AlfieriItalian From Italian alfiere "standard-bearer, ensign", ultimately from Arabic فارس (al-faris) "horseman, rider; knight, cavalier". May alternately derive from the Germanic given name Adalfarus, meaning "noble journey".
AlgerieArabic (Maghrebi) Derived from the French Algérie meaning "Algeria" (referring directly to the country itself). It also refers to someone from Annaba, Algeria.
al-GhoulArabic (Mashriqi) Perhaps from the Arabic folklore tradition of the ghoul. In the English speaking world, this name is probably known from the Batman comic/movie characters Ra's al Ghul and Talia al Ghul.
AlkurdiArabic Arabic surname, denoting someone who had Kurdish ancestry.
AllaireBreton, French (Quebec) From the name of the town of Allaire (Alaer in Breton) in Brittany, France. Other theories suggest it may come from Hilaire or from Alor.... [more]
AllemanFrench (Cajun), Spanish (Canarian), German From the French and Spanish word for "German". Believed to have originated in the Alsace-Lorraine region. Some holders of the name migrated to the Canary Islands and are part of the larger Isleños population that settled throughout the Americas... [more]
AllendeBasque, Spanish Means "beyond, yonder; on the other side" in Spanish, though it possibly derives from Basque aihen "vine, shoot" or ale "grain" combined with the collective suffix -di, meaning "pasture, cereal field".
AllowayEnglish Means (i) "person from Alloway, Alloa or Alva", the name of various places in Scotland ("rocky plain"); or (ii) from the medieval male personal name Ailwi (from Old English Æthelwīg, literally "noble battle").
AllsaarEstonian Allsaar is an Estonian surname meaning "below/under island".
AllsaluEstonian Allsalu is an Estonian surname meaning "below grove".
AlmanzaSpanish Originally indicated a person from Almanza, a city in northern Spain. The city's name itself is derived from Arabic المنزل (al-manzil) meaning "the house".
AlmarzaSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 localities: the Castilian municipality of Almarza, Comarca of El Valle or the Riojan municipality of Almarza de Cameros.
AlmazánSpanish Habitational name demoting someone originally from the municipality of Almazán in Castile and León, Spain. The name itself is derived from Arabic المكان المحصن (al-makān al-ḥiṣn) meaning "the fortified place" or "the stronghold".
Al ThaniArabic Means "the second" in Arabic. This is the name of the royal family of Qatar.
AlthoffGerman A surname predominantly found in Westphalia and the Rhineland region of Germany which is derived from German alt "old" and Hof (Hoff in the local dialects) "farmstead; farm; manor".
AltmannGerman From Middle High German, literally meaning "old man".
AltmetsEstonian Altmets is an Estonian surname meaning "below forest".
AmagawaJapanese From the Japanese 天 (ama or ten) "heaven," 塰 (ama) the title of a Noh play or 余 (ama) "complimentary" and 川 or 河 (gawa or kawa) "river."
AmajikiJapanese From Japanese 天 (ama) meaning "heaven" and 喰 (jiki) meaning "eating"
AmamiyaJapanese From Japanese 雨 (ama) meaning "rain" and 宮 (miya) meaning "temple, shrine, palace". A notable bearer of this surname is voice actress and singer Sora Amamiya (雨宮 天 Amamiya Sora, 1993–).
AmasiriSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit अमर (amara) meaning "immortal, undying" and श्री (shri) meaning "diffusing light, radiance, splendour, beauty".
AmataniJapanese 天 (Ama) means "heaven" and 谷 (tani) meaning "valley". This is the pronunciation of it in western Japan.
AmbroseEnglish From the Late Latin name Ambrosius, which was derived from the Greek name Αμβροσιος (Ambrosios) meaning "immortal".
AmeglioItalian There are two hypotheses: the first is it derived from the Latin name Amelius which came from Amius, name of Etruscan origin; the other is it derived from Amali, name of a mighty Ostrogothic family, which means "virgin of the forest".
AmelinafRussian Feminine form of Amelin. This was borne by Ukrainian novelist Victoria Amelina (1986-2023), who died at age 37 from injuries sustained during the Russian attack on Kramatorsk.
AmsalemJudeo-Spanish From an uncertain first element, perhaps the Tamazight prefix 'am denoting an agent, combined with Hebrew שָׁלוֹם (shalom) meaning "peace".
AmstutzGerman (Swiss), German (Austrian) Topographic name for someone living near or at the foot of a steep mountainside, German am Stutz ‘at the escarpment’.
AmurskyRussian Habitational name from Amur river in Russia.
AnabukiJapanese 穴 (Ana) means "hole, pit" and 吹 (buki) means "blow into".
AnackerGerman Nickname for a day laborer, as opposed to someone who owned fields, from Middle High German āne meaning "without" + acker meaning "field".
AndaluzSpanish Means "from Andalusia" or "from Spain", derived from the region of Spain called Andalucía, once called Al-Ándalus (a classical Arab name for the Iberian Peninsula)... [more]
AndrásiHungarian It's an other form of the hungarian surename Andrassy. Man, warrior... a surname that derives from the personal name "Andreas", meaning manly, and was held by the first of Christ's disciples.
AngelosGreek Reduced form of any of various Greek surnames derived from the forename Angelos (from #angelos ‘messenger’, ‘angel’), as for example Angelopoulos.
AngelouGreek (Cypriot) Means "son of Angelos" or "son of the angel" in Greek. A famous bearer is the American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou (1928-2014)
AngioniItalian From Sardinian angioni "lamb", denoting a shepherd, or perhaps a nickname.
AnouilhFrench From Catalan anull, meaning "slow worm". It is originally a nickname given to a spineless and slow person. The French author Jean Anouilh is a famous bearer of this surname.
ApsītisLatvian Derived from Latvian apse meaning "aspen tree".
AquinasItalian Aquinas indicates ancestral origins from the Italian county "Aquino." Aquino comes from the latin word "Aquinum" which itself probably comes from the latin word aqua. Aqua means water in English.
ArabacıTurkish Occupational name for a driver, maker or seller of carts and wagons, from Turkish araba meaning "cart, carriage".
ArabeyaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 荒 (ara) meaning "uncultivated, desolate", 部 (be) meaning "department, division; part", and 谷 (ya) meaning "valley".
ArabianArmenian Patronymic from the ethnic term arab ‘Arab’.
ArabikiJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 荒 (ara) meaning "rough; harsh; intense", referring to rough land, and 引 (biki), from 引き (biki), the joining continuative form of 引く (hiku) meaning "to pull".
AradhyaIndian, Sanskrit Means "one who worships god". Commonly seen in India, Karnataka and other parts of India like kashi. They wear holy thread (yagnopaveetha).
ArafukaJapanese From Japanese 荒 (ara) meaning "uncultivated, desolate" and 深 (fuka) meaning "deep; profound". It may have been derived from Ara 2.
AragakiJapanese From Japanese 新 (ara) meaning "new" or 荒 (ara) meaning "rough, wild" and 垣 (kaki) meaning "hedge, fence".
ArahiraJapanese From Japanese 荒 (ara) meaning "rough; harsh; intense" and 平 (hira) meaning "flat; flattened" or, in a dialect, "cliff", referring to a rough flatland or a rough cliff.... [more]
ArchilaSpanish Either a variant of Arcila or derived from Arabic الشَّلَّال (aš-šallāl) meaning "the waterfall".
ArcillaSpanish (Philippines) From Spanish arcilla meaning "clay," derived via Latin from Greek ἄργιλλος (árgillos), ultimately from ἀργός (argós) meaning "white."
ArdellaAfrican American Derivative of Arden, popularized by the poem of the same name by Langston Hughes, the most well-known Black poet of the Harlem Renaissance. Meaning is "garden dweller."... [more]
ArfaouiArabic (Maghrebi) Possibly derived from Arabic عَرَفَ (ʿarafa) meaning "to know" or أَرْفَع (ʾarfaʿ) meaning "high, lofty, elevated" (chiefly Tunisian).