LarkinIrish Reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Lorcáin meaning "descendant of Lorcán".
La RosaItalian Derived from Italian rosa meaning "rose", used as a name for someone who lived by a rose bush.
LaroseFrench Topographic name for someone who lived at a place where wild roses grew; or a habitational name from a town house bearing the sign of a rose. It may also have been a nickname for a man with a ‘rosy’ complexion, as well as a nickname of a soldier... [more]
LarterEnglish Uncertain etymology. Possibly a variant of the French Habitational surname Latour. Other theories connect it to Old Teutonic lahtro "place where animals bear young", or to Old English lyrt "liar, deceiver; crooked", though the latter is unlikely.
LasterEnglish Occupational name for a shoemaker, or for someone who made lasts, a wooden tool in the shape of a foot used for stretching and shaping leather when making boots.
LatinoItalian From the medieval personal name Latino, originally an ethnic name for someone of Latin as opposed to Germanic, Byzantine or Slavic descent.
LatourFrench Either a topographic name for someone who lived near a tower usually a defensive fortification or watchtower from Old French tūr "tower"; or a habitational name from any of various places called Latour or La Tour named with this word.
LattikEstonian Lattik is an Estonian surname meaning "bar" or "lathe".
LauderScottish, Northern Irish From a village in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders. It derives from the Celtic Lauuedder, probably indicating a rapidly flowing river, cognate with Modern Welsh llifer meaning 'to gush'.
LäuferGerman, Jewish Habitational name for someone from a place called Lauf, also an occupational name for a messenger or a nickname for a fast runner, from an agent derivative of Middle High German loufen, German laufen ‘to run’.
LauperGerman (Swiss) From the short form of a Germanic personal name composed of the elements liut 'people', 'tribe' + berht 'famous'. topographic name for someone who lived at a Lauben, a row of houses and stores with an arcade in front, from Middle High German loube 'arbor', 'bower', 'gallery'.
LaurelSpanish, Portuguese, Filipino, Tagalog, Cebuano Topographic name for someone who lived by a laurel tree, Spanish laurel (Latin laurus), or a habitational name from Laurel in the Canary Islands.
LaversEnglish English (chiefly Devon and Cornwall): Medieval English and occupational, from pre-10th century Old French "lavandier". Introduced by the Normans after 1066, originally described a worker in the wool industry, and was a metonymic or nickname for a person employed to wash raw wool or rinse the cloth after fulling... [more]
LaveryIrish, Northern Irish From the Gaelic Ó Labhradha, "descendants of Labhradha" (speaker, spokesman, the father of Etru, chief of the Monagh of the Irish over-kingdom of Ulaid); the name of an ancient family originating from Magh Rath (present-day Moira, County Down, Northern Ireland)... [more]
LawlerIrish, Scottish This Irish surname is of Gaelic language origin. The surname derives from the original Gaelic 'O'Leathlobhair' meaning 'descendant of leathlobhair'. Leathlobhair derives from 'Leath' meaning 'Half' and 'Lobhar' meaning 'leper'.... [more]
LawtonEnglish Habitational name, common in Lancashire and Yorkshire, from Buglawton or Church Lawton in Cheshire, or Lawton in Herefordshire, named in Old English as ‘settlement on or near a hill’, or ‘settlement by a burial mound’, from hlaw ‘hill’, ‘burial mound’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’... [more]
LazkaoBasque (Rare) Habitational name possibly derived from Basque latsa "small stream, riverlet".
LazrakArabic (Maghrebi) Derived from Arabic الأزرق (al ʾazraq) meaning "the blue (one)", from أَزْرَق (ʾazraq) "blue". It is chiefly used for Moroccan Arabic.
LeavisEnglish Possibly from the Gallo-Roman name Laevius meaning "left", related to Levy.
LebleuFrench From French bleu "blue" with the masculine element le from a nickname for someone who wore blue clothes with blue eyes or a person with a bluish complexion.
Le BrasBreton Altered form of Breton Ar Brazh meaning "the great, the imposing" or "the big, the fat", ultimately from Proto-Celtic *brassos "great, violent".
LebrónGalician This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the municipality of A Pobra do Brollón.
LebrónSpanish Lebrón is a surname most prevalent in the Autonomous Community of Andalucía. It is an augmentative of liebre (meaning "hare" in Spanish).
LeckeyScottish, English, Irish Originally Scottish, but also found in England, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Possibly derives from the barony of Leckie (meaning "place of flagstones", from Gaelic leac, "flagstone") in Stirlingshire.
LedgerEnglish From the given name Leodegar or Legier. Alternatively, could be an occupational name for a stonemason, ultimately derived from Old English lecgan "to put, place, lay (down)".
LedouxFrench, Belgian Means "the amiable" from French doux meaning "sweet, soft, gentle".
LefilsFrench, Haitian Creole Derived from French le "the" and fils "son". This was originally a nickname to distinguish a son from his father with the same given name.
LefortFrench, Walloon Either a nickname from French le fort "the strong" (see Fort ). It is also found in Germany where it is probably of Alsatian origin (compare Lefor ) and in Haiti where it most likely originates from the nickname Lefort... [more]
Le GallFrench From a nickname which means “the Gaul”.
LeggioItalian From Sicilian leggiu "light, not heavy; superficial", a nickname for someone considered unreliable or irresponsible. Variant of Leggièri.
LegkovmRussian Derived from Russian word легко (lyegko) meaning easy.
LegoreItalian (Americanized, ?) Possibly related to the Italian surname Legori, derived from a Lombard dialect form of lepre "hare". However, Legore is not attested in Italian records.
LehaneIrish Lehane (Irish: Ó Liatháin) is an uncommon Irish surname, typically from County Cork. Ó Liatháin is more frequently anglicized as Lane or Lyons. The surname is also found in County Donegal where it was also anglicized from the Ulster branch of O'Liathain into Lehane, Lane, Lyons,and Lawn.
LehighGerman, Irish Derived from a Native American word "Lechauwekink", meaning "where there are forks in the stream". Variant of Lechau .
LehmusEstonian Lehmus is an Estonian surname relating to "lehm" meaning "cow".
LehnerGerman Status name for a feudal tenant or vassal, from an agent derivative of Middle High German lehen 'to hold land as a feudal tenant'. variant of Leonhardt.
LeholaEstonian Lehola is an Estonian surname derived from the name of a village in ancient Sakala County.
LeidigGerman From a short form of any of several Germanic personal names composed with the first element liut ‘people’, ‘tribe’. Also a nickname for a disagreeable, cantankerous person, from Middle High German leidic ‘disagreeable’, ‘tiresome’.
LeidmaEstonian Leidma is an Estonian surname meaning "find".
LeiterGerman From Leiter ‘leader’, status name for a foreman or for the leader of a military expedition, from Middle High German leiten ‘lead’.German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Leitner.
LemassFrench, Irish Meaning uncertain. It may be derived from Old French maistre meaning "master", ultimately from Latin magister (see Masterson). Another theory holds that it comes from Irish Gaelic Laighmheasa, a given name meaning "dispatch"... [more]
LemberEstonian Lember is an Estonian surname derived from "lembe", meaning "loving" and "affectionate".
LemireFrench From Old French "Mire" (From Latin medicus, meaning physician), with French definite article "Le".
LennukEstonian Lennuk is an Estonian surname derived from "lennukas", meaning "high-spirited" and "energetic". "Lennuk" is also the current Estonian word for "airplane", but the original surname predates this meaning... [more]
LenoirFrench French surname which was originally a nickname for a person with dark hair or skin, derived from noir "black" combined with the definite article le. A famous bearer is Étienne Lenoir (1822 - 1900), the inventor of the internal combustion engine.
LentonEnglish Habitational name from any of several places called Lenton, which can be derived from the name of the River Leen (from a Celtic word meaning "lake, pool") in Nottinghamshire, from the Old English given name Lāfa (see Leif) in Lincolnshire, or possibly from Old English lin "flax" in some cases, all combined with tun "town, enclosure, settlement".
LesnarGerman Variant spelling of German Lessner, a habitational name from any of various places in eastern Germany called Lessen, all named with Slavic les 'forest'.
LesterEnglish Habitational name from Leicester which is recorded as Ligeraceastre in the 10th century. The placename derives from an Old English folk name Legore "the dwellers by the river Legor (a lost river name)" and Old English ceaster "city Roman fortification" (from Latin castrum) "camp fortress".
LevantEnglish Derived from the Italian word levante, meaning "rising" and the French word levant, meaning "to rise". The term entered the English language in 1497 and was used to describe the "Mediterranean lands east of Italy" by referring to the rising of the sun in the east... [more]
LichteGerman Habitational name for someone who lived in a clearing (see Lucht) or topographic name from a town in Germany, situated by the Lichte river. Alternatively, a variant of Licht.
LiconaSpanish Habitational name from a place called Likoa in Basque Country.
LidmanSwedish Combination of Swedish place name element lid "slope, hillside" and man "man". A notable bearer was Swedish writer Sara Lidman (1923-2004).
LiemanDutch From a Germanic personal name composed of liut "people", or possibly liob "dear, beloved", combined with man "person, man" (see Liutman, Liefman).
LinleyEnglish This surname can be derived from a place of the same name in Shropshire, which is derived from Old English lín meaning "flax, linen" and leah meaning "clearing." As a modern surname, it can also be a variant of Lindley (Lindley is used in 2 places in Yorkshire), which is derived from Old English lind meaning "lime tree" and leah.
LinneyEnglish From an Old English female personal name Lindgifu, Lindgeofu, composed of the elements lind ‘lime (wood)’, i.e. ‘shield’ (a transferred sense) + gifu, geofu ‘gift’.
LinnusEstonian Linnus is an Estonian surname meaning "castle" or "citadel".
LipskiPolish, Jewish Habitational name for someone from any of various places called Lipie, Lipsk, Lipsko, Lipy, etc., all named with Polish lipa meaning "lime tree".
LirnykUkrainian Derived from Ukrainian лірник (lirnyk) meaning "lirnyk". Lirnyky were itinerant Ukrainian musicians who performed religious, historical and epic songs to the accompaniment of a lira.
LivazaDungan Dungan surname of unknown meaning; the second element is derived from Chinese 娃子 (wázǐ) meaning "child".
LivelyEnglish A modern English surname possibly derived from a lost village called Laefer-leah which would give it the meaning "the farm by the lake".... [more]
LivelyEnglish Nickname from Middle English lifly, "lively", "nimble".