CodringtonEnglish Habitational name from Codrington in Gloucestershire.
CoeEnglish English (Essex and Suffolk): nickname from the jackdaw, Middle English co, Old English ca (see Kay). The jackdaw is noted for its sleek black color, raucous voice, and thievish nature, and any of these attributes could readily have given rise to the nickname.
CoggeshallEnglish Habitational name from Coggeshall in Essex, England, which was derived from Cogg, an Old English personal name, and Old English halh meaning "nook, recess".
CoggillEnglish Recorded in several forms as shown below, this is a surname of two possible nationalities and origins. Firstly it may be of Scottish locational origins, from the lands of Cogle in the parish of Watten, in Caithness, or secondly English and also locational from a place called Cogges Hill in the county of Oxfordshire... [more]
CoisItalian Possibly from the name of a lost town, Coni. Alternately, may be from dialectical words meaning "to cook" or "finch", referring to an occupation or nickname.
CoitMedieval Welsh, French, English The surname Coit was first found in Carnarvonshire, a former country in Northwest Wales, anciently part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, and currently is divided between the unitary authorities of Gwynedd and Conwy, where they held a family seat... [more]
CojuangcoFilipino From Hokkien 許寰哥 (Khó͘ Hoân-ko), which was the nickname of Co Yu Hwan (許玉寰), a Chinese migrant who arrived in the Philippines in the 19th century. This is the name of a prominent political and business family in the Philippines.
CokayneEnglish Medieval English nickname which meant "idle dreamer" from Cockaigne, the name of an imaginary land of luxury and idleness in medieval myth. The place may derive its name from Old French (pays de) cocaigne "(land of) plenty", ultimately from the Low German word kokenje, a diminutive of koke "cake" (since the houses in Cockaigne are made of cake).
ColdenEnglish, Scottish English: habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire named Colden, from Old English cald ‘cold’ col ‘charcoal’ + denu ‘valley’.... [more]
ColgateEnglish habitational name from Colgates in Kent named with Old English col "charcoal" and gaet "gate" indicating a gate leading into woodland where charcoal was burned... [more]
ColleyEnglish With variant Coley, can mean "dark" or "blackbird" or it can be a nickname for Nicholas. Colley was used as a surname for generations of students from the same family taught by a teacher over many years in James Hilton's sentimental novel "Goodbye, Mr... [more]
CollierEnglish This name is derived from Middle English cole, from Old English col meaning "coal", combined with the agent suffix (i)er, which denotes someone who does/works with something. Thus, the surname was originally used for a burner, gatherer or seller of coal.
CollinSwedish Either a combination of an unknown first name element (possibly derived from a place name) and the common surname suffix -in, or a variant of German Colin.
ColoItalian From the personal name Colo, a short form of Nicolo (see Nicholas). (Colò) nickname from medieval Greek kolos ‘lame’, classical Greek kylos.
CologneFrench Habitational name from a place in France called Cologne.
ColonelAmerican From a French word for a military rank of an officer who led a column of regimental soldiers. Could be a nickname for someone with a military bearing or demeanor.
ColonnaItalian topographic name from colonna "column" (from Latin columna).
ColosiItalian Patronymic or plural form of a pet form of the personal name Nicoloso.
CombeFrench Either a topographic name for someone living in or near a ravine from combe "narrow valley ravine" (from Latin cumba a word of Gaulish origin); or a habitational name from Combe the name of several places in the southern part of France of the same etymology.
CombeferreLiterature (?) Combeferre is the surname of one of the strong, persuasive members of the ABC in Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables. Meaning is unknown.
CombèsFrench Either a topographic name from combe "narrow valley ravine" (see Combe ) or a habitational name from any of various places in southern France for example in Hérault named Combes.
ComerEnglish Occupational name for a maker or seller of combs, or to someone who used them to prepare wool or flax for spinning, derived from Middle English combere, an agent derivative of Old English camb meaning "comb"... [more]
ComishManx Manx: from Gaelic Mac Thómais ‘son of Thomas’. The main seat of the family in the Isle of Man was Ballacomish ‘Comish's (or Thomas's) farm’ (Arbory, IoM).
ComitoItalian From the medieval Latin comitus, meaning "count", or the medieval Greek form of this word, komitos, used as a nickname for someone who put on airs and graces or worked for a count.
CommanderAnglo-Saxon, French From Middle English comander, comandor and comandour and also from Old French comandeor, all meaning "commander", "leader" or "ruler". The first recorded use of the name is through a family seat held in Somerset.
CommonsBreton It's generally believed this name comes from a Breton personal name, derived from element "cam," meaning "bent," or "crooked;" or from the herb "cummin" (cumin). Or from the place name Comines, in Flanders, Northern France.... [more]
ČomorBosnian (Rare), Bosnian Čomor is a rare surname in the world and has (mostly) Herzegovenian origins. You can find most Čomors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Only 400 people bare the surname. Čomor has two meanings; First meaning is 'buttercup' and the second one is 'a disease that comes from eating fatty (oily) foods, fever with a constant feeling of nausea and disgust'
ComptonEnglish Habitational name from any of the numerous places throughout England (but especially in the south) named Compton, from Old English cumb meaning "short, straight valley" + tūn meaning "enclosure", "settlement".
ComteFrench Nickname for someone who worked for a count or for someone acting haughty from Old French contecunte "count". French cognitive of Conte and variant of Lecomte.
ConantOld Celtic, Pictish A patronym from the ancient Celtic personal name Conan, which derives from the Celtic kunovals meaning "high" and "mighty".... [more]
ConeyEnglish Means "seller of rabbits", or from a medieval nickname for someone thought to resemble a rabbit (in either case from Middle English cony "rabbit").
ConfaloneItalian from gonfalone "standard banner" from Old French gonfalon (of ancient Germanic origin) a metonymic occupational name for a standard bearer either in a military context or as the officer of a guild responsible for carrying the banner in religious processions... [more]
CongdonIrish, English A variant of Irish "Condon". In English usage: a habitational name from a lost or unidentified place; probably Devon or Cornwall, where the modern surname is most frequent.
Cong Tang Ton NuVietnamese Often written with the middle two words uncapitalized when with a full name; example: Con tang ton Nu Hue Hue. The first name is Hue Hue, and the surname is Cong tang ton Nu. It is a female royal Vietnamese surname created by the Nguyen Dynasty.
ConiglioItalian From coniglio "rabbit" (from Latin cuniculus ) applied as a nickname for a timid person or a metonymic occupational name for a dealer in rabbits. Italian cognitive of Coelho.
ConklinIrish, Dutch Origin unidentified. Most likely of Dutch origin (the name is found in the 18th century in the Hudson Valley), or possibly a variant of Irish Coughlin.
ConningtonEnglish This name means "The king's manor, the royal estate," from the Old Scandinavian word "konunger" + the Old English word "tun." It was listed twice in the Domesday Book of 1086, once as Coninctune and secondly as Cunitone.
ConquestEnglish Probably from a medieval nickname, perhaps applied to a domineering person. This surname is borne by the British poet, historian and critic Robert Conquest (1917-).
ContestabileItalian Means "debatable, questionable" in Italian, perhaps a nickname for an argumentative person, or for someone of dubious respectability.
ContractorIndian (Parsi) Parsi occupational surname for a contractor, or someone who works on the basis of a contract. As the British rule of India demanded for all Parsees to adopt a surname, many adopted English vocabulary based on their occupation (i.e. Engineer or Merchant).
ConverseEnglish Originally a nickname for a Jew converted to Christianity or an occupational name for someone converted to the religious way of life, a lay member of a convent, from Middle English and Old French convers "convert".
ConwayWelsh, Scottish, Irish As a Welsh surname, it comes from the name of a fortified town on the coast of North Wales (Conwy formerly Conway), taken from the name of the river on which it stands. The river name Conwy may mean "holy water" in Welsh.... [more]
ConwellEnglish Russell Cornwell Hoban was a children's book writer.
CooganIrish Anglicized form of the Gaelic name "MacCogadhain"; composed of the Gaelic prefix "mac," which means "son of," and the Gaelic personal name "Cuchogaidh", which means "Hound of War". The name is also found in Ireland as Cogan, Coggan, Coggen, Cogin, Coggon, Coogan and Goggin(s).
CookinhamJewish (Americanized) This has the form of an English habitational name; however, there is no record of any such place name in the British Isles, and the surname does not appear in present-day records. It is probably an Americanized form of Jewish Guggenheim .
CooleyIrish Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Chúille ‘son of the servant of (Saint) Mochúille’, a rare Clare name.
CoolidgeEnglish Probably an occupational name for a college servant or someone with some other association with a university college, for example a tenant farmer who farmed one of the many farms in England known as College Farm, most of which are or were owned by university colleges.
CootEnglish “an early member was a person who seemed to exhibit some of the characteristics of birds.”
CooterEnglish A Sussex, England surname of uncertain meaning. Could be a local pronunciation of Cotter, meaning "cottage dweller" for a serf in the feudal system allowed to live in a cottage in exchange for labor on the cottage owner's estate.
CopeAnglo-Saxon Earliest origins of the Cope surname date from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain, for a person who habitually wore a long cloak or cape. The surname Cope is derived from the Old English word cope, which emerged about 1225 and comes from the Old English word cape, which refers to a cloak or cape.
CopelandEnglish Some sources say that Copeland is English: "one that is good at coping". Another says Copeland is Northern English and Scottish, from Cumberland and Northumberland meaning "bought land". Old Norse, kaupa-land for‘bought land’.
CopernicusHistory Nicolaus Copernicus is a mathematician and astronomer who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than the Earth at the center of the universe... [more]