Submitted Surnames Starting with C

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Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
CAAMAÑO Galician
This indicates familial origin within the eponymous parish in the municipality of Porto do Son.
CAASI Filipino, Ilocano
Means "pitiful" in Ilocano.
CAB Spanish
Diminutive of Cabello, Cabrera, or Cabral.
CABA Spanish, Catalan
Variant of Cava.
CABALEIRO Galician
'Knight' derived from an occupation, Galician origins.
CABALLERO Spanish
Occupational name from caballero "knight, soldier, horseman" (from Late Latin caballarius "mounted soldier").
CABALLO Spanish, Spanish (Latin American)
Derived from the Spanish word cabello, ultimately derived from the Latin word caballus, meaning "horse". This denoted someone who worked in a farm that took care of horses, or someone who had personality traits attributed to a horse, such as energetic behaviour.
CABAÑA Spanish, Portuguese
Habitational name from a place named with Spanish cabaña ‘hut’, ‘cabin’ (Late Latin capanna, a word of Celtic or Germanic origin).
CABAÑAS Spanish, Portuguese
Habitational name from a place named with Spanish cabaña or Portuguese cabanha ‘hut’, ‘cabin’.
CABANISS French
Variant 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.
CABATUAN Filipino, Cebuano, Ilocano
Derived from Cebuano kabatoan meaning "rocky area, rocky place".
CABELL Catalan, English, German
As 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]
CABLE English
English: 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]
CABUCOS English
Decended from Old English meaning "leader."
CACCAVALE Italian
Possibly a combination of cacare "to shit" and vale "valley".
CACCIATORE Italian
Derived from Italian cacciatore meaning "hunter, huntsman", which is ultimately derived from the Italian verb cacciare meaning "to hunt".... [more]
CADBURY English
Derived from Norman French
CADDICK Welsh
From the Welsh male personal name Cadog, a pet-form of Cadfael (a derivative of Welsh cad "battle").
CADEROUSSE French, Literature
A 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.
CADILLAC French
From 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.
CADOGAN Welsh
From 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.
CAESAR Ancient Roman, English
An Ancient Roman political title that indicated a military leader. A famous bearer was Julius Caesar, Roman general, dictator, and politician. In modern times, the surname is used to refer to an individual with a tyrannical attitude, which references the connotative meaning of the word "caesar", meaning "a dictator".
CAHILL Irish (Anglicized)
Irish Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Cathail ‘descendant of Cathal’, a personal name meaning ‘powerful in battle’.
CAI Chinese
From 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.
CAINE French, English
Originally from a French derogatory nickname for someone with a bad temper.
CAIRNS Scottish
From 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.
CAIXETA Portuguese (Brazilian)
Portuguese common name for Tabebuia cassinoides, a tree native to Central and South America.
CAKE English
From 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).
ÇAKIR Turkish
Means either "goshawk", "wine", or "greyish-blue" in Turkish.
ČAKLAIS Latvian
Means "the diligent one".
ÇAKMAK Turkish
Means "lighter" in Turkish, referring to a tool used to ignite fire. This is also the name of a village in Antalya Province, Turkey.
ČAKSTE Latvian
Means "shrike".
CAL English
Possibly from the given name Cal.
CALAWAY English
Variant spelling of Callaway.
CALCATERRA Italian
Nickname 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.
CALDERA Spanish
Derived 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.
CALDERÓN Spanish
Is 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.
CALE Welsh
Possibly derived from the River Cale. A famous barer of this name is Welsh musician John Cale (1942- ).
CALEB American
Caleb norwood
CALERO Spanish
Metonymic occupational name for a burner or seller of lime, from calero ‘lime’.
CALIMERIS Greek
It can be Kalimeris as well and it means good morning.
CALINAO Filipino, Cebuano
Derived from Cebuano kalinaw meaning "peace, clarity".
ÇALIŞKAN Turkish
Means "hard-working, diligent, assiduous" in Turkish.
CĀLĪTIS Latvian
Derived from the word cālis meaning "chick".
CALKIN Irish
Variant of Culkin.
CALLANDER Scottish, English, Swedish (Rare)
Habitational name from various places so named in Scotland. ... [more]
CALLEN English (Rare)
From the forename Callen
CALLENDER Scottish
Variant of Scottish CALLANDER or German KALANDER.
CALLENDER English
Occupational name for a person who finished freshly woven cloth by passing it between heavy rollers to compress the weave. From Old Franch calandrier, calandreur.
CALLIARI Italian (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]
CALLIGAN Irish (Rare)
Before Irish names were translated into English, Calligan had a Gaelic form of O Ceallachain, possibly from "ceallach", which means "strife".... [more]
CALLOWAY American (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.
CALVETE Spanish
It means bald. It's a surname of the Galician origin.
CALVETTO Galician
Meaning baldness.
CALVEY Irish
Variation of McKelvey. Meaning rich in possessions or Irish from the French word bald
CALWELL English
I guess a differently spelled form of CALDWELL. I don't know.... [more]
CAMACHO Spanish, Portuguese
From 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.
CAMARGO Spanish
Habitational name for someone from a place in Andalusia called Camargo.
CAMBARERI Italian
Variant of Cammareri, an occupational name from Sicilian cammareri meaning "servant".
CAMBON Ancient Celtic (Latinized, Archaic)
It means zigzagging river or warped (bent) river. It have a second meaning that is leg.
CAMBRIA Italian
Denoted to someone from Cambria, Sicily, possibly of Arabic origin.
CAMILLERI Maltese, Italian
Derived from Italian cammelliere meaning "camel driver".
CAMINO Spanish
Derived from the Spanish word for "path", or "walkway". This could have been used to denote a person who lived near a path, or one who built paths for a living.
CAMM English
English (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.
CAMMARERI Sicilian, Italian
Means "servant, waiter" in Sicilian.
CAMMON Scottish, Irish
Reduced form of McCammon.
CAMOYS English
From a medieval nickname for someone with a snub nose (from Old French camus "snub nose").
CAMPER English
Respelling 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.
CAMPING English
The English form of Campana, means bells.
CAMPION Norman, French
English (of Norman origin) and French: status name for a professional champion (see Champion, Kemp), from the Norman French form campion.
CAMPUMANES Asturian
This indicates familial origin within the eponymous parish of the municipality of Ḷḷena.
CAMPUS Spanish
Derived from the Latin word campus, meaning "field". It denoted someone who either lived in a field or worked in one.
CAMUS Basque
Camus is a Basque surname from Bermeo, Vizcaya. Part passed to Cantabria and Chile.
CAN Turkish
Means "soul, life, being" in Turkish, ultimately of Persian origin.
CAN Mayan
from the word kaan meaning "snake"
CANADA French, English
It derives from the Middle English "cane", a development of the Old French "cane", meaning cane, reed.
CANAK Turkish
From the Turkish town of Çanakkale. Canak is the Anglicised form, which may or may not retain its Turkish pronunciation.
CANAVAN Irish (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.
CANDEMIR Turkish
Means "iron soul", derived from Turkish can meaning "soul, spirit" combined with demir meaning "iron".
CANDLIN English
Derived from the medieval English, male first name Gandelyn, of unknown meaning.
CANDY English
Unexplained.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.
CANELLA Italian
Italian 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".
CANGUSSU Brazilian
The surname Cangussu has its origins in the Tupi-Guarani language and is a variation of Akangu’su, which means 'Jaguar'.
CANIZALES Spanish (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".
CANNELL Manx
Manx cognate of McConnell or O'Connell.
CANNELLA Italian (Modern)
Derived from the word "Cinnamon" in Italian meaning someone who was a baker and or made cinnamon.
CANNING English, Irish (Anglicized), Scottish
Habitational name from a place so named in England. From the Old English byname CANA and -ingas meaning "people of".... [more]
CANO Albanian
Meaning unknown.
CANOMANUEL Spanish
The 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.
CAÑOSA Filipino
It is derived from the word 'Caña' meaning 'reed'. Born as a surname in before World War I, it is a newly formed family name built by Angelo Cañosa and his 2 siblings, formerly his birth surname is Caña when he and his siblings migrated to Agusan when they are wanted by the Spanish Authorities as they were berdugos(Killing Spanish allies)in their native place, Minglanilla and by rowing boats, they landed in Mindanao and he, Angelo Caña and his two siblings changed their family name into Cañosa... [more]
CANT English
Means "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").
CANTELLOW English
Means "person from Canteleu, Canteloup, etc.", the name of various places in northern France ("song of the wolf").
CANTELOUP French
Name of several places in France. The surname means "Song of the Wolf" from canta and loup as in "place where the wolves howl".
CANTERBURY English
Habitational name from Canterbury in Kent, named in Old English as Cantwaraburg "fortified town (burgh) of the people (wara) of Kent".
CANTWELL Irish, English
A surname used in the South of England.... [more]
CAÑUSA Filipino (Spanish, Modern, Archaic)
Cañusa is the only variant of the family name of Cañusa. Used by the descendants of Ortillo Cañosa and Eulalia Cañosa in Agusan del Sur, Philippines.
CAO Vietnamese
Means "tall" or "lofty, elevated", from the Sino-Vietnamese character 高
ČÁP Czech
Means "stork" in Czech.
CAPEDER Romansh
From the Romansh surname prefix Ca and the given name Peder, which is the Scandinavian (and apparently also Romansh) form of Peter.
CAPEL English
From the Domesday Book of 1086, from the old French word 'capele' meaning chapel.
CAPELLA Spanish, Catalan, Italian
From capella "chapel", a topographic name for someone who lived by a chapel or a metonymic occupational name for someone who worked in one.
CAPLIN English
Means "singer in a chantry chapel" (from Old Northern French capelain, a variant of standard Old French chapelain (cf. Chaplin)).
CAPONE Italian
Is 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]
CAPOTE Italian (Tuscan)
Capote is a name for person who was the chief of the head from the Italian personal name Capo.
CAPRA Italian
From the Latin word capra meaning "nanny goat." This was a name originally borne by shepherds / goat herders.
CAPSHAW English
Unexplained. Perhaps a habitational name from Cadshaw near Blackburn, Lancashire, although the surname is not found in England.
CAPUA Italian
Capua 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]
CAPULET English
This is the last name of Juliet from William Shakepeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet.
CAR Croatian, Serbian
Means "Tzar".
CARABEO Filipino
water buffalo
CARACCIOLO Italian
Famous bearer of this surname is Canadian-Italian singer Alessia Caracciolo (1996-).
CARAMELLA Italian
Name given to a chalumeau player. Italian version of the French surname Caramelle.
CARAMELLE French
Name given to a chalumeau player, derived from the old French chalemel, calamel or chalemie, which in turn were derived from the Latin word calamus meaning "reed". Italian variations of the surname are: Caramella, Caramelli, Caramello (diminutive: Caramellino) and Caramelo.
CARAWAY English
Probably means "spice merchant" (from Middle English carewei "caraway").
CARBAJAL Spanish, Judeo-Spanish
Probably 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]
CARBONELL English
From a medieval nickname for a dark-haired or swarthy person, from Anglo-Norman carbonel, literally "little charcoal".
CARBONERO Spanish
Famous 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.
CÁRCAMO Basque (Spanish)
Castilianized form of Karkamu.
CARCANI Albanian
Meaning unknown.
CARCELÉN Spanish
This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Manchego municipality.
CARD English
English: 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]
CARDEI Romanian
Meaning unknown.
CARDELLA Italian
Habitational name from a place called Cardella in Sicily.
CÁRDENAS Spanish
Habitational 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]
CARDENETE Spanish
This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Manchego municipality.
CARDILLO Italian
Cardillo is a surname of Sicilian origin, derived from the word cardilla, meaning ''goldfinch''.
CARDWELL English
From 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".
CARE English
Occupational name for a locksmith, Middle English keyere, kayer, an agent derivative of keye.
CAREAGA Basque (Spanish)
Castilianized form of Kareaga.
CARESS English (Gallicized, Rare)
It is my Family name,
CARGILL Scottish, English
Habitational name from a place so named in Scotland.
CARISBROOK English
Carisbrooke 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.
CARLANDER Swedish
Combination of the given name KARL or Swedish karl "man" and ander, from classical Greek andros, "man".
CARLIN Irish (Anglicized), Scottish
Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Cairealláin (sometimes also anglicized as Carlton), meaning "descendant of Caireallán". Caireallán is a diminutive of the given name Caireall".
CARLIN French
From a pet form of Charles.
CARLIN Swedish (Rare)
Combination of the given name Karl, which is also a common place name prefix, and the common surname suffix -in (originally from Latin -inus "descendant of").
CARLIN Italian
Derived from a pet form of the given name Carlo.
CARLIN Jewish (Anglicized)
Americanized spelling of Karlin.
CARLIN German
Habitational name from a place named Carlin in Germany.
CARLINE England/English
I want you to tell me!
CARLING Swedish
From the personal name Karl, which is also a common place name prefix, and the common surname suffix -ing "belonging to".
CARLING English (American)
Americanized form of German Garling or Gerling.
CARLOS Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Carlos
CARLYON Cornish
Cornish: 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’.
CARMACK English
Anyone with information about this last name please edit.
CARMICHAEL Scottish, English
Scottish place name meaning "fort of Michael".
CARNAHAN Irish
From the Irish Cearnaghan, meaning "victorious"
CARNEGIE Scottish
Habitational name from a place called Carnegie, near Carmyllie in Angus, from Gaelic cathair an eige "fort at the gap".
CARNELL English
A crossbowman or archer who protected castles and fortresses.
CARNER German, English
Americanized spelling of German Karner or Körner (see Koerner).... [more]
CARNEY Irish
Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Catharnaigh "descendant of Catharnach", a byname meaning "warlike".
CAROSO English (American)
Surname of Panther Caroso from the Star Fox 64 series.
CARPENITO Italian
This surname derives from a person who had worked as a "carpenter".
CARPUS English (Rare, ?)
Possibly from the given name Carpus.
CARRANZA Basque (Spanish)
Castilianized form of Karrantza.
CARRASCO Spanish
Topographic name from carrasco or carrasca "holm oak".... [more]
CARRAWAY English (British)
The name Carraway belongs to the early history of Britain, it's origins lie with the Anglo-Saxons. It is a product of their having lived on a road near a field or piece of land that was triangular in shape... [more]
CARRE French
French (Carré): from Old French carré "square", applied as a nickname for a squat, thickset man.
CARREL French
French: 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]
CARRELL English
English: 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.
CARREÑO Asturian
This indicates familial origin within the eponymous municipality.
CARRERA Spanish, Italian
Spanish: 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]
CARRICK Scottish
The 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]
CARRILLO Spanish
Variant of Carillo.
CARRINGTON English, Scottish
English: 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]
CARRUTHERS Scottish
This 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]
CARSTAIRS English (British)
From the manor or barony of the same name in the parish of Carstairs (= 1170 Casteltarres, 'Castle of Tarres').
CARTIER French, Norman
Original 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.
CARUTHERS Scottish
Means "Rhydderch's fort" in Cumbric. This might refer to the king of Alt Clut, Rhydderch Hael.
CARVALHO Portuguese
Carvalho (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]