BeppuJapanese From Japanese 別府 (Beppu), the name of several Japanese towns and divisions. In some cases these places names are normally read Byū or Befu. In other cases Beppu is a clipping of longer names such as 別府門 (Beppumon), 西別府 (Nishibeppu) or 上別府 (Kamibeppu).
BeresHungarian Occupational name for a farm laborer or casual harvest hand, béres, a derivative of bér 'wage', 'payment'.
BergenstenSwedish From bergen "mountains" and sten "stone". This is the surname of Minecraft's lead designer Jens Bergensten, known professionally as Jeb.
BerminghamEnglish (Modern, Rare) Bermingham is the Gaelicised version of 'De Birmingham' and is descended from the family of Warwickshire, England. The Irish version of the name MacFeorais/MacPheorais is derived from Pierce de Bermingham.
BernadotteFrench, Swedish Possibly from the name of a historical province in Southern France named Béarn. This was originally a French non-noble surname. French general Jean Baptise Bernadotte (1763-1844) became the king of Sweden as Charles XIV John (Swedish: Karl XIV Johan) in 1818 and founded the current royal house in Sweden, House of Bernadotte.
BernasconiItalian The surname of BERNASCONI is of Italian origin, a locational name meaning the dweller on or near a small hill. The names of habitation are derived from pre-existing names denoting towns, villages, farmsteads or other named habitations... [more]
BesteFrench, English Nickname from Middle English beste Old French beste "beast animal" (especially those used for food or work) applied either as a metonymic occupational name for someone who looked after beasts such as a herdsman or as a nickname for someone thought to resemble an animal... [more]
BezshtankoUkrainian From Ukrainian без (bez), meaning "without" and a diminutive form of штанів (shtaniv), meaning "pants". Compare the surname Shtanko.
BhaerGerman Likely a variant of German Baer, meaning "bear". A notable bearer is character Friedrich Bhaer, Jo's husband in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
BiałkowskiPolish Habitational name for someone from any of various places named Bialkowo, Bialków or Bialkowice, all derived from Polish biały meaning "white".
BiałyPolish Means "white" in Polish, denoting a person who had blond or white hair or a pale complexion.
BicanCzech, Slovak, Romanian Nickname for a tall, gangling person, from Old Czech bočan ‘stork’. Compare Bocian. Also a nickname from bocan ‘hammer’ or a derivative of Boc.
BiedermannGerman, Jewish nickname for an honest man from a compound of Middle High German biderbe "honorable" and man "man". Jewish surname adopted because of its honorific meaning from German bieder "honest, upright" and mann "man".
BiesheuvelDutch From Biesheuvel, the name of a small village in the north of the province of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands. It is derived from Dutch bies meaning "bulrush, club rush" (a grasslike plant that grows in wetlands and damp locations) and heuvel meaning "hill"... [more]
BigotFrench Either from Old French bigot possibly meaning "beggar" or from the Norman interjection bî got ("by God"), used as a pejorative nickname for the Normans... [more]
BilczewskiPolish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 distinct Greater Polish villages by the name of Bilczew.
BilderbackGerman (Modern, Archaic) German: habitational name from any of the three places in northern Germany named Billderbeck, formerly Bilderbeck.... [more]
BildtSwedish (Rare) Bildt is a Danish-Swedish-Norwegian noble family originating from Jutland in Denmark and now domiciled in Bohus county in southwest Sweden. The Norwegian branch of the family died out in the beginning of the 18th century... [more]
BilekCzech Nickname for a fair-haired person, from bílek "whiteness", a derivative of bílý "white".
BilenTurkish Means "knowing, cognizant" in Turkish.
BillingslyEnglish Habitational name from a place in Shropshire named Billingsley, from Old English Billingesleah, probably 'clearing (Old English leah) near a sword-shaped hill'
BirchEnglish, German, Danish, Swedish (Rare) From Middle High German birche, Old English birce, Old Danish birk, all meaning "birch". This was likely a topographic name for someone living by a birch tree or a birch forest... [more]
BirgeHungarian Occupational name for a shepherd, from birga, a variant spelling of birka 'sheep'.
BirindelliItalian Of uncertain etymology, originating in Tuscany, Italy. Possibly related to the word brindelli "rags, tatters, shreds", indicating a person who wore old, ragged clothes, or who looked worn-out in some way.
BirkenfeldGerman From the name of various places in Germany, like the one in Rhineland-Palatinate, all derived from Old High German birka "birch tree" and feld "field"... [more]
BirneEnglish, German, Jewish Means "pear" in German, making it the German equivalent of Perry 1, perhaps originally referring to a person who harvested or sold pears... [more]
BirtwistleEnglish From the names of various places in England or similar, all derived from Old Norse bjǫrk "birch tree" and Old English twisel "fork, bifurcation".
BitarArabic Means "farrier, blacksmith, smith" in Arabic.
BitencourtBrazilian, Portuguese (Brazilian), French (Rare), English BITENCOURT, derives from Bittencourt, Bettencourt and Bethencourt; They 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]
BjörkqvistSwedish Combination of Swedish björk "birch tree" and qvist, an obsolete spelling of kvist, "twig".
BjörnSwedish Means "bear" in Swedish. Either taken directly from the given name (see Björn) or from a nickname for a big, hairy person. It may also be derived from a place named with the element björn.
BlachPolish Alternatively perhaps a metonymic occupational name from Old Polish blach ‘skeet iron’, ‘metal fittings’.
BlachowskiPolish Related to forming or rolling thin sheets of metal, perhaps gilding.
BlackadderScottish, Popular Culture Habitational name for someone who lived near the Blackadder Water or near the Blackadder House, from Old English blæc "black" and an uncertain second element... [more]
BlackberryEnglish English surname of unexplained origin, probably from the name of a lost or unidentified place.
BlacksmithEnglish Occupational name for a blacksmith, a smith who work with iron. The name is rare in England and mostly found in North America, suggesting that it's a translation of a non-English name meaning "blacksmith" (see Kowalski, Raudsepp and Lefèvre for example).
BlackstockEnglish English and southern Scottish: topographic name from Middle English blak(e) ‘black’, ‘dark’ + stok ‘stump’, ‘stock’.
BlandEnglish Bland is a habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire called Bland, the origin of which is uncertain. Possibly it is from Old English (ge)bland ‘storm’, ‘commotion’ (from blandan ‘to blend or mingle’), with reference to its exposed situation... [more]
BlankGerman, Dutch, Jewish Means "white, pale, bright", a nickname for a person with white or fair hair or a pale complexion. As a Jewish name, it’s ornamental.
BlattGerman, Jewish Ornamental name derived from German blatt and Yiddish blat meaning "leaf", or a topographic name for someone who lived at a farm on a ledge on a mountainside, derived from Middle High German blate meaning "flat surface, ledge, plateau".
BlaumGerman German last name, likely a variant of the last name Blom or Blum, referring to the word flower/blooming.
BlinkDutch Topographic name from blink "bare hill, white dune".
BlissMedieval English, Medieval English (Anglicized) Originally a nickname for a cheerful person, derived from the Old English blisse, meaning "gladness" or "joy." Another origin of the surname is habitional, coming from from the village of Blay in Calvados (modern-day Normandy), spelled as Bleis in 1077, or from the village of Stoke Bliss in Worcestershire, first known as Stoke de Blez, named after the Norman family de Blez.... [more]
BlitzGerman This surname is presumed to be coming from a nickname for a fast runner or a quick tempered person, from German blitz(er) meaning "lightning" (ultimately from Middle High German blicze.)
BlitzsteinGerman, Jewish Blitz is the German word for lightening and stein is the German word for stone.
BlixtSwedish From Swedish blixt "lightning, flash".
BlochJewish, German, French Regional name for someone in Central Europe originating from Italy or France, from Polish "Włoch" meaning "Italian" (originally "stranger / of foreign stock"), ultimately derived – like many names and words in various European languages – from the Germanic Walhaz.
BloemDutch Means "flower, bloom" or "flour (of wheat, corn)" in Dutch. Could be a nickname for a pretty or cheerful person, a metonymic occupational name for a florist, gardener, baker or miller, or a habitational name for a person who lived near flowers or a sign depicting them... [more]
BloggEnglish The name is most likely Anglo-Saxon or early medieval English in origin. ... [more]
BlomstrandSwedish From Swedish blomma (Old Norse blóm) meaning "flower" and strand (Old Norse strǫnd) meaning "beach, sea shore".
BlondFrench Nickname from Old French blund, blond meaning "blond, fair-haired", a word of ancient Germanic origin.
BlondJewish Nickname from German Yiddish blond "fair-haired".
BloodEnglish Occupational name for a bloodletter, or a blood relative, or an oath-taker, derived from Middle English blood.
BloodWelsh Anglicized form of Welsh ap Llwyd ‘son of Llwyd’.
BloodEnglish Derived from the Old English byname Blīþa (meaning "happy, blithe").
BloomEnglish Metonymic occupational name for an iron worker, from Middle English blome ‘ingot (of iron)’.
BloomfieldEnglish This interesting surname is of early medieval English origin, and is a locational name from either of the two places thus called in England, one in Staffordshire, and the other in Somerset, or it may be a dialectal variant of Blonville (-sur-Mer) in Calvados, Normandy, and hence a Norman habitation name... [more]
BluntEnglish Nickname for a person with fair hair or a light complexion from Old French blunt meaning "blond". It was also used as a nickname for a stupid person from Middle English blunt or blont meaning "dull".
BluthGerman, Jewish German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from Middle High German bluot, German Blüte ‘bloom’, ‘flower head’. ... [more]
BoccafuscaItalian Possibly means "dark mouth", from bocco "mouth" and fosco "dark, gloomy", a nickname for someone who often spoke ill of others, or perhaps given to foundlings.
BoccalettiItalian Possibly related to boccale, a kind of jug often used for wine. An occupational name for an innkeeper.
BockelmannGerman Possibly derived from the name Bockel, a place in Germany. A famous bearer is Udo Jürgens (1934-2014), an Austrian musician, born Jürgen Udo Bockelmann.