OphirHebrew From the given name Ophir. Ophir (or Ofir) is originally a biblical place name. In the days of King Solomon, Ophir was mentioned as the name of a land, full of abundant natural treasures such as gold, silver, etc.
IriyamaJapanese From 入 (iri) meaning "entry, input", and 山 (yama) meaning "hill, mountain".... [more]
ParigiItalian Habitational name for someone who lives in places called "Parigi" (Paris).
ChalaireAmerican (South, Rare, ?) Chalaire is a very rare surname, few people in the United States have the family name and might be raised in the United States. Around 99 people have been found who wears Chalaire as their family name... [more]
TerasakiJapanese From Japanese 寺 (tera) meaning "Buddhist temple" and 崎 (saki) meaning "cape, peninsula".
RzhevskyRussian Derived from Russian Ржев "Rzhev", a historical town between Moscow and Minsk, itself of unknown origin. This was the surname of a Russian noble family as well as Poruchik Dmitry Rzhevsky, a fictional character in the 1962 Soviet musical Hussar Ballad, often used in Russian jokes.
BottomleyEnglish English (Yorkshire and Lancashire): habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire named Bottomley, from Old English botm ‘broad valley’ + lēah ‘woodland clearing’.
CravottaSicilian From a Sicilian immigrant to America, Cravotta was changed to Cravatta upon arrival at Ellis Island. The name means "bowtie."
ShakshukiArabic (Maghrebi) Most likely from Libyan Arabic شَكْشُوكَةٌ (šakšawka) meaning “a mixture”, referring to a type of North African dish made of vegetables and fried eggs.
PopalzaiPashto Meaning unknown, possibly derived from Persian پوپل (pupal) meaning "betel nut". The Popalzai are a Pashtun sub-tribe of the Durrani in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan.
GlushkoRussian From Russian глухой (glukhoy), meaning "deaf".
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.
MellorEnglish Parishes in Derbyshire, and Lancashire, meaning the mill bank. ... [more]
IzawaJapanese From Japanese 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit" and 沢 or 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh".
ObuchMedieval Polish (Rare) Obuch is a surname found in Poland and specifically areas that were part of the Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom. It was the name of a long handled battle hammer and may have denoted someone handy with the weapon or who produced the weapon... [more]
CannizzaroItalian Derived from Sicilian cannizzu "wattle", denoting a maker of reed matting. Stanislao Cannizzaro (1826-1910) was an Italian chemist. He is famous for the Cannizzaro reaction and his influential role in the atomic-weight deliberations of the Karlsruhe Congress in 1860.
WatneyEnglish Probably means "person from Watney", an unidentified place in England (the second syllable means "island, area of dry land in a marsh"; cf. Rodney, Whitney)... [more]
YushchenkoUkrainian Means "child of Yukhym". Viktor Yushchenko was the Ukrainian president from 2005 to 2010, and a major figure in the Orange Revolution.
MidorinoJapanese Midori means "green" and no means "field, plain".
WillowEnglish topographic name from Middle English wilwewilghewillowe "willow" (Old English wiligwelig) for a person who lived at or near a willow tree or in an area where willow trees grew... [more]
TomahawkSioux The name comes from Powhatan tamahaac, derived from the Proto-Algonquian root *temah- 'to cut off by tool'. Algonquian cognates include Lenape təmahikan, Malecite-Passamaquoddy tomhikon, Abenaki demahigan, all of which mean "axe".
TrautwigGerman (Modern) From an Ancient German given name made of the name elements TRUD "strength" and WIG "fight"
YuzukiJapanese From Japanese 柚 (yuzu) meaning "grapefruit, pomelo, citrus fruit" and 木 (ki) meaning "tree, wood".
NazimovaRussian, Literature Notable users of the name includes the Russian silent screen star Alla Nazimova (1879-1945) and the heroine of the Russian novel 'Children of the Streets', Nadezhda Nazimova.
AppelGerman, Dutch From the personal name Appel, a pet form of Apprecht (common especially in Thuringia and Franconia), itself a variant of Albrecht... [more]
KamenashiJapanese Means "turle pear" in Japanese. From the Japanese words 亀 (turtle) and 梨 (pear).
YinChinese From Chinese 殷 (yīn) referring to the ancient city of Yin, which existed in what is now Henan province and served as the capital of the Shang dynasty (which reigned from 1600 to 1045 BC and was also called Yin).
RonnenbergGerman (Germanized, Rare) Ronnenberg is a German town in the region of Hannover in Niedersachsen. It consists of 7 areas: Benthe, Empelde, Ihme-Roloven, Linderte, Ronnenberg, Vörie and Weetzen. The town is known for the Church named Michaelis from the 12th century.... [more]
ÕiemetsEstonian Õiemets is an Estonian surname meaning "floral/flower forest".
BorgMaltese From Maltese borġ meaning "castle, citadel, tower".
DağlıoğluTurkish Means "son of the mountaineer" from Turkish dağlı meaning "mountaineer, highlander".
SasakoJapanese Sasa means "bamboo grass" and no means "child, first sign of the Chinese zodiac: the rat".
EschonbachGerman (Japanized, Modern, Rare) A misspelling of the surname Eschenbach from the science-fiction series Mobile Suit Gundam with the characters Icelina Eschonbach and Joseph Eschonbach, which is possibly in reference to the poet knight Wolfram von Eschenbach given the military themes in the series such as German-based armored robotic vehicles.
KporaroNigerian (Rare) The name Kporaro translates into the English language as "PROGRESS" (literally Kpo which is "Go", Ra which is "OF" and Aro which is "FRONT" in which case the Ra implies "For" or "Of" thus Kporaro is literally "Go Of Front" or more properly "Move Forward")... [more]
FarleyEnglish Habitational name from any of various places called Farley in England, from Old English fearn "fern" and leah "woodland, clearing" meaning "fern clearing".
WeinGerman, Yiddish, Hungarian Means "grape, vine, wine" in German and Yiddish (װײַנ). According to Nelly Weiss, Wein-style family names originated from signboards (house sign, house shield) in Jewish communities. Wein may also be related the German verb weinen meaning "to cry"... [more]
CliftEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a crevice in rock, derived from Middle English clift meaning "cleft". The American actor Montgomery Clift (1920-1966) was a famous bearer of this name.
KarjaneEstonian Karjane is an Estonian surname meaning "herdsman".
WesterGerman From Middle High German wëster ‘westerly’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived to the west of a settlement, or a regional name for one who had migrated from further west.
KamakuraJapanese Kama means "honeysuckle" and kura means "storehouse."
IppongiJapanese From 一 (i) meaning "one", 本 (pon) meaning "origin" and 木 (gi) meaning "tree, wood".
AlfieriItalian From Italian alfiere "standard-bearer, ensign", ultimately from Arabic فارس (al-faris) "horseman, rider; knight, cavalier". May alternately derive from the Germanic given name Adalfarus, meaning "noble journey".
SchelinSwedish Combination of an unknown element (probably derived from a place name) and the common surname suffix -in.
San MartínSpanish (San Martín; also Sanmartín): habitational name from any of numerous places so named for a local shrine or church dedicated to Saint Martin (Spanish San Martín).
DiabArabic Derived from Arabic ذئب (dhiʾb) meaning "wolf".
ChoateEnglish Probably derived from the place name Chute in Wiltshire, England, or from the parish Shute in Devon. Alternatively, it could be from the Dutch surname Van Choate, itself derived from a location in France.
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.
HunsbergerGerman Habitational name for someone from a place called Hunsberg or Huntsberg.
FormanEnglish An occupational surname for a keeper of swine, Middle English foreman, from Old English for hog, "pig" and mann ‘man’. The word is attested in this sense from the 15th century but is not used specifically for the leader of a gang of workers before the late 16th century.
SchoenwetterGerman German (Schönwetter): nickname for someone with a happy disposition, from Middle High German schœn ‘beautiful’, ‘fine’, ‘nice’ + wetter ‘weather’.
PaterDutch, German, English, Polish From Latin pater "father", used as a religious title for a priest in Roman Catholicism. Possibly used semi-literally for a man who worked in the church, or figuratively for a solemn or pompous man.
GereñaBasque Habitational name of uncertain etymology. Possibly derived from the archaic Basque element ger meaning "stone, crag" or "mill" (compare Gernika).
TwinersEnglish Twiners are the climbing plants that wind themselves around supports like ropes and rods with their touch-sensitive main shoots, and grow upwards in this way.
ChellFrench Probably a respelling of the French habitational name Challe, from any of the various places so named from Late Latin cala ‘rock shelter’.
PaistikEstonian Paistik is an Estonian surname derived from "paistma" meaning to "shine" or "appear".
McnultyNorthern Irish (Anglicized) Irish surname historically associated with County Donegal in northwest Ireland meaning "descended of the Ulaid Nation". The surname is derived from an anglicized contraction of the original Irish patronymic Mac "descended" an Ultaigh "Ulaid race".