BisleyEnglish (British) Bisley is a locational surname from the village of Bisley in Surrey. It comes from the words biss meaning “brown” or "ashy" and leah meaning “clearing” denoting a wide area of untilled land such as a meadow or woodland.
NeshchadymenkoUkrainian (Rare) Cossack surname meaning "no mercy", from Ukrainian не (ne) "not, none, no" and щадити (shchadyty) "to spare, to show mercy".
PlunketEnglish Either an occupational name for someone who sold plunket, a "coarse white woollen cloth", or a location in France with the name Planquette or Planquenet.
AgbajeNigerian, Yoruba Meaning unknown. A bearer is Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (1967-), an English actor and model of Yoruba Nigerian descent.
CaroliItalian Derived from the given name Carolus, the Latin form of Charles, or alternatively from a diminutive of Carus "dear, beloved".
MorgadeSpanish Derived from Portuguese morgado "firstborn, heir".
AbulafiaJewish (Sephardic) Derived from Arabic أبو العافية (abū al-ʿāfiya) meaning "father of (good) health", from أبو (abū) meaning "father of" and عافية (ʿāfiya) meaning "health, well-being"... [more]
EspadaPortuguese, Spanish metonymic occupational name for an armorer or a swordsman from espada "sword" (from Latin spata from Greek spathe originally denoting a broad two-edged sword without a point)... [more]
ArmijoSpanish Derived from the Spanish adjetive "armigero", meaning "one who bears arms". First found in the Northern Region of Spain in Cantabria. Alternate spellings include: Armijos, Armigo, and Armija.
RaudkellEstonian Raudkell is an Estonian surname meaning "iron clock".
KensingtonEnglish Habitational name from any of the various places named Kensington in England, all derived from Old English given name Cynesige and tun "enclosure, town".
SherpaNepali From the name of the Sherpa people of Nepal, India and Bhutan, itself derived from Tibetan ཤར (shar) meaning "east" and the nominalising particle པ (pa).
Van MerrienboerDutch Occupational name for a mare farmer, derived from Middle Dutch merrie meaning "mare (female horse)" and boer meaning "peasant, farmer".
CheneryMedieval French, English (British, Anglicized, Modern) Derived from the Old French "chesne" for oak tree, or "chesnai" for oak grove, from the medieval Latin "casnetum". As a topographical name, Cheyne denoted residence near a conspicuous oak tree, or in an oak forest.
DharmapalaSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit धर्म (dharma) meaning "that which is established, law, duty, virtue" and पाल (pala) meaning "guard, protector".
FrizzellEnglish (Rare) Either (i) from Friseal, the Scottish Gaelic form of Fraser; or (ii) from a medieval nickname applied to someone who dressed in a showy or gaudy style (from Old French frisel "decoration, ribbon").
CantEnglish Means "singer in a chantry chapel", or from a medieval nickname for someone who was continually singing (in either case from Old Northern French cant "song").
O'gradyIrish Anglicized form of Ó Gradaigh, meaning "descendant of Gradaigh." Gradaigh is a personal name derived from the Irish Gaelic word grada, "the illustrious one."
LubarskyUkrainian, Lithuanian, Jewish Habitational name for someone from Liubar, an urban-type settlement in the Zhytomyr Oblast of Ukraine, or Lubarka, an unknown place in Lithuania.
MaltaItalian, Spanish, Portuguese habitational or ethnic name for someone from the Mediterranean island of Malta (from Latin Melita Greek Melitē).
MessengerEnglish Occupational name for someone who brings messages, from Middle English messangere, a compound of message "communication" with an agent suffix. A famous bearer of the name was Australian footballer Dally Messenger, real name Herbert Henry Messenger (1883-1959), known as Australasia's first professional rugby footballer.
ChaffinEnglish A diminutive that originated from the Old French word chauf, which itself is derived from Latin calvus, both meaning "bald". Originally used as an Anglo-Norman nickname for a bald man.
GoyaJapanese (Rare) This is variously written, but is usually written with the characters meaning "Barbarian Room" or "Give Room".
LeosGreek From the personal name Leos, pet form of Leon.
PancorboSpanish From the name of a town in Burgos, Spain, of uncertain etymology. Suggestions as to its origin include Spanish puente curvo "curved bridge", or a legend about crows delivering bread to the town when it was besieged by Saracens, leading to it being called Pan-Cuervo "Bread-Crow".
VolykUkrainian Probably from Ukrainian воля (volya), meaning "freedom, willpower, free will".
TekijiJapanese 適(Teki) means suitable, and 時(toki,ji) means Time, together 適時 (tekiji) means timely, the surname was borne from Oku Tekiji, a character from an upcoming fanganronpa, Danganronpa Twin Fates
MirabellaItalian, Sicilian Italian (Campania and Sicily): habitational name from Mirabella Eclano in Avellino or Mirabella Imbaccari in Catania, or from various places with the name Mirabello, all named from medieval Latin mira, "viewpoint", and bella, "beautiful"... [more]
DanforthEnglish Probably a habitational name, perhaps from Darnford in Suffolk, Great Durnford in Wiltshire, or Dernford Farm in Sawston, Cambridgeshire, all named from Old English dierne ‘hidden’ + ford ‘ford’.
GillibrandEnglish From the Norman personal name Gillebrand, of Germanic origin and meaning literally "hostage-sword".
RouvoetDutch From a nickname that meant "rough foot", derived from Middle Dutch ru meaning "rough, wild" and voet meaning "foot". This name is borne by the retired Dutch politician André Rouvoet (1962-).
CakeEnglish From the Middle English cake denoting a flat loaf made from fine flour (Old Norse kaka), hence a metonymic occupational name for a baker who specialized in fancy breads. It was first attested as a surname in the 13th century (Norfolk, Northamptonshire).
KirishimaJapanese (Rare) From 桐 (kiri), referring to the tree known commonly as the empress or foxglove tree, 霧 (kiri) meaning "fog, mist" or 切 (kiri) meaning "end, finish; bounds, limits" combined with 島/嶋 (shima) meaning "island."
HeringhSlovak Heringh, no history known, people having these surnames in Slovakia belong to the same family, very untypical for this region - Slovakia in the middle of Europe.
HicklinEnglish (American) The closest surname found is Hickey, an Irish name dirived from descendant from the healer.... [more]
HofstedeDutch Means "farmstead, property; farmhouse with land" in Dutch, a compound of Old Dutch hof "yard, court" and stat "place, location, abode, town".
SteingräberGerman occupational name for a quarry worker from Middle High German stein "stone" and agent derivative of Middle High German graben "to dig".
CabantingCebuano From Cebuano banting meaning "brace, support, holdfast".
BellaïcheJudeo-Spanish Derived from Arabic بن (bin) meaning "son of" and عايش ('aysh) meaning "living, alive".
MaceEnglish, French English: from a medieval personal name, a survival of Old English Mæssa, which came to be taken as a pet form of Matthew.... [more]
HaferGerman, Jewish Metonymic occupational name for a grower of or dealer in oats, from German Hafer "oats". Compare Haber. As a Jewish surname, it is in many cases ornamental.
RanarajaSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit रण (rana) meaning "delight, pleasure, joy" or "battle, war" combined with राज (raja) meaning "king".
UtakawaJapanese Uta means "song" and kawa means "river, stream".
KameiJapanese Japanese surname meaning "turtle well". It is written as 亀井. A bearer of this surname is Eri Kamei. She is a member of the Japanese pop group Morning Musume. (1988-)
DoiJapanese Do ("Earth") + I ("Habitation") or ("Well, Mineshaft") in a different region. "Earth Well" is used mainly in the west and in Shikoku, the "Earth Habitation" kanji is used in eastern Japan. This name isn't rare and considered out of the ordinary, but it's uncommon to the ears.
ChubbEnglish English (mainly West Country): nickname from Middle English chubbe ‘chub’ a common freshwater fish Leuciscus cephalus. The fish is notable for its short fat shape and sluggish habits and the word was used in early Modern English for a lazy spiritless person a rustic or a simpleton... [more]
VaikjärvEstonian Vaikjärv is an Estonian surname meaning "quiet/still lake".
LovatoSpanish (Latin American), Italian Northern Italian from the Late Latin personal name Lupatus, derivative of Latin lupus "wolf". This is one of several medieval personal names which became popular under the influence of Germanic compound personal names formed with wolf-.