De RaisHistory Denoted a person from the historical subregion of France, once a part of the Duchy of Brittany, Pays de Retz, historically called Rais, Rays, or Raiz during the Middle Ages. Gilles de Rais (1405-1440) was a knight and lord from Brittany, known for his confession as a serial killer of children.
De RomaMedieval Spanish (Rare) A Spanish locational surname meaning “Of Rome”, perhaps for a Spaniard who lived in Rome or an Italian expat who immigrated to Spain
DevallFrench, English Devall (also DeVall) is a surname of Norman origin with both English and French ties.Its meaning is derived from French the town of Deville, Ardennes. It was first recorded in England in the Domesday Book.In France, the surname is derived from 'de Val' meaning 'of the valley.'
DevaneMarathi Someone descended from deva(god).Someone who is like a god
DevoreFrench French: variant of De Var, a habitational name for someone from a place named Var, for example in Charente. Respelling of French Devors, a habitational name, with the preposition de, for someone from Vors in Aveyron.
De WaalDutch, Walloon Means "the Walloon" in Dutch, derived from Middle Dutch wale, originally indicating a person who came from Wallonia, a French-speaking region of southern Belgium. It could also possibly be a variant spelling of Van Der Walle and De Walle meaning "the wall"', though evidence for this is lacking... [more]
De WolfDutch, Flemish Means "the wolf", a nickname given to someone associated with wolves in some way, or a habitational name for someone who lived by a sign depicting a wolf. Could also be a patronymic form of Wolf.
DiakosGreek Meaning Deacon. Notable bearer of this name is Athanasios Diakos (1786–1821), a Greek military commander during the Greek War of Independence and a national hero.
DialloWestern African, Fula Derived from the Fula clan name Jallo of uncertain meaning. Diallo is a common name throughout West Africa.
DickerEnglish Either an occupational name for a digger of ditches or a builder of dikes, or a topographic name for someone who lived by a ditch or dike, derived from Middle English dike or dik meaning "dyke.
DickeyIrish Northern Irish: from a pet form of the personal name Dick 1.
Di ColaItalian The surname Di Cola originates from the diminutive of the male name Nicola, widespread especially in the city of Bari, devoted to its patron saint.
DillonIrish, English Could be an Irish form of the Breton surname de Léon, meaning "of Léon", an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Duilleáen, from the given name Dallán "little blind one", or be from a Norman French personal name derived from Ancient Germanic Dillo, possibly a byname from dil- "destroy".
DineenIrish (Anglicized) Reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Duinnín which meant "descendant of Duinnín". The byname Duinnín was derived from a diminutive of Gaelic donn meaning "brown" (i.e. "brown-haired man") or "chieftain".
DingerEnglish Means "one who rings the bell," which is most likely a butler
DingleEnglish A name for someone who lives near a dingle, a small wooded dell or hollow.
DingliMaltese Dingli is a surname coming from the small village of Had-Dingli in Malta.
DiskinIrish (Anglicized) Reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Díscín "descendant of Díscín", which may be derived from díosc "barren". The place name Ballyeeskeen, now Ballydiscin, in County Sligo, is derived from the surname.
DistelGerman, Low German, Dutch Means "thistle" in German and Dutch, a topographic name for someone who lived by a patch of ground overgrown with thistles, or perhaps a nickname for a "prickly" person.
DobellEnglish (Australian) Sir William. 1899–1970, Australian portrait and landscape painter. Awarded the Archibald prize (1943) for his famous painting of Joshua Smith which resulted in a heated clash between the conservatives and the moderns and led to a lawsuit.
DobeshCzech (Americanized) Americanized spelling of Czech Dobeš, from the Czech personal name Tobiáš, or of German Döbesch, from the same Czech personal name or some other Slavic form of Tobias .
DonatoItalian From the medieval personal name Donato (Latin Donatus, past participle of donare, frequentative of dare "to give"). It was the name of a 4th-century Italian bishop martyred in c. 350 under Julian the Apostate, as well as various other early saints, and a 4th-century grammarian and commentator on Virgil, widely respected in the Middle Ages as a figure of great learning.
DonkerDutch Means "dark, dim, somber" in Dutch, a nickname for a person with dark hair or a dark complexion, or perhaps for someone with a gloomy demeanour.
DoonleSomali The surname "Doonle" can be interpreted as "the one who seeks" or "the seeker." This reflects a meaningful characteristic of pursuit and exploration. The name is derived from the Somali word "doon," which means "to seek" or "to want." Additionally, "doon" also translates to "boat," symbolizing the journey and exploration of new horizons.
DoradoSpanish From dorado "golden" (from Late Latin deaurare "to gild", from aurum "gold"), probably applied as a nickname to someone with golden hair.
DormanEnglish From the Old English personal name Deormann, composed of Old English deor (see Dear) + mann 'man'. This surname became established in Ireland in the 17th century; sometimes it is found as a variant of Dornan.
DossatEnglish, Scottish Possibly from French origins (used predominantly in Louisiana in the United States).
DosterGerman, Belgian A German surname, which is from an agent derivative of the Middle High German words 'doste' and 'toste' (meaning ‘wild thyme’, ‘shrub’, ‘bouquet’). It is a topographic surname which was given to someone whose land abutted an uncultivated piece of land, or possibly an occupational name for someone who dealt herbs.... [more]
DotaniJapanese (Rare) 戸 (Do) means "door" or 藤 (do) means "wisteria". 谷 (Tani) means "valley".
DotsonEnglish Patronymic of the Middle English name Dodde. Originally derived from the Germanic root dodd meaning "something rounded", used to denote a short, rotund man.
DötterGerman From a Germanic personal name formed with theud ‘people’, ‘race’ + hard ‘hardy’, ‘strong’ or hari, heri ‘army’
DoucetFrench Nickname for a gentle minded person from French doux "sweet" (from Latin dulcis).
DouchiJapanese Possibly from 戸 (do) meaning "door" and 内 (uchi) meaning "inside".
DouwesDutch, Frisian From the given name Douwe, itself derived from Frisian dou meaning "dove, pigeon". A notable bearer was the Dutch writer Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820-1887), better known by his pen name Multatuli.
DovbykUkrainian Means "one who works with wood", from Ukrainian довбати (dovbaty), which means "to dig, to make a hole, to cut out" (referring to wood in this case).
DowardEnglish, Welsh Indicated that the bearer lived by two hills, from Old Welsh dou "two" and garth "hill"
DowellEnglish, Scottish, Irish Derived from the Gaelic name Dubhgall, composed of the elements dubh meaning "black" and gall, "stranger". This was used as a byname for Scandinavians, in particular to distinguish the dark-haired Danes from fair-haired Norwegians.
DowlerEnglish Occupational name for a maker of dowels and similar objects, from a derivative of Middle English “dowle”.
DowsonEnglish Either a patronymic surname derived from the given name Dow, a medieval variant of Daw (which was a diminutive of David), or else a metronymic form of the medieval feminine name Dowce, literally "sweet, pleasant", from Old French dolz, dous (cf... [more]
DozierFrench Meaning "lives near willow trees" or possibly someone who made goods, such as baskets, from willow wood.
DragonFrench, English Nickname or occupational name for someone who carried a standard in battle or else in a pageant or procession, from Middle English, Old French dragon "snake, monster" (Latin draco, genitive draconis, from Greek drakōn, ultimately from derkesthai "to flash")... [more]
DragooAmerican, French (Huguenot) Americanized form of Dragaud, a French (Huguenot) surname derived from the Germanic given name Dragwald, itself derived from the elements drag- meaning "to carry" and wald "power, rule".
DrakosGreek From the Greek name Δρακων (Drakon) which means "dragon, serpent"
DrexelGerman, Jewish It originates from the pre 7th century word 'dreseler' meaning 'to turn', a verb which in medieval times had a wide range of meanings.
DriverEnglish Occupational name for a driver of horses or oxen attached to a cart or plow, or of loose cattle, from a Middle English agent derivative of Old English drīfan ‘to drive’.
DrumpfGerman The surname "Drumpf" is of German origin and dates back to the 16th century¹. It is most commonly known as the likely predecessor to the family name of DonaldTrump, the businessman and 45th president of the United States¹... [more]
DrydenEnglish Possibly from an English place name meaning "dry valley" from the Old English elements drȳġe "dry" and denu "valley". A notable bearer was the English poet, literary critic, translator and playwright John Dryden (1631-1700).
Du AiméFrench The Duaime surname comes from an Old French word "hamel," which meant "homestead." It was likely first used as a name to describe someone who lived at a farm on the outskirts of a main town, or for someone that lived in a small village.
DuclosFrench du 'from the' from Old French clos 'enclosure' (see Clos ) or a habitational name for someone from Le Clos the name of several places in various parts of France so it means "from the enclosure"
DudkinRussian Derived from Russian дудка (dudka) meaning "fife, pipe", referring to a folk instrument played by shepherds. Thus, it was used to denote someone who made pipes or a shepherd who played pipes.
DudzaiShona Dudzai means "Speak it out, confess it".
DueñasSpanish From the name of a municipality in Palencia province, Spain, derived from Spanish dueña meaning "madame, mistress".
DuerreGerman Topographic name for a person who lived on a dry, barren land, derived from Old German durri and German dürre meaning "barren, infertile". It could also be a variant of Dürr.
DundasScottish, Northern Irish Scottish and northern Irish (Counties Leitrim and Fermanagh): habitational name from Dundas, a place near Edinburgh, Scotland, which is named from Gaelic dùn ‘hill’ + deas ‘south’.