ProtopopescuRomanian Derived from Romanian protopop meaning "archpriest", from Old Church Slavonic протопопъ (protopopŭ), from Koine Greek πρωτοπαπάς (prōtopapás). A famous bearer of this surname is Dragoș Protopopescu, a Romanian writer, poet, critic, philosopher, and far-right politician.
CambriaItalian Possibly denoted someone from Cambria, Sicily, which might be of Arabic origin and unrelated to the latinized form of Cymru; alternatively, it could derive from the Roman cognomen Cambria, which would be related to the Latin toponym Cambria.
LalorIrish Lalor is an Irish surname derived from the Irish Ó Leathlobhair, from leath- “leper; weak, ailing person”
AglerEnglish From one or more Middle English personal names variously written Alger, Algar, Alcher, Aucher, etc. These represent a falling together of at least three different Continental Germanic and Old English names: Adalgar "noble spear" (Old English Æ{dh}elgār), Albgar "elf spear" (Old English Ælfgār), and Aldgar "old spear" (Old English (E)aldgār)... [more]
NesmithEnglish, Scottish Occupational name for a nail or knife maker, derived from Middle English nayl "nail" or knyf "knife" and smyth "craftsman, smith" (from Old English smiþ).
VietmeyerGerman German: distinguishing name for a tenant farmer who was a tenant of or owed some obligation to an estate or monastery named for Saint Veith.
PanganibanFilipino, Tagalog Means "careful, cautious", derived from Tagalog panganib meaning "danger".
SantangeloItalian, Sicilian Either habitational name from any of numerous places especially in the south named with reference to a local shrine or church dedicated to Saint Angel (Italian Sant'Angelo) as for example Sant'Angelo a Cupolo (Benevento) Sant'Angelo a Fasanella (Salerno) Sant'Angelo all’Esca and Sant'Angelo a Scala (Avellino) Sant'Angelo d'Alife (Caserta) and Sant'Angelo del Pesco (Molise)... [more]
OrgeriiJewish, Judeo-Provençal Aaron Orgerii is listed in the index of names of Jews in France in the late middle ages in Heinrich Gross' book Judaia Gallica. There is also an extent copy of a deed between "the Jew Nathan Orgerii and Johannes Raynaud", written in Arles in Provence in 1366... [more]
KhaljiAfghan, Iranian Meaning ‘From the city of Khalaj’, in Khalaj, a Common Turkic Language.
RoasioItalian This surname originates from the Piedmont region of Italy. It is most likely derived from Roasio, which is the name of a municipality in that same region. The meaning of the municipality's name is uncertain, but since it is located in Piedmont and known as Roaso in the Piedmontese language, the etymological origin of the name is most likely Piedmontese... [more]
HinckleyEnglish From the name of a place in Leicestershire meaning "Hynca's wood", from the Old English byname Hynca, derivative of hún "bear cub", and leah "woodland, clearing".
AufderheideGerman Topographic name for someone who lived on a heath, derived from German auf der heide literally meaning "on the heath".
Lo GuastaItalian Variant of Guasti, literally "the broken". Probably used as a nickname for someone with a twisted or deformed limb, used in at least one case for a foundling.
OuedraogoWestern African, Mossi Derived from the name of the semi-legendary Ouedraogo, who is believed to have founded the Mossi Kingdoms in the 11th century. Means "son of the elephant" in the Mossi language.
OpetaiaMaori, Polynesian This name possibly came from the given name Opetaia. A notable bearer of this name is Jai Opetaia, an australian boxer born in 1995.
AkpınarTurkish From Turkish ak meaning "white" and pınar meaning "spring, fountain".
AmarantheFrench Amaranthe is a rare French surname. While it might not be a common last name, it certainly stands out. Unfortunately, there isn’t much information available about its historical or familial context, except that it has been used in France (515), Switzerland (1), Sweden (1), Senegal (1), United States (1) and Vietnam (1).
MountjoyEnglish Habitational surname for a person from Montjoie in La Manche, France, named with Old French mont "hill", "mountain" + joie "joy".
KuritsukaJapanese Kuri means "chestnut" and tsuka means "mound, hillock".
CerveraSpanish A name for someone coming from any one of many places called Cervera, coming from Late Latin cervaria, meaning "place of stags".
WehlburgGerman (Rare), Dutch (Rare) Possibly derived from German Wehl "pool of water (esp. behind a dyke)" (cognate to Dutch weil "vortex, maelstrom; dyke breach pool") and burg "fortress, citadel".
BaldyEnglish Possibly derived from an Old English feminine given name, *Bealdgýð, composed of the elements beald "bold" and guð "battle", first recorded c.1170 as Baldith, and in other cases from the Old Norse byname or given name Baldi.
BormannGerman This surname is presumed to be a variant of Bornemann, which is made up of Middle Low German born meaning "spring" and man meaning "man," denoting someone who lived by a spring or a well.
MussertDutch Dutch cognate of Mussett. This name was borne by the infamous Nazi politician Anton Mussert (1894-1946), the leader of the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (NSB) during World War II.
HisazomeJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 久 (hisa) meaning "long time" and 染 (zome), the joining continuative form of 染める (someru) meaning "to dye", referring to the process of dying for a long time.
HugoFrench Victor Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He was also the writer of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' and 'Les Misérables'.
RheinGerman From the German name for the River Rhine, denoting somebody whom lived within close proximity to the river. The river name itself comes from a Celtic word meaning 'to flow' (Welsh redan, 'run, flow').
SwainScottish, Irish, English Northern English occupational name for a servant or attendant, from Middle English swein "young man attendant upon a knight", which was derived from Old Norse sveinn "boy, servant, attendant"... [more]
ArgyleScottish, Scottish Gaelic From the regional name Argyll, a county of southwestern Scotland, named in Gaelic as Earre Ghàidheal ‘coast of the Gaels’. Argyll was the earliest part of Scotland to be settled by Gaelic speakers from Ireland from the 6th century onwards... [more]
LäuferGerman, Jewish Habitational name for someone from a place called Lauf, also an occupational name for a messenger or a nickname for a fast runner, from an agent derivative of Middle High German loufen, German laufen ‘to run’.
BiaNavajo The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs ("BIA") required all Indians to choose a family name. The Navajo family name Bia is derived from BIA ("Bureau of Indian Affairs")
SchwarzbachGerman Habitational name from any of several places so named literally "dark stream", derived from the elements swarz "black" and bah "stream".
ShaoChinese From Chinese 邵 (shào) referring to the ancient fief of Zhao, which existed during the Shang dynasty in what is now Shaanxi province. The name of the fief, 召, had the same pronunciation as the character 邵.
TellinghusenEast Frisian Habitational name from a lost or unidentified location in Lower Saxony.
PozharskyRussian Possibly from Russian пожар (požár) meaning "fire, conflagration". A famous bearer of the name was Russian prince Dmitry Mikhaylovich Pozharsky (1577-1642) known for his military leadership during the Polish–Muscovite War.
IraolaBasque Derived from Basque ira "fern" and -ola "location, place of".
Mag AnnaidhIrish Meaning "son of Annaidh"; the fullest and most correct form of the surname which is usually written Mac Anna or Mac Canna, which see... [more]