BremnerScottish Derived from the Scottish Gaelic name MacGillebhàin which means "son of the fair-haired one." It is associated with the Clan Bremner, which has roots in the northern parts of Scotland.
BrennerGerman, German (Austrian), Jewish Derived from Middle High German brennen "to burn". Both as a German and a Jewish name, this was an occupational name for a distiller of spirits. As a German surname, however, it also occasionally referred to a charcoal or lime burner or to someone who cleared forests by burning.
BrentonEnglish habitational name primarily from Brenton near Exminster possibly named in Old English as Bryningtun "settlement (Old English tun) associated with Bryni" (a personal name from Old English bryne "fire flame") or "Bryni's town".
BresserEnglish The surname is derived from the old English word brasian, meaning to make out of brass. This would indicate that the original bearer of the name was a brass founder by trade. The name is also derived from the old English Broesian which means to cast in brass and is the occupational name for a worker in brass.
BrevardFrench French: nickname from Old French bref ‘small’ + the derogatory suffix -ard.... [more]
BrewtonEnglish Variant spelling of the habitational name Bruton, from a place in Somerset, so named with a Celtic river name meaning 'brisk' + Old English tun 'farmstead'.
BrinsonEnglish Habitational name from Briençun in northern France.
BrintonEnglish English locational surname, taken from the town of the same name in Norfolk. The name means "settlement belonging to Brun" - the personal name coming from the Old English word for "fire, flame".
BrionesSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Riojan municipality.
BrockerGerman North German topographic name for someone who lived by a swamp, from Middle Low German brook bog + the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant.
BromleyEnglish Habitational name from any of the many places so called in England. Most of them derived from Old English brom "broom" and leah "woodland clearing".
BrookerEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a stream, a variant of Brook.
BrosnanIrish Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic Ó Brosnacháin meaning "descendant of Brosnachán", a given name derived from Brosna, a small village and parish in County Kerry, Ireland. A well-known bearer is the Irish actor Pierce Brosnan (1953-).
BruggerGerman, American South German variant or Americanized spelling of North German Brügger (see Bruegger). habitational name for someone from any of various (southern) places called Bruck or Brugg in Bavaria and Austria.
BrugmanDutch, Swiss Dutch: topographic name for someone who lived near a bridge or a metonymic occupational name for a bridge keeper, from Dutch brugge ‘bridge’ (see Bridge); in some cases, it is a habitational name for someone from the Flemish city of Bruges (or Brugge), meaning ‘bridges’... [more]
BuckmanEnglish Occupational name for a goatherd (Middle English bukkeman) or scholar (Old English bucman "book man"). It could also be a shortened form of Buckingham or a variant of BUCKNAM.
BuelterGerman, English Middle European variant of Butler, also meaning "a vat or large trough used to contain wine." The name originated in southern Germany in the mid-seventeenth century.
BuffettFrench (Anglicized), English Americanised form or a variant of French Buffet, or probably an English variant of Bufford. Famous bearers of this name include the Americans Warren Buffett (1930-), a businessman, investor and philanthropist, and Jimmy Buffett (1946-), a musician.
BugalhoPortuguese Portuguese surname Bugalho can be written in two different ways, with a U or with a O after de first letter. This because of different pronunciation from South and North. So with U South and with O North.... [more]
BuglassEnglish Possibly from the Booklawes region near Melrose, Roxburgshire, originally spelt "Buke-Lawes" (lit. "buck/stag" combined with "low ground"); otherwise from the Gaelic words buidhe - "yellow" and glas - "green".
BuissonFrench, Haitian Creole (Rare) Topographic name for someone who lived in an area of scrub land or by a prominent clump of bushes from (Old) French buisson "bush scrub" (a diminutive of bois "wood"); or a habitational name from (Le) Buisson the name of several places in various parts of France named with this word.
BujandaBasque It indicates familial origin within the eponymous council of the municipality of Kanpezu.
BukhariArabic, Urdu Indicated a person from the city of Bukhara in present-day Uzbekistan, itself possibly derived from Sogdian βuxārak meaning "place of good fortune".
BulsaraIndian (Parsi) From the name of the city of Valsad (historically known as Bulsar) in Gujarat, India. A famous bearer was British singer Farrokh Bulsara (1946-1991), better known as Freddie Mercury.
BüntingGerman Derived from an unknown given name or from Middle High German binden "to bind".
BuntingEnglish Nickname derived from the name of the bird bunting (Emberiza).
BurbageEnglish English: habitational name from places in Wiltshire, Derbyshire, and Leicestershire, so named with Old English burh ‘fort’ + bæc ‘hill’, ‘ridge’ (dative bece).
BurkettEnglish English: from an Old English personal name, Burgheard, composed of the elements burh, burg ‘fort’ (see Burke) + heard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’... [more]
BurkinsEnglish English variant of Birkin, Burkin, a habitational name from the parish of Birkin in West Yorkshire, so named with Old English bircen ‘birch grove’, a derivative of birce (see Birch).
BurnellAnglo-Saxon, Medieval English A name for a person with a brown complexion or dark brown hair. From the Old English burnel via the French brunel a diminutive of the French brun, which means "brown". The suffix el-- a short form of "little" was added to brun to make Brunel... [more]
BurnleyEnglish English (Lancashire and Yorkshire): habitational name from Burnley in Lancashire, so named with the Old English river name Brun (from brun ‘brown’ or burna ‘stream’) + leah ‘woodland clearing’... [more]
BurrowsEnglish Variant of Burroughs. A name for someone who lived by a hill or tumulus, also may be a further derivation from Old English bur "bower" and hus "house".
BurwitzPolabian From Polabian bur "farmer" and the Germanized Slavic ending -witz.
BuscemiSicilian Name for someone originally from the town of Buscemi in Sicily, derived from the Arabic toponym قلعة أبي شامة (qal'at 'abi shama) meaning "castle of the man with the mole" or "castle of (the family of) Abi Shama".
BüttnerGerman Occupational name for a cooper or barrel-maker, an agent derivative of Middle High German büte(n) "cask", "wine barrel". This name occurs chiefly in eastern German-speaking regions.
ByanskiPolish looking for the meaning of this name as it is my maiden name.
BycraftEnglish (American, Rare, ?) Found mostly in the American Great Lakes region and Canada, likely a singular extended family. Likely of 6th century English descent, though there are very few English natives who bear the name. Name either refers to the occupation running some sort of mill machine, the original holder living near a croft (enclosed pasture or tillage) or implies "craftiness" of its original holder.
ByfieldEnglish Either a habitational name from a place named Byfield, or a topographic name for someone who lived near a field.
BylillyNavajo Derived from Navajo bá "for him" and álílee "magic power".
CaballéSpanish Used by the Spanish Opera singer Montserrat Caballé.
CaballoSpanish, Spanish (Latin American) Derived from the Spanish word cabello, ultimately derived from the Latin word caballus, meaning "horse". This denoted someone who worked in a farm that took care of horses, or someone who had personality traits attributed to a horse, such as energetic behaviour.
CabañasSpanish, Portuguese Habitational name from a place named with Spanish cabaña or Portuguese cabanha ‘hut’, ‘cabin’.
CaddickWelsh From the Welsh male personal name Cadog, a pet-form of Cadfael (a derivative of Welsh cad "battle").
CadedduItalian From Sardinian cadeddu "puppy, whelp", ultimately from Latin catellus.
CaderasRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and dera "free area".
CadieliRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Gieli.
CadischRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family", in combination with Disch.
CadoganWelsh From the Welsh male personal name Cadwgan, literally probably "battle-scowler". Cadogan Estate is an area of Chelsea and Belgravia, including Cadogan Square, Sloane Street and Sloane Square, owned by the earls of Cadogan, descended from Charles Sloane Cadogan (1728-1807), 1st Earl Cadogan.
CadonauRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Donatus.
CadoretFrench, Breton From an old Breton given name Catuuoret meaning "protector in combat".
CagadasFilipino The name Cagadas is most likely made or given to the Filipinos during the baptism of native Filipinos to Christianity in the 19th Century during the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan. Most Filipinos had no surnames prior to their baptism and these names are given by the Spanish colonizers.
CalderaSpanish Derived from Spanish caldera meaning "basin, crater, hollow", ultimately from Latin caldarium or caldaria both meaning "hot bath, cooking pot". The word also denotes a depression in volcanoes, and it is commonly used as an element for surnames denoting streams or mountains.
CampionNorman, French English (of Norman origin) and French: status name for a professional champion (see Champion, Kemp), from the Norman French form campion.
CanalesSpanish Spanish: habitational name from any of several places called Canales, from canales, plural of canal ‘canal’, ‘water channel’, from Latin canalis.
CanavanIrish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Ceanndubháin "descendant of Ceanndubhán", a byname meaning "little black-headed one", from ceann "head" combined with dubh "black" and the diminutive suffix -án.
CancinoSpanish A name for a person who first held the position of Chancellor.