BenedictEnglish Of Latin origin. Due to an early association as a saint's name and a papal name, often said to mean "blessed." Originally the Latin elements are 'bene-' meaning "good" or as an adverb "well" plus '-dict,' meaning "spoken." Thus, the literal meaning is "well spoken." ... [more]
BenelliItalian The distinguished surname Benelli originated in an area of Italy, known as the Papal States. Although people were originally known only by a single name, it became necessary for people to adapt a second name to identify themselves as populations grew and travel became more frequent... [more]
BenfieldEnglish habitational name from one or more of the numerous places in England called Benfield or Binfield which are named from Middle English bent "bent-grass" and feld "open country" or "land converted to arable use" (Old English beonet and feld).
BenguiguiJudeo-Spanish Means "son of Guigui", from a given name or tribal name possibly derived from Tamazight igig meaning "stake".
Ben-GurionHebrew Means "son of the lion cub", from Hebrew גוּר (gur) meaning "lion cub, young lion". A notable bearer was the Polish-born David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973; real name David Grün), the founding father of the State of Israel who also served as the country's first prime minister.
Ben HadjArabic (Maghrebi) Means "son of the pilgrim"; the title Hadj refers to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. This surname is mainly found in Tunisia.
Ben-hurJewish, Literature Means "son of Hur" in Hebrew. This was also the name of the protagonist of both the 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ and the 1959 film adaptation Ben-Hur, named Judah Ben-Hur.
BenícioPortuguese (Brazilian) Spanish form of Benedict, from the Late Latin name Benedictus, which meant "blessed". A notable bearer is Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro (born 1967).
BenigniItalian Patronymic form of Benigno. A notable bearer is the Italian actor and comedian Roberto Benigni (1952-).
BenkiraneArabic (Maghrebi) From Arabic بْن (bn) meaning "son" combined with كِيرَان (kīrān) meaning "forges, furnaces", possibly denoting descent of a blacksmith or metalworker (chiefly Moroccan).
BennaniArabic (Maghrebi) Means "my son" in Hebrew, from בן (ben) meaning "son" and אני (ani) meaning "I, me". This is the name of a Moroccan family of Jewish origin that converted to Islam.
BennerGerman Occupational name for a basket and bassinet maker, from an agent derivative of Middle High German benne 'work basket', 'bassinet', 'cradle'.
BenningfieldEnglish From the place name Benefield in Northamptonshire, composed of the Old English personal name Bera combined with -ing "belonging to" and feld "field".
BennionWelsh Anglicized form of Welsh ab Einion meaning "son of Einion".
BennounaArabic (Maghrebi) Most likely from Arabic بن (bin) meaning "son" and the given name Nouna, which may have been derived from an Arabic word meaning "whale, big fish" or "sabre, sword". Alternately, it may be from an Arabic name for a variety of melon... [more]
Ben NunHebrew Joshua or Yehoshua Ben Nun functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Exodus and Numbers, and later succeeded Moses as leader of the Israelite tribes in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua
BenthallEnglish From Old English beonet meaning "bent-grass" and halh meaning nook.
BenthamEnglish Habitational name from any of various places named Bentham, from Old English beonet "bent grass" + ham "homestead" or hamm "enclosure hemmed in by water".
BeppuJapanese From Japanese 別府 (Beppu), the name of several Japanese towns and divisions. In some cases these places names are normally read Byū or Befu. In other cases Beppu is a clipping of longer names such as 別府門 (Beppumon), 西別府 (Nishibeppu) or 上別府 (Kamibeppu).
BerastegiBasque From the name of a town in Basque Country, Spain, derived from the Basque suffix -(t)egi "house, workshop; place of" and an uncertain first element. Possibly from the given name Beraxa (also written Beratza, Berasa, or Beraza), itself possibly from beratz "soft", or from the element beratz which means "meadow, grassy place"... [more]
BerentzenGerman The surname is derived from the given name Bernd and was formerly written "Bernd sin Sohn" which meant "son of Bernd"... [more]
BeresHungarian Occupational name for a farm laborer or casual harvest hand, béres, a derivative of bér 'wage', 'payment'.
BeresfordEnglish English: habitational name from a place in the parish of Alstonfield, Staffordshire named Beresford, from Old English beofor ‘beaver’ (or possibly from a byname from this word) + Old English ford ‘ford’... [more]
BerethnetLiterature Used by Samantha Shannon in her book The Priory Of The Orange Tree as the surname of the queens of Inys, a fictional queendom in the book.... [more]
BergaraBasque From the name of a town and municipality in Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, of uncertain etymology. Possibly contains the Basque element garai "high, tall; top" or kala "cove; place for fishing".
BergdahlSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain, hill" and dal "valley".
BergdorfGerman Origin unidentified. Possibly a German habitational name from places in Hamburg and Lower Saxony called Bergedorf, Bargdorf in Lower Saxony, or Bergsdorf in Brandenburg.
BergenGerman, Dutch, Flemish, Jewish Originally denoted a person from any of the various places named Bergen in Germany and the Netherlands. It is also a variant of Berg. Famous bearers include the Americans Candice Bergen (1946-), an actress, and Polly Bergen (1930-2014), an actress, singer and television host.
BergeronFrench Diminutive of French berger meaning "shepherd".
BerghorstGerman Topographical name for someone who lived by a wilderness area on a mountain, from Berg 'mountain', 'hill' + Horst 'wilderness' (see Horst).
BerginSwedish Derived from Swedish berg "mountain" and the common surname suffix -in.
BergincSlovak Original spelling of Slovene surname "Boreanaz".... [more]
BergkampDutch, German From the name of various places in the Netherlands and Germany, derived from Old Dutch and Old High German berg meaning "mountain" and kamp meaning "field". This name is borne by Dutch former soccer player Dennis Bergkamp (1969-).
BerglinSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain" and the surname suffix -in.
BerglindSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain, hill" and lind "linden tree".
BerglingSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain" and the common surname suffix -ing "belonging to, coming from". It has also been found as a spelling variant of similarly spelled names, such as Berlin... [more]
BergmarkSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain, hill" and mark "land, ground, field".
BergoglioItalian From the name of a village in Piedmont, Italy. A notable bearer is JorgeMario Bergoglio (1936-), better known as Pope Francis, the current head of the Catholic Church.
BergschneiderGerman topographic name for someone living by a mountain trail (as in cut into the hillside) from Berg "mountain hill" and Schneit "trail path running on a border" (Old High German sneita).
BerishaAlbanian From the name of a tribe and historical region in northern Albania, meaning uncertain.
BeriyaGeorgian (Russified) Russified form of Beria. This is the way the last name of Lavrentiy Beria, the head of the NKVD from 1938-1946, last name was spelled in the official Soviet language (Russian).
BerkeleyEnglish From any of the locations called Berkeley derived the elements beorc "birch" and leah "clearing, wood" meaning "birch clearing"... [more]
BerlangaSpanish From the village or castle named "Berlanga de Duero" from Soria, Spain. Berlanga itself was derived from "berlain" which comes from the name of a precious stone derived from the Greek. So it could be related to stones.
BerlinSwedish Of uncertain origin. The name could be a shortened form of Berglin. It could also be a habitational name from the city in Germany or from a place in Sweden named with ber or berg "mountain"... [more]
BerlinGerman, English Habitational name from the city in Germany, the name of which is of uncertain meaning. It is possibly derived from an Old Slavic stem berl- meaning swamp or from a West Slavic word meaning "river lake".
BerlinerblauGerman, Jewish Means “Prussian blue” in German. A notable bearer of this surname is Jacques Berlinerblau, a professor of Jewish civilization, and Stefania Berlinerblau, an American anatomist and physician.
BermejoSpanish Originally a nickname for a man with red hair or a ruddy complexion, from Spanish bermejo "reddish, ruddy" (itself from Latin vermiculus "little worm", from vermis "worm", since a crimson dye was obtained from the bodies of worms).
BermeoBasque From the town Bermeo in Biscay (Basque Country, Spain). Origin likely pre-Roman.
BerminghamEnglish (Modern, Rare) Bermingham is the Gaelicised version of 'De Birmingham' and is descended from the family of Warwickshire, England. The Irish version of the name MacFeorais/MacPheorais is derived from Pierce de Bermingham.
BernGerman, Scandinavian, German (Swiss) German and Scandinavian: from the personal name Berno, a pet form of Bernhard. In South German it comes from the habitational name from Bern, Switzerland, notably in the south; in other parts from the personal name Berno.
BernabéuCatalan (Valencian) From the given name Bernabé. A famous bearer was Santiago Bernabéu (1895-1978), a Spanish soccer player and the eleventh president of the soccer club Real Madrid CF.
BernadotteFrench, Swedish Possibly from the name of a historical province in Southern France named Béarn. This was originally a French non-noble surname. French general Jean Baptise Bernadotte (1763-1844) became the king of Sweden as Charles XIV John (Swedish: Karl XIV Johan) in 1818 and founded the current royal house in Sweden, House of Bernadotte.
BernasconiItalian The surname of BERNASCONI is of Italian origin, a locational name meaning the dweller on or near a small hill. The names of habitation are derived from pre-existing names denoting towns, villages, farmsteads or other named habitations... [more]
BernerEnglish, Norman From the Norman personal name Bernier from Old English beornan ‘to burn’, hence an occupational name for a burner of lime (compare German Kalkbrenner) or charcoal... [more]