SordinoLiterature The surname of Melinda "Mel" Sordino, the main character of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak (1999). Her surname was apparently derived from Italian sordino meaning "mute" or "deaf".
DrydenEnglish Possibly from an English place name meaning "dry valley" from the Old English elements drȳġe "dry" and denu "valley". A notable bearer was the English poet, literary critic, translator and playwright John Dryden (1631-1700).
HippyIndonesian (Rare) This surname was born in Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. However as time passes and people move on, this family can now be found on Java Island.
HaftekPolish “From the english occupation name describing a maker of handles for tools - a hafter”... [more]
LangfieldEnglish Habitational name for someone originally from any of the various locations in England named Langfield, from Old English lang meaning "long" and feld meaning "field".
SaengmaniThai From Thai แสง (saeng) meaning "light, ray, beam" and มณี (mani) meaning "jewel, precious stone, gem".
WolfensbergerGerman (Swiss) Habitational name derived from the name of the now ruined castle of Wolfsberg near Bauma in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.
WaltripGerman Derived from the name of the father of the original bearer, indicating the "son of Waldrap." The Germanic personal name Waldrap, is a short form of Walraven, a name used mostly among nobles, knights, and patricians.
FrémontFrench (Americanized), English (American) Fremont is a French surname meaning Free Mountain. People include John Frémont a US Explorer and Politician who fought in the Mexican-American War to free California and many places named after him, Including Fremont, California, and Fremont Nebraska.
FagerliNorwegian From a common farm name in the Oslo area and saeters from Innladet and Hordaland, derived from Old Norse fagr "beautiful, fair" and hlíð "slope".
BenícioPortuguese (Brazilian) Spanish form of Benedict, from the Late Latin name Benedictus, which meant "blessed". A notable bearer is Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro (born 1967).
StaubGerman (Swiss), German, Jewish German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) occupational nickname for a miller, from Middle High German stoup, German Staub ‘dust’. The Jewish surname may also be ornamental.
VoorandEstonian Voorand is an Estonia surname derived from "voor" meaning "drumlin" and "rand" meaning "beach/seashore".
BrattenScottish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of the Gaelic surname Mac an Bhreatnaich ‘son of the Briton’, originally denoting a Strathclyde Welsh-speaking Briton. It was applied in Ireland also to people from Brittany.
TurnburkeAusturian This is my mother's maiden name. Her grandfather, Francis Turnburke was born in Lisbon Portugal in 1825. This family lived in Washington D C. It is said the name was changed from Turnburg to Turnburk then to Turnburke.
RozewiczPolish The origin of this surname is unknown, but is Polish.... [more]
BittakerEnglish Possibly an altered spelling of Whitaker. An infamous bearer was the American serial killer and rapist Lawrence Bittaker (1940-2019).
NukutōJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 抽く (nuku) meaning "to pull out; to draw out" and 冬 (tō) meaning "winter".
ProosaEstonian Proosa is an Estonian surname meaning "prose".
MenkeGerman Derived as a diminutive of several Germanic given names whose first element was derived from Germanic *magin- and *megin- "strength; force; power".
VesikEstonian Vesik is an Estonian surname meaning both "hydrate" and "pygmyweed"
BricknerGerman Derived from "brückenbauer," which means "bridge builder" in English. It was originally an occupational name for someone who built bridges. Over time, the name Brickner was likely shortened from Brückenbauer to its current form.
HardacreEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of poor, stony land, from Middle English hard "hard, difficult" (derived from Old English heard) and aker "field" (derived from Old English æcer), or a habitational name from a place called Hardacre in West Yorkshire, of the same origin.
ÖhlénSwedish Probably a combination of Swedish ö meaning "island" and the common surname suffix -én.
SegerSwedish, English, Dutch Means "victory" in Swedish. It is also a variant of the English surname Seager or derived from the Germanic given name Sigiheri "victory army".
BrosigGerman Brosig is a German patronymic from a vernacular pet form of the personal name Ambrosius (see Ambrose).
JärveojaEstonian Järveoja is an Estonian surname meaning "lake creek".
NaughtonEnglish Habitational name from a place in Suffolk, named in Old English with nafola meaning "navel" + tūn meaning "enclosure", "settlement", i.e. "settlement in the navel or depression".
MasseDutch Derived from Middle Dutch masse "clog; cudgel", this name might have been a metonymic occupational name for someone who wielded a club. In some cases, however, it may also have been a patronymic of Maas.
GuloIndonesian, Nias From the Nias clan name Gulö, possibly derived from the name of the clan's ancestor, Kulo Ana'a.
SchrootDutch Possibly an altered form of des Groot via Sgroot, meaning "son of the Groot", itself a byname meaning "great, large". Alternatively, it could be related to schroot "scrap (metal)" or the older scrode "to cut", an occupational name for someone who worked with metal, or perhaps a tailor.
MothEnglish From a nickname derived from Middle English mothe meaning "moth". Known bearers include New Zealand photojournalist Margaret Moth (1951-2010), British artist Charlotte Moth (1978-), and British Roman Catholic bishop Richard Moth (1958-).
MurchieEnglish (American, Anglicized), English (British, Anglicized) "Murchie" comes from the personal name "Murdo". The Scottish Gaelic form of the surname was "Mac Mhurchaidh", meaning son of "Murdo". The name "Murdo" is equivalent to "Murdock", and means sea warrior.
BiliciTurkish Means "visionary", "seer", "omniscient", "aware", "knowing" and derivated from "bil-" root which means "to know".
WheelwrightEnglish Occupational name for someone who made or fitted wheels and wheeled vehicles, from Old English hwēol and wyrhta. Also compare Wheeler.
PrivettFrench, English, Welsh (?) French, from the given name Privat (see Privatus). Also an English habitational name from a place so named in Hampshire, derived from Old English pryfet "privet".
NisumaaEstonian Nisumaa is an Estonian surname meaning "wheat land".
NiuChinese 1 Chinese 牛: this name probably arose during the Zhou dynasty ( 1122–221 bc ) in the area of Gansu province; the details are unclear. It was borne by a person named Niu Wen, who was a descendant of the eldest brother of the last king of the Shang dynasty, Zhou Xin ( 1154–1123 bc ).... [more]
EdenEnglish From Middle English given name Edun, derived from Old English Ēadhūn, with the elements ēad "prosperity, wealth" and hūn "bear cub".... [more]
MinamideJapanese From 南 (minami, nan) meaning "south" and 出 (de) meaning "exit".
AnzaiJapanese From Japanese 安 (an) meaning "peace" and 西 (sai) meaning "west", 斎 (sai) meaning "purification, worship", or 済 (sai) meaning "settle, finish".
GalpinEnglish English: occupational name for a messenger or scullion (in a monastery), from Old French galopin ‘page’, ‘turnspit’, from galoper ‘to gallop’.
YonamineJapanese From the Japanese 與 or 与(yo) "together with," 那 (na) "what" and 嶺 (mine) "peak," "summit."
LahoudArabic (Mashriqi) Means either "one who stands alone" or "one and only" in Aramaic, given in reference to Jesus Christ. This is the surname of a Lebanese Christian family prominent in Maronite politics. One of the family members, Émile Lahoud (1936-), became the eleventh President of Lebanon.
KanisthakhupThai It is a surname bestowed upon the reign of King Rama VI of the Thai Chakri Dynasty.
OksmaaEstonian Oksmaa is an Estonian surname meaning "bough/branch land".
NadolnyPolish, Jewish, Sorbian Topographic name from Polish nadól, Sorbian nadol "downwards", denoting someone who lived lower down in a village on a slope, or on relatively low-lying ground.
AaskiviEstonian Aaskivi is an Estonian surname meaning "meadow/lea stone".
BarbagelataItalian Named after the hamlet of Barbagelata, located in the commune of Lorsica, Genoa, Liguria, Italy. The name possibly means "cold beard", as it derives from "barba" (beard) and "gelata" (female form of cold).
FeuerJewish Ornamental name from modern German Feuer "fire".
BaechliGerman (Swiss) Derived from the word "Bächli," which means "small brook" in Swiss German.
HollywoodEnglish Habitational name from any of various farms or hamlets in England called Hollywood such as one in Sandon and Burston (Staffordshire) perhaps named with Middle English holegn "holly" and wudu "wood".
SarazenFrench From a medieval French nickname for a swarthy person, or for someone who had gone on a Crusade (from Old French sarrazin "Saracen"). It was borne by American golfer Gene Sarazen (1902-99), original name Eugene Saraceni.
QuChinese From Chinese 瞿 (qú) meaning "halberd", also possibly referring to an ancient state or fief named Qu (present-day location unknown) that existed during the Shang dynasty.
AndrássyHungarian man, warrior... a surname that derives from the personal name "Andreas", meaning manly, and was held by the first of Christ's disciples.
SeditaItalian From Italian sei "six" and dita "fingers", either literally referring to someone with six fingers, or metaphorically to someone who was very dextrous, or perhaps ironically to a clumsy person.
AinscoughEnglish Habitational name for a person from Aiskew, a village in the civil parish of Aiskew and Leeming Bar, in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England.
ArukülaEstonian Aruküla is an Estonian surname meaning "grassland village".
TassiItalian, South American Could be a patronymic form of the given name Tasso, indicate the bearer is from one of several municipalities called Tasso, or be a nickname from Italian tasso meaning "badger (animal)" or "yew".
SiimetsEstonian Siimets is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "Siim" (a masculine given name) and "mets" meaning "forest".
YoshimotoJapanese From Japanese 吉 (yoshi) meaning "good luck" and 本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin".
BernerEnglish, Norman From the Norman personal name Bernier from Old English beornan ‘to burn’, hence an occupational name for a burner of lime (compare German Kalkbrenner) or charcoal... [more]
DimasupilFilipino, Tagalog Means "unconquerable" from Tagalog di- meaning "no, not" and supil meaning "controlled, repressed, subdued".
RétifFrench Derived from French rétif "restive; rebellious".
SchuftGerman Means "wretch, blackguard" in German.