BjeljacSerbian, Croatian, Bosnian From the Croation Area of Kordun specifically Koranski Lug. Possibly also Bosnia. A large migration of Serbs were enticed by the Austrian government to move from Bosnia to Croatia to act as a buffer militia between the Ottoman Empire of Bosnia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Croatia... [more]
BjörkqvistSwedish Combination of Swedish björk "birch tree" and qvist, an obsolete spelling of kvist, "twig".
BjörnSwedish Means "bear" in Swedish. Either taken directly from the given name (see Björn) or from a nickname for a big, hairy person. It may also be derived from a place named with the element björn.
BjörnbergSwedish Ornamental name derived from Swedish björn meaning "bear" and berg meaning "mountain".
BlaauwDutch, South African Archaic spelling of Dutch blauw "blue", a nickname referring to the bearer’s eye colour, clothes, or possibly a pale and sickly complexion. It could also be an occupational name for someone who made blue dye, or bluing for laundry.
BlachPolish Alternatively perhaps a metonymic occupational name from Old Polish blach ‘skeet iron’, ‘metal fittings’.
BlacherFrench Mainly used in Southern France. Topographic name for someone who lived by an oak grove, originating in the southeastern French dialect word blache ‘oak plantation’ (said to be of Gaulish origin), originally a plantation of young trees of any kind.
BlacksmithEnglish Occupational name for a blacksmith, a smith who work with iron. The name is rare in England and mostly found in North America, suggesting that it's a translation of a non-English name meaning "blacksmith" (see Kowalski, Raudsepp and Lefèvre for example).
BlagaRomanian Probably related to several places named Blaga in Romania.
BlagdenEnglish Derived from any of several places across England called Blagden, Blackden, or Blagdon, which can varyingly derive from Old English blæcdun ("black hill") or blæcdenu ("black valley").
BlakestoneEnglish (British) The surname Blakeston was first found in the West Riding of Yorkshire at Blaxton, a township in the parish of Finningley, union and soke of Doncaster.... [more]
BlakewayEnglish Literally means "black way", thus referring to a black road near which the original bearer must have lived. A famous bearer of this surname was Jacob Blakeway (b. 1583-?), the biological father of Mayflower passenger Richard More (1614-1696).
BlakewoodMedieval English Derived from the Old English words blaec, which means black, and wudu, which means wood, and indicates that the original bearer lived near a dark, wooded area.
BlanchflowerEnglish From a medieval nickname applied probably to an effeminate man (from Old French blanche flour "white flower"). This surname was borne by Northern Irish footballer Danny Blanchflower (1926-1993).
BlandEnglish Bland is a habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire called Bland, the origin of which is uncertain. Possibly it is from Old English (ge)bland ‘storm’, ‘commotion’ (from blandan ‘to blend or mingle’), with reference to its exposed situation... [more]
BlandfordEnglish Habitational name from Blandford Forum and other places called Blandford in Dorset (Blaneford in Domesday Book), probably named in Old English with bl?ge 'gudgeon' (genitive plural blægna) + ford 'ford'.
BlaneyIrish Topographic name from Welsh blaenau, plural of blaen "point, tip, end", i.e. uplands, or remote region, or upper reaches of a river.
BlankGerman, Dutch, Jewish Means "white, pale, bright", a nickname for a person with white or fair hair or a pale complexion. As a Jewish name, it’s ornamental.
BlankeGerman, English, Dutch Nickname for someone with a fair complexion. From Old High German blanc meaning "white".
BlankenbijlDutch Means "white axe", from blanken "white, pale; bare" and bijl "axe". Possibly a toponymic name, or perhaps an occupational name for a woodcutter or carpenter.
BlankenbühlerGerman Possibly means "from the bare hill", from blanken "bare, bright" and bühl "hill".
BlankenshipEnglish Variant of Blenkinsop, a surname derived from a place in Northumberland called Blenkinsopp. The place name possibly derives from Cumbric blaen "top" and kein "back, ridge", i.e. "top of the ridge", combined with Old English hōp "valley" (compare Hope).
BlantonScottish (Americanized, Modern) An americanized version of the old Scottish name Ballantine (other forms being Ballantyne, Bannatyne, Ballanden).
BlaseyFrench The name may have been associated with a 4th century (316) French saint Blasius of Armenie (Armienes,) and later introduced into and adopted by Yorkshire people as their saint of wool-combers from a Norman noble.
BlasioliItalian Ancient and illustrious Benevento family, called Blasi or Di Blasi, of clear and avita nobility.
BlasiusGerman, French From the Latin personal name Blasius. This was a Roman family name, originating as a byname for someone with some defect, either of speech or gait, from Latin blaesus "stammering, lisping", itself from Ancient Greek βλαισός (blaisos) "bent, crooked; bow-legged".
BlattGerman, Jewish Ornamental name derived from German blatt and Yiddish blat meaning "leaf", or a topographic name for someone who lived at a farm on a ledge on a mountainside, derived from Middle High German blate meaning "flat surface, ledge, plateau".
BlaumGerman German last name, likely a variant of the last name Blom or Blum, referring to the word flower/blooming.
BlausteinGerman, Jewish Ornamental name from German blau "blue" and Stein "stone", i.e. lapis lazuli.
BlaxtonEnglish There are two possible origins for this surname; one- from the name of the village in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster (part of South Yorkshire, England) on the border of Lincolnshire, or two- from the Old English personal name Blaecstan, meaning "black stone"
BlayFrench From Old French bloi 'blond', or a habitational name from a placename, perhaps by metanalysis from Blois in Loir-et-Cher, France. Usually someone with the lastname 'Blay' is a gentle or merry person.
BlaylockEnglish The surname of James P. Blaylock (1950-), an early steampunk author. His surname may mean "black lock" from Middle English blakelok, originally referring to a person with dark hair.
BlazerDutch From Middle Dutch blaser "blower", from blâsen "to blow, to sound (a wind instrument); to brag", hence an occupational name for a player of the trumpet or other wind instrument, or a nickname for a braggart or boaster.
BledsoeEnglish Comes from a place in Gloucestershire called Bledisloe, comes from an Old English personal name Blið.
BleeckerDutch Old form of Dutch bleker "bleacher", an occupational name for a bleacher of textiles, a launderer, or the owner of a public bleaching ground.
BleekerDutch Occupational name for a bleacher of textiles, from Middle Dutch ble(e)kere.
BleibaumGerman "Lead tree" possibly changed at Ellis Island from Blumenbaum meaning "flowering tree"
BleibergJewish, German Means "lead hill" in German. Can be a toponymic name, likely from a place involved in lead mining, or an ornamental name.
BlemkerDutch (Americanized) Possibly an Americanized form of an occupational name for a bleacher of textiles, derived from Middle Dutch bleker.
BlennerhassettEnglish The Blennerhassett surname comes from someone having lived in Cumberland, on the Borderlands between Scotland and England. ... [more]
BłeńskiPolish This indicates familial origin anywhere within a cluster of 3 Kuyavian villages in Gmina Izbica Kujawska: Błenna, Błenna A, or Błenna B.
BlesseEnglish (British), Filipino, Indian, French The last name Blesse was first discovered in Oxfordshire and held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. In the Philippines, Blesse means "a blessing in the family." In India, Blesse means "bless you."
BlessedEnglish From a medieval nickname for a fortunate person. This surname is borne by British actor Brian Blessed (1936-).
BlessingGerman, English Either a German patronymic from a variant of the personal name Blasius or a nickname for a bald person from Middle High German blas "bald bare"... [more]
BleulerGerman (Swiss) From an agent derivative of Middle High German bliuwen meaning "to pound". Hence an occupational name for the owner of a pounding mill.
BleuzenBreton Derived from the feminine given name Bleuzenn.
BlewettEnglish From a medieval nickname for a blue-eyed person or one who habitually wore blue clothing (from Middle English bleuet "cornflower" or bluet "blue cloth").
BlissMedieval English, Medieval English (Anglicized) Originally a nickname for a cheerful person, derived from the Old English blisse, meaning "gladness" or "joy." Another origin of the surname is habitional, coming from from the village of Blay in Calvados (modern-day Normandy), spelled as Bleis in 1077, or from the village of Stoke Bliss in Worcestershire, first known as Stoke de Blez, named after the Norman family de Blez.... [more]
BlissettEnglish A different form of Blessed. A bearer of this surname is Luther Blissett (1958-), a Jamaican-born English footballer ("Luther Blissett" has been used since 1994 as a cover name for activists engaging in anti-cultural establishment polemics and spoofs on the internet and elsewhere).
BlitzGerman This surname is presumed to be coming from a nickname for a fast runner or a quick tempered person, from German blitz(er) meaning "lightning" (ultimately from Middle High German blicze.)
BlochJewish, German, French Regional name for someone in Central Europe originating from Italy or France, from Polish "Włoch" meaning "Italian" (originally "stranger / of foreign stock"), ultimately derived – like many names and words in various European languages – from the Germanic Walhaz.
BloemDutch Means "flower, bloom" or "flour (of wheat, corn)" in Dutch. Could be a nickname for a pretty or cheerful person, a metonymic occupational name for a florist, gardener, baker or miller, or a habitational name for a person who lived near flowers or a sign depicting them... [more]
BloemenDutch, Flemish Means "flowers, blooms" or "flour" in Dutch. Can be a nickname denoting beauty or a cheerful disposition, an occupational name for a gardener, miller, or baker, or a habitational name for someone who lived near flowers, or a sign depicting them... [more]
BloemendaalDutch Means "valley of flowers", the name of several places in the Netherlands, derived from bloem "flower" and dal "valley, dale". Cognate to German Blumenthal.
BloggEnglish The name is most likely Anglo-Saxon or early medieval English in origin. ... [more]
BlokDutch Means "block" in Dutch. This could be a nickname for someone with a heavy build, a metonymic occupational name for someone who used a block of wood in their work, such as a shoemaker, a milliner, or an executioner, or a toponymic surname for someone living on an enclosed piece of land.
BłońskiPolish Habitational name for someone from any of various places named Błonie, derived from Polish błonie meaning "pasture, meadow".
BloodEnglish Evidently from Old English blod ‘blood’, but with what significance is not clear. In Middle English the word was in use as a metonymic occupational term for a physician, i.e. one who lets blood, and also as an affectionate term of address for a blood relative.
BloodWelsh Anglicized form of Welsh ap Llwyd ‘son of Llwyd’.
BloodEnglish Derived from the Old English byname Blīþa (meaning "happy, blithe").
BloomfieldEnglish This interesting surname is of early medieval English origin, and is a locational name from either of the two places thus called in England, one in Staffordshire, and the other in Somerset, or it may be a dialectal variant of Blonville (-sur-Mer) in Calvados, Normandy, and hence a Norman habitation name... [more]
BlowEnglish From a medieval nickname for someone with a pale complexion (from Middle English blowe "pale"). This surname was borne by English composer John Blow (1649-1708) and British fashion editor Isabella Blow (original name Isabella Delves Broughton; 1958-2007); additionally, "Joe Blow" is a name used colloquially (in US, Canadian and Australian English) as representative of the ordinary uncomplicated unsophisticated man, the average man in the street (of which the equivalent in British English is "Joe Bloggs").
BlufordEnglish, American (South) Possibly an English habitational name from a lost or unidentified place. The name occurs in records of the 19th century but is now very rare if not extinct in the British Isles. In the U.S. it is found chiefly in TX and TN.
BluhmGerman German alternate spelling of the Italian surname, Blum meaning flower.
BlumenscheinGerman from Middle High German bluomenschin "flower splendor" from the elements bluomo "bloom" and sconi "beautiful" probably a topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by a sign depicting a bunch of flowers or decorated with flower designs or noted for its flower garden.
BluntEnglish Nickname for a person with fair hair or a light complexion from Old French blunt meaning "blond". It was also used as a nickname for a stupid person from Middle English blunt or blont meaning "dull".
BluthGerman, Jewish German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from Middle High German bluot, German Blüte ‘bloom’, ‘flower head’. ... [more]
BlydenburghFlemish Derived from a habitational name from Blijenberg (formerly Bleidenberg) in Brabant, Belgium. (Also Van Blydenbergh)
BlylevenDutch (Anglicized) Americanized form of Blijleven. Dutch-American former baseball player Bert Blyleven (1951-), born Blijleven, is a famous bearer of this surname.
BlyshchykUkrainian Means "one who shines", from Ukrainian блищить (blyshchyt'), meaning "to shine".
BlythinWelsh Recorded as Blethin, Bleythin, Bleything, Blythin, and others, this is a surname which has Welsh royal connections. It derives from the Ancient British personal name "Bleddyn," translating as the son of Little Wolf... [more]
BlyznyukUkrainian From Ukrainian близнюк (blyznyuk), meaning "twin".
BlyzynskyimUkrainian Derived from Ukrainian близнюки (blyznyuky) meaning "twins".