GABARATYOssetian Derived from Алгуз (Alguz), an earlier Ossetian family name of unknown meaning. Historically, the last of the Alguz family migrated to the village of Zalda (located in present-day South Ossetia), where most members of the family presently reside.
GABIRIABasque This indicates familial origin within the eponymous municipality.
GABLEEnglish Northern English: of uncertain origin, perhaps a habitational name from a minor place named with Old Norse gafl ‘gable’, which was applied to a triangular-shaped hill. The mountain called Great Gable in Cumbria is named in this way.... [more]
GADBURYEnglish Habitational name from Cadborough, alias Gateborough, in Rye, Sussex, probably so named from Old English gāt meaning "goat" + beorg meaning "hill".
GADDWelsh Means "battlefield" in Welsh. Comes from the Welsh word gad which means battlefield.
GADDAFIArabic (Maghrebi) From قذاذفة (Qadhadhfa), the Arabic name for a Berber tribe in Libya. The name possibly means "thrower, archer", from Arabic قَذَفَ (qaḏafa) meaning "to throw". A famous bearer was Muammar Gaddafi (1942–2011), a Libyan politician and revolutionary.
GADDAMTelugu This surname is primarily from the Telugu states of India (Telangana and Andhra Pradesh). It is the Telugu word for beard
GADOLINFinnish (Rare) Derived from the name of the homestead Magnula in Kalanti (formerly Nykyrko) parish in southwest Finland. Magnula is thought to be associated with Latin magnus "large, big, great" and the name Gadolin is derived from Hebrew gadol with the same meaning... [more]
GADSBYEnglish Habitational name from Gaddesby in Leicestershire, recorded in Domesday Book as Gadesbi and so named from the Old Norse personal name Gaddr (or from Old Norse gaddr "spur (of land)") and býr "settlement".
GAGARINRussian A Russian surname derived from the word gagara, meaning loon (a waterbird, genus Gavia). Notable people with the surname include: Gagarin family, a Rurikid princely family.
GAGLIANOItalian Habitational name from a few places in Italy, which all derived from the Latin personal name Gallius
GAILĪTISLatvian Derived from the word gailis meaning "rooster".
GAINESEnglish, Norman, Welsh English (of Norman origin): nickname for a crafty or ingenious person, from a reduced form of Old French engaine ‘ingenuity’, ‘trickery’ (Latin ingenium ‘native wit’). The word was also used in a concrete sense of a stratagem or device, particularly a trap.... [more]
GAINSBOROUGHEnglish From the city of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, England. A famous bearer of this surname includes English painter Thomas Gainsborough.
GAINTZABasque This indicates familial origin within either of 2 eponymous municipalities, the one in Leitzaldea or the one in Goierri.
GALANISGreek Means 'someone with blue, pale eyes', derived from the Greek "galanos", meaning 'azure', 'milky' or 'blue'.
GALANTEItalian, French, Jewish Comes from the ancient French word "galant" meaning someone in love or who has fun. In the case of Mordecai Galante, a Spanish exile in 16th century Rome, his courteous manners won for him from the Roman nobles the surname "Galantuomo" (gentleman), from which Galante was eventually derived.... [more]
GALARTZABasque This indicates familial origin within either of 3 eponymous neighborhoods: the one in Etxebarria, Comarca of Lea-Artibai, the one in Larrabetzu, Comarca of Bilbo, or the one in Aretxabaleta, Comarca of Debagoiena.
GALBRAITHScottish, Scottish Gaelic Ethnic name for someone descended from a tribe of Britons living in Scotland, from Gaelic gall ‘stranger’ + Breathnach ‘Briton’ (i.e. ‘British foreigner’). These were either survivors of the British peoples who lived in Scotland before the Gaelic invasions from Ireland in the 5th century (in particular the Welsh-speaking Strathclyde Britons, who survived as a distinctive ethnic group until about the 14th century), or others who had perhaps migrated northwestwards at the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions.
GALINDOSpanish, Aragonese From the medieval personal name Galindo, of predominantly Aragonese origin and distribution, but of unknown etymology.
GALISHOFFUpper German, German (Austrian) Derived from the ancient Roman name "Gallus", meaning "rooster" in Latin. "Hoff" meaning house combines the growing or tending to poultry on a farm house, hence the name "Galishoff" which has been modified over the millennia... [more]
GALKINRussian Derived from Russian галка (galka) meaning "jackdaw".
GAŁKOWSKIPolish Habitational name for someone from Gałkowo in Suwałki voivodeship or Gałków in Piotrków voivodeship, both places named from gałka meaning ‘knob’, ‘lump’.
GALLScottish, Irish, English Nickname, of Celtic origin, meaning "foreigner" or "stranger". In the Scottish Highlands the Gaelic term gall was applied to people from the English-speaking lowlands and to Scandinavians; in Ireland the same term was applied to settlers who arrived from Wales and England in the wake of the Anglo-Norman invasion of the 12th century... [more]
GALLANTEnglish Nickname for a cheerful or high-spirited person, from Old French, Middle English galant "bold, dashing, lively". The meanings "gallant" and "attentive to women" are further developments, which may lie behind some examples of the surname.
GALLEGOSSpanish Derived from Spanish gallego meaning "Galician", denoting someone originally from the region of Galicia in northeastern Spain.
GALLOWAYScottish Scottish: regional name from Galloway in southwestern Scotland, named as ‘place of the foreign Gaels’, from Gaelic gall ‘foreigner’ + Gaidheal ‘Gael’. From the 8th century or before it was a province of Anglian Northumbria... [more]
GALPINEnglish English: occupational name for a messenger or scullion (in a monastery), from Old French galopin ‘page’, ‘turnspit’, from galoper ‘to gallop’.
GALTEnglish An early member was a person with a fancied resemblance to the wild boar.
GALURAFilipino, Tagalog, Pampangan Derived from Kapampangan galura, ultimately from Sanskrit गरुड (garuḍa) referring to a mythical bird in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain belief.
GAMBINOItalian from a diminutive of gamba ‘leg’, probably applied as a nickname for someone with short legs.
GAMBLEEnglish from the Old Norse byname Gamall meaning "old", which was occasionally used in North England during the Middle Ages as a personal name. ... [more]
GAMELINFrench From pet form of any of the compound personal names formed with gamal, related to Old Norse gamall, Old German gamel "old", "aged". ... [more]
GAMIZBasque This indicates familial origin within either of 2 eponymous neighborhoods: the one in the municipality of Gasteiz or the one in the municipality of Gamiz-Fika.
GAMIZJapanese Gamiz is Gamizu or Gamisu is a rare Japanese Surname, it means Sweet Water and it is used by the western parts of Japan such as Tokushima or Kyushu... [more]
GAMMONEnglish From a medieval nickname applied to a merry or sportive person (from Middle English gamen "game"), or to someone who walked in a strange way or had some peculiarity of the legs (from Anglo-Norman gambon "ham").
GAMONIrish This name is a last name for the Irish it means Liam Gamon.
GANDHIIndian, Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil Means "perfume seller", derived from Sanskrit गन्ध (gandha) meaning "odour, fragrance, perfume". Notable bearers include Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948), an Indian civil rights and independence leader, and Indira Gandhi (1917-1984), the first female Prime Minister of India.
GANDINFrench From the French gandin, pronounced /ɡɑ̃dœ̃/, which is a word used for a dandy, an elegant young man with affected, quite often ridiculous, manners.
GANGOPADHYAYBengali From the name of the Ganges River (also the name of a villge) combined with Sanskrit उपाध्याय (upadhyaya) meaning "teacher, instructor, priest".
GANJOOIndian, Urdu, Persian Ganjoo is a surname from Kashmiri Pandit clan . The original name was Ganwar, meaning Person in charge of Treasury in Kings court. This name gradually changed to Ganjoo or Ganju.
GANUSRussian, Ukrainian Possibly derived from Russian анис (anis) referring to the anise (Pimpinella anisum) plant or from the Turkish given name Gainislam itself from Arabic عَيْن (ʿayn) meaning "spring, source" combined with the name of the religion ISLAM.
GANZGerman, German (Swiss) Variant of Gans 'goose'. German: from a short form of the Germanic personal name Ganso, a cognate of modern German ganz 'whole', 'all'.
GAOChinese This surname is written with the character meaning "Tall, High": 高. A notable bearer, is Guiying Gao, a female revolutionary army commander.
GARABEDIANArmenian Means "son of Garabed", an Armenian personal name meaning literally "leader, precursor" and traditionally used as an epithet of John the Baptist in the Armenian church.
GARATEBasque Habitational name from a town called Garate in Basque Country, or topographic name, possibly from a derivative of Basque gara ‘height’, ‘peak’.
GARAYHungarian Habitational name for someone from a place called Gara.
GARDLINSwedish Possibly derived from the Swedish word Gård meaning (Garden, or Gardener).
GARFINKELYiddish Jewish (Ashkenazic) ornamental name or nickname from Yiddish gorfinkl ‘carbuncle’, German Karfunkel. This term denoted both a red precious or semi-precious stone, especially a garnet or ruby cut into a rounded shape (in which case it is an ornamental name), and a large inflamed growth on the skin like a large boil (in which case it is a descriptive nickname).
GARFUNKELJewish, Yiddish From גאָרפֿינקל (gorfinkl), "carbuncle" in Yiddish, which in turns derives from German Karfunkel. A notable bearer of this surname is Art Garfunkel.... [more]
GARLICKEnglish (i) "grower or seller of garlic"; (ii) perhaps from a medieval personal name descended from Old English Gārlāc, literally "spear-play"; (iii) an anglicization of the Belorussian Jewish name Garelick, literally "distiller"
GARRIEItalian DERIVED FROM BEING A BAD MOTHERFUCKER.
GARRIGHANIrish to denote 'son of Geargain' a name which originally in derived from 'gearg' which meant grouse but which was often used figuratively for warrior
GARRIGUESFrench, Provençal This surname comes from Old Provençal garrique meaning "grove of holm oaks or kermes oaks."
GARWOODEnglish Comes from a lost locational name from the Olde English gara, referring to a "triangular piece of land" or to a "spearhead", and wudu meaning a "wood".
GASKILLEnglish Meaning "Goat Shelter". English (Lancashire) habitual name from Gatesgill in Cumbria, so named from Old Norse geit ‘goat’ + skáli ‘shelter’. The surname is first recorded in the early half of the 14th Century.
GASNIERFrench From Old French gaaigner meaning "to win, to earn" or "to till, to cultivate", possibly used as an occupational name for a farmer.
GASPARRINOItalian (Tuscan, Italian) Gasparinus de Bergamo was a Italian Teacher who tutored The Future Popes of Italy and was a Secertary for Pope Martin V in the late 1400.
GATESEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by the gates of a medieval walled town. The Middle English singular gate is from the Old English plural, gatu, of geat "gate" (see YATES)... [more]
GATLINEnglish English of uncertain origin; probably a variant of Catlin or Gadling, a nickname from Old English gœdeling ‘kinsman’, ‘companion’, but also ‘low fellow’.
GATLINGerman Possibly an altered spelling of German Göttling, from a Germanic personal name formed with god ‘god’ or god ‘good’ + -ling suffix of affiliation, or, like Gättling (of which this may also be an altered form), a nickname from Middle High German getlinc ‘companion’, ‘kinsman’.
GATSBYEnglish A different form of Gadsby ("person from Gaddesby", Leicestershire ("Gaddr's farmstead")). A fictional bearer is Jay Gatsby, the central character of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel 'The Great Gatsby' (1925).
GAUGerman Habitational name from any of various places named with Middle High German gau, göu ‘area of fertile agricultural land’.
GAUCIMaltese Derived from Maltese Għawdex through Arabic غودش (ġawdeš) which refers to the island of Gozo in the Maltese archipelago. The name itself is of Phoenician origin (through a Greek borrowing) possibly meaning "turn around"... [more]
GAVAZANSKYBelarusian, Jewish Means "from the town of Gavezhno". Gavezhno is a town in Belarus. For more information go here http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/newsletter/54surnames.htm
GAYEEnglish Possibly a nickname for a cheerful person, derived from the archaic word "gay" meaning "happy". A famous bearer was the American singer Marvin Gaye (1939-1984).
GAYERGerman Derived from Slavic gaj "grove", this name denoted a forest warden.
GAYLORDEnglish Derived from Old French gaillard meaning "high-spirited, boistrous".
GAZAEVOssetian (Russian) Russified form of an Ossetian name most likely derived from Ossetian гæзæмæ (gæzæmæ) meaning "few, little, rare".
GAZDANTYOssetian Possibly derived from Arabic غَازِي (ḡāzī) meaning "hero, champion".
GAZDIEVIngush (Russian), Ossetian (Russian) Russified form of an Ingush and Ossetian surname derived from the name of an Ingush teip (clan) of unknown meaning, possibly of Turkic origin. The name is mainly found in present-day Ingushetia and North Ossetia-Alania.
GEEIrish, Scottish, English, French Irish and Scottish: reduced form of McGee, Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Aodha ‘son of Aodh’ (see McCoy). ... [more]
GEESONIrish This unusual name is the patronymic form of the surname GEE, and means "son of Gee", from the male given name which was a short form of male personal names such as "GEOFFREY", "GEORGE" and "GERARD"... [more]
GEISINGERGerman Denoted a person from the town of Geising in Germany, which in turn got it's name from the Geisingberg mountain. The Geisingberg most likely got it's name from the Germanic geut or the Early New High German geußen, both meaning "to pour", and the German word Berg meaning "mountain"... [more]
GEISTGerman Habitational name for someone who lived in a house marked by the sign of the Holy Spirit (normally depicted as a dove), from Middle High German geist 'spirit'.