AbdelmassihArabic Means "servant of the anointed (Christ)" from Arabic عبد ال (‘abd al) meaning "servant of the" and مسيح (masīḥ) meaning "anointed, Messiah, Christ", used by Arabic-speaking Christians.
AbercrombieScottish Derived from a surname. It is the name of a parish in Fife, Scotland, on the northern shore of the Frith of Forth, whence the possessor took his surname; from Aber, marshy ground, a place where two or more streams meet; and cruime or crombie, a bend or crook... [more]
AbukumagawaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 阿武隈川 (Abukumagawa) meaning "Abukuma River", a river that flows through the prefectures of Fukushima and Miyagi in Japan.
AchmatowiczPolish (Rare) Means "son of Achmat", from a Polish form of the given name Ahmad. This name is primarily used among Lipka Tatar Muslims in Poland.
AhlschlägerGerman The Ahlschlager family name was found in the USA, the UK, and Canada between 1880 and 1920. The most Ahlschlager families were found in the USA in 1920. In 1880 there were 6 Ahlschlager families living in Iowa... [more]
AhmadinejadPersian Means "descendant of Ahmad" in Persian. This surname is borne by former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (1956-).
AkatsutsumiPopular Culture Combination of 赤 (aka) meaning "red" and 堤 (tsutsumi) meaning "bank, embankment, dike," used on the character Momoko Akatsutsumi (赤堤 ももこ) in the anime 'Powerpuff Girls Z', the anime adaptation of the Cartoon Network series 'The Powerpuff Girls' (the character in question being equivalent to Blossom in the original cartoon).... [more]
AkropolitisGreek Someone from Akropolis, not referring to the Acropolis of Athens specifically, but in general, any fortified area of ancient and medieval Greek cities.
AlmendingerUpper German, German (Swiss) Habitational name for someone from a place called Allmendingen, of which there are two examples in Switzerland, in the canton of Bern, and one in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
al-MohannadiArabic (Mashriqi) Originally indicated a person from the Al Muhannadi (أل مهند) or Al-Mahanda (المهاندة) tribe based primarily in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, especially in Qatar. The tribe itself is derived from the given name Muhannad.
AlomerovichBosnian (Modern) Alomerovichs: In the 93 war, immigrated from the village of Ust ordinski. They started living in the villages of Lipovo and Blatina in the city of Kolašin, Montenegro. Their real surnames are Piyutsi.
AlomerovichBosnian (Modern) Alomerovichs: In the 93 war, immigrated from the village of Kinerma. They started living in the villages of Lipovo and Blatina in the city of Kolašin, Montenegro. Their real surnames are Piyutsi.
AmetxazurraBasque This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the municipality of Gordexola.
AnandteerthKannada Madhvacharya (1199-1278 or 1238–1317), sometimes anglicised as Madhva Acharya, and also known as Purna Prajna and Ānanda Tīrtha, was a Hindu philosopher and the chief proponent of the Dvaita (dualism) school of Vedanta.
AraquistainBasque, Spanish ''Place of the ferns'' in Basque. It first appeared when a family arrived for the first time to a part of the Pyrenees where they where a lot of ferns. Then, that family, changed their last name to ''Araquistain'' which means ''place of the ferns'' in basque.
ArcheambeauFrench The name Archambeau is derived from the Latin personal name 'Arcambaldus'. In turn the name 'Arcambaldus', is derived from the Germanic word 'Ercan', which means precious in Germanic, and 'bald', meaning bold and daring.... [more]
ArcidiaconoItalian Means "archdeacon", denoting someone who worked for or was related to an archdeacon.
Armand PilonFrench Armand is the original surname, and it is a French modification from a German surname. The original being Hartmann, that spelled by a francophone becomes Armand.... [more]
AsselbroughEnglish pronouncec assel brudd the origin of the name id unknown but the family were first fiund in heworth .george asselbrough married sarah keatlie in heworth.they had george b1752-1833 alston,srag 17154c nicholas 1757 - 1813 felling pit disaster.peter 1760 james 1762,... [more]
BaccellieriItalian From baccelliere "batchelor", a title for a young knight, or a university disciple who had studied Canon Law for 5 years and Civil Law for 7 years.
BacharachasJewish Bacharachas is a derivate of the Bacharach that is a town in Germany.
BagongahasaFilipino (Rare), Tagalog Refers to "something newly sharpened". It comes from the words bagong meaning "new" and hasa meaning "sharp". This surname is mostly found in the town of Paete, Laguna, and is often the subject of ridicule because it contains the word gahasa, meaning "rape"... [more]
BainebridgeEnglish, Irish Bridge over the Bain, An English town named for its place on the river Bain, now used as a surname. Lives near the bridge over the white water... [more]
BaldacchinoMaltese Derived from Italian baldacchino meaning "baldachin (or baldaquin)", referring to a type of canopy placed over a throne. It was originally used as an occupational name for a maker of baldachins.
BarbagelataItalian Named after the hamlet of Barbagelata, located in the commune of Lorsica, Genoa, Liguria, Italy. The name possibly means "cold beard", as it derives from "barba" (beard) and "gelata" (female form of cold).
BartholomewEnglish From a medieval personal name, Latin Bart(h)olomaeus, from the Aramaic patronymic bar-Talmay "son of Talmay", meaning "having many furrows", i.e. rich in land. This was an extremely popular personal name in Christian Europe, with innumerable vernacular derivatives... [more]
BaskervilleEnglish Means "bush town", from Anglo-Norman French boschet (a little bush) and ville (town).
BattistellaItalian From St. John the Baptist, the first bearers of this name were devoted to this saint. Another etymology would be a patronymic from the given name Battista, anyway linked to the aforementioned saint.
BatungbakalFilipino Tagalog Filipino surname meaning "iron stone", from Tagalog bato "stone" combined with bakal "iron, steel".
BeauregardeFrench Variant of Beauregard used by one of the main characters in Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" as well as its film and broadway adaptations.
BethencourtFrench, English, Portuguese (Rare) Bettencourt and Bethencourt are originally place-names in Northern France. The place-name element -court (courtyard, courtyard of a farm, farm) is typical of the French provinces, where the Frankish settlements formed an important part of the local population... [more]
BettencourtFrench, English, Portuguese (Rare) Bettencourt and Bethencourt are originally place-names in Northern France. The place-name element -court (courtyard, courtyard of a farm, farm) is typical of the French provinces, where the Frankish settlements formed an important part of the local population... [more]
BissonnetteFrench (Quebec) North American spelling of French Bissonet, a topographic name from a diminutive of Old French buisson meaning "bush, scrub".
BizkarrondoBasque It literally means "near the shoulder of a mountain".
BlankenshipEnglish Variant of Blenkinsop, a surname derived from a place in Northumberland called Blenkinsopp. The place name possibly derives from Cumbric blaen "top" and kein "back, ridge", i.e. "top of the ridge", combined with Old English hōp "valley" (compare Hope).
BłażejewskiPolish Name for someone from a place called Błażejewo, Błażejewice, Błażejewko or Błażej, all derived from the given name Błażej.
BonnemaisonFrench Literally means "good house", derived from French bonne "good" and French maison "house". As such, this surname is most likely a locational surname, in that it originally either referred to someone who lived in a good house (probably more like a mansion) or to someone who was born in (or lived in) the place Bonnemaison, which is nowadays located in the Calvados department of France... [more]
BoukharoubaArabic (Maghrebi) Meaning unknown, possibly of Kabyle origin. A notable bearer was Algerian revolutionary and President HouariBoumediene (1932-1978), who was born as Mohamed ben Brahim Boukharouba.
BraithwaiteEnglish Northern English habitational name from any of the places in Cumbria and Yorkshire named Braithwaite, from Old Norse breiðr "broad" + þveit "clearing".
BrancaleoneItalian Derived from the medieval Italian masculine given name Brancaleone, which means either "a lion's paw" or "he who captures the lion". In the case of the former meaning, the name is derived from Italian branca meaning "paw, claw" combined with Italian leone meaning "lion"... [more]
BrancatellaItalian (Rare) Derived from the feminine given name Brancatella, which is a diminutive of the medieval Italian given name Brancazia, the feminine form of the masculine given name Brancazio. For more information about this, please see the entry for the patronymic surname of Brancazio... [more]
BrancatelloItalian (Rare) Derived from the masculine given name Brancatello, which is a diminutive of the medieval Italian given name Brancazio, itself ultimately derived from the late Latin given name Brancatius... [more]
BrandenburgGerman (East Prussian, Rare) From a state in eastern Germany, formerly known as Prussia, containing the capital city of Berlin. Ancient. Associated with the Margravate (Dukedom) of Brandenburg, the seat of power in the Holy Roman Empire... [more]
BreitkreutzGerman probably a nickname for a person with a broad butt. Breitkreutz replaced an earlier more transparent form of the surname Breitarsch the use of kreuz (literally "cross") as a euphemism for "buttocks" first occurring in the 17th century... [more]
BrueggemannLow German, German North German (Brüggemann): topographic name for someone who lived near a bridge or a metonymic occupational name for a bridge keeper or street paver, Middle Low German brüggeman (see Bruckman, Brueckner).
BuermeisterGerman 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’.
ButtacavoliItalian Nickname composed of the elements butta "throw" + cavoli "cabbages".
ButterfieldEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a pasture for cattle or at a dairy farm, or a habitational name from a place named Butterfield (for example in West Yorkshire), from Old English butere ‘butter’ + feld ‘open country’.
ButterworthEnglish (British) From places called Butterworth in England. Derived Old English butere ‘butter’ + worð ‘enclosure’.
CasamitjanaCatalan It indicates familial origin within either of 3 farmhouses: the one in Castellnou de Bages, the one in l'Esquirol, or the one in Moià.
CasapiccolaItalian Habitational name for someone from any of the various locations called Casapiccola or Casa Piccola, derived from Italian casa meaning "house" and piccola meaning "small".
CasarrubiasSpanish Topographic name from the plural of Spanish casa rubia ‘red house’.
CasselberryGerman (Anglicized) Americanized form of German Kesselberg, which may derive from various places called Kesselberg or Kesselburg in the states of Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Bavaria in Germany.
CastaignèdeFrench Stéphane Castaignède is a French rugby player and coach.... [more]
CastiglioneItalian Habitational name for someone from any of various places called Castiglione, derived from Italian castiglione meaning "castle, fortress".
CehuanocatlNahuatl Meaning uncertain, possibly derived from Nahuatl cehua "to be cold, cold weather" or cehualli "shadow, shade cast by something", combined with the suffix -catl indicating affiliation.
ChakravartiMarathi, Hindi Derived from Sanskrit चक्रवर्तिन् (chakravartin) meaning "world-ruler, emperor, monarch" (literally "wheel-turner" or "one who's wheels are turning"), from चक्र (chakra) meaning "wheel, circle" and वर्तिन् (vartin) meaning "abiding, moving, turning"... [more]
ChaleunsoukLao From Lao ຈະເລີນ (chaleun) meaning "flourish, prosper, much, many" and ສຸກ (souk) meaning "happiness, pleasure, joy".
ChanthavongLao From Lao ຈັນທະ (chantha) meaning "moon" and ວົງ (vong) meaning "lineage, family".
ChapdelaineFrench Compound name derived from Old French chape meaning "hooded cloak, cape, hat" and de laine meaning "of wool", probably applied as a metonymic occupational name for a maker of such apparel, or as a nickname for someone who wore a distinctive cloak or hat.
ChiaramonteItalian comes from the italian word chiara meaning "clear" and the the word monte meaning "mountain", possibly denoting someone who lived by clear mountians, hills, etc.
ChokalingamIndian, Tamil Variant of Chockalingam. A famous bearer is American actress and comedienne Vera Mindy Chokalingam (1979-), who uses the stage name Mindy Kaling.
ChraplewskiPolish This indicates familial origin within either of 3 Greater Polish villages named Chraplewo.
ChrzanowskiPolish Originally denoted someone who came from a place called Chrzanów or Chrzanowo, both derived from Polish chrzan meaning "horseraddish".
CiaramitaroItalian From Sicilian ciaramidaru "roof tile maker, potter", ultimately from Ancient Greek κέραμος (keramos) "potter's clay, pottery, tile".
CiechanoverPolish, Jewish Variant of Ciechanower. It is borne by the Israeli biologist Aaron Ciechanover (1947-), who is known for characterising the method that cells use to degrade and recycle proteins using ubiquitin.
CiechanowerPolish, Jewish Denoted a person who came from one of the places in Poland called Ciechanów, for example the city in the Mazovia province.
CirrincioneItalian From Sicilian cirrinciò meaning "greenfinch, great tit".
ClattenburgEnglish (?) Most likely something to do with a fortress. Meaning currently unknown.
ClutterbuckEnglish, Dutch (Anglicized, ?) English surname of unknown origin, possibly a corrupted form of a Dutch surname derived from Dutch klateren "to clatter" and beek "brook". The original surname may have been brought to England by Flemish weavers whom Edward III brought to England in the 14th century to teach their techniques to the English, or by Huguenots who fled the Netherlands in the 16th century to escape religious persecution... [more]
CoccimiglioItalian From Sicilian cuccumeli, the name of several fruit-bearing deciduous trees or of the hackberry plant, itself borrowed from an Ancient Greek word; possibly κοκκύμηλον (kokkymelon) "plum", literally "cuckoo apple", or from κόκκος (kókkos) "grain, seed, kernel" and μῆλον (mêlon) "apple, any fruit from a tree".
CohitmingaoFilipino, Cebuano From Cebuano kuhit meaning "pole (used to reach or hook something)" and mingaw meaning "deserted, lonely".
CollabruscoItalian From the region Calabria in southern Italy; widely moved to US.