VerdeItalian, Spanish, Portuguese From Spanish verde "green" (Latin viridis), presumably a nickname for someone who habitually dressed in this color or had green eyes, etc. This is also a common element of place names.
VerdéFrench Possibly a Gallicized form of the Italian and Spanish surname Verde.
VerneFrench, English As a French surname refers to someone who lived where alder trees grew. While the English version can mean someone who lived where ferns grew, Verne can also mean a seller of ferns which in medieval times were used in bedding, as floor coverings and as animal feed.
VéronFrench There are three etymologies possible for this surname: which one applies, will vary per Véron family, as the meaning depends on the personal history of the original bearer of their surname.... [more]
VirayFilipino, Tagalog, Pampangan, Pangasinan Occupational name derived from Tagalog, Pampangan and Pangasinan biray referring to a type of small, flat-bottomed rowing boat.
VivarSpanish, History From the village of Vivar, later renamed Vivar del Cid, nowadays part of Quintanilla Vivar located near Burgos, Castile and León, Spain.... [more]
VivisEnglish (Rare) Found in the 1891, 1901 & 1911 British census, other Ancestry.co.uk records & FreeBMD. Could derive from Vivas from Spanish Catalan
VladiCzech Czech, Slovak, and Romanian: from a short form of the personal name Vladislav, an old Slavic name composed of the elements volod ‘rule’ + slav ‘glory’, Latinized as Ladislaus and found in Hungarian as László ( see Laszlo ).
VoogdDutch Means "guardian" in Dutch, an occupational name for a bailiff, farm manager, or someone appointed to look after the interests of other people. Ultimately from Latin advocatus "witness, advocate; one called upon to help"... [more]
VoracMedieval Latin Derived from the Latin word “vorax,” which means ravenous or greedy.
VõrnoEstonian Võrno is an Estonian surname possibly derived from the prefix "võõr-", meaning "foreign".
VorstDutch, Low German topographic name for someone who lived in a vorst "forest" or habitational name for someone from any of numerous places called Vorst or Voorst... [more]
WagerGerman An occupational name for an official in charge of the city scales.
WagleNorwegian A habitational name derived from farmsteads in Rogaland named Vagle, from the Old Norse vagl meaning a '‘perch’' or '‘roost'’, referring to a high ridge between two lakes.
WäiteLuxembourgish (Germanized, Rare) The name originates from Luxembourg and the surrounding Germanic regions most notably the Rhenish Palatinate from around the 1800s. The word wäite is Luxembourgish for wide and also broad, the word wäit which is an alternative spelling of the Surname Wäite is Luxembourgish for far or distant.... [more]
WaiteEnglish Occupational name for a watchman, Anglo-Norman French waite (cf. Wachter).
WarnsGerman, Dutch Patronymic form of the Germanic given name Warn (see Warin). Alternatively, a habitational name from various Frisian places likely named using the same or similar elements.
WashiJapanese Occupational name for a paper worker. From 和 (wa) meaning "sum" and 紙 (shi) meaning "paper".
WeareEnglish (British) Derived from the Old English wer, meaning a "weir, dam, fishing-trap". This was used as an occupational surname for fishermen. Originated in Devon, England.... [more]
WeideGerman Either a topographic name for someone who lived by a conspicuous willow or by a group of willow trees from Middle High German wide "willow"... [more]
WeltyGerman (Swiss) From a Swiss German diminutive of the German given name Walther. A literary bearer was the American writer Eudora Welty (1909-2001).
WendtGerman, Danish Ethnic name for a Wend, Middle High German wind(e). The Wends (also known as Sorbians) once occupied a large area of northeastern Germany (extending as far west as Lüneburg, with an area called Wendland), and many German place names and surnames are of Wendish origin... [more]
WenigGerman From the German word “wenig”, meaning little.
WhentEnglish Topographical for someone who lived by a cross road, or perhaps a very sharp bend in the road. The derivation being from the Olde English pre 7th century word "wendan," meaning to wander.
WiggsEnglish (British) The surname Wiggs was first found in Leicestershire where they held a family seat from very ancient times, at Lennerlyde. This interesting name has two possible origins. The first being a metonymic occupational name for a maker of wedge-shaped bread, from the Medieval English "Wigge" meaning "wedge-shaped"... [more]
WirtaFinnish From virta ‘stream’, used as a topographic name, also as a soldier’s name in the 17th century. Also adopted as an ornamental name, especially in western and southern Finland.
WirtzGerman One who acted as host in a tavern or inn.
WitekPolish, English (Rare) From the personal name Wit, a short form of Witold, a derivative of Lithuanian Vytautas, a compound of vyti 'to guide' + tauta 'the people'... [more]
WitlyEnglish Variant of Whitley, a habitational name from any of various places named with Old English hwit ‘white’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.
WitteGerman, Dutch, English Cognate to and variant of White, a nickname for someone with white or blonde hair or an unusually pale complexion
WoganIrish From the Old Welsh personal name Gwgan or Gwgon, originally probably a nickname meaning literally "little scowler". (Cf. the second element in Cadogan.) This surname is borne by Irish radio and television presenter Terry Wogan (1938-).
WorthEnglish From the Old English WORÞ, meaning "enclosure".
WrayeEnglish Variant of the habitational name Wray or Ray, from any of various minor places in northern England named Wray, Wrea, or Wreay, from Old Norse vrá ‘nook’, ‘corner’, ‘recess’.
WrinnIrish (Anglicized) From Irish Gaelic Ó Rinn "descendant of Rinn", a personal name perhaps based on reann "spear".
WrytaNorman Old Norse Men Normans Wryta brothers fought with William The Conqueror at Battle of Hastings onto King Henry VIII granting landed, gentry, coat of arms, baronetcy, and lord title to Sir John Wright 1 of Kelvedon Hall ESsex on 6/20/1509
WujekPolish It literally means "uncle" in Polish but it could possibly refer to the Polesian village of the same name.