EdamuraJapanese The kanji 枝 (Eda) means "Branch", while 村 (Mura) means "Town, Village". Combine the two and the surname means "Branching Town/Village".
EdevaneWelsh, Cornish A rare Welsh surname, believed to be of Cornish origin. This surname is made up of two elements. ‘Ed’ is not a shortened form of Edward, but derives from the ancient (Old English?) ‘ead’ meaning ‘prosperity’ and/or ‘happiness’... [more]
EdgerlyEnglish Habitational name from any of numerous minor places named Edgerley, Edgerely, or Hedgerley.
EinasteEstonian Einaste is an Estonian surname, possibly derived from "eine", meaning "meal". Possibly also from the German surname "Einmann".
EinhornGerman, Jewish Derived from German Einhorn (Middle High German einhorn) "unicorn", denoting someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of a unicorn.
EjioforWestern African, Igbo Means "one who acts in good faith" in Igbo. A famous bearer is British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (1977-).
ElfvingSwedish Possibly a combination of an obsolete spelling of Swedish älv "river" and the suffix -ing (ultimately from Proto-Germanic -ingaz) meaning "coming from, belonging to, descending from"... [more]
EllicotScottish The Ellicot family name was first used by descendants of the Pictish people of ancient Scotland. It is a name for someone who lived in Liddesdale and Teviotdale where the family has a long and distinguished history dating back to the early Middle Ages... [more]
ElmahdyArabic (Egyptian) Means "the Mahdi" from Arabic مَهْدِيّ (mahdiyy) meaning "guided one, rightly guided". In Islam, the term refers to a figure who will restore peace to the world.
ElmalehJudeo-Spanish, Arabic From Arabic مَالِح (māliḥ) meaning "salty, savoury", probably used to refer to a salt trader.
ElmalikNorthern African, Arabic From Arabic الْمَالِك (al-mālik) meaning "the king" or "the owner" (chiefly Sudanese).
El MasryArabic (Egyptian) Means "the Egyptian", from Arabic مِصْرِيّ (miṣriyy) meaning "Egyptian person".
El OuafiArabic (Maghrebi) Means "the Ouafi", derived from the given name Wafi. A bearer was AhmedBoughèra El Ouafi (1898-1959), an Algerian athlete during the French rule over the country.
El-qasesArabic It means "the narrative (which refers to the title of a chapter of the Quran)".
EngdahlSwedish Combination of Swedish äng "meadow" and dal "valley".
EngelbyAnglo-Saxon The name Engelby has a long Anglo-Saxon heritage, from people of the village of Ingoldsby, Lincolnshire, or from Ingleby, found in Derbyshire, or at Ingleby-Berwick, North Yorkshire.
EnglandNorwegian (Rare) From the name of several farms in Norway, named with Old Norse eng "meadow" and land "land".
EnokidaJapanese 榎 (Enoki) means "Hackle/Chinese Nettle Berry Tree", and 田 (Da) means "Rice Paddy, Field". A notable bearer with this family name is Daiki Enokida, who is a professional baseball player.
EplboymYiddish It means "apple tree", denoting either someone who planted them or lived near them.
EpperlyAnglo-Saxon This name is a variant of Apperly. The meaning of Apperly in English is habitational name from Apperley in Deerhurst (Gloucestershire) which derives from Old English apuldor ‘apple-tree’ + lēah ‘open woodland’... [more]
EpsteinGerman, Jewish A habitational name for someone from a place named Eppstein, which is from Old High German ebur meaning ‘wild boar’ and stein meaning ‘stone’.
EriksonEnglish, Swedish Means "son of Erik". This was famously used by Icelandic explorer Leif Erikson (Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson).
EriksooEstonian Eriksoo is an Estonian surname meaning "Erik's swamp" in Estonian. However, it most likely derived from a corruption of the Swedish surname "Eriksson" that has been Estonianized.
EscatelSpanish Derived from the Latin word “scatellum,” which means “small coin”. It is likely that the surname originally referred to someone who was involved in the production or circulation of small coins, or who had a reputation for being particularly frugal or economical... [more]
EschelsLow German A name common to the native inhabitants of the island of Föhr off the coast of northern Germany.
EscobarSpanish A topographic name from a collective form of escoba, meaning 'broom' (from the late Latin, scopa), or a habitational name from either of two minor places in Santander province called Escobedo.
EtienamNigerian, Ibibio (?), Spanish (Caribbean, ?) This is a name which originates from the Calabar/Akwa Ibom region of southeastern Nigeria. It means "a doer of good, or benevolent". It is also found in Spanish-speaking regions of the Caribbean such as Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Cuba (El Oriente) which have populations of people of Ibibio/Efik decent known as "Carabali".
EvertonEnglish Habitational name from any of various places, in Bedfordshire, Merseyside, and Nottinghamshire, so named from Old English eofor ‘wild boar’ + tun ‘settlement’.
EveshamEnglish Derived from the Old English homme or ham and Eof, the name of a swineherd in the service of Egwin, third bishop of Worcester.
FairfaxEnglish From a medieval nickname for someone with beautiful hair, from Old English fæger "fair" and feax "hair". It was borne by the English general Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Baron Fairfax of Cameron (1612-1671), commander of the Parliamentary army during the Civil War... [more]
FajardoGalician Topographic name for someone who lived by a beech tree or in a beech wood, from Late Latin fagea (arbor) meaning "beech (tree)", a derivative of classical Latin fagus meaning "beech".
FalangaItalian From Sicilian falanga "plank, temporary bridge; fence".
FalascaItalian Possibly from a dialectical word falasca meaning "straw", referring to someone's build or hair, or possibly an occupation of making things out of straw.
FanningIrish The roots of the name are unclear. It seems the name is Native Irish Gaelic. It is thought to be derived from the Gaelic name Ó Fionnáin which means "fair".
FaradayIrish From Irish Gaelic Ó Fearadaigh "descendant of Fearadach", a personal name probably based on fear "man", perhaps meaning literally "man of the wood". A famous bearer was British chemist and physicist Michael Faraday (1791-1867).
FarooqiMuslim Muslim: Arabic family name (Fārūqī), denoting someone descended from or associated with someone called Farooq , in particular a descendant of the khalif ῾Umar.
FastolfEnglish From the Old Norse male personal name Fastúlfr, literally "strong wolf". It was borne by Sir John Fastolf (1380-1459), an English soldier whose name was adapted by Shakespeare as "Falstaff".
FaucettEnglish Locational surname from various British places: Fawcett in Cumberland, Facit in Lancashire, Forcett in North Yorkshire, or Fa’side Castle in East Lothian, Scotland. The linguistic origins of the name arise variously from, in Cumberland and Lancashire, "multi-coloured hillside" in 7th century Old English fag or fah, "brightly coloured, variegated, flowery" with side, "slope"; in North Yorkshire from Old English ford, "ford", and sete, "house, settlement"; or, reputedly, in East Lothian, "fox on a hillside"... [more]
FeatherEnglish from Middle English fetherfedder "feather" or perhaps a shortened form of Middle English fetherer applied as a metonymic occupational name for a trader in feathers and down a maker of quilts or possibly a maker of pens... [more]
FechterGerman Occupational name derived from Middle High German vehten "to fence", denoting a fencer. Notable bearers include German bricklayer Peter Fechter (1944–1962), and American engineer and inventor Aaron Fechter (1953-), creator of the band Rock-afire Explosion.
FeinmanGerman, Jewish Nickname for a fine person, derived from either Middle High German fīn meaning "fine, elegant, cultivated" or German fein and Yiddish fayn meaning "fine, excellent", combined with man.
FellowsEnglish English: patronymic from Fellow, from Middle English felagh, felaw late Old English feolaga ‘partner’, ‘shareholder’ (Old Norse félagi, from fé ‘fee’, ‘money’ + legja to lay down)... [more]
FensterGerman, Jewish Occupational name for a window maker from Middle High German venster German fenster "window".
FenwickEnglish Means "person from Fenwick", Northumberland, Strathclyde and Yorkshire ("dairy farm in fenland"). The name is pronounced as "Fennick". It belongs to a chain of department stores, founded in Newcastle in 1882 by John Fenwick (1846-1905).
FerrandFrench, English This French surname can be derived from a given name (thus making it a patronymic surname) as well as from a nickname (thus making it a descriptive surname). In the case of a patronymic surname, the surname is derived from the medieval French masculine given name Ferrand, which was a variant form of the name Fernand, itself a contraction of Ferdinand.... [more]
FerrersAncient Roman It derives from Latin, "ferrum", which means "iron". As a surname, it derives from two French villages named "Ferrieres" where iron was mined.
FerrierScottish Scottish: occupational name for a smith, one who shoed horses, Middle English and Old French ferrier, from medieval Latin ferrarius, from ferrus ‘horseshoe’, from Latin ferrum ‘iron’. Compare Farrar.
FeuilleFrench This is actually a standard word in French, correctly pronounce like "furry" without the r's. It means "leaf", or "sheet" (i.e. feuille de papier).
FeulnerGerman Franconian dialect form of Feilner (see Feiler), or derived from Feuln, a town near the district of Kulmbach, Bavaria, Germany. A notable bearer is the American academic Edwin Feulner (1941-).
FeverelEnglish From a Middle English form of February, probably used as a nickname either for someone born in that month or for someone with a suitably frosty demeanor. In fiction, this surname was borne by the central character of George Meredith's novel 'The Ordeal of Richard Feverel' (1859).
FianderEnglish (British) The Fiander surname may have it's origins in Normandy, France (possibly from the old-French "Vyandre"), but is an English (British) surname from the Dorset county region. The Fiander name can also be found in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, Canada the origins of which can be traced back to the mid-1700's in the village of Milton Abbas, Dorsetshire.
FicheraItalian From Sicilian fichera "fig tree", a nickname for someone who grew or sold figs, or perhaps lived near them.
FichterGerman Topographic name for someone who lived near pine trees (originally bei den Fichten, Feichten, or Feuchten), from Old High German fiohta. The vowel of the first syllable underwent a variety of changes in different dialects.
FichterGerman (Austrian) Habitational name deriving from places named with this word in Württemberg, Bavaria, Saxony, or Austria.
FiennesEnglish Derived from Fiennes, a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. The wealthy and influential Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes family, prominent in British society, originated in northern France... [more]