ElexaldeBasque The name of several locations in Biscay, Spain, derived from Basque elexa "church" (variant of eliza) and -alde "near, by; side". Compare Elizalde.
ŌshitaJapanese From Japanese 大 (ō) meaning "big, great" and 下 (shita) meaning "under, below".
MercedesSpanish (Caribbean) Means "mercies," from the Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, María de las Mercedes, meaning "Mary of Mercies."
DriverEnglish Occupational name for a driver of horses or oxen attached to a cart or plow, or of loose cattle, from a Middle English agent derivative of Old English drīfan ‘to drive’.
TortoraItalian From a given name derived from Italian tortora meaning "turtle dove", ultimately from Latin turtur (genitive turturis). It could also derive from a town and comune with the same name, located in the province of Cosenza in Calabria, Italy.
KarakaşTurkish Means "black eyebrow" from Turkish kara meaning "black, dark" and kaş meaning "eyebrow".
LoitEstonian Loit is an Esotnian surname meaning "flare". Also, probably from "loits", meaning "incantation" or "spell".
ElzeaHebrew (Gallicized, Rare), American (South, Gallicized, Rare) The name means G-d’s help It is a French transition of the Hebrew name Eleazar applied to Jews that came to France by way of Egypt. Later it was carried over to the French Caribbean mainly St. Martinique which was the first major Jewish settlement in the Caribbean, but the name also spread to other Latin American Islands including Mexico... [more]
TataraJapanese From 多 (ta) meaning "many", 々, a phonetic character indicting a duplication of the beginning kanji, combined with 良 (ra) meaning "good".
ChughtaiUrdu From the name of 13th-century Mongol ruler Chagatai Khan, borne by his present-day descendants in South Asia.
ParataMaori From a transliteration of the English word "brother" or "brothers".
LaudrupDanish Possibly from the name of homesteads in Denmark, most likely derived from Old Norse laut meaning "barn", combined with the Danish suffix -drup (itself from Old Norse thorp) meaning "outlying farmstead, village, settlement"... [more]
LawlerIrish, Scottish This Irish surname is of Gaelic language origin. The surname derives from the original Gaelic 'O'Leathlobhair' meaning 'descendant of leathlobhair'. Leathlobhair derives from 'Leath' meaning 'Half' and 'Lobhar' meaning 'leper'.... [more]
AgronSpanish From the town of Agrón in Granada, Spain.
Van WanrooijDutch Means "from Wanroij" in Dutch, the name of a town in North Brabant, Netherlands, probably derived from Middle Dutch wan "bad, insufficient, lacking; un-" and rode "land cleared of trees".
HoshinaJapanese It can be spelled with 星 (hoshi) meaning "star, mark, dot" and 奈 (na) meaning "name, noted, distinguished, reputation", or 保 (ho) meaning "protect", combined with 科 (shina, ka) meaning "department, technology".
PrusinowskiPolish (Rare) Habitational name for someone from any of various Polish places called Prusinow, Prusinowo, or Prusinowice, named with the ethnic name Prus, meaning 'village of the Prussians'.
AlloolooInuit Surname borne by inuk writer and artist Siku Allooloo and by politician Titus Allooloo.
Van GemertDutch Means "from Gemert" in Dutch, the name of a village in North Brabant, Netherlands, possibly derived from Old Germanic mari "lake" (compare Old Dutch meri) combined with the collectivising prefix ga-.
BenzemaArabic (Maghrebi) This is the surname of French professional footballer Karim Benzema who is of Algerian descent.
OchsGerman, Jewish Means "ox" in German, derived from Middle High German ohse, possibly denoting a strong person or someone who worked with oxen. As a Jewish name it is ornamental.
BlankGerman, Dutch, Jewish Means "white, pale, bright", a nickname for a person with white or fair hair or a pale complexion. As a Jewish name, it’s ornamental.
GatusFilipino, Tagalog From Old Tagalog gatos meaning "million" or Cebuano gatos meaning "hundred".
PymEnglish Recorded in several forms including Pim, Pimm, Pimme, Pym, and Pymm, this is a surname which at various times has been prominent in the history of England... [more]
BrewtonEnglish Variant spelling of the habitational name Bruton, from a place in Somerset, so named with a Celtic river name meaning 'brisk' + Old English tun 'farmstead'.
StemleEnglish FROM KUPPENHEIM, BADEN, GERMANY, WHERE IT WAS (AND IS TODAY) SPELLED WITH 2 Ms: STEMMLE.... [more]
OnoueJapanese From the Japanese 尾 (o) "tail" and 上 (ue) "above" (the possessive particle ノ (no) is not always written down but is always included when the name is spoken aloud).
BrekkeNorwegian Derived from Old Norse brekka meaning "hill, slope".
ClerihewScottish A Scottish surname of unknown origin and meaning. A clerihew is a humorous or satirical verse consisting of two rhyming couplets in lines of irregular metre about someone who is named in the poem. It was invented by the British author Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956; Clerihew was his mother's maiden name)... [more]
MatsunawaJapanese From 松 (matsu) meaning "pine tree" and 縄 (nawa) meaning "rope".
KamataJapanese From Japanese 鎌 (kama) meaning "sickle, scythe" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
MändEstonian Mänd is an Estonian surname meaning "pine".
NottinghamEnglish (British) A habitational name from the city of Nottingham in the East Midlands. Comes from the Old English name, meaning "homestead (ham) of Snot’s people". The initial S- was lost in the 12th century, due to the influence of Anglo-Norman French.... [more]
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.
GerbrandyDutch, Frisian Variant of Gerbrandij. This name was borne by the Dutch prime minister Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy (1885-1961; birth name Pieter Gerbrandij), who led the government-in-exile based in London, England following the Nazi German invasion of the Netherlands during World War II.
YakumoJapanese (Rare) This surname combines 八 (hachi, ya, ya'.tsu, ya.tsu, you) meaning "eight", 耶 (ja, ya, ka) meaning "question mark" or 家 (ka, ke, ie, uchi, ya) meaning "expert, family, home, house, performer, professional" with 雲 (un, kumo, -gumo) meaning "cloud."... [more]
HagemanDutch Combination of Middle Dutch haghe "hedge, enclosure" and man "man".
KulawansaSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit कुल (kula) meaning "family" and वंश (vansa) meaning "lineage, clan, family".
ChallonerFrench, Welsh Derived from a town in France of the same name. This family derive their origin from Macloy Crum, of the line of chiefs in Wales, who resided several years in Challoner.
MetalloItalian Means "metal" in Italian, ultimately derived from Ancient Greek μέταλλον (metallon) "mine, quarry; metal". Probably a metonymic occupational name for a miner or a metalworker, or perhaps a nickname for someone with a clear, metallic tone of voice... [more]
LeverFrench, English Nickname for a fleet-footed or timid person, from Old French levre "hare" (Latin lepus, genitive leporis). It may also have been a metonymic occupational name for a hunter of hares.
KannoJapanese From the Japanese 菅 (kan or suga) "sedge" and 野 (no) "field," "area." This name can also be read as Sugano.
TokarevRussian Patronymic name derived from Russian токарь (tokar) meaning "turner". A turner was a person who used a lathe to create small objects from wood or bone. A notable bearer of this name was the Russian-American singer and songwriter Willi Tokarev (1934-2019).
CrenshawEnglish The derivation of this surname is from the Old English pre 7th Century "Crawa", a crow, with "sceaga" a grove, thus "Crowswood". The earliest recording of this placename is in the Lancashire Inquests of 1324 and appears as "Croweshagh".
LesińskiPolish Habitational name for someone from any of the places called Lesin Lesina or Leśna named with les dialect form of standard Polish las ‘forest’.
CorbettEnglish, Scottish, Welsh Nickname from Norman French corbet meaning 'little crow, raven'. This surname is thought to have originated in Shropshire. The surname was taken by bearers to Scotland in the 12th Century, and to Northern Ireland in the 17th Century.... [more]
AfflittoItalian Derived from Italian "afflitto" meaning "afflicted" or "troubled".
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).
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.
PugachevRussian From the nickname Pugach which is probably derived from Ukrainian пугач (pugach) meaning "owl". Following this etymology, the nickname was most likely given to someone who was wise or sensible (attributing to the owl as a symbol of wisdom).
GötzGerman Originally a hypocorism of Gottfried, which is derived from an Old High German given name. Variants include the surnames Getz and Goetz, as well as the given name Götz.
KinkleGerman Derived from the Middle High German word "kunkel," which meant "spindle." It is thus supposed that the first bearers of this surname were spindle makers in occupation.
CarvoeiroPortuguese Derived from the Portuguese word "carvão," which means "coal." It likely originated as a surname for someone who worked with or lived near coal, or it could have been a nickname based on physical characteristics or personal attributes associated with coal.
DugonjaBosnian This surname is used at: Sarajevo, Mostar, Dubrovnik, Novi Pazar.
BonarIrish A "translation" of Irish Gaelic Ó Cnáimhsighe "descendant of Cnáimhseach", a nickname meaning literally "midwife" and ostensibly a derivative of Gaelic cnámh "bone".
HorikawaJapanese From Japanese 堀 (hori) meaning "ditch, moat, canal" and 川 (kawa) or 河 (kawa) both meaning "river, stream".
MoskalenkoUkrainian Means "child of a moskal" in Ukrainian. A moskal originally denoted somebody who was an inhabitant of the Grand Duchy of Moscow from the 12th to the 15th centuries. However, nowadays it is used as a pejorative term for a Muscovite or, by extension, a Russian... [more]
ShearEnglish From Middle English schyre "pure, bright, fair", denoting someone who was beautiful or with fair hair. It could be a habitational name for someone from Shere in Surrey, of the same origin.
SaeliewThai Alternate transcription of Saelau (based on the Hakka romanization of the name).