FruscianteItalian Derived from the Italian adjective frusciante meaning "rustling, swishing, whishing", which itself is derived from the Italian verb frusciare meaning "to rustle, to swish, to whish". The surname had probably started out as a nickname for someone who made a rustling or whishing sound whenever they walked, which was probably caused by the clothes that they were wearing (in that the clothes must have been made of a certain fabric that is prone to making some noise when touched in any way).... [more]
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.
SelassieEthiopian, Amharic, Western African Possibly means "trinity" in Amharic. A notable bearer was Haile Selassie (1892-1975), the regent and emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974.
SucuTurkish Means "waterman, water carrier" in Turkish.
QuelchEnglish (British) Mid 16th Century variant of the name Wels(c)he, Welsh or Welch, itself deriving from the Middle English "walsche", Celtic, foreign, (Olde English "woelisc", a derivative of "wealh", foreign), and originally given as a distinguishing nickname to a Celt... [more]
TwiningEnglish From the name of the village of Twyning in Gloucestershire, derived from Old English betweonan meaning "between" and eam meaning "river".
StrangEnglish Originally given as a nickname to one who possessed great physical strength.
TokoroJapanese As a surname it is often spelled as to meaning "field, wilderness" and koro means "spine, road".
LaanojaEstonian Laanoja is Estonian surname derived from "laanelill", meaning "starflower" and "wintergreen" (Trientalis europaea) and "oja" meaning "stream/creek".
BhatnagarIndian, Hindi, Marathi, Odia Derived from the name of a subgroup of the Kayasth community, denoting association with Hanumangarh (formerly named Bhatner), a city in Rajasthan, India.
KatsavHebrew Occupational name for a butcher, derived from Hebrew קַצָּב (qatzav) meaning "butcher, purveyor of meat". A famous bearer is former Israeli president Moshe Katsav (1945-), born Musa Qassab.
DhawanIndian, Punjabi, Hindi Means "runner, messenger" from Sanskrit धाव् (dhav) meaning "to run".
UchimaJapanese From Japanese 内 (uchi) meaning "inside" and 間 (ma) meaning "among, between".
FreierGerman Status name of the feudal system denoting a free man, as opposed to a bondsman, from an inflected form of Middle High German vri "free".
BraunsteinGerman, Jewish Ornamental name composed of German braun "brown" and stein "stone".
VorobeyUkrainian Ukrainian surname taken from the word воробе́й (vorobey) meaning "sparrow".
SakagawaJapanese From Japanese 坂 or 阪 (saka) meaning "slope" and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream".
PrudeAfrican American This surname came from the English word prude. The definition of the word prude is a person who is or claims to be easily shocked by matters relating to sex or nudity.
MedleyEnglish Habitational name, either a variant of Madeley (a name common to several places, including one in Shropshire and two in Staffordshire), named in Old English as ‘Mada’s clearing’, from an unattested byname, Mada (probably a derivative of mad ‘foolish’) + leah ‘woodland clearing’; or from Medley on the Thames in Oxfordshire, named in Old English with middel ‘middle’ + eg ‘island’... [more]
SamarakoonSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit समर (samara) meaning "coming together, meeting" or "conflict, struggle" combined with Sinhala කෝන් (kon) meaning "king" (of Tamil origin).
TrahanFrench (Cajun), Welsh From the Welsh name Trahern, derived from the Welsh family seat Trehaverne.
ÖksüzTurkish Means "orphan, motherless child" in Turkish.
SakaiJapanese From Japanese 坂 or 阪 (saka) meaning "slope" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".
ArnGerman (Swiss) From the name of a place in Switzerland. Otherwise derived from Middle High German arn "eagle"
WatneyEnglish Probably means "person from Watney", an unidentified place in England (the second syllable means "island, area of dry land in a marsh"; cf. Rodney, Whitney)... [more]
PaesüldEstonian Paesüld is an Estonian surname meaning "ribbon/tab cord".
WoodhouseEnglish, Irish habitational name from any of various places (in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Northumberland, Shropshire, and elsewhere) called Woodhouse, or a topographic name for someone who lived at a "house in the wood" (Middle English wode hous, Old English wuduhus)... [more]
BerradaMoroccan Meaning unknown. A famous bearer is novelist/literary critic/translator Mohammed Berrada.
ViikiläFinnish From Swedish vik "bay, gulf" with the suffix -lä indicating a place.
WeishuhnGerman Derived from Middle High German wiz meaning "white" and huon meaning "hen, fowl", hence a metonymic occupational name for a poultry farmer or dealer, or perhaps in some instances a nickname.
RuutuEstonian Ruutu is an Estonian surname meaning "diamond".
GendaJapanese From Japanese 源 (gen) meaning "source, origin" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
FeuerschütteGerman (Modern) comes from the combination of the words "Feuer" and "Schütte", which form the word "flamethrower". Surname of a Brazilian Celebrity with German Origin "Lucas Feuerschütte"
McelweeIrish, Scottish Of Gaelic origin, found in Ireland and Scotland. Derives from Mac Giolla Ruaidh, meaning "son of the servant of the red-haired youth", possibly a reference to a Dane or Norseman.
GandinFrench From the French gandin, pronounced /ɡɑ̃dœ̃/, which is a word used for a dandy, an elegant young man with affected, quite often ridiculous, manners.
AbukawaJapanese From Japanese 虻 (abu) meaning "horsefly" and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream".
NaKorean There is only one Chinese character for the Na surname. Some sources indicate that there are 46 different Na clans, but only two of them can be documented, and it is believed that these two sprang from a common founding ancestor... [more]
AttanayakeSinhalese From Sinhala අත්ත (atta) meaning "branch, offset" and නායක (nayake) meaning "hero, leader".
KnicelyGerman (Swiss, Americanized) Americanized form of Swiss German Knüsli. Possibly also a variant of Nissley, a surname of Swiss German or German origin.
AmarasiriSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit अमर (amara) meaning "immortal, undying" and श्री (shri) meaning "diffusing light, radiance, splendour, beauty".
TallantEnglish (British, ?), Norman, Irish English (of Norman origin) occupational name for a tailor or nickname for a good swordsman, from taillant ‘cutting’, present participle of Old French tailler ‘to cut’ (Late Latin taliare, from talea ‘(plant) cutting’)... [more]
GardeaBasque From the name of a neighborhood in the municipality of Laudio in Álava, Spain, of uncertain etymology. Possibly derived from Basque gari "wheat" and -di "place of, forest of", or from garagardi "barley field" and arte "in between"... [more]
HumperdinckGerman (?), Literature From the German surname Humperdinck. As a surname it was born by the composer Engelbert Humperdinck. As a first name it was used for the villain Prince Humperdinck in William Goldman's novel The Princess Bride.
LambillotteFrench (Modern) Currently, a common name in Wallonia, Belgium with some descendants in USA. Believed to be derived from three terms..."lamb" "ill" "otte". The first term has remained unchanged from early Germanic term; the second is latin for "of the" and the third a dimiuative or feminine form suffix... [more]
MonzonSpanish Habitational name from Monzón, a place in Uesca province, which is probably named from Latin montione ‘big mountain’.
EplikEstonian Eplik is an Estonian surname derived from "leplik" meaning "tolerant", "acquiescent" and "meek".
MenonMalayalam Means "accountant" in Malayalam, itself derived from the title മേലവൻ (melavan) meaning "overseer, boss, exalted one", from മേല (mel) meaning "top, above, high" and the third person pronoun അവൻ (avan) meaning "he".
BesançonFrench Habitational name for a person from the eponymous capital city of Doubs in France, ultimately from Latin Vesontiō, derived from Proto-Celtic *ves "mountain". Folk etymology states that it is associated with the place name with Old French bison "wisent".
ReekieScottish Perhaps "person from Reikie", Aberdeenshire, or from a different form of the Scottish male personal name Rikie, literally "little Richard".
ValdiviaSpanish Topographic or habitational name based on Spanish val, valle meaning "valley". A notable bearer was Pedro de Valdivia (died 1553), a Spanish conquistador who conquered Chile with a small expedition corps after he served under Francisco Pizarro in Peru... [more]
KuldveeEstonian Kuldvee is an Estonian surname meaning "gold water".
AkibaraJapanese This surname combines 昭 (shou, aki) meaning "shining, bright", 秋 (shuu, aki, toki) meaning "autumn" or 穐 with the same sounds and meaning with 原 (gen, hara) meaning "field, meadow, original, plain, prairie, primitive, tundra, wilderness."
BatawiArabic Means "Betawi" in Arabic, referring to someone originally from the city of Batavia (present-day Jakarta) in Indonesia.
BoholFilipino, Tagalog, Cebuano Habitational for someone from the province of Bohol in the Philippines. It is derived from bo-ol, a kind of tree that flourished on the island
ImberiGerman (Swiss) It comes from Stuttgart Germany from the late 1800s. Then the name moved to a small village outside of Odessa Ukraine, in my family at least.
TerakgiOttoman Turkish, Turkish (Anglicized, Rare), Arabic Now mainly used as an arabic surname, mainly in Syria or lebanon. This last name possibliy comes from "Tarak Yapımcısı" which means combmaker. This surname can be spelt as "Terakgi" if a arab or a turkish person were to move to an english speaking nation.
RenleyJewish (Rare), English (Rare) Possibly derived from the Old English rinc "man, warrior" or rim 'edge, circular edge' or possibly wraenna 'wren', and leah "field, clearing".
StaafSwedish Derived from various place names beginning with stav- or staf-, often meaning "boundary marker" when used in place names. Other meanings are possible. Also found occasionally as a soldier's name pre-20th century... [more]
MeilerRomansh Derived from the place name Meils (present-day Mels in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland).
MaqueronFrench Of debated origin and meaning. Theories include a derivation from Picard maqueron "chin" (in which case this would have been a pejorative nickname for someone with a protruding chin) and a diminutive of Macquart.
KitaseJapanese Kita means "north" and and se means "ripple".
FellowsEnglish English: patronymic from Fellow, from Middle English felagh, felaw late Old English feolaga ‘partner’, ‘shareholder’ (Old Norse félagi, from fé ‘fee’, ‘money’ + legja to lay down)... [more]