ShelleyEnglish, Irish (Anglicized) Habitational name from any of the three places called Shelley (Essex Suffolk Yorkshire) or from Shelley Plain in Crawley (Sussex)... [more]
SolanoSpanish, Aragonese From various Spanish place names, which are derived from Spanish solano meaning "place exposed to the sun" (from Late Latin solanus "pertaining to the sun", a derivative of sol "sun")... [more]
EdénSwedish Possibly a habitational name from a place named with the element ed "isthmus". In some cases it could also be a shortened form of EDENIUS (a combination of Swedish ed "isthmus" and the Latin suffix -enius "descendant of").
PiirEstonian Piir is an Estonian surname meaning "border" and "frontier".
LahayeFrench, Walloon topographic name with the definite article la from Old French haye "hedge" (see Haye ) or a habitational name from La Haye the name of several places in various parts of France and in Belgium (Wallonia) named with this word... [more]
LinnGerman (Silesian), Jewish (Ashkenazi) Derived from the Slavic word lin "tench (fish)", a nickname for a fisherman, or for a person who somehow resembled a tench.
Vogt Von WeidaMedieval German Toponymic variant of Vogt. This noble family split into several lines to include Weida, Gera, and Plauen. The Princes of Reuss descend from the Plauen line.
WijdekopDutch From a nickname for a person with a very wide head, derived from Dutch wijd meaning "wide, broad" and kop meaning "head".
TafuJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 多布 (Tafu) meaning "Tafu", a former township in the former district of Kōge in the former Japanese province of Buzen in parts of present-day Ōita, Japan and Fukuoka, Japan.
AmsdonEnglish (Modern) Unknown. Possibly a spelling variant of Amsden. Ancestry.com suggests probably a habitational name, from a reduced form of the Oxfordshire place name Ambrosden, which is composed of an Old English personal name Ambre + Old English dun ‘hill’... [more]
DinçTurkish Means "energetic, vigorous, active" in Turkish.
GammelgaardDanish Derived from Danish gammel meaning "old" and gård meaning "enclosure, farm".
VenizelosGreek From the baptismal name Benizelos, which is already in existence since the 16th century in Athens. Uncertain etymology, most likely to be of Italian origin, (Bene + angelo, the good angel, ie Evangelos)... [more]
AlcottEnglish From the name of any of the various places in England so-called, all derived from Old English eald "old" and cot "cottage, small house"... [more]
GertzGerman Patronymic from a Germanic personal name meaning "hardy", "brave", "strong."
KirigiriPopular Culture This surname is used as 霧切 with 霧 (bu, bou, mu, kiri) meaning "fog, mist" and 切 (sai, setsu, ki.ri, -ki.ri, ki.ru, -ki.ru, ki.re, -ki.re, ki.reru, -ki.reru, -gi.ri, -gi.re) meaning "be sharp, cut(off)."... [more]
KetaAlbanian Meaning as of yet unknown. Known Albanian bearers of this surname include the colonel Myslym Keta (1925-1966) and the politician Roland Keta (b. 1971).
IkenoJapanese Ike means "pool, pond" and no means "field, plain, wilderness".
KurzbergGerman, Yiddish, Jewish From a location name meaning "short mountain" in German, from Middle High German kurz meaning "short" and berg meaning "mountain". As a Jewish surname it is ornamental.
IbaigurenBasque (Rare) Means "river's edge", derived from Basque ibai "river" and guren "edge, bank".
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.
MonacoItalian Means "monk" in Italian, ultimately derived from Ancient Greek μοναχός (monakhós) "single, solitary" via Latin monachus. Could be a nickname for someone of monkish habits or appearance, a topographic name for someone living close to a monastery, or an occupational name for a servant employed at a monastery.
MaenoJapanese From Japanese 前 (mae) meaning "front, forward" and 野 (no) meaning "area, field, wilderness".
DaaeLiterature, Norwegian, Danish (Rare), Swedish (Rare) Norwegian surname, originating in Trondheim in the 17th century. Also a variant of Daa, the name of a Danish noble family which originated in Southern Jutland in the 14th century... [more]
YabusakiJapanese From the Japanese 八 (ya) meaning "eight", 武 (bu) which was a traditional unit of measurement approximately equal to 90 centimeters, and 崎 (saki) meaning "cape, peninsula".
HoshinaJapanese It can be spelled with 星 (hoshi) meaning "star, mark, dot" and 奈 (na) meaning "name, noted, distinguished, reputation", or 保 (ho) meaning "protect", combined with 科 (shina, ka) meaning "department, technology".
SaxenaIndian, Hindi Traditionally believed to be derived from Sanskrit सखिसेना (sakhisena) meaning "friend of the army", from सखा (sakha) meaning "friend, companion" and सेना (sena) meaning "army"... [more]
HagiwaraJapanese From Japanese 萩 (hagi) meaning "bush clover" and 原 (wara) meaning "field, plain".
BeckwithEnglish (African) Habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire named Beckwith, from Old English bece "beech" + Old Norse viðr "wood" (replacing the cognate Old English wudu).
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.
MilletFrench, Catalan metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of millet or panic grass or a topographic name for someone who lived by a field of millet from French and Catalan millet (from Latin milietum a derivative of milium in Old French mil "millet").
ArjmandPersian Means "precious, valuable, honourable, esteemed" in Persian.
AffleckGalician, Scottish Variation of Auchinleck, a town near Dundee, Scotland... Ben & Casey Affleck are famous bearers of the name. Auchinleck appears to have been one of those places where the ancient Celts and Druids held conventions, celebrated their festivals, and performed acts of worship... [more]
TreichelGerman (Swiss) Swiss German: from a word meaning ‘cow bell’, presumably a nickname for a cowherd or farmer, or a metonymic occupational name for someone who made cow bells.
BeppuJapanese From Japanese 別府 (Beppu), the name of several Japanese towns and divisions. In some cases these places names are normally read Byū or Befu. In other cases Beppu is a clipping of longer names such as 別府門 (Beppumon), 西別府 (Nishibeppu) or 上別府 (Kamibeppu).
AtthakonsiriphoThai (Rare) From Thai อรรถ (attha), the bound form of อรรถ (at) of unknown meaning, กร (kon) meaning "hand, arm", and โพธิ์ (pho), a variant form of โพธิ (phothi) meaning "enlightened; enlightened intellect".
AasalaEstonian Aasala is an Estonian surname meaning "wild/meadow area".
ScafataItalian Possibly denoting someone from the Italian town Scafati, from Latin scapha "skiff, light boat". Alternately, may be from Italian scafare "to husk peas", either literally referring to someone's occupation, or from the figurative meaning of "to make more confident; alert, shrewd".
MameliItalian Possibly from latin surname Mamelius. A famous bearer was Goffredo Mameli, author of the italian national anthem.
PahlaviPersian Means "hero, champion, athletic, strong man", a variant of Pahlavan. It could also refer to a person who came from Parthia, a historical region situated in present-day Iran and Turkmenistan, derived from Persian پهلو (pahlaw) meaning "Parthian, person from Parthia"... [more]
RathGerman 1 German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): descriptive epithet for a wise person or counselor, from Middle High German rāt ‘counsel’, ‘advice’, German Rat ‘counsel’, ‘advice’, also ‘stock’, ‘supply’.... [more]
AdachiharaJapanese A means "leg, limb, step", dachi is a form of tachi meaning "stand", and hara means "plain". ... [more]
GonzeFrench My family surname originated in southern French-speaking Belgium. There is a tiny village called Gonzeville in northern France near the Belgian border which you can find on Wikipedia. Many surnames from French speaking Belgium have 5 or 6 letters and end in -ze, such as Gonze and Meeze... [more]
ChairesSpanish (Mexican) Possibly a plural form of Galician chaira "little valley or meadow" or chairo "flat" (way, terrain). Refers to a person who lived in such a place.
CorcovadoSpanish Means "hunchback" in Spanish. It would denote a person with a curved spine.
LeonardoItalian, Spanish, German Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese from the Germanic personal name Leonhard, formed from the elements leo ‘lion’ + hard, ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’; this was an early medieval saint’s name (see Leonard).
MaleckiPolish Habitational name for someone from places called Malki in the voivodeships of Ostroleka and Torun.
YaegerGerman Yaeger is a relatively uncommon American surname, most likely a transcription of the common German surname "Jaeger/Jäger" (hunter). The spelling was changed to become phonetic because standard English does not utilize the umlaut.
ContractorIndian (Parsi) Parsi occupational surname for a contractor, or someone who works on the basis of a contract. As the British rule of India demanded for all Parsees to adopt a surname, many adopted English vocabulary based on their occupation (i.e. Engineer or Merchant).
SwigertGerman (Americanized) Americanized form of German Schweigert or Zweigert, an occupational name for a gardener or tender of plants, from an agent derivative of Middle High German zwigen, meaning "to graft" or "to plant".
ZuazoBasque Habitational name derived from Basque zu(h)haitz "(wild) tree" and the collective suffix -zu.
AlmánzarSpanish (Caribbean) Derived from Arabic المنظر (al manẓar) meaning "the view" or "the lookout". This surname is primarily used in the Dominican Republic.
BoormanEnglish This surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and may be either a topographical name for someone who lived in a particularly noteworthy or conspicuous cottage, from the Old English bur "bower, cottage, inner room" with mann "man", or a locational name from any of the various places called Bower(s) in Somerset and Essex, which appear variously as Bur, Bure and Bura in the Domesday Book of 1086.
GazteluBasque From Basque gaztelu "castle", denoting someone from the town of Gaztelu in Basque country, Spain.
DanzaItalian Means "dance" in Italian, a nickname for a dancer. Alternatively, it could derive from an Italian form of the given name Abundantius.
SteingräberGerman occupational name for a quarry worker from Middle High German stein "stone" and agent derivative of Middle High German graben "to dig".
BlausteinGerman, Jewish Ornamental name from German blau "blue" and Stein "stone", i.e. lapis lazuli.
StroganovRussian Meaning uncertain. This was the name of a wealthy Russian family of merchants (later aristocrats), probably of Tatar origin.
VéronFrench There are three etymologies possible for this surname: which one applies, will vary per Véron family, as the meaning depends on the personal history of the original bearer of their surname.... [more]
BrueggerLow German North German (Brügger): occupational name for a bridge keeper, paver, or road builder, Middle Low German brügger. Compare Brueggemann.
MorceliArabic (Maghrebi) Possibly from Arabic مُرْسِل (mursil) meaning "sender, dispatcher" or "sent, transmitted" from أَرْسَلَ (ʾarsala) "to send, to dispatch".
ArmourScottish, Northern Irish From Middle English, Old French armure, blended with the agent noun armer (see Armer), hence an occupational name for a maker of arms and armor. The collective noun armure denoted offensive weapons as well as the more recently specialized sense of protective gear.
FoutGerman [Foust} maybe german. The Fout name can be traced back to Denmark.
MaiharaJapanese A Japanese surname formed from the kanji characters 舞 (Mai, "dance") and 原 (Hara, "field" or "plain"). The meaning could be interpreted as "dancing field/plains" or "field/plain of dance".
MatsubaJapanese From 松 (matsu) meaning "pine" and 葉 (ba) meaning "leaf".
OyaskiEnglish (American) A surname created by Michael Oyaski (formally Michael O'Yaski). The surname is currently known to only be used by one particular branch of the O'Yaski family tree. The surname means "Dragon Rider of the West" according to members of the Oyaski family.
NegueruelaSpanish It indicates familial origin within the eponymous La Riojan ghost town.
JaansooEstonian Jaansoo is an Estonian surname meaning "Jaan's swamp" in Estonian. However, it most likely derived from a corruption of the surname "Jansen" or "Janson" that has been Estonianized.
BoucharebArabic (Maghrebi) Means "father of the moustache" or "father of the drinker" from Arabic أَبُو (ʾabū) meaning "father" and شَارِب (šārib) meaning "moustache" or "drinker".
SchildGerman, Dutch Occupational name for a maker or painter of shields, from Middle High German, Middle Dutch schilt "shield".