CristEnglish From Old English Crīst meaning "Christ, the Messiah" (see Christos 1). May have been a nickname for someone who played the part of Christ in a pageant, or a short form of a given name containing it as an element, such as Christian or Christopher.
CriteLow German, Upper German (Americanized) Probably an Americanized form of South German Kreit or Kreith which are topographic names derived from Middle High German geriute meaning “land cleared for farming” or of North German Kreite which is a nickname for a quarrelsome person derived from Middle Low German kreit meaning “strife.”
CroakerEnglish Meant "person from Crèvecoeur", the name of various places in northern France ("heartbreak", an allusion to the poverty of the local soil).
CrockEnglish Means "stone or earthenware jar, pot, vessel", possibly an occupational name for a potter. Compare Crocker.
CrockettEnglish, Scottish Nickname for someone who affected a particular hairstyle, from Middle English croket ''large curl'' (Old Norman French croquet, a diminutive of croque "curl", "hook").
CrofterEnglish A surname of Scottish origin used in the Highlands and Islands and means “an owner or a tenant of a small farm”. The Old English word croft seems to correspond with the Dutch kroft meaning “a field on the downs”.
CroftonEnglish Derived from a place name meaning "town with a small enclosed field" in Old English.
CrombruggeBelgian, Flemish Possibly means "crooked bridge", from Middle Dutch crom "bent, not straight" and brugge "bridge".
CromptonEnglish Derived from the Old English word "Crometun"
CromwellEnglish Habitational name from places in Nottinghamshire and West Yorkshire named Cromwell, from Old English crumb "bent, crooked" and well(a) "spring, stream".
CronjeAfrikaans Altered form of the French surname Cronier, derived from Old French crones, a term denoting a sheltered area by a river bank where fish retreat to. This could be used as an occupational name for someone who fished in such an area, or derived from a place named with the element, such as the French village Crosne.
CronkhiteDutch (Americanized) Americanized form of the obsolete Dutch surname Krankheyt, derived from krankheid meaning "illness, weakness", most likely a nickname for a sickly individual.
CronkiteDutch (Anglicized) Variant form of Cronkhite. A well-known bearer of this surname was the American broadcast journalist and anchorman Walter Cronkite (1916-2009).
CrookScottish, English Possible origin a medieval topographical surname, denoting residence from the Middle English word "crok" from the Old NOrse "Krokr". Possibly a maker or seller of hooks. Another possibility is meaning crooked or bent originally used of someone with a hunch back.
CrooksEnglish Habitational name from Crookes in Sheffield (Yorkshire), named with Old Norse krókr ‘hook, bend’.... [more]
CroomEnglish An occupational surname for a maker, seller, or user of hooks. Derived from Middle English crome or cromb, meaning "hook" or "crook".
CroomEnglish Based on a nickname for a crippled person or a hunchback, derived from Middle English crom(p) and Old English crumb, meaning "bent", "crooked", or "stopping". (See Crump.)
CroomEnglish A habitational surname, describing someone who lived in a place named Croom or Croome.
CrowEnglish From Middle English crow, Old English crawa, applied as a nickname for someone with dark hair or a dark complexion or for someone thought to resemble the bird in some other way.
CrownerEnglish Means "coroner" (from Anglo-Norman corouner "coroner", a derivative of Old French coroune "crown").
CrownoverGerman (Anglicized) Americanised spelling of German Kronauer, denoting someone from Kronau, a town near Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It could also be an Americanised form of Kronhöfer (a variant of Grünhofer), a habitational name for someone from a lost place called Grünhof, derived from Middle High German gruene meaning "green" or kranech meaning "crane" and hof meaning "farmstead".
CrowtherEnglish Originally meant "person who plays the crowd (an ancient Celtic stringed instrument)". It was borne by British entertainer Leslie Crowther (1933-1996).
CroydonEnglish From the name of a town in England, which comes from Anglo-Saxon croh “crocus” and denu “valley”.
CrozierEnglish, French English and French occupational name for one who carried a cross or a bishop’s crook in ecclesiastical processions, from Middle English, Old French croisier.
CrudupGerman (Anglicized) Probably an Americanised form of North German Gratop, a nickname for an old man, derived from Middle Low German gra meaning "gray" and top meaning "braid". Famous bearers of this name include the Americans Billy Crudup (1968-), an actor, and Arthur Crudup (1905-1974), a Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist.
CruijffDutch Referred to a person with curly locks of hair, derived from Middle Dutch cruuf, cruve literally meaning "curl, lock", ultimately from Latin curvus. A famous bearer was the Dutch soccer player Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (1947-2016), commonly known as Johan Cruyff.
CrumbleGerman Probably an altered form of German Krumpel or Krümpel a nickname from Middle High German krum(p) 'deformed crooked'; skeletal deformities were common in the Middle Ages often as a result of childhood illnesses such as rickets.
CrumbleyEnglish Derived from the Old English word crump meaning "bent, crooked." Perhaps a name for a person with an abnormal spine. One notable person with this surname is evil doer Ethan Crumbley, who was a school shooter in Oxford High School in Michigan.
CrumpEnglish Originally a nickname for a crippled or deformed person, from Middle English cromp, crump meaning "bent, crooked, stooping" (from Old English crumb).
CrusoeEnglish (Rare) According to Reaney and Wilson this name was taken to England by John Crusoe, a Huguenot refugee from Hownescourt in Flanders, who settled in Norwich.
CulbertEnglish, Scottish, Irish Meaning and origin are uncertain. Possibly derived from an unattested given name composed of beorht "bright" and an uncertain first element, or an altered form of Cuthbert... [more]
CullimoreEnglish (Rare) Apparently a habitational name from an unidentified place. There is a place called Colleymore Farm in Oxfordshire, but it is not clear whether this is the source of the surname, with its many variant spellings
CullyEnglish From an Irish surname which was derived from Ó Colla meaning "descendant of Colla". The Old Irish name Colla was a variant of Conla (perhaps the same Connla).
CulpeperEnglish Variant of Culpepper. Known bearers of this surname include: Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1664), an English herbalist, physician and astrologer; and English colonial administrator Thomas Culpeper, 2nd Baron Culpeper (1635-1689), governor of Virginia 1680-1683... [more]
CulpepperEnglish Means "person who collects, prepares and/or sells herbs and spices" (from Middle English cullen "to pick" + pepper).
CulverEnglish Means "person who keeps or looks after doves", or from a medieval nickname for someone thought to resemble a dove (e.g. in mild disposition) (in either case from Middle English culver "dove")... [more]
CulvértFrench, English, Irish English version of the Old French, Culvere. Means Peaceful and Mildest of tempers.
CumberbatchEnglish Name for someone from Comberbach in North Cheshire. May come from etymological elements meaning "stream in a valley."
CumberlandEnglish Regional name for someone from Cumberland in northwestern England (now part of Cumbria).
CummerEnglish The surname Cummer has origins in both English and Scottish cultures. In English, it's thought to be a topographic name for someone who lived by a bend in a river, derived from the Middle English word "cummer," meaning "bend" or "meander." In Scottish, it could also be a variant of the surname Comer, derived from the Gaelic word "comar," meaning "confluence" or "meeting of waters."
CummingIrish, Scottish, English Perhaps from a Celtic given name derived from the element cam "bent", "crooked"
CundallEnglish This is an English surname, deriving from the village so-named in North Yorkshire. The village takes its name from the Cumbric element cumb meaning 'dale' (cognate with Welsh cwm, 'valley') and Old Norse dalr meaning 'valley', forming a compound name meaning 'dale-valley'.
CunliffeEnglish Originally meant "person from Cunliffe", Lancashire ("slope with a crevice" (literally "cunt-cliff")).
CurrerEnglish It was a name given to someone who was a messenger or person who "dresses tanned leather". In the former case, the surname Currer is derived from the Old French words corëor or courreour, which means "courier".
CurrieScottish, Irish, English Irish: Habitational name from Currie in Midlothian, first recorded in this form in 1230. It is derived from Gaelic curraigh, dative case of currach ‘wet plain’, ‘marsh’. It is also a habitational name from Corrie in Dumfriesshire (see Corrie).... [more]
CurrierEnglish Occupational surname meaning "a worker who prepared leather".
CusterGerman (Anglicized) Anglicization of the German surname Köster or Küster, literally "sexton". A famous bearer was George Custer (1839-1876), the American cavalry general. General Custer and his army were defeated and killed by Sioux and Cheyenne forces under Sitting Bull in the Battle of Little Bighorn (1876; also known colloquially as Custer's Last Stand).
CypressEnglish Translation of German Zypress, a topographic name for someone living near a cypress tree or a habitational name for someone living at a house distinguished by the sign of a cypress, Middle High German zipres(se) (from Italian cipressa, Latin cupressus), or possibly of any of various Greek family names derived from kyparissos ‘cypress’, as for example Kyparissis, Kyparissos, Kyparissiadis, etc.
CyprianEnglish Possibly an altered spelling of French Cyprien, from a medieval personal name, from Latin Cyprianus (originally an ethnic name for an inhabitant of Cyprus), or a shortened form of Greek Kyprianos, Kyprianis, Kyprianidis, ethnic names for an inhabitant of Cyprus (Greek Kypros), or patronymics from the personal name Kyprianos (of the same derivation)... [more]
CyrusEnglish From the given name Cyrus. A notable bearer is American singer and songwriter, Miley Cyrus (1992-).
CzechPolish, English From the ethnonym meaning "Czech", or from the short form of a personal name such as Czesław. The English surname is borrowed from the Polish surname, or from Czech or Slovak Čech.
D'abbadieFrench, English, Occitan Means "of the Abbey" from the Occitan abadia. Variants Abadia, Abbadie, Abadie, Abada, and Badia mean "Abbey".
DaceyEnglish, Irish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Déiseach meaning "of the Déisi", the name of an archaic Irish social class derived from Old Irish déis "vassal, tenant, subject".
DaftEnglish This is an English surname which was especially associated with the Midland counties of the country. It derived from the Old English word of the pre-7th century "gedaeft" meaning "meek" or "mild", and as such it was a pre-Medieval personal name of some kind of popularity.
DaggettEnglish Derived from the Old French word "Dague", meaning knife or dagger, and as such was a Norman introduction into England after the 1066 Conquest. The name is a medieval metonymic for one who habitually carried a dagger, or who was a manufacturer of such weapons.
DahlerGerman From a short form of an ancient Germanic personal name, possibly a cognate with Anglo-Saxon deal, the first part of which means “proud” or “famous.”
DahlerLow German From Old Norse dalr meaning "valley," hence a topographical name for someone who lived in a valley or a habitational name for someone from a place called with this word.
DahlkeGerman Eastern German: from a pet form of the Slavic personal names Dalibor or Dalimir, which are both derived from dal- ‘present’, ‘gift’.
DahmerGerman, Danish A northern German or Danish habitual name for someone from one of the many places named Dahme in Brandenburg, Holstein, Mecklenburg, or Silesia. A famous bearer of this name was Jeffrey Dahmer, serial killer (1960 - 1993).
DaiberGerman Derived from either Middle High German tiuber "pigeon breeder, pigeon fancier" or from Middle High German touber "wind musician, musician who plays a wind instrument".
DaintithEnglish From a medieval nickname (roughly equivalent to "precious") applied to a dearly loved person (from Middle English deinteth "pleasure, titbit", from Old French deintiet).
DaintonEnglish Habitational name possibly derived from an older form of Doynton, a village in Gloucestershire, England, meaning "Dydda’s settlement", or perhaps from the hamlet Dainton in Devon meaning "Dodda’s settlement".
DaintryEnglish Means "person from Daventry", Northamptonshire ("Dafa's tree"). The place-name is traditionally pronounced "daintry".
DaintyEnglish From a medieval nickname meaning "handsome, pleasant" (from Middle English deinte, from Old French deint(i)é). This was borne by Billy Dainty (1927-1986), a British comedian.
DakeEnglish The origins of the name Dake are from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It is derived from the personal name David. Daw was a common diminutive of David in the Middle Ages. The surname is a compound of daw and kin, and literally means "the kin of David."
DalbyEnglish, Danish, Norwegian From any of the locations call Dalby from the old Norse elements dalr "valley" and byr "farm, settlement" meaning "valley settlement". Used by one of the catholic martyrs of England Robert Dalby... [more]
DallimoreEnglish An English surname probably derived from the French de la mare, meaning "of the sea", though some contend that "mare" springs from the English word moor. This surname probably arose after the Norman conquest of Britain.
DallowayEnglish Meant "person from Dallaway", West Midlands (perhaps from a Norman personal name, "person from (de) Alluyes", northern France). A fictional bearer of the surname is Mrs Dalloway, central figure of the eponymous novel (1925) by Virginia Woolf.
DampierEnglish Habitational name from any of various places in northern France called Dampierre named in honor of St. Peter. The first element Dam- or Don is an Old French title of respect, from Latin dominus meaning “lord,” often prefixed to the names of saints.
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’.
DangerEnglish (Rare), Popular Culture This has been seen in records of the most uncommon American surnames. It has also been used in popular culture, in the show Henry Danger. Although, it's not the character's actual last name.
DangerfieldEnglish Habitational name, with fused preposition d(e), for someone from any of the various places in northern France called Angerville, from the Old Norse personal name Ásgeirr and Old French ville "settlement, village"... [more]
DangersGerman Patronymic from the personal name Anger. Habitational name for someone from the city of Angers.
DankworthGerman (Anglicized) Formed from the German forename Tancred, which mutated to a hard D in English, combined with Old English Worth "a farmstead."
DanprontamEnglish (Latinized, ?) A unknown form of Daniel, Dan, and Danny originating from the 17th century. While also being a slang term for a language.
DanversIrish, English For someone from Anvers, which is the French name of a port called Antwerp, located in what is now Belgium.
DanzGerman Derived from a given name, a short form of the name Tandulf, the origins of which are uncertain. (In some cases, however, this surname may have originated as a nickname denoting a person who liked to dance, from the Middle High German word tanz, danz "dance".)
DänzerGerman Occupational name for a professional acrobat or entertainer; variant of Tanzer.
DanzigGerman Denoted a person who was from the city of Gdańsk, Poland (called Danzig in German).
DapperDutch Nickname from dapper meaning ‘brave, gallant’ in Dutch. Famous bearers of this surname include the American actor and model Marco Dapper (1983-), and Dutch physician and writer Olfert Dapper (1636-1689).
DardenEnglish A habitation name in Northumberland of uncertain origin.
DareEnglish This interesting surname has two possible derivations. Firstly, it may derive from the Olde English pre-7th Century personal name "Deora", Middle English "Dere", which is in part a short form of various compound names with the first element "deor", dear, and in part a byname meaning "Beloved"... [more]
DarkEnglish Nickname for someone with dark hair or a dark complexion, from Middle English darke, Old English deorc "dark". In England, the surname is most frequent in the West Country.
DarleyEnglish Means "person from Darley", Derbyshire ("glade frequented by deer").
DarlingtonEnglish From Old English Dearthington believed to be the settlement of Deornoth's people (unclear root + ing a family group + ton an enclosed farm or homestead).
DaughtryEnglish, Norman English (of Norman origin) habitational name, with fused French preposition d(e), for someone from Hauterive in Orne, France, named from Old French haute rive ‘high bank’ (Latin alta ripa).
DaumGerman, Jewish Nickname for a short person, from Middle High German doum "tap", "plug", or dume, German Daumen "thumb".
DavenportEnglish Habitational name from a town in Cheshire named Davenport, from the Dane river (apparently named with a Celtic cognate of Middle Welsh dafnu "drop, trickle") and Old English port "port, haven, harbour town".
DaveyEnglish, Welsh Derived from the given name David. Alternately, it may be a variant spelling of Welsh Davies or Davis, which could be patronymic forms of David, or corrupted forms of Dyfed, an older Welsh surname and the name of a county in Wales.
DawlingEnglish Derived from the Old English given name Dealing, or possibly from Middle English Daulin, a rhyming pet form of Rawlin which is a medieval diminutive of Roul.
DayleyEnglish English surname of Norman origin derived from the Norman preposition de for someone from any of numerous places in Northern France called Ouilly.