GeipelhorstGerman This rather rare surname is appears to be the combination of "Geipel", which is a variant of "Geibel" originating from a personal name or topographic name formed with Old High German gawi ‘fertile region’, ‘countryside’ (as opposed to a town), and "Horst" which came from of Old High German, meaning "man from the forest", "bosk" or "brushwood"... [more]
GlendenningScottish Habitational name from a place in the parish of Westerkirk, Dumfries, recorded in 1384 as Glendonwyne. It is probably named from Welsh glyn meaning "valley" + din meaning "fort" + gwyn meaning "fair", "white".
GlowczenskiAmerican This is my surname. My cousin Steve Glowzenski, had the C dropped along the way somewhere, probably the military.
GoldthwaiteEnglish Possibly derived from Guilthwaite in South Yorkshire, which is named from Old Norse gil meaning "ravine" and þveit meaning "clearing". However, the modern surname is associated with Essex, suggesting some other source, now lost.
GrebennikovmRussian Derived from Russian word гребенник (grebennik) meaning comb.
GrebensteinGerman Means "stone from the cliff or ridge" from German greben, (cliff or ridge) and stein (stone).... [more]
GrechishkinmRussian Possibly derived from греческий (grecheskiy) meaning Greek.
GreenbergerGerman, Jewish Anglicized form of the German surname Grünberger, which is formed from the words grün "green", Berg "mountain", and the habitational suffix -er. This name indicated a person who lived on or near a forest-covered mountain.
GunawardanaSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit गुण (guna) meaning "quality, property, attribute" and वर्धन (vardhana) meaning "increasing, strengthening, growing".
HeidenreichGerman From the medieval personal name Heidenrich, ostensibly composed of the elements heiden 'heathen', 'infidel' (see Heiden 2) + ric 'power', 'rule', but probably in fact a variant by folk etymology of Heidrich.
HeintzelmanGerman From a pet form of Heinrich, with the addition of -mann ‘man’.
HellenbrandGerman Derived from germanic: hildtja = battle, brandt = sword, or prandt = burning wood/torch. Other view: Hilda is the Nordic Queen of the Underworld, Goddes of Death, so Sword/Torch of Hilda.... [more]
HimmelreichGerman, Jewish humorous topographic name from a place so named as being at a high altitude from Middle High German himel "heaven" and riche "empire" meaning "kingdom of heaven, heavenly kingdom".
HimmelsteinGerman, Jewish topographic name for someone living by a feature so named from Middle High German himel "heaven, sky" and stein "rock, stone" meaning "stone in the sky, sky stone"
HinshelwoodScottish, English Denoted a person from a lost place called Henshilwood near the village of Carnwath on the southern edge of the Pentland Hills of South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is derived from Scots hainchil obscurely meaning "haunch" and Old English wudu meaning "wood"... [more]
HuckleberryEnglish From the name of the variety of shrubs (genus Vaccinium) or the berries that grow on them. This is also the anglicized form of the German surname Hackelberg.
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.
HundertmarkGerman A nickname for a wealthy man, from Middle High German hundert meaning "hundred" + mark, a denomination of coin.
IchibangaseJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 一番ヶ瀬 (Ichibangase), a clipping of 一番ヶ瀬上 (Ichibangasekami) or 一番ヶ瀬下 (Ichibangaseshimo), both divisions in the division of Haramaki in the area of Sefuri in the city of Kanzaki in the prefecture of Saga in Japan.... [more]
IchinoshimeJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 一住連 (Ichinoshime), from 一住連門 (Ichinoshimemon) a name of a group of several households in the Kadowari System that took place in the Edo Period in the former Japanese province of Satsuma in parts of present-day Kagoshima, Japan.
IllangakoonSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit लङ्का (lanka) referring to the mythical island of Lanka combined with Sinhala කෝන් (kon) meaning "king" (of Tamil origin).
IllingworthEnglish It indicates familial origin within the eponymous village in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
JourdemayneMedieval English Likely from Old French jor de main meaning "day labourer". This was borne by Margery Jourdemayne, an English woman known as the "Witch of Eye" who was burned at the stake in 1441 for conspiring to kill the king with witchcraft... [more]
KalashnikovRussian Means "son of the kalach-maker", derived from Russian калашник (kalashnik), a variant of калачник (kalachnik) "maker of kalaches" - kalach being a type of bread - combined with the patronymic suffix -ов (-ov)... [more]
KasperovichBelarusian The last name taken literally is Kasper's son with -vich being a common patronymic suffix in Belarus and other slavic countries. The Kasper likey refers to an unknown Kasper in the family. However some stories tie the name to one of the wise men who visited Jesus after his birth - not named in the Bible but later referred to as Gaspar or Caspar/Kaspar in Eastern European traditions.