on the location the Hmong were in. It's a possible clan surname.
ZufallMedieval German A German name from the Middle High German "zuoval," meaning "benefit," "coincidence" or "windfall." It was a nickname for a lucky person, most likely a person to whom a plot of land had been given. It could also be an occupational name for a tax collector.
HübschGerman Nickname from Middle High German hübesch 'courtly', 'polite', 'refined', 'agreeable', German hübsch.
EtheringtonEnglish (British) An Old English surname from Kent, the village of Etherington, which derives from the Old English "Ethel"red' ing (meaning people of, coming from) and "ton" a town/village.
GoldmannGerman, Jewish occupational name for someone who worked with gold denoting anything from a gold-miner to a maker of gold jewelry or a gilder (someone skilled in decorating surfaces with a very thin layer of gold leaf)... [more]
CrosthwaiteEnglish Habitational name for someone from any various places named Crosthwaite in Northern England, from Old Norse kross "cross" and þveit "clearing".
AkçamTurkish A surname of Turkish origin, ultimate from the words ak meaning "white" and çam meaning "pine tree".
BarbeGerman From Middle High German barbe, the name of a species of fish resembling the carp; hence by metonymy an occupational name for a fisherman or fish dealer, or possibly a nickname for someone thought to resemble the fish in some way.
VellalaIndian, Tamil It is a Tamil name, denoting agricultural laborers.
CharmEnglish The surname "Charm" is of English origin and refers to someone who did odd jobs or chores. It's derived from Middle English "char(re)" or "chere," which means "turn (of activity), small job, or chore"... [more]
SklueffRussian (Latinized, Rare, ?) Means bird of prey. From Russia. Was changed by the government from Cellieic letters to Latin letters. Unknown if it was change in Russia or Harbin, Chun where they escaped Bolshevism.
ApplewhiteEnglish Habitational name from a place named Applethwaite, from Old Norse apaldr ‘apple tree’ and þveit ‘meadow’. There are two or three such places in Cumbria; Applethwaite is also recorded as a surname from the 13th century in Suffolk, England, pointing to a possible lost place name there... [more]
GrabińskiPolish Habitational name for someone from a settlement named Grabienice, Grabin, Grabina, Grabiny, etc.; ultimately from grab meaning "hornbeam" or, in the case of Grabienice, possibly from gręba meaning "hill".
MorceliArabic (Maghrebi) Possibly from Arabic مُرْسِل (mursil) meaning "sender, dispatcher" or "sent, transmitted" from أَرْسَلَ (ʾarsala) "to send, to dispatch".
BabaJapanese From Japanese 馬場 (baba) meaning "riding ground".
HafsteinIcelandic Either derived from the Icelandic given name Hafsteinn or from Norwegian surname Havstein (probably derived from a place name).
FentonEnglish Originated from several place names in England, meaning “marsh town” from Old English fenn “marsh, fen” + tun “enclosure; settlement, town”.
NagarajanIndian From "Naga" meaning cobra and "Raja" meaning king.
KvitsiniaAbkhaz Mingrelian form of the Abkhaz surname Kutsnia; the Abkhaz name was replaced by the Mingrelian spelling during the era of Joseph Stalin. It is most likely derived from Abkhaz икуцны иааз (ikutsny iaaz) meaning "one who migrates", though the word квици (kvitsi) has no real meaning in Abkhaz... [more]
PloumidesGreek Descendant or son of the ornamented, from the Latin word 'pluma', for ornament.
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.
LinéFrench (Rare) From Old French liné meaning "made of linen". This name was an occupational name for someone who weaved linen or was a linen merchant.
DøskelandNorwegian A surname originating from south-western Norway. The Døskeland farm in Sande, Gaular is the most notable place name. An older pronunciation, Dysjeland, has also been suggested by the Norwegian archaeologist Oluf Rygh... [more]
NorrellEnglish, German (?) A locational surname from the Germanic (Old English/Old Norse) term for the north. It either refers to someone who lived in a location called Northwell, lived north of a well, spring or stream (Old English weall)... [more]
AleongTrinidadian Creole, Caribbean, Chinese The surname Aleong is likely of Chinese origin, commonly found in Trinidad and Tobago and other parts of the Caribbean. It may be derived from the Chinese surnames Liang (梁), meaning "bridge" or "beam," or Long (龙), meaning "dragon," both of which carry symbolic cultural significance.
Van OortDutch Means "from the edge (of town)", derived from Middle Dutch ort "edge, corner, outermost point of a region". Sometimes altered to or from the surname Van Noort.
BylinSwedish A combination of Swedish by "village" and the suffix -in, derived from Latin -inus, -inius "descendant of"
YarwoodEnglish habitational name from Yarwood Heath in Rostherne Cheshire earlier Yarwode. The placename derives from Old English earn "eagle" or gear "yair enclosure for catching fish" and wudu "wood".
JagiełłoPolish Originally from Old Lithuanian jotis and gaili, meaning "strong rider". This was the last name of the Polish King Władysław Jagiełło, who, along with his wife, started the Jagiellonian dynasty in the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
MahrezArabic (Maghrebi) From Arabic مُحْرَز (maḥraz) meaning "accomplished, achieved, attained". A notable bearer is Riyad Mahrez (1991-), an Algerian footballer.
BasraIndian, Punjabi From the name of a city in present-day Iraq, Basra (البصرة).
BiddulphEnglish From the name of a town in Staffordshire, England, derived from Old English bī meaning "beside" and dylf meaning "digging" (a derivative of delfan "to dig").
AkuzawaJapanese From Japanese 阿久沢 (Akuzawa), a variant spelling of 悪沢 (Akuzawa) meaning "Akuzawa", a division in the area of Azuma in the city of Midori in the prefecture of Gumma in Japan.... [more]