Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
CrellinManx Manx: shortened form of Gaelic Mac Nialláin ‘son of Niallán’ a diminutive of the personal name Niall. This name has been explained as a metathesized form of Crennall
CremaItalian From the name of a city in Lombardy, Italy, derived from Lombardic (an Old Germanic language) krem "small hill".
CrenshawEnglish The derivation of this surname is from the Old English pre 7th Century "Crawa", a crow, with "sceaga" a grove, thus "Crowswood". The earliest recording of this placename is in the Lancashire Inquests of 1324 and appears as "Croweshagh".
CrépeauFrench Nickname for someone with curly hair from a derivative of Old French crespe "curly-haired" (from Latin crispus)... [more]
CrepeauFrench From the Latin word, crispus, meaning "curly hair".
CressGerman, Jewish, Belarusian A variant of the German surname Kress. From the Middle High German "kresse" meaning "gudgeon" (a type of fish) or the Old High German "krassig", meaning "greedy". Can also be from an altered form of the names Erasmus or Christian, or the Latin spelling of the Cyrillic "КРЕСС".
CrestaItalian, Romansh Derived from Italian and Romansh cresta "crest" (ultimately from Latin crista). This name was perhaps applied as a topographic name for someone who lived by the crest of a mountain or as a nickname with reference to the comb of a rooster.
CreteFrench French (adjectival form Crété ‘crested’): nickname for an arrogant individual, from Old French creste ‘crest (of a hill)’ (Late Latin crista), used with reference to the comb of a rooster... [more]
CreusCatalan Means "crosses" in Catalan, the plural of creu. Also compare Spanish Cruces. A famous bearer of this surname is the Spanish footballer Xavi Hernández Creus (1980-).
CrevierFrench Either a derivative of Old French creve meaning “crevice” or “fissure” hence a topographic name for someone who lived on arid land or an occupational name for a seller of crawfish from an agent derivative of Old French crevis meaning “crawfish.”
CribbsEnglish (Rare) Unknown origin. Likely either from the Old English given name Crispin, which derives from a Latin nickname meaning "curly-haired", or from the place Cribbis near Lauder, England.
CrislerGerman (Americanized) Americanized form of German Kreisler or Griessler or, in the south, an occupational name for a grocer from Middle High German griezmel meaning “milled grain.”
CristEnglish From Old English Crīst meaning "Christ, the Messiah" (see Christos 1). May have been a nickname for someone who played the part of Christ in a pageant, or a short form of a given name containing it as an element, such as Christian or Christopher.
CriteLow German, Upper German (Americanized) Probably an Americanized form of South German Kreit or Kreith which are topographic names derived from Middle High German geriute meaning “land cleared for farming” or of North German Kreite which is a nickname for a quarrelsome person derived from Middle Low German kreit meaning “strife.”
CrivelliItalian From the Italian crivello, which is derived from the Latin cribrum, meaning "sieve," (a mesh food strainer); likely an occupational name for a maker or user of sieves.
CrnkovićCroatian Derived from crn "black". The name refers to a person who was dark-skinned, or a person from the region Crna Gora "Black Mountain" (modern-day Montenegro).
CroakerEnglish Meant "person from Crèvecoeur", the name of various places in northern France ("heartbreak", an allusion to the poverty of the local soil).
CrockettEnglish, Scottish Nickname for someone who affected a particular hairstyle, from Middle English croket ''large curl'' (Old Norman French croquet, a diminutive of croque "curl", "hook").
CrofterEnglish A surname of Scottish origin used in the Highlands and Islands and means “an owner or a tenant of a small farm”. The Old English word croft seems to correspond with the Dutch kroft meaning “a field on the downs”.
CroftonEnglish Derived from a place name meaning "town with a small enclosed field" in Old English.
CrombruggeBelgian, Flemish Possibly means "crooked bridge", from Middle Dutch crom "bent, not straight" and brugge "bridge".
CromptonEnglish Derived from the Old English word "Crometun"
CromwellEnglish Habitational name from a place called Cromwell in Nottinghamshire, derived from Old English crump "bent, crooked" and wille "well, stream". Famous bearers of the name were English statesman Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), considered as one of the most important figures in British history, as well as his son, English statesman Richard Cromwell (1626-1712).
CronjeAfrikaans Altered form of the French surname Cronier, derived from Old French crones, a term denoting a sheltered area by a river bank where fish retreat to. This could be used as an occupational name for someone who fished in such an area, or derived from a place named with the element, such as the French village Crosne.
CronkhiteDutch (Americanized) Americanized form of the obsolete Dutch surname Krankheyt, derived from krankheid meaning "illness, weakness", most likely a nickname for a sickly individual.
CronkiteDutch (Anglicized) Variant form of Cronkhite. A well-known bearer of this surname was the American broadcast journalist and anchorman Walter Cronkite (1916-2009).
CrookEnglish, Scottish Topographic name for someone who lived by a bend in a river or road, derived from Old English *croc "crook, bend".
CrooksEnglish Habitational name from Crookes in Sheffield (Yorkshire), named with Old Norse krókr ‘hook, bend’.... [more]
CroomEnglish Based on a nickname for a crippled person or a hunchback, derived from Middle English crom(p) and Old English crumb, meaning "bent", "crooked", or "stopping". (See Crump.)
CroomEnglish An occupational surname for a maker, seller, or user of hooks. Derived from Middle English crome or cromb, meaning "hook" or "crook".
CroomEnglish A habitational surname, describing someone who lived in a place named Croom or Croome.
CrosthwaiteEnglish Habitational name for someone from any various places named Crosthwaite in Northern England, from Old Norse kross "cross" and þveit "clearing".
CrowEnglish Originally a nickname for a person with dark hair or a dark complexion, or who was thought to resemble the bird in some way, derived from Middle English crowe, from Old English crawe.
CrowderEnglish Occupational name for someone who played the crwth, a kind of Welsh bowed lyre widely used during Medieval Europe, derived from Middle English crowdere.
CrownerEnglish Means "coroner" (from Anglo-Norman corouner "coroner", a derivative of Old French coroune "crown").
CrownoverGerman (Anglicized) Americanised spelling of German Kronauer, denoting someone from Kronau, a town near Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It could also be an Americanised form of Kronhöfer (a variant of Grünhofer), a habitational name for someone from a lost place called Grünhof, derived from Middle High German gruene meaning "green" or kranech meaning "crane" and hof meaning "farmstead".
CroyIrish (Anglicized) A shortened form of the surname McRoy, from Irish Gaelic Mac Rúaidh "son of Ruadh", literally "the red one".
CroyScottish Means "person from Croy", the name of various places in Scotland.
CroydonEnglish From the name of a town in England, which comes from Anglo-Saxon croh “crocus” and denu “valley”.
CrozierEnglish, French English and French occupational name for one who carried a cross or a bishop’s crook in ecclesiastical processions, from Middle English, Old French croisier.
CrudupGerman (Anglicized) Probably an Americanised form of North German Gratop, a nickname for an old man, derived from Middle Low German gra meaning "gray" and top meaning "braid". Famous bearers of this name include the Americans Billy Crudup (1968-), an actor, and Arthur Crudup (1905-1974), a Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist.
CruijffDutch Referred to a person with curly locks of hair, derived from Middle Dutch cruuf, cruve literally meaning "curl, lock", ultimately from Latin curvus. A famous bearer was the Dutch soccer player Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (1947-2016), commonly known as Johan Cruyff.
CruikshankScottish From a medieval Scottish nickname for someone with a crooked leg (from Scots cruik "bent" + shank "leg"). This was the surname of British caricaturist George Cruikshank (1792-1872) and British actor Andrew Cruikshank (1907-1988).
CrumbleGerman Probably an altered form of German Krumpel or Krümpel a nickname from Middle High German krum(p) 'deformed crooked'; skeletal deformities were common in the Middle Ages often as a result of childhood illnesses such as rickets.
CrumbleyEnglish Derived from the Old English word crump meaning "bent, crooked." Perhaps a name for a person with an abnormal spine. One notable person with this surname is evil doer Ethan Crumbley, who was a school shooter in Oxford High School in Michigan.
CrumpEnglish Originally a nickname for a crippled or deformed person, from Middle English cromp, crump meaning "bent, crooked, stooping" (from Old English crumb).
CrusoeEnglish (Rare) According to Reaney and Wilson this name was taken to England by John Crusoe, a Huguenot refugee from Hownescourt in Flanders, who settled in Norwich.
CrytesGerman (Americanized), Dutch It may be an Americanized or altered spelling of a German surname, such as Kreutz, Kreitz, or Kritz, all of which are based on the root kreuz meaning "cross" in German... [more]
CuartoSpanish Means "fourth" in English. It is derived from the Latin word "quartus," which means "fourth." The surname may have originally been used to denote a fourth child in a family or to indicate that the family lived on the fourth floor of a building.
CuatonFilipino Possible alternate transcription of Chinese 廣東 (Guǎngdōng) referring to a coastal province in the South China region.
CubaPortuguese, Asturian-Leonese, Galician, Spanish habitational name from any of the places in Portugal (in the provinces of Alentejo and Beira Baixa) or Spain (in Aragon, Asturies, and Galicia) named Cuba, from cuba ‘barrel’ (from Latin cupa)... [more]
CubbonManx Manx contracted form of the Irish Gaeilge "Mac Ghiobúin". See also McCubbon
CuberoSpanish occupational name for a cooper, from an agent derivative of cuba ‘barrel’, ‘tub
CubillasSpanish Denoted a person from one of the various places of this name in Castile and León, Spain, which may derive from a diminutive of Old Spanish cuba meaning "barrel", ultimately from Latin cupa (see Cuba)... [more]
CuerdenEnglish Derived from a geographical locality. 'of Cuerden,' a township in the parish of Leyland, Lancashire.
CuervoSpanish Means "raven, crow" in Spanish, ultimately from Latin corvus. From a nickname for a man with strikingly glossy black hair or with a raucous voice. Alternatively, a habitational name from places containing this word (e.g. El Cuervo, Teruel).
CuetoSpanish Habitational name from any of numerous places especially in Asturias named with the topographic term cueto meaning “hill, or fortified settlement.”
CuginoItalian Means "cousin" in Italian, with the archaic meaning "relative, kinsman". It may have been a nickname for a prominent or well-connected individual, or for someone who often used the term as a form of address to others.
CugnascaItalian Meaning uncertain, possibly from Italian cugnata "hatchet" (from Sicilian cugna "wedge"), or cugnata "related, similar; sister-in-law" (from Latin cognata "related by blood"), or cugino "cousin", combined with nascere "to be born, to sprout".
CugnoItalian From Sicilian cugnu "wedge", indicating someone who lived on a hill or other topographical "wedge", someone whose occupation involved using an axe, or a person who was considered to be hard or angular in personality or appearance.
CuiChinese From Chinese 崔 (cuī) referring to a place called Cui that existed in what is now Shandong province.
CuizonFilipino From Hokkien 貴孫 (kuì sun) meaning "expensive grandchild" or "precious grandchild".
CujecCroatian Derived from the word "cuj" which means "listen" or "hear" in English. Likely used to denote someone who was a good listener or was known for their attentive nature.
CulbertEnglish, Scottish, Irish Meaning and origin are uncertain. Possibly derived from an unattested given name composed of beorht "bright" and an uncertain first element, or an altered form of Cuthbert... [more]
CulkinIrish Reduced anglicization of Irish Gaelic Mac Uilcín meaning "descendant of Uilcín", a diminutive of Ulick, itself an Irish diminutive of William... [more]
CullimoreEnglish (Rare) Apparently a habitational name from an unidentified place. There is a place called Colleymore Farm in Oxfordshire, but it is not clear whether this is the source of the surname, with its many variant spellings
CullyEnglish From an Irish surname which was derived from Ó Colla meaning "descendant of Colla". The Old Irish name Colla was a variant of Conla (perhaps the same Connla).
CulpeperEnglish Variant of Culpepper. A famous bearer of the name was English botanist Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654).
CulpepperEnglish Possibly an occupational name for a herbalist or spicer, from Middle English cullen "to pick, to gather" and peper "pepper".
CulverEnglish Means "person who keeps or looks after doves", or from a medieval nickname for someone thought to resemble a dove (e.g. in mild disposition) (in either case from Middle English culver "dove")... [more]
CulvértFrench, English, Irish English version of the Old French, Culvere. Means Peaceful and Mildest of tempers.
CumbaGaulish A topographic name from Gaulish cumba meaning "narrow valley" or a habitational name for a village associated with this name (see Coombe).
CummerEnglish The surname Cummer has origins in both English and Scottish cultures. In English, it's thought to be a topographic name for someone who lived by a bend in a river, derived from the Middle English word "cummer," meaning "bend" or "meander." In Scottish, it could also be a variant of the surname Comer, derived from the Gaelic word "comar," meaning "confluence" or "meeting of waters."
CummingIrish, Scottish, English Perhaps from a Celtic given name derived from the element cam "bent", "crooked"
CundallEnglish This is an English surname, deriving from the village so-named in North Yorkshire. The village takes its name from the Cumbric element cumb meaning 'dale' (cognate with Welsh cwm, 'valley') and Old Norse dalr meaning 'valley', forming a compound name meaning 'dale-valley'.