BrophyIrish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Bróithe ‘descendant of Bróth’, a personal name or byname of unknown origin. Also Anglicized as Broy.
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-).
BroughEnglish Habitational name derived from any place called Brough, named with Old English burh "fortress" (compare English and Irish Burke).
BroughamEnglish From the parish of Brougham in Westmoreland, derived from Old English burg "stronghold" + ham "piece of land".
BroughtonEnglish Habitational name from any of the many places so called in England. The first name element is derived from Old English broc "brook", burh "fortress", or beorg "castle". The second element is derived from Old English tun "settlement, dwelling".
Br SinagafBatak Feminine form of Sinaga. The Br (short form of boru, pronounced BOH-roo) part is a nickname for women in Bataknese.
Br SiregarfBatak Feminine form of Siregar. The Br (short form of boru, pronounced BOH-roo or BUH-roo) part is a nickname for women in Bataknese.
Br TariganfBatak Feminine form of Tarigan. The Br (short form of beru, pronounced BOH-roo or BUH-roo) part is a nickname for women in Bataknese, specifically in the Karo tribe.
BruchGerman Topographic name for someone who lived by a marsh or a stream that frequently flooded, from Middle High German bruoch "water meadow" or "marsh" (cognate to old English broc "brook", "stream" cf... [more]
BrückGerman Topographic name for someone who lived near a bridge, or an occupational name for a bridge keeper or toll collector on a bridge, from Middle High German bruck(e) "bridge".
BruckJewish From Polish, Belorussian, or Yiddish bruk "pavement", possibly an occupational name for a paver.
BrucknerGerman Topographic name for someone living by a bridge or an occupational name for a bridge toll collector; a variant of Bruck with the addition of the suffix -ner.
BrucksGerman A variant of the German based surname 'Bruck', which roughly means 'bridge'.
BruderGerman From a byname meaning "brother", occasionally used for a younger son, i.e. the brother of someone important, or for a guild member.
BruecknerGerman, German (Silesian) German (Brückner): from Middle Low German brugge, Middle High German brugge, brücke, brügge ‘bridge’ + the agent suffix -ner, hence a topographic name for someone living by a bridge, an occupational name for a bridge toll collector, or in the southeast (Silesia for example) a bridge keeper or repairer... [more]
BrueggemannLow German, German North German (Brüggemann): topographic name for someone who lived near a bridge or a metonymic occupational name for a bridge keeper or street paver, Middle Low German brüggeman (see Bruckman, Brueckner).
BrueggerLow German North German (Brügger): occupational name for a bridge keeper, paver, or road builder, Middle Low German brügger. Compare Brueggemann.
BrueggertGermanic (Anglicized) Translated literally, the name means "bridge-man," and referred to the occupation of taking toll at bridges. The name was found most frequently in Frankfurt in the 12th and 13th centuries. North German (Brügger) and South German: occupational name for a bridge keeper paver or road builder... [more]
BruenGerman This is my 2nd great uncle's wife's Surname of German ancestry.
BruggemanDutch, Flemish Means "bridgeman" in Dutch, an occupational name for someone who operated, guarded, or otherwise worked on a bridge. It could also denote someone who lived near a bridge, or who came from the Flemish city of Bruges, which also derives from Old Dutch brugga "bridge".
BrüggemannGerman Name for someone who worked as a street paver or bridge keeper, or someone who lived near a bridge. From Middle Low German brügge "bridge" or brüggeman "street paver".
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.
BrühlGerman, Jewish Topographic name for someone who lived by a swampy area, derived from Middle High German brüel and Middle Low German brul meaning "swampy land with brushwood". It may also be a habitational name from various places named Brühl in Germany.
BrumbaughGermanic Brumbaugh is derived from towns of the same name, located in various regions of Germany: from "in der Brumbach" a farm near Müsen, Germany, or in the town of Brombach, Swabia and or Switzerland.
BrumbyEnglish English habitational name from a place in Lincolnshire named Brumby, from the Old Norse personal name Brúni or from Old Norse brunnr "well" + býr "farmstead, village".
BrunetteFrench (Quebec) Variant of Brunet, reflecting the French Canadian pattern of pronouncing the final -t, which is not pronounced in metropolitan French.
BruneyEnglish First found in Languedoc, France, possibly meaning "brown."
BrunsFrench Bruns was first found in Poitou where this noble family held a family seat since ancient times. The Bruns surname derives from the French word "brun," meaning "brown"; possibly a nickname for someone who habitually dressed in the color brown.
BrushScottish (Rare) Quite literally means "brush". Might derive from the Scottish Gaelic word bhrus which means "brush", or the Latin root br which means "explained". Was a nickname for those described to 'look like a brush'(i.e. hair that sticks up, thin with a big head, etc.)
BruskiPolish Habitational surname for someone from a place called Brus.
BrusseFrench Topographic name for someone living in a scrubby area of country, from Old French broce meaning "brushwood, scrub". It is also occupational name for a brush maker, from Old French brusse meaning "brush".
BrzozowskimPolish Habitational name for someone from a place named Brzozowa, Brzozowice, or Brzozowo, all derived from Polish brzoza, meaning "birch tree".
BrzumińskiPolish This indicates familial origin within the Masovian village of Brzumin.
BubienPolish The name came originally from France. An officer of Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Russian war, in 1812 stayed in Poland and married. One of his sons, became a regional Judge and large land owner in the Belarus area of Poland... [more]
BuchGerman Topographic name for someone who lived by a beech tree or beech wood, from Middle High German buoche, or a habitational name from any of the numerous places so named with this word, notably in Bavaria and Württemberg... [more]
BüchlerGerman Habitional name for someone from Büchle or Büchel, or who lived near beech trees, ultimately from Büche "beech (tree)". Alternatively, could be an occupational name for someone who pressed oil from beechnuts.
BuchliRomansh Derived from Buchilo, a medieval diminutive of the given name Burkhard.
BuckinghamEnglish Habitational name from the former county seat of the county of Buckinghamshire, Old English Buccingahamm "water meadow (Old English hamm) of the people of (-inga-) Bucc(a)".
BucklandEnglish Habitational name from any of the many places in southern England (including nine in Devon) named Buckland, from Old English bōc "book" and land "land", i.e. land held by right of a written charter, as opposed to folcland, land held by right of custom.
BucklerEnglish Occupational name for a maker of buckles, derived from Old French bouclier. Could also be a name for someone who used a buckle, a kind of small shield.
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.
BucurRomanian A ancient Romanian name of Dacian origin. It means "happy". A legendary Romanian shepherd named Bucur it is said to have founded Bucharest, the present capital or Romania, giving his name to it (The Romanian city name is Bucureşti).
BuddEnglish Originated from the Old English personal name Budda, from the word budda, which means "beetle" or "to swell." Specifically of Celtic Welsh origin.
BuddhinanThai From Thai พุทธิ (putthi), a transcription of Sanskrit बुद्धि (búddhi) meaning "intelligence" and นันทน์ (nan) of unknown meaning.
BudeGerman, Dutch Means "booth, stall" or "hut, small house".
BudgeEnglish Nickname from Norman French buge "mouth" (Late Latin bucca), applied either to someone with a large or misshapen mouth or to someone who made excessive use of his mouth, i.e. a garrulous, indiscreet, or gluttonous person... [more]
BudouJapanese From Japanese 武 (bu) meaning "military, martial" combined with 堂 (dou) meaning "temple, shrine" or from 武道 (budou) meaning "Japanese martial arts".
BudziszewskiPolish Habitational name for someone from places called Budziszewo.
BuechlerGerman From the common field name Büchle 'beech stand', the -er suffix denoting an inhabitant. from buchel 'beech nut', hence a metonymic occupation name for someone who owned or worked in an oil mill producing oil from beech nuts.
BuelnaAsturian Asturian-Leonese and Spanish: habitational name from any of the places called Buelna in Asturies and Cantabria.
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.
BuensucesoSpanish (Philippines) From a Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso, meaning "Our Lady of the Good Event," referring to the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus.
BuermeisterGerman North German: status name for the mayor or chief magistrate of a town, from Middle Low German bur ‘inhabitant, dweller’, ‘neighbor’, ‘peasant’, ‘citizen’ + mester ‘master’.
BuffetFrench Occupational name for a maker of furniture, derived from Old French buffet meaning "table, cupboard". It could also be a nickname for an angry and violent man, from Old French buffet meaning "slap in the face"... [more]
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.
BuffoItalian Character in an Opera Buffa; clown, jester, comedian, buffoon.
BugajskiPolish Habitational name from any of numerous places called Bugaj.
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]
BugayongPangasinan From Pangasinan bugayong meaning referring to a type of flowering plant (genus Abrus). It was perhaps used as an occupational name for someone who practiced folk medicine with this plant.
BuġejaMaltese Possibly derived from Maltese abjad meaning "white", ultimately from Arabic أَبْيَض (ʾabyaḍ).
BuggEnglish From the Old Norse nickname Buggi, literally "fat man", or from a medieval nickname for an eccentric or strangely behaved person (from Middle English bugge "bogeyman, scarecrow").
BugiardiniItalian Means "little liar" in Italian, from bugiardo "lying, false, deceitful; liar" and the diminutive suffix -ino.
BugisIndonesian, Arabic From the name of the Bugis people, itself derived from the endonym Ugi' of uncertain meaning. This surname is common among people of Indonesian ancestry in Saudi Arabia.
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".
BugtaiFilipino, Cebuano Means "Siamese rough bush" (a type of tree in the genus Streblus) in Cebuano.
BuicanRomanian (Rare) It comes from the name Buicani which comes from the village Buiucani situated in Moldova
BuijsDutch Patronymic form of Boso. Alternatively, could derive from Dutch buis "gambeson, jacket" as a nickname for someone who made or wore jackets, or from buis "herring buss, fishing boat" as a nickname for a fisherman.
BuisDutch Means "buss, fishing vessel" in Dutch, a metonymic occupational name for a fisherman. Alternatively, a variant of the patronymic surname Buijs.
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.
BuitenhuisDutch Means "country house, building outside of the city" in Dutch, derived from buiten "outside, out of; in the country" and huis "house, home, residence".
BuitragoSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 eponymous municipalities: the Castilian one in El Campo de Gómara or the Manchego municipality of Buitrago del Lozoya in Sierra Norte, Comunidad de Madrid.
BujalskiPolish Nickname for a storyteller, Polish bujała.
BujandaBasque It indicates familial origin within the eponymous council of the municipality of Kanpezu.