ZagoItalian Probably from Venetian zago "alter boy", or someone preparing to become a priest. Alternately, may derive from a toponym, such as Massanzago, Lorenzago, Cazzago, Vanzago, or Sozzago.
GołąbPolish Nickname for a mild-mannered or peace-loving man, from Polish golab "dove".
ArciniegaBasque Castilianized form. Name for someone from the Spanish town of Artziniega. The town's name likely comes from the Basque artzain meaning "shepherd" and -aga, a suffix for place names.
TramontanaItalian From the Italian word tramontana, itself from Latin transmontānus meaning (“across the mountains”), or literally “north of the mountains”.
GottfriedGerman, Jewish Derived from the given name Gottfried. A famous bearer was the American comedian and actor Gilbert Gottfried (1955-2022).
FranzblauJewish Means "french blue" in German. One of the many names assigned to Jews during the rule of Emperor Joseph II, who required all Jews in the Hapsburg Empire to adopt surnames.
WatthanaThai From Thai วัฒนา (watthana), a variant form of วัฒน (watthan) meaning "culture".
BlennerhassettEnglish The Blennerhassett surname comes from someone having lived in Cumberland, on the Borderlands between Scotland and England. ... [more]
VreeswijkDutch Habitational name from a former village and municipality in the province Utrecht, Netherlands, derived from Old Dutch Frieso "Frisian" and wic "village, town"... [more]
TsubameJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 燕 (Tsubame) meaning "Tsubame", the name of a city in the prefecture of Niigata in Japan.
DuckEnglish, Irish English from Middle English doke "duck", hence a nickname for someone with some fancied resemblance to a duck, or an occupational name for someone who kept or hunted ducks. Alternatively, a variant form of Duke... [more]
EssLow German, German (Swiss) North German: topographic name for someone living on or owning land that was waterlogged or partly surrounded by water, from Middle Low German es ‘swamp’, ‘water’. ... [more]
AikmanEnglish, Scottish Either a modified form of Akerman or Agemund (see Agmundr), or derived from a coven name composed of Old English ac "oak" and man "person, man".
StryjewskiPolish Habitational name for someone from a place called Stryjów in Zamość voivodeship, named with stryj meaning "paternal uncle", "father’s brother".
ZongoHausa In Hausa “Zongo” refers to settlement areas or quarters traditionally inhabited by traders, migrants, or communities often of Muslim background. The word broadly means “a neighborhood or camp”.
PanbalPunjabi The surname Panbal is predominantly associated within the Sikh Jatt community. The surname "Panbal" is a distinctive Punjabi Jatt surname rooted in the region of Punjab, specifically associated with Pandori Ganga Singh in Hoshiarpur district... [more]
ReintaluEstonian Reintalu is an Estonian surname derived from "Rein" (a masculine given name) and "talu", meaning "farm"; "Rein's farm".
ValsecchiItalian Denoting someone from the former municipality of Valsecca in Lombardy.
TrapizonyanArmenian Originally denoted someone who came from the Turkish city of Trabzon, formerly a part of the Byzantine Empire, whose Armenian community stayed as the Ottoman Empire took over.
AdurizBasque Patronymic from the given name Adur, meaning "luck, fate" in Basque.
IngogliaItalian Means "belonging to the family of Goglia" in Italian, derived from the prefix in- meaning "belonging to the family of" combined with the name Goglia... [more]
MoreyIrish, English Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic Ó Mórdha, and in English (of Norman origin), derived from the Old French given name Mory, a short form of Amaury (see Emery).
JuandaChinese (Indonesian) Indonesianized form of Chinese surnames such as Zhou (周) or Zhuang (莊). Surnames like these were instituted during the New Order era (1966–1998) in Indonesia due to social and political pressure toward Chinese Indonesians.
ShieldEnglish Metonymic occupational name for an armorer, from Middle English scheld "shield" (Old English scild, sceld).
GatlinEnglish English of uncertain origin; probably a variant of Catlin or Gadling, a nickname from Old English gœdeling ‘kinsman’, ‘companion’, but also ‘low fellow’.
LuiskEstonian Luisk is an Estonian surname meaning "grinding stone" or "whet stone".
BarkisEnglish Meant "person who works in a tannery" (from Middle English barkhous "tannery" - bark was used in the tanning process). A fictional bearer is Barkis, a carrier in Charles Dickens's 'David Copperfield' (1849) who sends a message via David to Clara Peggotty that "Barkis is willin'" (i.e. to marry her).
RäimEstonian Räim is an Estonian surname meaning "Baltic herring".
MerivaleEnglish The surname Merivale was first found in Cornwall and Devon, where this prominent family flourished. Walter Merifild was recorded in Devon in 1200 but it is believed the family had established itself earlier in St... [more]
ByuJapanese Variant transcription of Japanese Kanji 別府 (see Byū).
ÖövelEstonian Öövel is an Estonian surname, a derivation of "hööve" meaning "plane" and "jointer", or "röövel" meaning "gunman", "robber" and "bandit".
BuendíaSpanish Probably a habitational name from Buendía in Cuenca province, Spain.
BieniakPolish Polish family name with Germanic origins. The Bieniak family lived in the Polish villages of Grębków and nearby Kózki for nearly 500 years.
MacLaineScottish Variant form of McLean. A well-known bearer is American actress, singer and former dancer Shirley MacLaine (1934-).
RaderGerman Variation of Rademacher, meaning "maker of wheels" in German ("rat" meaning wheel), later shortened to Rader and other variations such as Redder, Raeder, Redler, etc.
JägermeisterssenGerman Means son of the "Master-Hunter". Originally given to the son of the master-hunter in hunting camps.
SchemmelGerman Nickname for a disabled person, from Middle High German schemel "stool", which was used as a crutch by invalids.
HatakeyamaJapanese From Japanese Kanjis 畑 (hatake) meaning "crop field" or 畠 (hatake), and 山 (yama) meaning "mountain".
PrioreItalian from Italian priore "prior" either a nickname or occupational name which probably most often originated as a metonymic occupational name for a servant of a prior or some important lay dignitary... [more]
ThornleyEnglish Derived from Thornley, which is the name of three villages in England (two are located in the county of Durham, the third in Lancashire). All three villages derive their name from Old English þorn "thorn" and Old English leah "clearing (in a wood), glade", which gives their name the meaning of "the thorny glade"... [more]
ComteFrench Nickname for someone who worked for a count or for someone acting haughty from Old French contecunte "count"... [more]
SulickPolish Derived from the Polish given name “Sułislaw,” which is composed of the elements “sun” and “sław,” which mean “sun” and “glory”. It is thought to have originally referred to someone who was associated with the sun or who was considered to be illustrious or famous.
BouhoucheBerber, Northern African Kabyle name possibly derived from Arabic أَبُو (ʾabū) meaning "father" and حَوْش (ḥawš) meaning "courtyard, enclosure, farm" (chiefly Algerian).
RinomatoItalian Derived from Italian rinomato meaning "renowned", "famous", and "well-known". A known bearer is the Canadian television host Sandra Rinomato.
RusbyScottish, English Alternative spelling of Busby, a parish in Renfrewshire. A name well represented in the Penistone, and Cawthorne districts of the West Riding of Yorkshire.