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.
ElortzaBasque Derived from Basque elorri "hawthorn, thorn" and the abundance suffix -tza.
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)".
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.
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’.
ErbakanTurkish From Turkish er meaning "man, hero, brave" and bakan meaning "minister". A famous bearer of this name was Necmettin Erbakan (1926-2011), a Prime Minister of Turkey.
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]
EstrelaPortuguese The surname Estrela, of Portuguese origin, means "star," symbolizing guidance, hope, and celestial beauty, and is commonly found in Portugal.
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".
EtxagueBasque Habitational name derived from Basque etxe "house, home, building" and an altered form of the suffix -gune "place, area".
EtxaideBasque It indicates familial origin within either of 2 Navarrese neighborhoods: the one in Elizondo or the one in Anue.
EtxalarBasque From the name of a town and municipality in Navarre, Spain, derived from Basque etxe "house, home, building" and larre "pasture, meadow, prairie".
EtxauriBasque From the name of a town in Navarre, Spain, derived from Basque etxe "house, building" and uri "town, city".
EtzdorfGerman Origin and meaning unknown, possibly a given name. Usually has nobiliary particle "Von".
EubanksEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a bank of yew trees, from Old English iw "yew" and bank "bank".
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.
FagerliNorwegian From a common farm name in the Oslo area and saeters from Innladet and Hordaland, derived from Old Norse fagr "beautiful, fair" and hlíð "slope".
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]
FawcettEnglish Habitational name from Fawcett, Westmorland, or Facit, Lancashire, both derived from Old English fāh "multicoloured, variegated, colourful" and sīde "side, hill slope"... [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.
FellousJudeo-Spanish Derived from Maghrebi Arabic فلوس (fallus) meaning "chick, young chicken".
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]
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]
FiguierFrench (Rare) From French figuier meaning "fig tree" (ultimately from Latin ficus; a cognate of Figueroa), possibly indicating a person who lived near a fig tree or one who owned a plantation of fig trees.
FilagicSerbian, Croatian Probably derived from the Turkish word aga. Agas were the Sultan's regents.
FilkinsEnglish Means either (i) "person from Filkins", Oxfordshire ("settlement of Filica's people"); or "son of Filkin", a medieval personal name meaning literally "little Phil", from Philip.
FilleryEnglish From a medieval nickname derived from Anglo-Norman fitz le rei "son of the king" (see also Fitzroy), probably applied mainly (and ironically) to an illegitimate person or to someone who put on quasi-royal airs.
FillionFrench, French (Quebec) Probably a diminutive of fils or fille, respectively "son" and "daughter". May have alluded to the bearer being the youngest amongst siblings.
FinkleaEnglish Variant form of Finkley. A famous bearer was the American actress and dancer Cyd Charisse (1922-2008), whose birth name was Tula Ellice Finklea.
FinkleyEnglish From Finkley, a hamlet in Hampshire, England, derived from Old English finc meaning "finch" and leah meaning "woodland, clearing".