Submitted Surnames Starting with C
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
CAAMAÑOGalicianThis indicates familial origin within the eponymous parish in the municipality of Porto do Son.
CABALLEROSpanishOccupational name from
caballero "knight, soldier, horseman" (from Late Latin
caballarius "mounted soldier").
CABAÑASpanish, PortugueseHabitational name from a place named with Spanish cabaña ‘hut’, ‘cabin’ (Late Latin capanna, a word of Celtic or Germanic origin).
CABAÑASSpanish, PortugueseHabitational name from a place named with Spanish cabaña or Portuguese cabanha ‘hut’, ‘cabin’.
CABANISSFrenchVariant spelling of
Cabanis, a habitational name from any of various places in Gard named Cabanis, from Late Latin capannis ‘at the huts’, ablative plural of capanna 'hut'. This name was established in North American in the 18th century, probably by Huguenots.
CABELLCatalan, English, GermanAs a Catalan name, a nickname for "bald" from the Spanish word
cabello. The English name, found primarily in Norfolk and Devon, is occupational for a "maker or seller of nautical rope" that comes from a Norman French word...
[more] CABLEEnglishEnglish: metonymic occupational name for a maker of rope, especially the type of stout rope used in maritime applications, from Anglo-Norman French
cable ‘cable’ (Late Latin
capulum ‘halter’, of Arabic origin, but associated by folk etymology with Latin
capere ‘to seize’)....
[more] CACCIATOREItalianDerived from Italian
cacciatore meaning "hunter, huntsman", which is ultimately derived from the Italian verb
cacciare meaning "to hunt"....
[more] CADDICKWelshFrom the Welsh male personal name
Cadog, a pet-form of
Cadfael (a derivative of Welsh
cad "battle").
CADEROUSSEFrench, LiteratureA character in the classic novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. In the novel, Caderousse is a tailor and inkeeper who aids in the arrest of Dantès.
CADILLACFrenchFrom the name of a city in France, of origin I am not sure of (anyone who knows the name's etymology edit this). This is most notably the name of the car company of the same name, named after Detroit, Michigan founder Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac.
CADOGANWelshFrom the Welsh male personal name
Cadwgan, literally probably "battle-scowler". Cadogan Estate is an area of Chelsea and Belgravia, including Cadogan Square, Sloane Street and Sloane Square, owned by the earls of Cadogan, descended from Charles Sloane Cadogan (1728-1807), 1st Earl Cadogan.
CAIChineseFrom Chinese 蔡
(cài) referring to the ancient state of Cai during the
Zhou dynasty. In the case of Hui Muslim usage, it is also interpreted as a contraction of the Arabic given name
Uthman.
CAINEFrench, EnglishOriginally from a French derogatory nickname for someine with a bad temper.
CAIRNSScottishFrom Gaelic
carn "cairn", a topographic name for someone who lived by a cairn, i.e. a pile of stones raised as a boundary marker or a memorial.
CAKEEnglishFrom the Middle English cake denoting a flat loaf made from fine flour (Old Norse kaka), hence a metonymic occupational name for a baker who specialized in fancy breads. It was first attested as a surname in the 13th century (Norfolk, Northamptonshire).
ÇAKIRTurkishMeans either "goshawk", "wine", or "greyish-blue" in Turkish.
ÇAKMAKTurkishMeans "lighter" in Turkish, referring to a tool used to ignite fire. This is also the name of a village in Antalya Province, Turkey.
CALCATERRAItalianNickname from calcare meaning "to tread", "to stamp" + terra meaning "land", "earth", "ground", probably denoting a short person, someone who walked close to the ground, or an energetic walker.
CALDERASpanishDerived from Spanish
caldera meaning "basin, crater, hollow", ultimately from Latin
caldarium or
caldaria both meaning "hot bath, cooking pot". The word also denotes a depression in volcanoes, and it is commonly used as an element for surnames denoting streams or mountains.
CALDERÓNSpanishIs a Spanish occupational surname. It is derived from the Vulgar Latin "caldaria" ("cauldron") and refers to the occupation of tinker. As a topographic name from an augmentative of caldera 'basin', 'crater', 'hollow', a common element of stream and mountain names, or a habitational name from a place named with this word, as for example Calderón in Valencia province.
CALEWelshPossibly derived from the River Cale. A famous barer of this name is Welsh musician John Cale (1942- ).
CALEROSpanishMetonymic occupational name for a burner or seller of lime, from
calero ‘lime’.
CALLENDEREnglishOccupational name for a person who finished freshly woven cloth by passing it between heavy rollers to compress the weave. From Old Franch
calandrier,
calandreur.
CALLIARIItalian (Latinized, Archaic)This is an Italian surname, in the north of Italy. Calliari is the result of the deformation of the graphically
Calligari, where you can clearly see excision of the letter or character D, which is located in the middle of the surname...
[more] CALLOWAYAmerican (Modern, Rare)Means "pebble". From the Old French
cail(ou) 'pebble'. Traditionally an English surname, which is a regional name of French Norman origin from Caillouet-Orgeville in Eure, France.
CALVEYIrishVariation of McKelvey. Meaning rich in possessions or Irish from the French word bald
CAMACHOSpanish, PortugueseFrom the ancient European
camb, meaning twisted or disfigured, denoting to someone with visible physical abnormalities, but could possibly also refer to residents of a particularly gnarly tract of land.
CAMBRIAItalianDenoted to someone from Cambria, Sicily, possibly of Arabic origin.
CAMMEnglishEnglish (of Norman origin): habitational name for someone from Caen in Normandy, France.English: habitational name from Cam in Gloucestershire, named for the Cam river, a Celtic river name meaning ‘crooked’, ‘winding’.Scottish and Welsh: possibly a nickname from Gaelic and Welsh cam ‘bent’, ‘crooked’, ‘cross-eyed’.Americanized spelling of German Kamm.
CAMOYSEnglishFrom a medieval nickname for someone with a snub nose (from Old French
camus "snub nose").
CAMPEREnglishRespelling of German
Kamper or
Kämpfer (see
Kampfer). The surname Camper is recorded in England, in the London and Essex area, in the 19th century; its origin is uncertain, but it may have been taken there from continental Europe.
CAMPIONNorman, FrenchEnglish (of Norman origin) and French: status name for a professional champion (see
Champion,
Kemp), from the Norman French form
campion.
CAMPUMANESAsturianThis indicates familial origin within the eponymous parish of the municipality of Ḷḷena.
CAMUSBasqueCamus is a Basque surname from Bermeo, Vizcaya. Part passed to Cantabria and Chile.
CANTurkishMeans "soul, life, being" in Turkish, ultimately of Persian origin.
CANMayanfrom the word
kaan meaning "snake"
CANADAFrench, EnglishIt derives from the Middle English "cane", a development of the Old French "cane", meaning cane, reed.
CANAKTurkishFrom the Turkish town of Çanakkale. Canak is the Anglicised form, which may or may not retain its Turkish pronunciation.
CANAVANIrish (Anglicized)Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Ceanndubháin "descendant of
Ceanndubhán", a byname meaning "little black-headed one", from
ceann "head" combined with
dubh "black" and the diminutive suffix
-án.
CANDEMIRTurkishMeans "iron soul", derived from Turkish
can meaning "soul, spirit" combined with
demir meaning "iron".
CANDLINEnglishDerived from the medieval English, male first name Gandelyn, of unknown meaning.
CANDYEnglishUnexplained.There was a family of this name in Roussillon, France, descended from a partisan of James II named Kennedy, who was exiled in France in the 17th century. The family died out in France in 1868, but may have had an American branch.
CANELLAItalianItalian regional surname denoting someone who lived by a canal. From the Italian
canale 'canal', from the Latin
canalis meaning "canal; conduit; groove; funnel; or ditch". Alternatively, it may come the genus name of wild cinnamon, a diminutive of the Latin
canna "reed, cane".
CANGUSSUBrazilianThe surname Cangussu has its origins in the Tupi-Guarani language and is a variation of Akangu’su, which means 'Jaguar'.
CANIZALESSpanish (Latin American)This surname came from around the beginnings of 1800 in south regions of Colombia where sugar cane was cultivated. It's a variation of
Cañizales, that literally means "sugar cane fields".
CANNELLAItalian (Modern)Derived from the word "Cinnamon" in Italian meaning someone who was a baker and or made cinnamon.
CANOMANUELSpanishThe first part of this surname is possibly derived from Spanish
cano "hoary, white-haired, grey-haired". The second part is derived from the given name
Manuel. As such, this name must first have come into being as a nickname, referring to the white or grey hair of a man named Manuel.
CANTEnglishMeans "singer in a chantry chapel", or from a medieval nickname for someone who was continually singing (in either case from Old Northern French
cant "song").
CANTELLOWEnglishMeans "person from Canteleu, Canteloup, etc.", the name of various places in northern France ("song of the wolf").
CANTELOUPFrenchName of several places in France. The surname means "Song of the Wolf" from canta and loup as in "place where the wolves howl".
CANTERBURYEnglishHabitational name from Canterbury in Kent, named in Old English as
Cantwaraburg "fortified town (
burgh) of the people (
wara) of Kent".
CAOVietnameseMeans "tall" or "lofty, elevated", from the Sino-Vietnamese character
高 CAPEDERRomanshFrom the Romansh surname prefix
Ca and the given name
Peder, which is the Scandinavian (and apparently also Romansh) form of
Peter.
CAPELEnglishFrom the Domesday Book of 1086, from the old French word 'capele' meaning chapel.
CAPELLASpanish, Catalan, ItalianFrom
capella "chapel", a topographic name for someone who lived by a chapel or a metonymic occupational name for someone who worked in one.
CAPLINEnglishMeans "singer in a chantry chapel" (from Old Northern French
capelain, a variant of standard Old French
chapelain (cf.
Chaplin)).
CAPONEItalianIs a Italian origin surname from an augmentative of capo ‘head’, applied as a nickname for someone with a big head, probably in the sense ‘arrogant’ or ‘stubborn’ rather than in a strictly literal sense...
[more] CAPOTEItalian (Tuscan)Capote is a name for person who was the chief of the head from the Italian personal name Capo.
CAPSHAWEnglishUnexplained. Perhaps a habitational name from Cadshaw near Blackburn, Lancashire, although the surname is not found in England.
CAPUAItalianCapua is a city and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, situated 25 km (16 mi) north of Naples on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. Ancient Capua was situated where Santa Maria Capua Vetere is now....
[more] CAPULETEnglishThis is the last name of Juliet from William Shakepeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet.
CARAWAYEnglishProbably means "spice merchant" (from Middle English
carewei "caraway").
CARBAJALSpanish, Judeo-SpanishProbably a habitational name demoting someone originally from any of the multiple locations called
Carbajal in León, Asturias, or Zamora in Spain. Alternatively, it may be of pre-Roman origin from the word
carbalio meaning "oak", denoting someone who either lived near an oak tree or who was like an oak tree in some way....
[more] CARBONELLEnglishFrom a medieval nickname for a dark-haired or swarthy person, from Anglo-Norman
carbonel, literally "little charcoal".
CARBONEROSpanishFamous bearers are Carlos Carbonero, a Colombian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Sampdoria on loan from Fénix and Sara Carbonero, a Spanish sports journalist.
CARCELÉNSpanishThis indicates familial origin within the eponymous Manchego municipality.
CARDEnglishEnglish: metonymic occupational name for someone who carded wool (i.e. disentangled it), preparatory to spinning, from Middle English, Old French card(e) ‘carder’, an implement used for this purpose...
[more] CÁRDENASSpanishHabitational name from places in the provinces of Almería and Logroño named Cárdenas, from the feminine plural of
cárdeno "blue, bluish purple" (Late Latin
cardinus, from
carduus "thistle")...
[more] CARDENETESpanishThis indicates familial origin within the eponymous Manchego municipality.
CARDWELLEnglishFrom the traditionally British surname, which is a variant of the British surname Caldwell, a from the Old English
cald "cold" and
well(a) "spring, stream".
CAREEnglishOccupational name for a locksmith, Middle English keyere, kayer, an agent derivative of keye.
CARISBROOKEnglishCarisbrooke is a village on the Isle of Wight; the name is thought to mean "Carey's brook". When in 1917 the British royal family changed its name from the "House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha" to the "House of Windsor" and renounced all German titles, the title of Marquess of Carisbrooke was created for the erstwhile German Prince Alexander of Battenberg.
CARLANDERSwedishCombination of the given name
KARL or Swedish
karl "man" and
ander, from classical Greek
andros, "man".
CARLINIrish (Anglicized), Scottish, French, Swedish, Italian, Jewish (Anglicized), GermanIrish (now also common in Scotland) anglicized form of Gaelic
Ó Cairealláin, an Ulster family name, also sometimes Anglicized as
Carlton, meaning ‘descendant of Caireallán’, a diminutive of the personal name
Caireall...
[more] CARLYONCornishCornish: habitational name from any of three places in Cornwall called Carlyon, in St. Minver and Kea parishes. The first element is Celtic ker ‘fort’; the second could represent the plural of Cornish legh ‘slab’.
CARNEGIEScottishHabitational name from a place called Carnegie, near Carmyllie in Angus, from Gaelic
cathair an eige "fort at the gap".
CARNEYIrishAnglicized form of Gaelic
Ó Catharnaigh "descendant of Catharnach", a byname meaning "warlike".
CARPENITOItalianThis surname derives from a person who had worked as a "carpenter".
CARREFrenchFrench (Carré): from Old French carré "square", applied as a nickname for a squat, thickset man.
CARRELFrenchFrench: from Old French quar(r)el ‘bolt (for a crossbow)’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of crossbow bolts or a nickname for a short, stout man. The word also meant ‘paving slab’, and so it could also have been a metonymic occupational name for a street layer...
[more] CARRELLEnglishEnglish: from Old French carrel, ‘pillow’, ‘bolster’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of these. In some cases perhaps an altered spelling of Irish
Carroll. In other cases perhaps an altered spelling of French
Carrel.
CARREÑOAsturianThis indicates familial origin within the eponymous municipality.
CARRERASpanish, ItalianSpanish: topographic name for someone living by a main road,
carrera ‘thoroughfare’, originally a road passable by vehicles as well as pedestrians (Late Latin
carraria (via), a derivative of
carrum ‘cart’), or a habitational name from any of various places named with this word....
[more] CARRICKScottishThe possible roots of the Carrick family name may be from the ancient Strathclyde people of the the Scottish/English Borderlands. Carrick may also be of local origin, referring to those who lived in or near the place called Carrick in Ayrshire...
[more] CARRINGTONEnglish, ScottishEnglish: habitational name from a place in Greater Manchester (formerly in Cheshire) called Carrington, probably named with an unattested Old English personal name
Cara +
-ing- denoting association +
tun ‘settlement’....
[more] CARRUTHERSScottishThis old Scottish surname was first used by Strathclyde-Briton people. The Carruthers family in the land of Carruthers in the parish of Middlebie, Dumfriesshire. In that are it is pronounced 'Cridders'....
[more] CARSTAIRSEnglish (British)From the manor or barony of the same name in the parish of Carstairs (= 1170 Casteltarres, 'Castle of Tarres').
CARTIERFrench, NormanOriginal Norman French form of
Carter. A notable bearer was Breton-French explorer Jacques Cartier (1491-1557), who is known for discovering the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
CARUTHERSScottishMeans "Rhydderch's fort" in Cumbric. This might refer to the king of Alt Clut, Rhydderch Hael.
CARVALHOPortugueseCarvalho (Portuguese pronunciation:
kɐɾˈvaʎu), meaning 'oak', is a Portuguese surname, also sometimes used as a Sephardic Jewish surname as well as by families with genetic Norman descent....
[more] CARVILLEFrench, IrishAs a French location name it comes from a settlement in Normandy. As an Irish name it derives from a word for "warrior".
CASABUENASpanish (Modern, Rare)Means "Happy House" or "House of Happiness" in Spanish, with the Spanish word "Casa", which means "House" and Buena, meaning "Happy" or "Happiness".
CASAGRANDESpanish, ItalianFrom the Spanish & Italian words
casa meaning "house" and
grande meaning "big"; literally means "big house".
CASANOVACatalan, ItalianCatalan and Italian: topographic name from Latin
casa ‘house’ +
nova ‘new’, or a habitational name from any of the many places named with these words.
CASCALHOPortuguese (?)What I know about this surname is that it came from Alentejo, a region in Portugal countryside. The eldest Cascalho I know lived in Évora (city in this province) so I assume the name born there...
CASEEnglishFrom Anglo-Norman French
cas(s)e "case, container" (from Latin
capsa), hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of boxes or chests.
CASELLAItalianFrom casa "house" (Latin casa "hut, cottage, cabin"), perhaps originally denoting the occupier of the most distinguished house in a village. Italian chef Cesare Casella (1960 - ) is one such bearer of this name.
CASEMENTManxFrom Manx Gaelic
Mac Asmuint "son of
Ásmundr", an Old Norse male personal name meaning literally "god-protection". The surname was borne by Sir Roger Casement (1864-1916), an Irish-born British consular official and rebel.
CASESCatalanCatalan family name. Plural of 'casa' meaning 'house', possibly given to people who were given or built a manor or town house or had a slightly better than normal dwelling for their location/village etc.....
[more] CASILLASSpanishFrom any of various places called Casillas or Las Casillas, from the plural of casilla, a diminutive of Casa. ...
[more] CASONEnglishHabitational name for someone from Cawston in Norfolk; the form of the surname reflects the local pronunciation of the place name, which is from the Old Scandinavian personal name
Kalfr and Old English
tun "settlement".
CASSATTFrenchOrigin uncertain. This is not known as a surname in Britain. It may be an Americanized form of a French name such as
Casault.
CASSELLEnglishEither (i) "person from Cassel", northern France, or "person from Kassel", Germany ("fort"); or (ii) a different form of
Castle ("person who lives by or lives or works in a castle"). Cassell & Company is a British publishing company, established in 1848 by John Cassell (1817-1865).
CASSEYScottish, IrishThis surname originated around ancient Scotland and Ireland. In its Gaelic form it is called, 'O Cathasaigh', which means 'the watchful one'....
[more] CASTIELJudeo-Christian LegendThe name of an angel of Thursday, travelling and guidance. Used in the show Supernatural for the character portrayed by Misha Collins
CASTIGLIAItalianA Regional name for someone from Castile in Spain. Castile was an independent kingdom between the 10th and 15th centuries, it formed the largest power in the Iberian peninsula. The name derives from the many castles in the region.
CASTIGLIONEItalian, JewishHabitational name from any of numerous places named with this word, from medieval Latin
castellio (genitive
castellionis) ‘fortification’ or ‘small castle’.
CASTROGIOVANNIItalianHabitational name from
Castrogiovanni, the name until 1927 of Enna in central Sicily.
CATCHPOLEEnglishMeant "bailiff, especially (originally) one who could seize domestic animals in lieu of tax or debt" (from Anglo-Norman
cachepol, from
cacher "to chase" +
pol "chicken").
CATESEnglishEnglish patronymic from the Old Norse byname
Káti (from
káti ‘boy’).
CATONEItalianDerived from the name of the Roman republican statesman Cato, used as a nickname.
CATTLEYEnglishMeans "person from Catley", Herefordshire and Lincolnshire ("glade frequented by cats"). It was borne by the British botanical patron William Cattley (1788-1835).
CATTRALLEnglishThis surname is of Old Scandinavian origin, is an English locational name from Catterall, near Garstang in Lancashire, which appeared as "Catrehala" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and "Caterhale" in the Book of Fees of 1212...
[more] CAULFIELDIrishComes from the Irish Gaelic
Mac Cathmhaoil, which was Anglicized to
McCawell and then morphed into Caulfield.
Mac Cathmhaoil comes from a word meaning "chieftan".
CAVAItalian, Catalan, Spanish, PortugeseFrom
cava ‘cave’, ‘cellar’ (from Latin
cavea), hence a metonymic occupational name for someone employed in the wine cellars of a great house, a topographic name for someone who lived in or near a cave, or a habitational name from any of numerous places named with this word.
CAVALCANTIItalianMeans "riding" in Italian. An occupational surname for people who worked with horses.
CAVENorman, French, EnglishA name of various possible origins. As a Norman French name Cave can mean "bald" from
cauf or it can mean "worker in a wine cellar" or "one who dwelt in or near a cave". As an English name Cave refers to a Yorkshire river whose fast current inspired the name meaning "swift".
CAVELLEnglishNickname for a bald man, from a diminutive of Anglo-Norman French
cauf.
CAVERLYEnglishEnglish surname, a variant of the English surname Calverley, itself derived from the Old English
calf "calf" and
leag "field, clearing".
CAWOODEnglishTraditional English habitational surname meaning "jackdaw wood" from the Old English
ca referring to 'jackdaw' (a member of the crow family), and
wudu 'wood'.
CAWTHORNEEnglishMeans "person from Cawthorn or Cawthorne", both in Yorkshire ("cold thorn bush").
CAZACURomanianFrom the name of the Cazacu River which flows through Romania.
CEJASpanishFrom a common field name or a habitational name from any of various minor places called Ceja Yecla in Aragon.
ČELIKCroatian, SerbianDerived from Serbo-Croatian "čelik", ultimately from Turkish
çelik, meaning "steel".