KuchaOkinawan (Rare, Archaic) From Okinawan 古知屋 (Kucha) meaning "Kucha", a former village in the former district of Kin in the former Ryūkyū Kingdom.
KuchiJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 口 (kuchi) meaning "mouth". It is a reference to an event in the Northern and Southern Courts Period, of 3 sons of Takase who became heroes for the south. The emperor of Japan awarded each of the sons a new surname; Oku for the eldest son, Naka for the middle son, and Kuchi for the youngest son.
KuijtDutch Occupational name for a brewer of beer, derived from Dutch kuit, koyt literally meaning "beer". A famous bearer of this name is retired Dutch soccer player Dirk Kuijt (1980-), also known as Dirk Kuyt.
KuivaEstonian Kuiva is an Estonian surname derived from "kuivaks" meaning "dry".
KulakRussian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish Means "fist". Was also used to describe Ukrainian farmers who went against the Soviet government in the early 30s.
KupkaCzech, Polish, Ukrainian, Slovak, Sorbian, Jewish Nickname or topographic name from the Polish, Ukrainian, Czech and Sorbian word kupka, a diminutive of kupa meaning "heap, pile", in Upper Sorbian also "lump".... [more]
KuraiJapanese Kura means "warehouse, storehouse" and i means "well, pit, mineshaft".
KurioJapanese Kuri means "chestnut" and o means "tail".
KuroiJapanese Kuro means "black" and i means "mineshaft, pit, hole".
KurooJapanese From 黒 (kuro) meaning "black" and 尾 (o) meaning "tail".
KuyonHungarian, Romanian Largely unknown, but may have origins in a village in Poland, called Kujan. There’s records on the name at Ellis Island in New York where it was anglicized to the phonetic, Kuyon. There’s also a split in the main families with the name in the US to another diminutive, Kenyon.... [more]
KuzmaUkrainian, Belarusian From the personal name Kuzma, Greek Kosmas, a derivative of kosmos ‘universe’, ‘(ordered) arrangement’. St. Cosmas, martyred with his brother Damian in Cilicia in the early 4th century ad, came to be widely revered in the Eastern Church.
LaheyIrish Lahey and Leahy originate from two different Gaelic surnames. Lahey, Lahy, Lahiff, Lahiffe, Laffey, and Lahive all originate from the Gaelic surname O Laithimh, which itself is a variant of O Flaithimh... [more]
LalliFinnish Of uncertain etymology. This surname has been attested in Finland since 1550 CE.
LallyIrish A shortened form of Mullally, an anglicised form of Ó Maolalaidh. A famous bearer includes James Lally, an Irish landowner and politician from Tuam, County Galway.
LalorIrish Lalor is an Irish surname derived from the Irish Ó Leathlobhair, from leath- “leper; weak, ailing person”
LanceEnglish From the Germanic personal name Lanzo, originally a short form of various compound names with the first element land ‘land’, ‘territory’ (for example, Lambert), but later used as an independent name... [more]
LāndaPunjabi Lānda (ਲਾਨਦਾ) is a Punjabi surname that is used amongst families belonging to the Bhat tribe. The bearers of this surname belong to the gotra Lākhanpal, which is of Kshatriya origin.
LandaPolish Nickname for a persistent and irritating person, from a derivative of the dialect verb landzić "to ask insistently, badger someone".
LandeFrench, Norwegian, Jewish French: topographic name for someone living on a heath, lande (from Gaulish landa ‘space’, ‘land’), or a habitational name from any of numerous minor places named La Lande from this word.... [more]
LaskiPolish, Hungarian, Jewish Polish (Laski) and Jewish (from Poland): habitational name from Lasko (now Lask) in Sieradz voivodeship, named with laz, lazy ‘clearing in a forest’. ... [more]
LavieFrench Dialectal variant of French voie "way, road", ultimately from Latin via "road, street, path", combined with the French feminine article la.
LearnEnglish (American) The surname Learn is traced to an 18th-century settler and his family who lived in what is now Tannersville, Pa. It is an Anglicized version of the Germanic "Loehrner," which name the settler and his family also used.
LeaskScottish Named after the village of Leask in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.... [more]
LeddaItalian, Sardinian Probably from the former Medieval town of Lella, in northern Sardinia. The transformation of -ll- into -dd- is common in Sardinian.
LeducFrench, Breton From the Old French title of rank duc "duke" (from Latin dux "leader" genitive ducis) with the French masculine definite article le used as a nickname for someone who gave himself airs and graces or else as a metonymic occupational name for a servant employed in a ducal household.
LeedsEnglish From the city of Leeds in Yorkshire. The name was first attested in the form Loidis in AD 731. In the Domesday Book of 1086, it is recorded as 'Ledes'. This name is thought to have ultimately been derived from an earlier Celtic name... [more]
LehtoFinnish Finnish: from lehto ‘grove’; either a habitational name, recorded since the 17th century, from any of the farms in eastern Finland named for their location by a grove, or in other cases a more recent ornamental adoption... [more]
LeichGerman A coworker at my job has this surname and they told me that it’s German. I know nothing more about this surname.
LeithEnglish From the name of a Scottish town (now a district of Edinburgh), which is derived from Gaelic lìte "wet, damp". It is also the name of the river that flows though Edinburgh.
LeiusEstonian Leius is an Estonian surname derived from "leiud", meaning "findings"; and "leiutis", meaning "invention" and to "devise".
LemonAfrican American This surname is a Middle English personal name Lefman, Old English Leofman, composed of the elements leof ‘dear’, ‘beloved’, and mann ‘man’, person. This surname came to be used as a nickname for a lover or sweetheart, from Middle English Lemman.
Le PenBreton Le Pen is a Breton surname meaning "the head", "the chief" or "the peninsula".
LepsySlavic (Rare), Turkish (Rare) Possibly dating back to the Ottoman Empire's invasion of Europe, the original Turkic meaning is veiled in mystery, and possibly meant "one who comes from the edge of the lake." ... [more]
LeranArmesian (Dutchified, Rare) The surname Leran originates in the small dutch island called Armesa. It was the name of the Armesian ruling house from 1504-1884.
LevaiJewish Comes from the Levitic surnames of 'Levi' and 'Levy', signifying the descendants from the Tribe of Levi. All bearers today are of Hungarian–Jewish descent.
LeverFrench, English Nickname for a fleet-footed or timid person, from Old French levre "hare" (Latin lepus, genitive leporis). It may also have been a metonymic occupational name for a hunter of hares.
LeverEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived in a place thickly grown with rushes, from Old English lǣfer "rush, reed". Compare Laver. Great and Little Lever in Greater Manchester (formerly in Lancashire) are named with this word, and in some cases the surname may also be derived from these places.