VasilakosGreek Patronymic from the Greek given name Vasilios and the suffix άκος (-akos) which is particularly associated with the Mani Peninsula in southwestern Peloponnese.
VenizelosGreek From the baptismal name Benizelos, which is already in existence since the 16th century in Athens. Uncertain etymology, most likely to be of Italian origin, (Bene + angelo, the good angel, ie Evangelos)... [more]
VenkateshIndian, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada Means "lord of Venkata", from Venkata, the name of a hill in southern India (see Venkata), combined with Sanskrit ईश (īśa) meaning "lord, master, husband" (see Isha).
VerkuilenDutch, Flemish Reduced form of van der Kuylen, a topographic name derived from kuil "pit, quarry, hole in the ground", or a habitational name for someone from Kuil in East Flanders or Kuilen in Limburg.
VietmeyerGerman German: distinguishing name for a tenant farmer who was a tenant of or owed some obligation to an estate or monastery named for Saint Veith.
VillanovaItalian, Spanish Habitational name from any of numerous places so called from Latin villa nova "new settlement" (see Villa) from the elements villa "town" and nova "new"... [more]
VolevakhaRussian Derived from dialectal Russian волеваха (volevakha) meaning "wilful, stubborn person".
VolkonskyRussian This indicates familial origin within the vicinity of the Volkona river south of Moscow. This was the name of a Russian family of nobility.
VolkovskyRussian Habitational name for someone who lives in a multiplicity named Volikovski. Derived from волк (volk) meaning "wolf" in Russian.
Von AachenGerman Means "from Aachen", a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, ultimately derived from Latin acquae "water, water sources", referring to the sacred springs associated with the Celtic god Grannus.
VoulgarisGreek From Greek Βούλγαρος (Voulgaros) meaning "Bulgarian, person from Bulgaria".
VoyennykhRussian Means "military" or "relating to the military" in Russian.
VreeswijkDutch Habitational name from a former village and municipality in the province Utrecht, Netherlands, derived from Old Dutch Frieso "Frisian" and wic "village, town"... [more]
WackermanEnglish (American), German From the Americanized spelling of German Wackermann, a variant of Wacker, with the addition of Middle High German man, meaning ‘man’.
WacławskiPolish Name for someone from a place named Wacławice or Wacławów, both derived from the given name Wacław.
WadsworthEnglish Location name from Yorkshire meaning "Wæddi's enclosure or settlement" with Wæddi being an old English personal name of unknown meaning plus the location element -worth. Notable bearer is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) for whom the middle name was his mother's maiden name.
WainscottEnglish Meaning unknown. From Middle English Waynescot. The surname presumably arose from a nickname for someone who imported or used oak timber.
WakaizumiJapanese Waka means "young" and izumi means "fountain, springs".
WakamatsuJapanese From Japanese 若 (waka) meaning "young" and 松 (matsu) meaning "pine tree, fir tree".
WakatsukiJapanese Combination of the kanji 若 (waka, "young") and 槻 (tsuki, "Zelkova tree"). A famous bearer of this surname was Japanese Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijirō (若槻 禮次郎; 1866–1949).
WalbridgeEnglish English (Dorset): habitational name, probably from Wool Bridge in East Stoke, Dorset.
WaldsteinGerman, Jewish Habitational surname for a person from a place in Bohemia called Waldstein, which is derived from Middle High German walt "forest" + stein "stone".
WanhataloFinnish From the Finnish "vanha talo." With the "vanha" meaning old or aged and "talo" being a place of living mostly a house. The most common translation is "old house".
WarburtonEnglish From the village and civil parish of Warburton in Greater Manchester (formerly in Cheshire), England, derived from the Old English feminine given name Werburg (itself derived from wǣr meaning "pledge" and burh "fortress") and Old English tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town".
WeiningerGerman (Swiss), Jewish Denoted a person from Weiningen, a municipality in the Canton of Zürich, Switzerland. It is also a Jewish ornamental name derived from German wein meaning "wine" and the suffix -inger.
WeinsteinJewish Means "wine stone" from German wein meaning "wine" and stein meaning "stone". It originally referred to the potassium bitartrate crystals produced from the process of fermenting grape juice.
WeinstockGerman, Jewish English variant of the German surname Wenstock, an occupational name for a producer or seller of wine, from German Weinstock "grapevine" (also compare Wein).... [more]
WeintraubGerman, Jewish from Middle High German wintrub "grape" derived from wein "wine" and traub "grape" hence either a metonymic occupational name for a vintner or a topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by a sign depicting a bunch of grapes.
WeishauptGerman Nickname for someone with white hair from Middle High German wiz "white" and houbit "head". German cognate of Whitehead.
WentworthEnglish Habitational name from places in Cambridgeshire and South Yorkshire called Wentworth, probably from the Old English byname Wintra meaning ‘winter’ + Old English worð ‘enclosure’... [more]
WestbroekDutch From the name of several towns in the Netherlands, derived from Old Dutch west "west, western" and bruoc "marsh, wetland"... [more]
WestermanEnglish Topographical surname for someone who lived west of a settlement or someone who had moved to the west, from Old English westerne meaning "western" and mann meaning "man, person".
WetzsteinGerman Either a metonymic occupational name for a knife grinder from Middle High German wetzstein "whetstone", A habitational name from a lost place called Wetzstein near Emmendingen, or a topographic name from a field name for example Wezstein near Esslingen... [more]
WhitfieldEnglish It is locational from any or all of the places called Whitfield in the counties of Derbyshire, Kent, Northamptonshire and Northumberland, or from the villages called Whitefield in Lancashire, the Isle of Wight and Gloucestershire.
WhitmarshEnglish English habitational name from Whitemarsh, a place in the parish of Sedgehill, Wiltshire, named from Old English hwit ‘white’ (i.e. ‘phosphorescent’) + mersc ‘marsh’. Compare Whitmore.
WijeweeraSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit विजय (vijaya) meaning "victory" and वीर (vira) meaning "hero, man, brave".
WijnaldumFrisian, Dutch, Dutch (Surinamese) From Wijnaldum, the name of a village within the city of Harlingen in northwest Friesland in the Netherlands, derived from the given name Winald combined with Old Frisian hēm meaning "home, settlement"... [more]
WilbrahamEnglish Denoted a person hailing from Wilbraham in Cambridgeshire, England. The place name itself means "Wilburg's homestead or estate" in Old English, Wilburg or Wilburga allegedly referring to a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon princess who was given the lands later called Wilbraham by her father, King Penda of Mercia.
WinehouseJewish, German Anglicized variant of German and Yiddish 'Weinhaus'. From German wein, 'vine, grapevine' and haus 'house, building, home', likely indicating a house with a vineyard. ... [more]
WlodawskiJewish Habitual surname from Włodawa, Poland. First seen in a 1806 revision list of the city Kobryn (Grodno Guberniya), now Kobryn Belarus. ... [more]
WodehouseEnglish The name "de Wodehouse" is attested as early as in the 11th century, of one Bertram, of Wodehouse-tower, Yorkshire, who lived at the time of the Norman conquest.
WodzińskiPolish Habitational name for someone from Wodzin in Piotrków voivodeship, named with Polish woda meaning "water".
WójcińskiPolish Habitational name for someone from any of the many places called Wójcin, or from Wójcina in Tarnów voivodeship, named with wójt meaning "village headman".
WolfendenEnglish derived from the place called Wolfenden in the parish of Newchurch-in-Rossendale, Lancashire. The placename means "Wulfhelm's valley", or "the valley of Wulfhelm" derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name Wulfhelm, composed of the elements wulf "wolf" and helm "helmet, protection" and denu "valley".
WondergemDutch Habitational name from Wondelgem or Wontergem in East Flanders, Belgium, using the suffix -gem which is related to Old Germanic haimaz meaning "home".
WürdemannGerman From the German "Würde"-honour or dignity, and "Mann"-man or person. "Man of Honour" or "Person of Dignity".
WurdemannGerman (Rare) This is a German surname, also spelled WÜRDEMANN (original) and often rendered as WUERDEMANN in English. It come from the German "würde", "dignity" or "honor" and "mann", meaning "man" or "person".... [more]
WycherleyEnglish Derived from a place name apparently meaning "elm-wood clearing" from Old English wice and leah. A famous bearer was the dramatist William Wycherley (1640-1715).
YakushijiJapanese From Japanese 薬師寺 (Yakushiji) meaning "Yakushiji", a former village in the district of Kawachi in the former Japanese province of Shimotsuke in present-day Tochigi, Japan.
YamabushiJapanese Yama means "mountain, hill" and bushi means "warrior, samurai".