EastEnglish From the English vocabulary word, ultimately derived from Proto-Germanic *austrą "east". It originally denoted someone who lived to the east of something, or someone who came from the east.
BrockhausGerman Occupational hereditary surname for a person who was physically powerful, derived from Old German brock which may refer to persons with a stocky or strong build. Or derived from Old German "Brook" or "Brauk," for people near a marshy landscape, common in northern regions.
DimerGerman (Portuguese-style) Brazilian adaptation of the German surname Diemer; altered for easier comprehension by the Portuguese-speaking population of Brazil.
GanesanIndian Indian (Kerala, Tamil Nadu): Hindu name from Sanskrit gaṇeṣa ‘lord of the army’ ( see Ganesh ) + the Tamil-Malayalam third-person masculine singular suffix -n. This is found only as a given name in India, but has come to be used as a family name in the U.S.
KurikiJapanese From Japanese 栗 (kuri) meaning "chestnut" and 城 (ki) meaning "castle".
YuKorean Korean form of Liu, from Sino-Korean 劉 (yu).
PhonevilayLao From Lao ພອນ (phone) meaning "blessing" and ວິໄລ (vilay) meaning "splendid, beautiful".
HagaJapanese From Japanese 芳 (ha) meaning "fragrant, aroma, reputable, satisfactory" and 賀 (ka) meaning "congratulate, greet, celebrate". It's mostly in the northeastern Japan and may come from the place name in Tochigi Prefecture.
KuzeJapanese Ku means "long time ago" and ze comes from ze meaning "world".
HoferleGerman (Austrian) Means "Yard Clearing" from a Combination of the Austrian word Höfer meaning "yard" or "court" with the ancient suffix "le" meaning woodland or clearing.
KadoshimaJapanese (Rare) I don't want to assume it's rare but it's definitely uncommon. Kado means "Gate" and Shima means "Island".
KarkEstonian Kark is an Estonian surname meaning "stilt" (Himantopus himantopus).
DuhamelFrench Topographic name for someone who lived in a hamlet, from Old French hamel, a diminutive of ham "homestead", with fused preposition and definite article du.
BrettonEnglish, French habitational name from any of the places called from Bretton in Derbyshire and Yorkshire, both of which mean "settlement of the Britons", from Old English brettas "Briton" and tun "enclosure, settlement"... [more]
OjaveeEstonian Ojavee is an Estonians surname meaning "stream water".
ShuckEnglish Origin uncertain; perhaps a nickname from Middle English schucke "devil, fiend".
EshiroJapanese Combination of Japanese 江 (e) meaning "bay, inlet" and 城 (shiro) meaning "castle, city".
LaiChinese From Chinese 赖 (lài) meaning "rely", also referring to the ancient state of Lai that existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Henan province.
De ValeraSpanish Originally indicated a person from one of the two towns named Valera in the provinces of Cuenca and Badajoz in Spain. This name was borne by American-born Irish president and prime minister Éamon de Valera (1882-1975; birth name George de Valero, also known as Edward de Valera), who was born to an Irish mother and a Cuban-Spanish father.
De AssisPortuguese Referred to a person who was originally from the town of Assisi (called Assis in Portuguese) in Umbria, Italy. This surname is borne by several Brazilian soccer players, including Ronaldinho (1980-; birth name Ronaldo de Assis Moreira) and João Alves de Assis Silva (1987-), who is usually called simply Jô... [more]
CostabileItalian Occupational name for a chamberlain, cognate to Constable. In some cases, it’s instead taken from the Italian given name derived from Late Latin Constabilis.
ScottoItalian Either an ethnic name for someone from Scotland or Ireland from medieval Italian scotto or scoto meaning "Scot", making it a cognate of Scott, or from a diminutive of given names ending in sco such as Francesco (via its diminutive Francescotto) or Maresco (via Marescotto).
UngerGerman German, Jewish (Ashkenazic), and Slovenian: ethnic name for a Hungarian or a nickname for someone who had trade relations with Hungary, from the ethnic term Unger ‘Hungarian’ ... [more]
VetterGerman from a nickname from Middle High German veter(e) ‘uncle’, ‘nephew’. The word is from Old High German fetiro (a derivative of fater ‘father’), which was used more generally to denote various male relatives; the meaning of modern German Vetter is ‘cousin’.
ZaldibarBasque From the name of a town and municipality in Biscay, Basque Country, derived from Basque zaldi "horse" and ibar "valley". Alternatively, the first element could instead be zaldu "wood, copse, forest".
AsōJapanese Combination of the kanji 麻 (asa, "hemp plant") and 生 (fu, "place where vegetation grows"), thus "place where hemp plants grow". A famous bearer of this surname is Japanese Prime Minister Tarō Asō (麻生 太郎; b. 1940).
RockholdGerman (Americanized) Possibly an Americanized form of German Rocholl or Rochholt, derived from a Germanic personal name composed of Old Germanic ruoche "care, prudence" and wald "rule, power".
DuclosFrench du 'from the' from Old French clos 'enclosure' (see Clos ) or a habitational name for someone from Le Clos the name of several places in various parts of France so it means "from the enclosure"
MizumotoJapanese From Japanese 水 (mizu) meaning "water" and 本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin".
WinnickEnglish (Rare) Habitational name for someone from a place called Winwick, for example in Northamptonshire or Cambridgeshire, both of which are named from the Old English personal name Wina + wic 'outlying dairy farm or settlement'.
LongleyEnglish Geographic name referring to multiple places by the same name in Yorkshire, England. The name comes from the word "long" plus Old English leáh "meadow".
RuegerGerman The name was likely first bestowed on someone thought to have the characteristics of a heron as a nickname, eventually becoming a hereditary surname.
IwańskiPolish Name for someone from a place called Iwanie (now Iwonie), derived from the given name Iwan.
UlvaeusSwedish (Rare) Allegedly a latinization of Ulfsäter, a combination of Swedish ulv "wolf" and säter "mountain pasture". Björn Ulvaeus (b. 1945) is a Swedish songwriter, composer and former member of ABBA.
HajakeJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 羽者 (haja), sound- and script-changed from 刃物 (hamono) meaning "blade; edged tool" and 家 (-ke), a suffix representing family, referring to a family who specialized with knives.
HopDutch Variant form of Hopp. Alternatively, an occupational name derived from Dutch hop referring to the common hop (Humulus lupus), a kind of plant traditionally used to preserve and flavour beer.
LandEnglish, German Topographic name from Old English land, Middle High German lant, "land, territory". This had more specialized senses in the Middle Ages, being used to denote the countryside as opposed to a town or an estate.
RoobaEstonian Rooba is an Estonian surname, derived from "roobas", meaning "ditch" or "rut".
MeredithWelsh From the personal name Maredudd. In Welsh the stress is on the second syllable. The Old Welsh form is Morgetiud, of which the first element may mean "pomp, splendor" and the second is iudd "lord".
NakaiPunjabi This surname originates from the Punjab. It is a sub-cast of Sandhu Jats and are descendants of Nakai Misl, a principality of the Sikh Empire from 1748 to 1810.
CanalesSpanish Spanish: habitational name from any of several places called Canales, from canales, plural of canal ‘canal’, ‘water channel’, from Latin canalis.
RicarioSpanish Spanish and Jewish (Sephardic): from the personal name Ricardo ( see Richard ).
MamilovIngush (Russified) Russified form of an Ingush surname, which is from the name of an Ingush teip (clan) possibly from a Turkic word meaning "sweet, delicious" or from an Arabic name of unknown meaning.
SutantoJavanese (Modern) Sutanto comes in part from the Chinese surname Tan. The prefix Su is Javanese. The Su and to were used to make the name Indonesian but not eliminate the Chinese part... [more]
FarrimondEnglish Either from the Norman given name Faramund, or else a variant of the occupational surname Ferriman ('with post-medieval excrescent -d').
LugardoSpanish Spanish (Mainly Huelva): From The Personal Name Lugardo A Variant Of Lutgardo Of Ancient Germanic Origin (See Luckhardt ). This Surname Is Most Common In Mexico.
BeckiusSwedish Combination of Swedish bäck "small stream, brook" and the common surname suffix -ius.
MonasterioSpanish Means "monastery" in Spanish, denoting a person who lives or works in a monastery.
GoodenoughEnglish From a medieval nickname probably applied either to someone of average abilities or to an easily satisfied person; also, perhaps from a medieval nickname meaning "good servant".
HenceGerman, English, Welsh An American spelling variant of Hentz derived from a German nickname for Hans or Heinrich or from an English habitation name found in Staffordshire or Shropshire and meaning "road or path" in Welsh.
SyrettEnglish Either (i) from the medieval male personal name Syred (from Old English Sigeræd, literally "victory-counsel"); or (ii) from the medieval female personal name Sigerith (from Old Norse Sigfrithr, literally "victory-lovely").
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.
Irgen GioroManchu From the combination of the branch name Irgen meaning "regular citizen" and the clan name Gioro.