KarelušaSerbian Famous bearer of this surname is Serbian singer Jelena Kareluša (1978-)
KareninaLiterature In Leo Tolstoy's novel 'Anna Karenina' (1877), this is the title character's surname, the feminine form of her husband's surname, Karenin.
KartmannGerman Derived from German karte meaning "card". Possibly an occupational name for someone who makes, sells or trades cards. In an alternative representation, it could be a nickname for someone who gambles.
KashgariUyghur, Arabic Originally denoted someone who came from the city of Kashgar, located in the Xinjiang region of western China. The city's name is of Persian origin probably meaning "rock mountain".
KastanismGreek From Greek καστανιά (kastania) meaning "chestnut, chestnut tree". This name is given to someone with chestnut hair or someone who lived near a chestnut tree.
KavakamiJapanese (Russified) Alternate transcription of Kawakami more commonly used by ethnic Japanese living in parts of the former Soviet Union and Sakhalin Japanese residing on Sakhalin Island in Russia.
KavasakiJapanese (Russified) Alternate transcription of Kawasaki more commonly used by ethnic Japanese living in parts of the former Soviet Union and Sakhalin Japanese residing on Sakhalin Island in Russia.
KawabataJapanese 'Side or bank of the river'; written two ways, with two different characters for kawa ‘river’. One family is descended from the northern Fujiwara through the Saionji family; the other from the Sasaki family... [more]
KawabataJapanese From Japanese 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream" and 畑 (hata) meaning "farm, cropfield".
KawabataJapanese From Japanese 川 (kawa) or 河 (kawa) both meaning "river, stream" and 端 (hata) meaning "edge, end, tip".
KerslakeEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a stream where cress grew, derived from Old English cærse meaning "watercress" and lacu meaning "stream".
KeyworthEnglish Habitational name from Keyworth in Nottinghamshire. The place name derives from an uncertain initial element (perhaps Old English ca "jackdaw") and Old English worþ "enclosure".
KhajimbaAbkhaz Of unknown meaning. A notable bearer is Raul Khajimba (1958-), the current President of Abkhazia.
KhaleghiPersian Derived from Persian خالق (khaleq) meaning "creator (an epithet for God)".
KhameneiPersian Originally denoted someone who came from the village of Khamaneh, located in the East Azerbaijan province of Iran. A famous bearer is Ali Khamenei (1939-), a former president and the current Supreme Leader of Iran.
KharaziaAbkhaz There are several theories on the origin of the name. It could be derived from Arabic حَارِس (ḥāris) meaning "guard, guardian, defender", from a contraction of a Hebrew term, or from the Abkhaz word ҳара (ḥārā́) meaning "we, ours" combined with the Abkhaz suffix -ya or -ia denoting descent.
KhomeiniPersian Originally indicated a person who came from the city of Khomeyn in the Markazi province of Iran. A notable bearer of this surname was the Islamic revolutionary, politician and religious leader Ruhollah Khomeini (1900 or 1902-1989), who founded the Islamic Republic of Iran following the Iranian Revolution in 1979... [more]
KidamuraJapanese From 木 (ki) meaning "tree, wood", 貴 (ki) meaning "valuable", or 喜 (ki) meaning "rejoice", combined with 田 (da) meaning rice paddy, field" and 村 (mura) means "hamlet, village".
KiellandNorwegian Alexander Kielland was a Norwegian writer (1849–1906).
KienbaumGerman, Jewish from Low German kienbaum "Scots pine" originally denoting any species or variety of pine tree. Derived from kien "pine tree" and boum "tree".
KiestlerGerman Possibly a form of Kistler an occupation name for a joiner or cabinet maker.
KihlbergSwedish Combination of Swedish kil "wedge" and berg "mountain".
KihulaneEstonian Kihulane is an Estonian surname meaning "midge".
KiidemaaEstonian Kiidemaa is an Estonian surname meaning "praised land".
KikuichiJapanese Means "chrysanthemum pond" in Japanese. (also read Kikuike). It is found mostly in western Japan. Another version, substituting the character 地 ‘ground’ for ‘pond’ (both chi), is found in northeastern Japan and the island of Kyūshū... [more]
KikumoriJapanese Kiku means "chrysanthemum" and mori means "forest".
KirigayaJapanese From 桐 (kiri), referring to the tree known commonly as the empress or foxglove tree, combined with 谷 (ya) meaning "valley," sometimes with the infixation of the historical possessive particle が (ga) (written as ヶ) that is most often used in place names and surnames... [more]
KirigiriPopular Culture This surname is used as 霧切 with 霧 (bu, bou, mu, kiri) meaning "fog, mist" and 切 (sai, setsu, ki.ri, -ki.ri, ki.ru, -ki.ru, ki.re, -ki.re, ki.reru, -ki.reru, -gi.ri, -gi.re) meaning "be sharp, cut(off)."... [more]
KiriharaJapanese From Japanese 桐 (kiri) meaning "paulownia" and 原 (hara) meaning "field, plain".