GiffordEnglish Gifford is an English name for someone who comes from Giffords Hall in Suffolk. In Old English, it was Gyddingford, or "ford associated with Gydda." Alternatively, it could come from the Middle English nickname, "Giffard," from Old French meaning "chubby-cheeked."
GiguèreFrench, French (Quebec) Unclear, possibly from Middle French giguer ("to dance, to frolick") but could also refer to the gigue, a medieval three-string vielle, which would suggest a musical profession.
GillardEnglish English from a pejorative derivative of the personal name Giles.
GillardEnglish, French, Swiss English and French from an assimilated form of the personal name Gislehard, a compound of Old High German gisel ‘hostage’, ‘pledge’, ‘noble youth’ (see Giesel) + hard ‘hardy’... [more]
GiudiceItalian Occupational name for an officer of justice, Italian giudice " judge" (Latin iudex, from ius "law" + dicere "to say"). In some cases it may have been applied as a nickname for a solemn and authoritative person thought to behave like a judge.
GladneyEnglish Probably means "bright island", from the Old English element glæd "bright" (cf. Glædwine) and the English element ney "island" (cf.... [more]
GlæpurPopular Culture Means "crime" in Icelandic. Glanni Glæpur, or Robbie Rotten as he is called in English, is a fictional character in the Icelandic children's TV-show 'LazyTown' played by StefánKarlStefánsson... [more]
GlauberJewish (Ashkenazi) Derived from German glauben "to believe" and the suffix -er. It was originally given either to an elder of the tribe, one renowned for his counsel, or to a layman who kept 'the faith'.
GlissenEnglish, Irish Possible British version of the Irish surname Glasson from the the Gaelic word O’Glasain. Meaning green from the counties of Tipperary.
GlosterEnglish habitational name from the city of Gloucester. The place originally bore the British name Glevum (apparently from a cognate of Welsh gloyw "bright") to which was added the Old English element ceaster "Roman fort or walled city" (from Latin castrum "legionary camp")... [more]
GokhaleIndian, Marathi Derived from Sanskrit गवाक्ष (gavaksha) meaning "round window" (literally "cow eye"), from गो (go) meaning "cow" and अक्षि (akshi) meaning "eye"... [more]
GołańczPolish It denotes that a family originated in the eponymous Greater Polish town.
GombertFrench, German French and German: from Gundbert, a Germanic personal name composed of the elements gund ‘battle’ + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’... [more]
GonyeauFrench Respelling of French Gagnon, found predominantly in New England, possibly also of Gagneau, from a diminutive of Gagne.
GonzagaSpanish, Portuguese, Italian (Archaic) Habitational name for someone from a location called Gonzaga in Mantua, Italy. This was the name of an Italian family that ruled Mantua from 1328 to 1708.
GoodallEnglish Habitational name from Gowdall in East Yorkshire, named from Old English golde "marigold" and Old English halh "nook, recess".
GoodallEnglish From Middle English gode "good" and ale "ale, malt liquor", hence a metonymic occupational name for a brewer or an innkeeper.
GoodbarGerman (Anglicized), English Possibly an altered spelling of English Godber, derived from the medieval given name Godebert, or an occupational name for a beer brewer and a nickname for a toper... [more]
GoodloeEnglish Goodloe traces back to the English Gidlow. The first recorded use of the name is from 1291; Robert de Gidlow was a freeholder in Aspull, Lancanshire, United Kingdom and the name occurs frequently down to the 17th century... [more]
GörlitzGerman The name of a small town in Saxony. Derived from old Sorbian word "Zgorelc" meaning "settlement on a burned-out forest."
GormleyIrish (Anglicized) Anglicised form of Ó Gormghaile meaning "descendant of Gormghal," Gormghal, a personal name, being derived from gorm meaning "noble, (dark) blue" and gal meaning "valour, ardour."
GorritiBasque From the name of a town in Navarre, Spain, probably derived from Basque gorri meaning "red" or "bare, stripped".
GorsuchEnglish Habitational name from the hamlet of Gorsuch, Lancashire, earlier Gosefordsich, derived from Old English gosford meaning "goose ford" and sic meaning "small stream".
GoswamiIndian, Bengali, Hindi, Assamese Derived from Sanskrit गोस्वामिन् (gosvamin) meaning "religious mendicant" (literally "owner of cows" or "lord of cows"), from गो (go) meaning "cow" and स्वामिन् (svamin) meaning "owner, lord, master".
GoudeauGermanic (Rare, Archaic), French Possible variant of the surname Goethe. It also possibly derives from the diminutive Old French of "gode", meaning "happy-go-lucky, debauched".
GoudierGerman Germanic patronym from "godhari" meaning "army of God".
GoulterEnglish (Rare) This very unusual name has long been recorded in England but perhaps surprisingly as a Norman personal name. The first recording in England was as "Galterii" which appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 for London as a French form of the Olde German "Walter" translating as "Mighty Army".
GoussetFrench It is derived from the Old French word gousset, which means "purse" or "wallet". It is likely that this surname was originally given to someone who was a purse maker or a merchant who dealt in small items.
GrammerGerman, English Variant of Krämer or a habitational name for someone possibly from German places called Gram or Grammen. It can also be an English occupational name for a scholar or an astrologer, derived from Old French gramaire meaning "grammarian, scholar, astrologer"... [more]
GranadoSpanish Nickname from Spanish granado "mature", "experienced", "distinguished".
GranadoSpanish Occupational name for a grower or seller of pomegranates, or a topographic name for someone who lived near a pomegranate tree, from granado "pomegranate tree" (cf. GARNETT).
GranataItalian Granata is an Italian word for a shade of red (maroon), and the Latin name of the city of Granada.
GranierFrench French for a grain merchant (from Latin granarius), a topographic name for someone who lived by a granary (from Latin granarium) or a metonymic role name for someone who monitors or owned one.
GrawertLow German, German (East Prussian) As a Low German name, Grawert is derived from Middle High German grā and Old High German grāo "gray" (originally "shimmery, gleaming"). As a surname, it was a nickname given to someone with gray hair.... [more]
GreeleyEnglish, Norman English (of Norman origin): nickname for someone with a pock-marked face, from Old Northern French greslé ‘pitted’, ‘scarred’ (from gresle ‘hailstone’, of Germanic origin).
GreinerUpper German, German (Swiss) Nickname for a quarrelsome or cantankerous person, derived from Middle High German grīner meaning "squabbler, quarreler" (ultimately an agent derivative of grīn meaning "loud, cry, screaming, shouting")... [more]
GrenardFrench, Walloon, English (British) Some characteristic forenames: French Andre, Henri, Armand, Emile, Jacques, Marielle, Michel, Monique, Olivier, Pierre, Remi, Serge.... [more]
GrenierFrench Occupational name for a grain merchant (from Latin granarius), or a topographic name for someone who lived by a granary (from Latin granarium) or a metonymic occupational name for someone who supervised or owned one.
GretzkyRussian, Belarusian Originally derived from an old Russian word that meant "Greek", though in modern times, the word means "Greek nut" (walnut). A notable bearer is Wayne Gretzky, a former Canadian ice hockey player.
GribbenIrish This surname is of Old Gaelic origin, and is a variant of "Cribben", which itself is the Anglicized form of the Gaelic name "MacRoibin", meaning "son of (mac) Robin", a patronymic from the Anglo-Norman French given name "Robin"... [more]
GriffinIrish (Anglicized) Anglicized (part translated) form of Gaelic Ó Gríobhtha "descendant of Gríobhtha", a personal name from gríobh "gryphon".
GriffonFrench From a diminutive of Old French griffe "claw", hence a nickname for a grasping or vicious person, or perhaps for someone with a deformed or otherwise remarkable hand.
GrignonFrench From French 'grignard' meaning "angry" and "contemptuous", and Old French (of Germanic origin) 'grignier' "to grit the teeth" or "curl the lips".
GriscomWelsh from phrase gris-y-cwm, welsh for 'steps of the valley'. Root word 'grisiau' meaning steps or stairs. A place name from an extant village in Wales.
GrissomEnglish From a diminutive of Grice, which was originally a nickname for a grey-haired man, derived from Middle English grice, gris meaning "grey" (itself from Old French gris, apparently of Germanic origin).
GrodskyPolish, Jewish Altered spelling of Polish Grodzki, a habitational name from Grodziec or Grodzie, places named with gród ‘castle’, ‘fortification’ (cognate with Russian grad)... [more]
GrońskiPolish Habitational name for someone from Grońsko in Greater Poland Voivodeship (named with the nickname Gron, Grono, from grono "bunch of grapes") or from Groń, the name of several places in southern, mountainous part of Lesser Poland (named with the regional word groń "ridge").
GrotiusDutch (Latinized) Latinized form of De Groot. This name was used by the Dutch humanist, theologian and jurist Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), born as either Huig de Groot or Hugo de Groot... [more]
GrullonDominican, Mexican, French Possibly from a derivative of Spanish grulla "crane (bird)" presumably applied as a nickname for tall thin person; in Mexico however grulla denotes a crafty person
GrundelGerman, Swedish A German/swedish name. Meaning unknown, possibly means "bottom". A person bearing this surname is Heinz Grundel, a former footballer. ... [more]
GrundinSwedish Combination of Swedish grund "shallow (water)" and the surname suffix -in.
GuancheSpanish (Canarian), Berber, Guanche Derived from the name of the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands before the Spanish conquest. The Guanche people were a Berber-speaking people who arrived in the Canary Islands in the 5th century AD... [more]
GuanzonFilipino From Hokkein 关孫 (guān-sun), derived from 关 (guān) meaning "frontier pass" and 孫 (sun) meaning "grandchild."
GuaporáPopular Culture The surname of a fictional Amerindian family in the telenovela Bicho do Mato.
GuapurúPopular Culture The surname of a fictitious Amerindian family in the Brazilian telenovela Uga Uga.
GuàrdiaCatalan, Spanish, Italian Catalan, Spanish, and Italian from Catalan guàrdia, Spanish and Italian guardia ‘guard’, ‘watch’, a topographic name for someone who lived by a watch place, an occupational name for a member of the town guard, or a habitational name from any of the numerous places named (La) Guardia.
GuardiaItalian, Spanish From Spanish and Italian guardia "guard watch" a topographic name for someone who lived by a watch place by a watchtower or a habitational name from any of numerous places called La Guardia named with the same word; or a metonymic occupational name for someone who kept watch or for a member of the town guard... [more]
GuchetlAdyghe (Russified) From Circassian гъукӏэ (ġ°č̣̍ă) meaning "blacksmith" and лӏы (ḷə) meaning "man".
GudgeonEnglish from Middle English gojon, gogen, Old French gougon ‘gudgeon’ (the fish) (Latin gobio, genitive gobionis), applied as a nickname or perhaps as a metonymic occupational name for a seller of these fish... [more]
GuertinFrench A French surname that evolved from the Old Germanic given name Warin meaning "to guard" or "protection". This surname was often given as an occupational name for a guard, or someone who served as a protector in their community.
GuilderEnglish Occupational name for someone who worked in gold. The derivation is from the Old English pre 7th Century "gyldan" and the Old High German "gold", a refiner, jeweller, or gilder.