HickEnglish From the medieval personal name Hicke, a diminutive of Richard. The substitution of H- as the initial resulted from the inability of the English to cope with the velar Norman R-.
ClavelSpanish Metonymic occupational name for a spice trader or a nail maker, derived from Spanish clavel or Catalan clavell meaning "nail", later also "clove", itself a derivative of Latin clavellus "nail".
ZuckermanGerman, Jewish Occupational name for someone who sold sugar or was a confectioner, or a nickname for someone with a sweet tooth, derived from Old High German zuckar "sugar" and man... [more]
HanJapanese From Japanese 潘 (ban), of uncertain meaning. Notable bearers of this surname are Megumi and Keiko Han, actresses.
GorhamEnglish A name originating from Kent, England believed to come from the elements gara and ham meaning "from a triangular shaped homestead." Compare Gore.
RotterGerman Variant spelling of Rother, an occupational name for the foreman or leader of a group or association of men, or a work gang, from an agent derivative of Middle High German rotte ‘team’, ‘gang’... [more]
NojimaJapanese From Japanese 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness" and 島 or 嶋 (shima) meaning "island".
KashiwagiJapanese From 柏 (kashiwa), which specifically refers the Japanese Emperor Oak/Daimyo oak (Quercus dentata), and 木 (ki), meaning "tree".
FentonEnglish Originated from several place names in England, meaning “marsh town” from Old English fenn “marsh, fen” + tun “enclosure; settlement, town”.
De BonteDutch Means "the colourful", from Dutch bont meaning "motley, multi-coloured; varied, mixed". Probably a nickname for someone known for wearing bright clothing, or perhaps figuratively referring to someone who behaves oddly or unpredictably.
CasapiccolaItalian Habitational name for someone from any of the various locations called Casapiccola or Casa Piccola, derived from Italian casa meaning "house" and piccola meaning "small".
ManvilleFrench A locational surname deriving from any of the various places in France called "Manneville or Magneville", named, from the Old Germanic personal name "Manno" or the Old French adjective "magne", great, with the word "ville", meaning a town or settlement.
CalvezBreton From Breton kalvez meaning "carpenter".
StaafSwedish Derived from various place names beginning with stav- or staf-, often meaning "boundary marker" when used in place names. Other meanings are possible. Also found occasionally as a soldier's name pre-20th century... [more]
FrettEnglish English from Middle English frette, Old French frete ‘interlaced work (in metal and precious stones)’ such as was used for hair ornaments and the like, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of such pieces.
PrzespolewskiPolish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 Greater Polish villages in Gmina Ceków-Kolonia: Przespolew Pański or Przespolew Kościelny.
CấnVietnamese Vietnamese form of Gen, from Sino-Vietnamese 艮 (gèn).
SheinJewish Ornamental name derived from German schön meaning "beautiful, good, nice"
TsurukuJapanese From 鶴 (tsuru) meaning "crane" and 久 (ku) meaning "long time".
KampūJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 寒風 (Kampū) meaning "Kampū", a former division in the former large village of Kamiminamiaosawa in the former district of Akumi in the former Japanese province of Ugo in parts of present-day Akita and Yamagata in Japan.
RuleScottish, English Scottish name from the lands of Rule in the parish of Hobkirk, Roxburghshire. The derivation is from the River Rule which flows through the area, and is so called from the ancient Welsh word "rhull" meaning "hasty or rushing".... [more]
KakiJapanese From Japanese 柿 (kaki) meaning "persimmon".
MaggioItalian From a nickname or personal name from the month of May, maggio, from Latin Maius (mensis), from Maia, a rather obscure goddess of fertility, whose name is derived from the same root as maius "larger" and maiestas "greatness"... [more]
ConsiglioItalian Means "advice, counsel" or "council, assembly" in Italian, a nickname for a wise, thoughtful, or perhaps fearful individual, or an occupational name for a member of a council.
BellersEnglish, Dutch Name came from the son of a French Noble born in Leicestershire, England. Hamon Bellers took his last name after the Kirby Bellers (Bellars) which was the name of the land given to him by his father.
MyrvallSwedish (Rare) From Swedish myr "bog, moor, wetland" and vall "pasture, field of grass".
PaikashviliGeorgian Likely means "child of Paik", derived from the archaic masculine given name Paik (ultimately of Arabic origin) combined with Georgian შვილი (shvili) meaning "child".
BourbonFrench Habitational name for a person mainly from the lordship of Bourbon-l'Archambault in Allier, now a spa town, derived from the Celtic god Borvo, from Proto-Celtic *borvo "froth, foam". It could be from other places containing Bourbon of the same origin.
AtwalPunjabi From the name of the village of Athwal in Punjab state, India.
NeisserGerman German demonym of the town of Neisse (nowadays Nysa, in Poland), itself from the name of the river Neisse (Nysa) which runs through the city.
DakeEnglish The origins of the name Dake are from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It is derived from the personal name David. Daw was a common diminutive of David in the Middle Ages. The surname is a compound of daw and kin, and literally means "the kin of David."
GuancheSpanish (Canarian), Berber, Guanche Derived from the name of the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands before the Spanish conquest. The Guanche people were a Berber-speaking people who arrived in the Canary Islands in the 5th century AD... [more]
GuggenheimerJewish Originally indicated a person from either Gougenheim in Alsace or Jugenheim in Hesse, perhaps meaning "home of Gogo(n)". Gogo(n) is a Germanic personal name
KartmannGerman Derived from German karte meaning "card". Possibly an occupational name for someone who makes, sells or trades cards. In an alternative representation, it could be a nickname for someone who gambles.
AstleyEnglish Habitational name for a person from any of several places in England called Astley, from Old English east "east" and leah "woodland, clearing"... [more]
WellandEnglish (British, Rare) From the name of the place, derived from Old English wig - war and landa - territory, land.
PancakesDutch (Americanized), German (Americanized) The last name "Pancake" is an Americanized form of German and Dutch names like "Pfannkuch," "Pannekoek," and similar terms. It likely originated as a metonymic nickname for someone who had a fondness for pancakes, made or sold them, or lived at an inn or on a farm with a name related to pancakes (like "In de Pannekoek" meaning "In the Pancake")... [more]
StungiewiczPolish The Stungiewicz family name is recorded in history as heraldically adopted into the Polish heraldic clan Pobog. The Pobog clan was a participant in the Union of Horodlo in the year 1413 between Polish and Lithuanian interests.... [more]
DerryIrish, English English variant of Deary, or alternatively a nickname for a merchant or tradesman, from Anglo-French darree ‘pennyworth’, from Old French denree... [more]
BrandenburgGerman (East Prussian, Rare) From a state in eastern Germany, formerly known as Prussia, containing the capital city of Berlin. Ancient. Associated with the Margravate (Dukedom) of Brandenburg, the seat of power in the Holy Roman Empire... [more]
LealEnglish Derived from Old French leial "loyal, faithful (to obligations)", this name was occasionally used as a nickname for a trustworthy person.
MinervinoItalian a habitational name from either of two places, Minervino di Lecce or Minervino Murge, in the provinces of Lecce and Bari, which take their names from ancient temples dedicated to the Roman goddess Minerva.
GandinFrench From the French gandin, pronounced /ɡɑ̃dœ̃/, which is a word used for a dandy, an elegant young man with affected, quite often ridiculous, manners.
O'LennonIrish Original form of Lennon. Probably a variant of Ó Leannáin (from a by-name meaning "lover"), but may also be derived from O'Lonain (from lon, "blackbird").
MessengerEnglish Occupational name for someone who brings messages, from Middle English messangere, a compound of message "communication" with an agent suffix. A famous bearer of the name was Australian footballer Dally Messenger, real name Herbert Henry Messenger (1883-1959), known as Australasia's first professional rugby footballer.
BacalRomanian, Jewish Derived from Romanian bacal, an alternative form of băcan meaning "grocer".
BerglingSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain" and the common surname suffix -ing "belonging to, coming from". It has also been found as a spelling variant of similarly spelled names, such as Berlin... [more]
CzerwonkaPolish Derived from Polish czerwony meaning "red", probably a nickname for a person who had red hair or a ruddy complexion, or for someone who frequently wore the colour red.
WujekPolish It literally means "uncle" in Polish but it could possibly refer to the Polesian village of the same name.
MoskowitzJewish Germanized form of a patronymic surname formed by adding the Slavic suffix "-ovic" meaning "son of" to a Yiddish transformation (Moshke) of the biblical Hebrew personal Moses ("Mosko" was a Polish pet form of the personal name Moses).
ZaghloulArabic (Egyptian) Means "squab, young dove" in Egyptian Arabic. A notable bearer was the Egyptian statesman and revolutionary Saad Zaghloul (1857-1927).
OrrisEnglish (Canadian) This unusual and interesting name is of Italian, Latin origin, and derives from one of the earliest Roman names, "Horatius". The name is thought to mean something connected with "hora", the Latin for "hour", but the original meaning has been lost... [more]
HomolkaCzech From homolka meaning "(cone-shaped lump of) cream cheese". The word homolka itself is derived from homole "cone". This was either a nickname for a mild person or an occupational name for someone who made cheese.
SpeckGerman Variant of Specker as well as a locational surname from one of various places called Speck, Specke and Specken in northern Germany and Spöck in southern Germany, as well as an occupational surname derived from German Speck "bacon" denoting a butcher who sepcialized in the production of bacon, as well as a derisive nickname for a corpulent person.
OxendineLumbee The name is a common Lumbee surname. This name was used in the 1700s. This is the surname of Tribal councilman Delton Oxendine as well as Miss Lumbee Laura Oxendine.
BolkiahMalay (Rare) Meaning uncertain. It may be derived from Arabic وَاقِيَة (wāqiya) meaning "protector, preserver", or it may be an alteration of the Hadhrami surname بلفقيه (Balfaqih) from Arabic الفَقِيه (al-faqīh) meaning "the jurist"... [more]