BuckinghamEnglish Habitational name from the former county seat of the county of Buckinghamshire, Old English Buccingahamm "water meadow (Old English hamm) of the people of (-inga-) Bucc(a)".
BuensucesoSpanish (Philippines) From a Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso, meaning "Our Lady of the Good Event," referring to the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus.
BugiardiniItalian Means "little liar" in Italian, from bugiardo "lying, false, deceitful; liar" and the diminutive suffix -ino.
BuitenhuisDutch Means "country house, building outside of the city" in Dutch, derived from buiten "outside, out of; in the country" and huis "house, home, residence".
BurlingtonEnglish Habitational name from Bridlington in East Yorkshire, from Old English Bretlintun meaning Berhtel's town.
BurmeisterGerman North German: status name for the mayor or chief magistrate of a town, from Middle Low German bur ‘inhabitant, dweller’, ‘neighbor’, ‘peasant’, ‘citizen’ + mester ‘master’.
BurruchagaSpanish, Basque (Hispanicized) Altered form of Basque Burutxaga, a habitational name from a location in Navarre, Spain, possibly derived from buru "head; top, summit; leader, chief" or burutza "office of chief" combined with -aga "place of".
BusalacchiItalian Means "father of Zallaq", from Arabic أَبُو (abu) "father of" and الزلاق (zallaq) of unknown meaning, possibly related to the given name Salah 1 meaning "righteousness".
BuschiazzoItalian It's a surname in northern Italy (Piedmont). It emerges from the German spelling Bosch or Busch and this means "forest" or "wooded area".
BustamanteSpanish Habitational name for someone originally from the town of Bustamante in Cantabria, Spain, derived from Latin bustum Amantii meaning "pasture of Amantius".
ButragueñoSpanish Originally denoted someone from either the town of Buitrago del Lozoya in Madrid, or from the village of Buitrago in Soria, Castile and León in Spain, both derived Spanish buitre meaning "vulture" (see Buitrago)... [more]
ButtafuocoItalian Nickname composed of the elements butta "throw" + fuoco "fire".
ButtermannGerman An occupational name for a dairyman or seller of dairy produce. See Butter.
CacciatoreItalian Derived from Italian cacciatore meaning "hunter, huntsman", ultimately derived from cacciare meaning "to hunt".
CaderousseFrench, Literature A character in the classic novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. In the novel, Caderousse is a tailor and inkeeper who aids in the arrest of Dantès.
CalahatianTagalog From Tagalog kalahatian meaning "halfway, midway".
CalcaterraItalian Nickname from calcare meaning "to tread", "to stamp" + terra meaning "land", "earth", "ground", probably denoting a short person, someone who walked close to the ground, or an energetic walker.
CaliforniaSpanish (Latin American) It is thought that it might've been derived from Latin calida fornax meaning "hot furnace", or from Native American, kali forno meaning "high hill, native land". It is also thought to have derived from the given name Khalif or Khalifa.
CalingasanFilipino, Tagalog From Tagalog kalingasan meaning "lustre of a surface (which reflects light)".
CamoranesiItalian Originally indicated a person from Camerano, a small town near the city of Ancona in central Italy. A famous bearer of this name is the Argentine-born Italian former soccer player Mauro Camoranesi (1976-).
CanomanuelSpanish The first part of this surname is possibly derived from Spanish cano "hoary, white-haired, grey-haired". The second part is derived from the given name Manuel... [more]
CanterburyEnglish Habitational name from Canterbury in Kent, named in Old English as Cantwaraburg "fortified town (burgh) of the people (wara) of Kent".
CardelliniItalian From a diminutive of Cardelli. A famous bearer of this surname is the American actress Linda Cardellini (1975-).
CarisbrookEnglish Carisbrooke is a village on the Isle of Wight; the name is thought to mean "Carey's brook". When in 1917 the British royal family changed its name from the "House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha" to the "House of Windsor" and renounced all German titles, the title of Marquess of Carisbrooke was created for the erstwhile German Prince Alexander of Battenberg.
CarmichaelScottish, English From the name of a village in Scotland meaning "fort of Michael", from Welsh caer meaning "fortress" and the given name Michael.
CarmiggeltDutch Dutch cognate of Carmichael. This was the surname of the Dutch writer, journalist and poet Simon Carmiggelt (1913-1987).
CarringtonEnglish, Scottish English: habitational name from a place in Greater Manchester (formerly in Cheshire) called Carrington, probably named with an unattested Old English personal name Cara + -ing- denoting association + tun ‘settlement’.... [more]
CarruthersScottish This old Scottish surname was first used by Strathclyde-Briton people. The Carruthers family in the land of Carruthers in the parish of Middlebie, Dumfriesshire. In that are it is pronounced 'Cridders'.... [more]
CasagrandeItalian Habitational name for someone from any of the various locations called Casagrande or Casa Grande, derived from Italian casa meaning "house" and grande meaning "big, large".
CasamonicaItalian (Rare) Derived from Italian casa meaning "house" with the suffix -monica which is taken from the name of Saint Monica. Casamonica is a relatively rare surname associated with a notorious Italian clan involved in organized crime and criminal activities... [more]
CasapietraItalian From Italian casa meaning "house" and pietra meaning "stone".
CasavantesFrench, Spanish, Basque Topographic name composed of casa "house" + avant "ahead of forward" + the suffix -es, denoting one who lived in the house located at the beginning of a village. This surname has died out in France.
CattermoleEnglish Found mainly in Norfolk and Suffolk. Meaning uncertain; possibly from an east Anglian term meaning “dweller at the dyke”, or from Old French quatre moles “four mills”.
CavalcantiItalian Means "riding" in Italian. An occupational surname for people who worked with horses.
CentofantiItalian Means "a hundred soldiers on foot" in Italian, derived from Italian cento meaning "(a) hundred" and Italian fanti, which is the plural form of fante meaning "soldier, infantryman"... [more]
ChabashiraJapanese (Rare) From 茶 (cha) literally meaning "green tea" and 柱 (hashira) meaning "pillar". A tea pillar is considered good luck in Japanese culture.
ChaiyasingThai From Thai ไชย (chai) meaning "victory" and สิงห์ (sing) meaning "lion".
ChallengerEnglish Probably from a medieval nickname for a touchy or quarrelsome person (from a derivative of Middle English chalangen "to challenge"). A fictional bearer is Professor George Challenger, irascible scientist and explorer, leader of the expedition to Amazonia in Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Lost World' (1912).
ChamberlinFrench French cognate of Chamberlain. Occupational name for an official in charge of the private chambers of his master from Old French chamberlenc "chamberlain".
ChijimatsuJapanese From 千 (chi, sen) meaning "thousand", 々 is a particle that indicates that the previous syllable should be repeated (chi becomes ji), and 松 (matsu) meaning "pine tree".
ChikamatsuJapanese From 近 (chika) meaning "close, near" and 松 (matsu) meaning "pine, fir tree".
ChinchillaSpanish Originally denoted a person from the Spanish town of Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón in the province of Albacete. The place name is possibly of Arabic origin.
ChindavongLao From Lao ຈິນດາ (chinda) meaning "imagination, meditation, reflection" and ວົງ (vong) meaning "lineage, family".
ChronowskiPolish This indicates familial origin within either of 5 Lesser Polish villages: Chronów-Kolonia Dolna, Chronów-Kolonia Górna, Chronówek, Chronów in Gmina Orońsko, or Chronów in Gmina Nowy Wiśnicz.
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.
ChurchwardEnglish Occupational name for a churchwarden, someone who handled the secular affairs of a parish.
ChurchyardEnglish It comes from when the family lived in or near the precincts of a church. Churchyard belongs to the large class of Anglo-Saxon topographic surnames, which were given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as "a hill", "stream", "church", or "type of tree".
CiavarellaItalian From Sicilian ciavaredda "goat kid", an occupational name for a goatherd, or perhaps a nickname based on the bearer's appearance or behaviour.
ClemenceauFrench Derived from the French given name Clément. A notable bearer was the French prime minister Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929), who successfully lead France through the end of World War I.
ClydesdaleEnglish, Scottish From the name of a location in Lanarkshire, Scotland, meaning "Clyde’s valley", derived from the name of the river Clyde.
CodringtonEnglish Habitational name from Codrington in Gloucestershire.
CoggeshallEnglish Habitational name from Coggeshall in Essex, England, which was derived from Cogg, an Old English personal name, and Old English halh meaning "nook, recess".
CombeferreLiterature (?) Combeferre is the surname of one of the strong, persuasive members of the ABC in Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables. Meaning is unknown.
ConningtonEnglish This name means "The king's manor, the royal estate," from the Old Scandinavian word "konunger" + the Old English word "tun." It was listed twice in the Domesday Book of 1086, once as Coninctune and secondly as Cunitone.
ContractorIndian (Parsi) Parsi occupational surname for a contractor, or someone who works on the basis of a contract. As the British rule of India demanded for all Parsees to adopt a surname, many adopted English vocabulary based on their occupation (i.e. Engineer or Merchant).
CopernicusHistory Nicolaus Copernicus is a mathematician and astronomer who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than the Earth at the center of the universe... [more]
CornacchiaItalian Nickname meaning "crow, jackdaw" in Italian, applied to someone who was talkative or thought to resemble a crow or jackdaw in some other way.
CoronacionSpanish (Philippines) Derived from Spanish coronación, meaning "coronation", referring to the idea that the Virgin Mother of God was physically crowned as Queen of Heaven after her Assumption.
CottonwoodEnglish The name of a person who lived among cottonwood trees.
CountrymanEnglish Translation of German Landmann, Landsmann or Dutch Landman, Landsman, which means ‘countryman’ or ‘fellow countryman’.
CourcellesFrench The name of several places in France, Belgium and Canada. In Middle French the word courcelle was used to describe a "small court" or a "small garden". The word is derived from the medieval Gallo-Romance and Gallo-Italian word corticella, which was formed from the Latin word cohors, meaning "court" or "enclosure", and the diminutive –icella.... [more]
CourfeyracLiterature Courfeyrac is the surname that Victor Hugo used for Marius' closest friend in the friend of the ABC. Meaning is unknown.
CrombruggeBelgian, Flemish Possibly means "crooked bridge", from Middle Dutch crom "bent, not straight" and brugge "bridge".
CrossfieldEnglish (British) English Surname. Originated in Anglo-Saxon Families who lived at the Cross fields.
CruikshankScottish From a medieval Scottish nickname for someone with a crooked leg (from Scots cruik "bent" + shank "leg"). This was the surname of British caricaturist George Cruikshank (1792-1872) and British actor Andrew Cruikshank (1907-1988).
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).
DaskalakisGreek Comes from the Greek root word of "Daskalalos" (Δάσκαλος) that means "teacher", with the adittion of the ending "akis" (ακης) that usually shows a connection with the island of Crete
DatumanongFilipino, Maranao From Datomanong, the name of a character in the Maranao epic Darangen. The name itself means "two-headed lizard" in Maranao.
D'aurevalleFrench (Archaic) This medieval surname literally means "from Aurevalle". Aurevalle can refer to any of the three French communes that are nowadays known by the more modern spelling Orival. All of them ultimately derive their name from Latin aurea vallis meaning "golden vale" or "golden valley".
D'aurevilleFrench This surname literally means "from Aureville". Aureville is a commune in southwestern France, which was established in late medieval times. It derives its name from Latin aurea villa or villa aurea which literally means "golden country-house, golden farm" but of course later came to mean "golden village".
D'aurevillyFrench Variant form of D'aureville. A known bearer of this name was the French novelist Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly (1808-1889).