Abdul GayyoomDhivehi From the given name Abd al-Qayyum. Notable bearers include Maldivian presidents Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom (1959-) and Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom (1937-).
AldobrandiniItalian Derived from the given name Aldobrandino. This was the name of an Italian noble family originally from Florence, a famous bearer of which was Ippolito Aldobrandini, more commonly known as Pope Clement VIII (1536-1605).
AmmazzalorsoItalian Means "slaughter the bear" from Italian ammazzare "to kill, to murder" and orso "bear", given as an occupational name to someone who hunted bears, or as a nickname to someone considered to be courageous or bold.
AnastassakisGreek Crete born John Anthony Aniston, (birth name Yiannis Anitios Anastassakis) is an American actor and the father of actress Jennifer Aniston.
AretxabaletaBasque Original Basque form of Arechavaleta, composed of aritx (a variant of haritz) meaning "oak tree" or "tree" combined with zabal "wide, ample" and the suffix -eta meaning "abundance of" or "place of".
ArkhangelskyRussian Habitational name for someone from Arkhangelsk, a province (oblast) of Russia.
ArmendaritzeBasque (Rare) From the name of a commune in the French arrondissement of Bayonne, or directly from a patronymic form of the given name Armentarius.
AshitaniharaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 芦谷原 (Ashitanihara), a variant reading of 芦谷原 (Ashitaniharu) meaning "Ashitaniharu", a division in the division of Shukukubota in the area of Makizono in the city of Kirishima in the prefecture of Kagoshima in Japan or it being a name of a group of several households in the same location, for the Kadowari System that took place in the Edo Period in the former Japanese province of Satsuma in parts of present-day Kagoshima, Japan.
AttenboroughEnglish Habitational name for a person from the village of Attenborough in Nottinghamshire, England, derived from the Old English given name Adda and burh meaning "fortified place". A famous bearer of this name was the English actor and filmmaker Richard Attenborough (1923-2014)... [more]
BairnsfatherEnglish From a medieval nickname in Scotland and northern England for the (alleged) father of an illegitimate child (from northern Middle English bairnes "child's" + father). This surname was borne by British cartoonist and author Bruce Bairnsfather (1888-1959).
BenningfieldEnglish From the place name Benefield in Northamptonshire, composed of the Old English personal name Bera combined with -ing "belonging to" and feld "field".
BerlinerblauGerman, Jewish Means “Prussian blue” in German. A notable bearer of this surname is Jacques Berlinerblau, a professor of Jewish civilization, and Stefania Berlinerblau, an American anatomist and physician.
BiałaczowskiPolish This indicates familial origin within the Lesser Polish village of Białaczów.
BiałobrzeskimPolish Originally indicated a person from any of the Polish towns named Białobrzeg or Białobrzegi, all derived from Polish biały "white" and brzeg "bank, shore".
BillinghurstEnglish It indicates familial origin within the eponymous village in West Sussex.
BindschädlerGerman (Swiss) Derived from German binden "to bind" and Swiss German schädlen "to make wood vessels", this is an occupational surname referring to a cooper, a barrel maker.
BittenbinderGerman Occupational name for a cooper, from Middle High German büte(n) "cask", "(wine) barrel" + binder "binder" (agent derivative of binden "to bind").
BlanchflowerEnglish From a complimentary nickname for a woman or a pejorative term for an effeminate man, from Old French meaning blanc "white" and flor "flower". A famous bearer of the name was Northern Irish footballer Robert Dennis Blanchflower (1926-1993).
BlumenscheinGerman from Middle High German bluomenschin "flower splendor" from the elements bluomo "bloom" and sconi "beautiful" probably a topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by a sign depicting a bunch of flowers or decorated with flower designs or noted for its flower garden.
BoccadifuocoItalian Means "mouth of fire", a nickname for someone known for picking fights, or perhaps given to foundlings.
BraunschweigGerman, Jewish Denoted a person from the city of Braunschweig in Lower Saxony, Germany, which is of Old Saxon origin meaning "Bruno's settlement".
BraunsteinerGerman (Austrian) This surname means brown stone in German and it may be an ornamental surname or an occupational surname for someone who may have been a miner.
BreitsameterGerman Breitsameter was a person who originated from Breitsamet manor in southern Bavaria.
Cabeza De VacaSpanish Literally translates to "cow's head" or "head of a cow". It is likely an occupational name for someone who was associated with cows or cattle, perhaps as a rancher or butcher. Alternatively, it could also have been used to describe someone with a thick-headed or stubborn personality.
CarrasquilloSpanish The surname Carrasquillo is of Spanish origin and it is derived from the word "carrasca" which means "holm oak". Therefore, the name roughly translates to "a place where there are holm oaks".
ChitsawangdiThai (Rare) From Thai จิตต์ (chit) meaning "mind; heart; soul; spirit; mentality", สว่าง (sawang) meaning "bright; shining", and ดี (di) meaning "good".
ChockalingamIndian, Tamil From a nickname referring to the Hindu god Shiva, composed of the Sanskrit words चोक्का (cokkā) meaning "alluring" and लिङ्गम् (liṅga) meaning "sign, symbol, mark".
CholerzyńskiPolish This indicates familial origin within the Lesser Polish village of Cholerzyn.
CholmondeleyEnglish An aristocratic surname derived from a place name in Cheshire which means "Ceolmund's grove" in Old English.
ChviedarovičBelarusian (Rare) Means "son of Chviedar". A notable bearer is Mikalaj Čarnuševič (1904-1981), the Belarusian poet, prose writer and translator better known by his nickname Mikola Chviedarovič.
ContestabileItalian Means "debatable, questionable" in Italian, perhaps a nickname for an argumentative person, or for someone of dubious respectability.
CopperbottomPopular Culture The surname of the main character Rodney Copperbottom from the animated film Robots (2005).
CrawfordjohnMedieval Scottish One who came from Crawfordjohn in Lanarkshire; not to be confused with nearby Crawford, also in Lanarkshire.
Da PalestrinaItalian, History Means "of Palestrina" in Italian, an Italian commune near Rome, derived from an Italian form of Latin Praenesteus or Praeneste, both of uncertain meaning. a famous bearer of the surname was the Italian late Renaissance composer GiovanniPierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594).
DayanghirangTagalog From a title meaning "chosen lady" in Tagalog, derived from dayang referring to a precolonial noblewoman and hirang meaning "chosen, selected, appointed". It was originally used by a Tagalog noblewoman from Batangas, which became a hereditary surname after conversion to Christianity.
DesruisseauxFrench, French (Quebec) Topographic name for someone who lived in an area characterized by streams, from the fused preposition and plural definite article des meaning "from the" and ruisseaux (plural of ruisseau) meaning "stream".
De TalleyrandFrench A French noble surname. A cadet branch of the family of sovereign counts of Périgord, they took their name from the estate of Périgord owned by these counts, and date back to Boso I, count of la Marche... [more]
DickensheetsEnglish (American) Americanized spelling of German Dickenscheid, a habitational name from a place named Dickenschied in the Hunsrück region. The place name is from Middle High German dicke ‘thicket’, ‘woods’ + -scheid (often schied) ‘border area’ (i.e. ridge, watershed), ‘settler’s piece of cleared (wood)land’.
DimaculanganFilipino, Tagalog Means "cannot be diminished" from Tagalog di- meaning "no, not" and kulangan meaning "reduce".
DissabandaraSinhalese From Sanskrit दिशा (diśā) meaning "region, quarter, direction" combined with the Sinhala title බණ්ඩාර (baṇḍāra) meaning "chief's son, prince".
Do NascimentoPortuguese (Brazilian) Variant of Nascimento. This surname was borne by several Brazilian soccer players, including Pelé (1940-2022), Ramires (1987-) and Thiago Alcântara (1991-).
DouangsavanhLao From Lao ດວງ (douang) meaning "circle, sphere" and ສະຫວັນ (savanh) meaning "heaven".