DempsterManx, English, Scottish The name for a judge or arbiter of minor disputes, from Old English dem(e)stre, a derivative of the verb demian ‘to judge or pronounce judgement’. Although this was originally a feminine form of the masculine demere, by the Middle English period the suffix -stre had lost its feminine force, and the term was used of both sexes... [more]
DepietriItalian The distinguished surname Depietri can be traced back to the ancient and beautiful region of Piedmont. Although people were originally known only by a single name, it became necessary for people to adopt a second name to identify themselves as populations grew and travel became more frequent... [more]
DepooterFlemish Variant of De Poorter, or alternatively, an occupational name for a farmer or gardener derived from poten "to plant, to sow seeds". Compare Potter.
DeruelleFrench Habitational name for someone who lived near a place called (la) Ruelle, for example Ruelle-sur-Touvre.
De RuiterDutch Means "the rider" in Dutch, derived from Middle Dutch ruter "freebooter, vagrant, robber", later meaning "cavalryman, soldier, armed horseman". It could also be a nickname based on an event, in one case deriving from an incident involving a ride on a runaway pig.
DesaillyFrench Originally denoted a person who came from any of the various places in northern or eastern France called Sailly, which is possibly derived from Old French saillir, salir meaning "to spring", ultimately from Latin saliō... [more]
DesangesFrench (Rare) Means "from the angels", possibly connected to the French title of the Virgin Mary Notre Dame des Anges, meaning "Our Lady of the Angels". Bearers of this surname include Louis William Desanges (1822-1905), an English artist of French descent, and French historian Jehan Desanges (1929-).
DeshmukhIndian, Marathi From the historical title देशमुख (deśmukh) meaning "district head", derived from Sanskrit देश (deśá) meaning "country, district" combined with मुख (múkha) meaning "face".
d'EstaingFrench Derived from Estaing, a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France. A famous bearer was the French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (1926-2020).
De ValeraSpanish Originally indicated a person from one of the two towns named Valera in the provinces of Cuenca and Badajoz in Spain. This name was borne by American-born Irish president and prime minister Éamon de Valera (1882-1975; birth name George de Valero, also known as Edward de Valera), who was born to an Irish mother and a Cuban-Spanish father.
De WinterDutch Means "the winter" in Dutch, a nickname for a cold or gloomy man, or perhaps for someone born in the winter. It could also be a habitational name referring to a house or tavern named for the season.
DielmannGerman (Modern) It was once spelled as "Dielhmann" and sometimes with one "n". The meaning is unknown, but when I used Google's translator "dielh" means "the" and "mann" was "man".
DierkingLow German, Dutch Habitational name from a farm so named which once belonged to a certain Dierk and his kin, for instance Dircking (nowadays Derkink) in Enschede.
DilustroLiterature Madame diLustro is described as a fine cook and an excellent detective. She often hosts dinner parties and flies into a rage if one of her guests arrives even five minutes late. Snicket has to dash off to one of her dinner parties while in the middle of writing The Reptile Room.
DimabasaFilipino, Tagalog Means "dry" from Tagalog di- meaning "no, not" and basa meaning "wet, watery".
DimacuhaFilipino, Tagalog Means "unobtainable" from Tagalog di meaning "no, not" and makuha meaning "to obtain, to get".
Di MaggioItalian Came from a child who was born in the month of May. The surname Maggio is derived from the Italian word Maggio, which literally means the month of May.
DimagibaFilipino, Tagalog Means "indestructible" from Tagalog di meaning "no, not" and giba meaning "demolished, destroyed".
DimailigFilipino, Tagalog Means "unshakable" from Tagalog di meaning "no, not" and ilig meaning "shaking, mixing".
DimaisipFilipino, Tagalog Means "unfathomable" from Tagalog di- meaning "no, not" and isip meaning "intellect, discernment".
Di MatteoItalian The surname Di Matteo comes from the personal names Matteo, of Jewish origin and popularized by the evangelist "Mattia" which have the meaning of "Gift of God".
DimawalaTagalog From Tagalog di mawala meaning "cannot be lost".
DimayugaFilipino, Tagalog Means "unshakable" from Tagalog di meaning "no, not" and mauga meaning "shaky, wobbly".
DinklageGerman Occupational name for a grain farmer or grain merchant, derived from an agent derivative of Middle High German dinkel meaning "spelt" (a variety of wheat). It could also be derived from Dinkelsbühl, a historic town in the state of Bavaria (formerly in central Franconia), or Dinklage, a town in the Vechta district, in Lower Saxony, Germany... [more]
DisraeliItalian, Jewish Originally denoted a person who came from Israel. This surname was borne by the British politician, statesman and novelist Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; he is also the only British prime minister to have been of Jewish origin.
DjazairiArabic (Maghrebi) Derived from Arabic الجزائر (al-Jazā’ir) meaning "the islands", referring to the country of Algeria or referring to an Algerian person. This surname could be used to refer to someone from the city of Algiers, or just a general Algerian person.
DornfeldGerman topographic name for someone who lived by a field where thorn bushes grew from Middle High German Middle Low German dorn "thorn" and feld "open country".
DoughtonEnglish Habitational name from Doughton in Gloucestershire or Doughton in Norfolk, both from Old English dūce meaning “duck” + tūn “farmstead.”
DoukainafHistory, Late Greek Feminine form of Doukas. Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina was a Byzantine Empress by marriage to the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos.
DoukakisGreek Means "son of the duke", from Greek Δούκας (doúkas) combined with the patronymic suffix ακης (akis).
DragasesGreek, History, Serbian (Hellenized) Hellenized form of Serbian surname Dragaš. This was the surname of the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, who took her mother's surname, Helena Dragaš, as his second last name
DragaveiRomanian (Rare) "It is a wild plant that consists in big curly leaves.It is called curly dock in english."
DragneelPopular Culture Possibly based on the word dragon. This is the surname of Natsu Dragneel, a main character in Fairy Tail.
DreilingGerman From Middle High German drīling, meaning “third (part),” possibly denoting a service or tax obligation and hence a status name or a triplet.
DreilingGerman Habitational name from Drelingen near Uelzen, Lower Saxony.
DrepanisGreek From the Greek word for scythe: drepani (δρεπάνι).
DrescherYiddish, German German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a thresher, German Drescher, Yiddish dresher, agent derivatives of Middle High German dreschen, Yiddish dresh(e)n 'to thresh'.... [more]
DreyfussGerman, Jewish Means "three feet" in German. This surname originates from the German city of Trier. The Latin name for the city was "Treveris," whose pronunciation eventually developed into Dreyfuss. The spelling variants tend to correspond to the country the family was living in at the time the spelling was standardized: the use of one "s" tends to be more common among people of French origin, while the use of two tends to be found among those of German descent
DrielsmaDutch, Jewish Derived from the Frisian town IJlst. IJlst in Frisian is Drylts > Dryls > Driels combined with the Frisian surname suffix -(s)ma, which is most likely derived from Old Frisian monna meaning "men". Drielsma has Frisian Jewish origins.... [more]
DriggersAmerican Corruption of the Spanish surname Rodriguez. Originated in 17th century Virginia as a former slave by that surname was integrated into free society.
DubosqueFrench DuBosque means 'of the forest' in french and was a surname given typically to someone from a rural treed area.
DubreuilFrench Topographic name derived from Old French breuil meaning "marshy woodland" (also derived from Late Latin brogilum, of Gaulish origin). In French the term later came to mean "enclosed woodland" and then "cleared woodland", and both these senses may also be reflected in the surname.
DucheminFrench Either a topographic name with fused preposition and definite article du "from the" for someone who lived beside a path from chemin "path way" (from Late Latin caminus a word of Gaulish origin); or a habitational name for someone from Le Chemin the name of several places in various parts of France.
DuldulaoIlocano From Ilocano duldulaw referring to a variety of early-maturing rice with a red kernel, used as an occupational name for a grower of this type of rice.
DumaraosTagalog Means "to celebrate" from Tagalog daos meaning "celebration".
DumfriesScottish, Dutch, Dutch (Surinamese) From the name of a market town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, derived from Gaelic dùn meaning "fort" and preas meaning "thicket". This surname is found predominantly in Aruba, the Netherlands and Suriname... [more]
DumoulinFrench, Walloon Variant with fused preposition and definite article du "from the" of Moulin meaning "from the mill".
DundovićCroatian Patronymic of the Ragusan word dundo meaning "uncle" or "gentleman" and originating from the Latin word dominus (meaning "master" or "sir").
DunwoodyScottish, Scottish Gaelic It is said that the origin is pre 7th century Gaelic from ''dun'' or ''din'' meaning a wood or forest and ''gwydd'' which means much the same. Arguably the name means wood - wood, a result of language and dialect changing several times in the past 1500 years.
DuszenkoPolish It appears Duza means soul, nickname for someone with a kind heart
DutertreFrench Means "of the hillock, of the mound" in French.
DuvernayFrench Means "from the alder grove," from Gaulish vern meaning "alder" combined with Latin -etum, whence Modern French -aie, forming names of orchards or places where trees/plants are grown)... [more]
DwigginsIrish Anglicized form (with English genitive -s) of Gaelic Ó Dubhagáin (see Dugan) or, more likely, of Ó Duibhginn (see Deegan).Possibly a variant (by misdivision) of English Wiggins.