GanChinese From Chinese 甘 (gān) of uncertain origin, possibly from the name of Shang dynasty minister Gan Pan or from the name of an ancient territory called Gan that existed in what is now Shaanxi province.
BowlandEnglish From any variety of places in England with this name. These places are likely from with Old English boga ‘bow’ (in the sense of a bend in a river) and land ‘land’.
AzayiMoroccan Derived from the Berber singular word for Zayanes.
PereireBreton (Latinized, Archaic) This surname is the Gallic (Gaulish) origin and it means wild pear tree. There are also similar spellig in the Iberian Peninsula such as Pereiro, Pereyro, Pereiros, Perero and Pereros. These surnames (last names) correspond to families of the Celtiberian culture.
StiffEnglish (American) Used sometimes as a derogatory term, stiff means uptight. It is used in a surname in American culture as well as in the media, such as novels, movies or tv shows.
ArdehiPersian, Kurdish, Old Persian House Ardehis of Zagors or Ardahvans (Persian: اردهیان) were one of the Persian Sassanid royal families, who occupied the Mounts of Zagros before the Islamic conquest of Persia in 650 CE. Ardahvans in Shahnameh and Persian mythology are mentioned to be the first settlers of Zagros mountains, and the constructors of Forts Of Zagros.
TairaJapanese Meaning "peace". Together with the Fujiwara and Minamoto, this is one of the most prominent clans in Japanese history... [more]
ŌtakiJapanese From Japanese 大 (o) meaning "big, great" and 滝 or 瀧 (taki) meaning "waterfall".
NhekKhmer Means "close, together, often, frequently" in Khmer. It may also be from a short form of Chinese 涅槃 (nièpán) meaning "nirvana".
GlosterEnglish habitational name from the city of Gloucester. The place originally bore the British name Glevum (apparently from a cognate of Welsh gloyw "bright") to which was added the Old English element ceaster "Roman fort or walled city" (from Latin castrum "legionary camp")... [more]
TachikuraJapanese Tachi means "stand" and kura means "granary, storehouse, warehouse, have, possess".
PangilinanFilipino, Tagalog Means "place of abstinence" from Tagalog pangilin meaning "abstinence, to abstain" and the suffix -an meaning "place of, time of". It was used to denote abstinence from certain foods for religious purposes.
ApródHungarian From the given name Apród, meaning "page, squire" in Hungarian.
EtchellsEnglish (British) This surname was a habitation name derived from the Old English word "ecels" which is roughly translated as the "dweller on a piece of land added to an estate." Alternatively, the name may have derived from the Old English word "ecan" which means "to increase."
VuittonFrench Derived from the Old High German word "witu" and the Old English pre 7th century "widu" or "wudu", meaning a wood, and therefore occupational for one living by such a place.
MullScottish Scottish, Irish, or English: Probably comes from the Scots language, as the Scots word for "headland" or comes from the geographical term, which is an Anglicization of the Gaelic Maol, a term for a rounded hill, summit, or mountain bare of trees... [more]
LeverichEnglish The surname Leverich was first found in West Yorkshire at Liversedge, a township that dates back to the Domesday Book where it was listed as Livresec, a manor belonging to Radulf, a vassal of Ilbert de Lacy... [more]
ForetFrench, French Creole From Old French forest ‘forest’, a topographic name for someone who lived in or near a royal forest, or an occupational name for a keeper or worker in one. See also Forrest... [more]
GuloIndonesian, Nias From the Nias clan name Gulö, possibly derived from the name of the clan's ancestor, Kulo Ana'a.
BrückGerman Topographic name for someone who lived near a bridge, or an occupational name for a bridge keeper or toll collector on a bridge, from Middle High German bruck(e) "bridge".
SaetaeThai Form of Zheng used by Chinese Thais (based on the Hokkien romanization of the name).
WhippleEnglish English surname of uncertain meaning. It might be a shortened form of “whippletree”; an early name for the dogwood. It may also be a variation of Whipp – an early surname for someone who carried out judicial punishments.
GemistosGreek, Late Greek Means "full, laden" in Greek, supposedly referring to a head full of knowledge. One of the earliest recorded bearers was Georgios Gemistos Plethon, a Greek scholar of the late Byzantine era. He chose the pseudonym Plethon (from πλῆθος (plethos) "multitude, great number", from πλήθω (pletho) "to fill") partly in reference to the meaning of his surname.
VolkmannGerman Probably denoted for a speaker or a people's person, derived from German volk "people" and mann "man". Alfred Wilhelm Volkmann (1801-1877) was a German physiologist, anatomist, and philosopher... [more]
MappEnglish From a variant of the medieval female personal name Mabbe, a shortened form of Amabel. A fictional bearer is Elizabeth Mapp, busybodyish spinster in the 'Mapp and Lucia' novels of E.F. Benson.
VeelEstonian Veel is an Estonian surname meaning "still", "again", and "heretofore".
JolicoeurFrench (Quebec), Haitian Creole From Old French joli "joyful, cheerful" and cuer "heart". It was originally a nickname for a cheerful person. This was a frequent French Canadian secondary surname (or dit name).
KlemGerman, Dutch From a short form of the given name Klemens, or a location named using the personal name.
WalmerEnglish Habitational name from Walmer in Kent, so named from Old English wala (plural of walh "Briton") + mere "pool", or from Walmore Common in Gloucestershire.
JacarusoItalian An Italian surname from a compound of Ia- (from the personal name Ianni) and the southern Italian word caruso, which means ‘lad’ or ‘boy’.
HanaueJapanese From Japanese 花 (hana) meaning "flower" or 華 (hana) meaning "flower, petal" combined with 上 (ue) meaning "above, top, upper, superior" or 植 (ue) meaning "planting".
WildinEnglish The former placename is composed of the Olde English pre 7th Century words "wilg", willow, and "denu", a valley; while the latter place in Worcestershire is derived from the Olde English personal name "Winela", plus the Olde English "dun", a hill or mountain.
LescherGerman German metonymic occupational name for a mediator or arbitrator, or possibly for a fireman, from Middle High German leschære ‘extinguisher’.
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).
SalterEnglish Occupational name for an extractor or seller of salt (a precious commodity in medieval times), from Middle English salt 'salt' + the agent suffix -er.
ShishidoJapanese Japanese: habitational name taken from a district in Hitachi (now Ibaraki prefecture), written with a variant character for ‘flesh’ and ‘door’. It is found mostly in northeastern Japan.
ChrysantheFrench From the Greek Χρύσανθος (Chrysanthos), meaning "golden flower". This surname was first given to children found on October 25, the feast day of Saint Chrysanthos.
StoterEnglish (Modern) Of Dutch origin and still in use there in a restricted region. Herder of large animals such as cattle or horses. May share a root with Ostler (unverified). Note: Stot in Scottish dialect still means a young bull.... [more]
AbersLatvian This name is from the fiords and was given to the people that lived there and mainly were fishermen. Now people that have the last name can be anyware in Latvia (or other country) but most likely had ancestors from the fiords.
LimanowskiPolish This indicates familial origin within the Lesser Polish town of Limanowa.
WolfitEnglish From the medieval male personal name Wolfet or Wolfat (from Old English Wulfgēat, literally "wolf-Geat" (the name of a Germanic people)). This surname was borne by Sir Donald Wolfit (1902-1968), a British actor and manager.
FichterGerman Topographic name for someone who lived near pine trees (originally bei den Fichten, Feichten, or Feuchten), from Old High German fiohta. The vowel of the first syllable underwent a variety of changes in different dialects.
BlaumanGerman, Jewish From German Blau meaning "blue" and Mann meaning "man". It can be a nickname for a person who wears blue clothes.
HelberGerman Occupational name for a thresher, from Middle High German helwe 'chaff' + the agent suffix -er; alternatively, it could be a habitational name from a place called Helba near Meiningen.
SeddaItalian From a place name in Sardinia, meaning "top of a mountain". May alternately derive from Sardinian sedda "saddle", indicating the bearer's occupation.
TamazightBerber, Northern African Derived from ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵗⵜ (Tamaziɣt), the Berber (Amazigh) name for the collective Berber language family used in North Africa.
CarrelFrench French: from Old French quar(r)el ‘bolt (for a crossbow)’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of crossbow bolts or a nickname for a short, stout man. The word also meant ‘paving slab’, and so it could also have been a metonymic occupational name for a street layer... [more]