This is a list of submitted surnames in which the language is West Germanic; and the gender is unisex.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
VeermanDutch Means "ferryman, skipper" in Dutch, from veer "ferry". Alternatively, it could be an occupational name for a feather merchant or fletcher, derived from veer "feather, plume", a contracted form of the archaic veder.
VentrisEnglish Probably from a medieval nickname for a bold or slightly reckless person (from a reduced form of Middle English aventurous "venturesome"). It was borne by British architect and scholar Michael Ventris (1922-1956), decipherer of the Mycenaean Greek Linear B script.
VerdierFrench, Norman, English Occupational name for a forester. Derived from Old French verdier (from Late Latin viridarius, a derivative of viridis "green"). Also an occupational name for someone working in a garden or orchard, or a topographic name for someone living near one... [more]
VerhofstadtDutch, Flemish Means "from the farmstead" or "from the homestead" in Dutch. A notable bearer is the Flemish politician Guy Verhofstadt (1953-), a Prime Minister of Belgium.
VerkuilenDutch, Flemish Reduced form of van der Kuylen, a topographic name derived from kuil "pit, quarry, hole in the ground", or a habitational name for someone from Kuil in East Flanders or Kuilen in Limburg.
VermillionEnglish Differential spelling of Vermilion. Meaning of the name is a red pigment derived from Mercury Sulfide (cinnabar). The name originally was developed because of the dyes similar color to the natural dye developed with the insect Kermes Vermilio.
VerneFrench, English As a French surname refers to someone who lived where alder trees grew. While the English version can mean someone who lived where ferns grew, Verne can also mean a seller of ferns which in medieval times were used in bedding, as floor coverings and as animal feed.
VerwoerdDutch Means "from the man-made hill", derived from Dutch woerd meaning "man-made hill", indicating someone who lived near or on terps (artificial dwelling mounds created to provide safe ground during storm surges, high tides or flooding)... [more]
VesperGerman Either a nickname from Latin vesper "6 o’clock in the evening evening time" originally the second to last canonical hour or a habitational name from a place so called on the Ruhr river.
VetterGerman from a nickname from Middle High German veter(e) ‘uncle’, ‘nephew’. The word is from Old High German fetiro (a derivative of fater ‘father’), which was used more generally to denote various male relatives; the meaning of modern German Vetter is ‘cousin’.
VialEnglish, French from a personal name derived from Latin Vitalis (see Vitale). The name became common in England after the Norman Conquest both in its learned form Vitalis and in the northern French form Viel.
VicaryEnglish (British) There are a number of theories as to the origins of the name, Spanish sailors shipwrecked after the Armada and French Huguenots fleeing the Revolution are two of the more romantic ones. It is more likely to have come as someone associated with the church - the vicar, who carried out the pastoral duties on behalf of the absentee holder of a benefice... [more]
ViceEnglish May come from "devise", an Old French word that means "dweller at the boundary". It may also derive a number of place names in England, or be a variant of Vise.
VidlerEnglish Either (i) from a medieval nickname based on Anglo-Norman vis de leu, literally "wolf-face"; or (ii) "violinist, fiddle player" (cf. Fiedler).
VieiraEnglish (Anglicized) A surname of British origin mainly from Ireland and Scotland but Anglicised into and english name when many Vieira's immigrated to England.
VierlingGerman Derived from Middle High German vierlinc meaning "one-fourth of a measure", hence a status name or nickname for someone who had an annual tax liability of this amount.
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.
VillardGerman Altered form of German Hilgard, from the female personal name Hildegard, composed of the Germanic elements hild "strife, battle" and gard "fortress, stronghold".
VillasurdaGerman Villasurda is a Germanic name dating back to the time of the Vikings. It, roughly translated from a Norse word, means, "the one who is fat."
VilleriusDutch Villerius is a name of Dutch origin similar to the French DeVilliers
VinhalEnglish Basically a character of a fictional story of my own creation before it ever gets published as I believe Vinhal should be pronounced as Vine-hall unlike what the idotic google translate says.
ViningEnglish (British) Habitational name for someone from a place called Fyning in Rogate in Sussex.
VinkDutch Means "finch, chaffinch" in Dutch, a metonymic occupational name for someone who caught finches and other small birds. It could also be a nickname for someone cheerful, or who was known for whistling.
VirtueEnglish Used as a name for someone who had played the part of Virtue in a medieval mystery play, or as a nickname for someone noted for their virtuousness or (sarcastically) for someone who parades their supposed moral superiority.
VisDutch Means "fish" in Dutch, a metonymic occupational name for a fisherman or fishmonger.
ViseEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a boundary, Old French devise.
VisitorEnglish Likely from someone who was a stranger in a place.
VisschedijkDutch Means "fish by the dyke", from Dutch vis meaning "fish" and dijk meaning "dike, ditch, levee".
ViveashEnglish English surname of uncertain origin. May be Anglo-Norman from French vivace meaning "lively, vigorous", however its pronunciation has led to its connection to various places in southern England called Five Ash Trees.
VivisEnglish (Rare) Found in the 1891, 1901 & 1911 British census, other Ancestry.co.uk records & FreeBMD. Could derive from Vivas from Spanish Catalan
Vogt Von BremenMedieval German Toponymic variant of Vogt. Bearers of this surname descend from the Grafen von Katlenburg and Grafen von Lies und Rittigau.
Vogt Von FormbachMedieval German Toponymic variant of Vogt. Bearers of this surname descend from the Grafen von Reinhausen-Winzenburg and Grafen von Radelberg. Members of this comital family also use the surnames Vogt von Formbach und Stift and Vogt von Formbach und Göttweih.
Vogt Von FreisingMedieval German Toponymic variant of Vogt. Bearers of this surname descend from the Grafen von Scheyern and Grafen von Schweinfurt.
Vogt Von HachenburgMedieval German Toponymic variant of Vogt. Members of this noble family also used the surnames Vogt von Westerburg und Hachenburg, Vogt von Hachenburg und Blankenburg, and Vogt von Elsaff.
Vogt Von HeselholtMedieval German Toponymic variant of Vogt meaning Lord Protector of Hazelwood. Bearers of this surname descend from the Edelherren Vögte von Heselholt.
Vogt Von HunolsteinMedieval German Toponymic variant of Vogt. Members also use the surname Vogt de Hunolstein. This noble family split into several lines to include the older and younger lines and the Vogt de Hunolstein de Niederwiesen.
Vogt Von SumerauMedieval German Toponymic variant of Vogt. Members of this baronial family also use the surnames Vogt zu Sumerau, Vogt von Sumerau zu Leupolz, Vogt von Altensumerau und Prasberg, and Vogt von Alten-Summerau zu Prasberg.
Vogt Von WeidaMedieval German Toponymic variant of Vogt. This noble family split into several lines to include Weida, Gera, and Plauen. The Princes of Reuss descend from the Plauen line.
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]
VollbrechtGerman From a German personal name composed of the elements folk ‘people’ + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’. In the U.S. this name is often Americanized as Fulbright and Fullbright.
VöllerGerman German cognate of Fuller and a variant of Voll 2. A notable bearer is the retired German soccer player Rudi Völler (1960-).
VollmarGerman, Germanic, Low German This name is a variant form of Volkmar and the Low German form of Waldemar. It is of Germanic and Slavic origin and comes from the following roots: (VOLKMAR) and (VOLODIMĚRŬ).
Von AachenGerman Means "from Aachen", a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, ultimately derived from Latin acquae "water, water sources", referring to the sacred springs associated with the Celtic god Grannus.
Von EsmarchGerman Means "from Esmarch" in German, Esmarch being an unknown meaning. Friedrich von Esmarch (1823-1908) was a German surgeon who developed the Esmarch bandage and founded the Deutscher Samariter-Verein, the predecessor of the Deutscher Samariter-Bund.
Von HammersmarkPopular Culture, German (?) Means "from Hammersmark" in German. Bridget von Hammersmark is a fictional character in Quentin Tarantino's film 'Inglourious Basterds' from 2009.
VonkDutch Means "spark" in Dutch, a metonymic occupational name for a smith, or possibly a nickname for a lively or fiery person.
Von LangenbeckGerman Means "from a long stream" in German, from Low German lange "long" and beke "stream". Bernhard Rudolf Konrad von Langenbeck (1810-1887) was a German surgeon known as the developer of Langenbeck's amputation and founder of Langenbeck's Archives of Surgery.
von StauffenbergGerman From the name of the former castle Burg Stauffenberg in Swabia, southwestern Germany.
Von SydowSwedish, German von Sydow is a German and Swedish noble family from Pomerania, an area in modern day Poland and Germany. Some members of the family immigrated to Sweden in 1724. The name literary means "from Sydow"... [more]
Von WestphalenGerman Denoted a person from Westphalia, a region of northwestern Germany, borrowed from Medieval Latin Westphalia, derived from Middle Low German Westvâlen "west field".
VoogdDutch Means "guardian" in Dutch, an occupational name for a bailiff, farm manager, or someone appointed to look after the interests of other people. Ultimately from Latin advocatus "witness, advocate; one called upon to help"... [more]
VoogdesOld Dutch Occupational name and feminine title from Old Dutch meaning Lord Protector or Governor. Derived from Latin advocatus. Dutch masculine variant Voogd, German variant Vogt, Polish variant Wójt, Swedish variant Fogde... [more]
VoorheesDutch Habitational name from a place in Drenthe called Voorhees.
VorstDutch, Low German topographic name for someone who lived in a vorst "forest" or habitational name for someone from any of numerous places called Vorst or Voorst... [more]
VorwaldGerman Topographic name for someone who lived "in front of (Middle High German vor) a forest (Middle High German wald)".
VosbergGerman Means "foxhole" or "fox hill", from vos "fox" and berg "hill, mountain".
VoughtGerman The surname Vought originates in the Latin form "vocatus" or "advocatus," and referred to someone who appeared in court on another's behalf. As a surname, Vought is an occupational hereditary surname for a "bailiff" or "overseer of a nobleman's estate".
VreelandDutch Habitational name for a person from a place bearing the same name in the province of Utrecht, which is itself derived from the Middle Dutch word vrede, meaning "peace; legal protection against armed violence".
VreeswijkDutch Habitational name from a former village and municipality in the province Utrecht, Netherlands, derived from Old Dutch Frieso "Frisian" and wic "village, town"... [more]
VrielinkDutch Etymology uncertain. Possibly from the name of a farmstead, itself perhaps derived from a given name such as Frigilo or Friedel... [more]
VriezeDutch From Middle Dutch Vrieze "Frisian", an ethnic name for a someone from Friesland.
WackerGerman From a nickname for a bold or energetic person, from Middle High German wacker meaning ‘fresh’, ‘lively’, ‘brave’, or ‘valiant’.
WackermanEnglish (American), German From the Americanized spelling of German Wackermann, a variant of Wacker, with the addition of Middle High German man, meaning ‘man’.
WaddellEnglish Habitational name from Wadden Hall in Waltham, Kent, derived from either the Old English given name Wada or from wæden "made of woad, woaden, bluish" combined with halh "nook, recess".
WaddellEnglish Possibly derived from Woodhill in Wiltshire, England, derived from Old English wad "woad" and hyll "hill". Alternatively, could be from the Middle English given name Wadel.
WaddellEnglish Variant of Odell, derived from the toponym’s older spelling Wadehelle.
WaddingtonEnglish Habitational name from any of various places called Waddington. One near Clitheroe in Lancashire and another in Lincolnshire (Wadintune in Domesday Book) were originally named in Old English as the "settlement" (Old English tūn) associated with Wada.
WadleyEnglish From a place in England named with Old English wad "woad" or the given name Wada combined with Old English leah "woodland clearing".
WadlowEnglish Habitational name from a lost place, Wadlow in Toddington.
WadsworthEnglish Location name from Yorkshire meaning "Wæddi's enclosure or settlement" with Wæddi being an old English personal name of unknown meaning plus the location element -worth. Notable bearer is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) for whom the middle name was his mother's maiden name.
WahlGerman, Jewish From Middle High German Walhe, Walch "foreigner from a Romance country", hence a nickname for someone from Italy or France, etc. This surname is also established in Sweden.
WainscottEnglish Meaning unknown. From Middle English Waynescot. The surname presumably arose from a nickname for someone who imported or used oak timber.
WainwrightEnglish Occupational name for a maker or repairer of wagons.
WäiteLuxembourgish (Germanized, Rare) The name originates from Luxembourg and the surrounding Germanic regions most notably the Rhenish Palatinate from around the 1800s. The word wäite is Luxembourgish for wide and also broad, the word wäit which is an alternative spelling of the Surname Wäite is Luxembourgish for far or distant.... [more]
WaiteEnglish Occupational name for a watchman, Anglo-Norman French waite (cf. Wachter).
WaitmanEnglish From Middle English and Older Scots waithman meaning "hunter; outlaw", equivalent to Old English waþ "hunt, chase; wandering" and mann "person, man".