This is a list of submitted surnames in which the name appears on the list of Notable Artists.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
AbadJudeo-Spanish Nickname from abad ‘priest’ (from Late Latin abbas ‘priest’, genitive abbatis, from the Aramaic word meaning ‘father’). The application is uncertain: it could be a nickname, an occupational name for the servant of a priest, or denote an (illegitimate) son of a priest.
AfonsoPortuguese Old (6th century derived) Iberian surname, associated with the first dynasty and King of Portugal, Afonso Henriques. The surname was used by all the subsequent illegitimate children of that dynastic line.
AiChinese From Chinese 艾 (ài) referring to the ancient state of Ai, which existed during the Shang dynasty in what is now Jiangxi province. Alternately it may be derived from the name of Xia dynasty official Ru Ai (汝艾) or Ai Kong (艾孔), a minister from the state of Qi.
AiJapanese From Japanese 阿 (a) meaning "ridge, eaves, corner" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".
AlstonEnglish A locational surname, derived from the many townships in England of the same name, meaning 'of the old manor or of the hillside'
AltdorferGerman Denoted a person who lived in the capital of Uri canton in Switzerland or the municipality in Landshut, Bavaria, both derived from German alt "old" and Dorf "village" or Yiddish דאָרף (dorf) "village, countryside"... [more]
AmaralPortuguese Unknown origin. It may come from the name of a country estate near Viseu, Portugal (quinta do Amaral) or from an old word meaning "place full of clary sages". This is also the name of a variety of red wine grape in northern Portugal whose name comes directly from the surname.
AndoJapanese From the Japanese 安 (an or yasu) "relax," "inexpensive," "low," and 藤 (to or fuji) "wisteria." The second character may indicate historical or familial links to the formerly powerful Fujiwara (藤原) clan.
AnguissolaItalian Sofonisba Aguissola was a celebrated artist of the Italian Renaissance.
BaconEnglish, French, Norman An occupational surname for someone who sold pork, from Middle English and Old French bacun or bacon, meaning 'bacon', which is ultimately of Germanic origin. Can also be derived from the Germanic given names Baco, Bacco, or Bahho, from the root bag-, meaning 'to fight'... [more]
BaerGerman Derived from Old High German bero "bear".
BakshiIndian, Bengali, Punjabi Derived from Persian بخشی (baxši) meaning "paymaster, scribe, secretary", used as a title for officials who distributed wages in Muslim armies.
BalenciagaSpanish, Basque Denoted a person who came from Valencia, derived from Basque Balencia and the locative suffix -aga. A famous bearer of the name was Spanish fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga Eizaguirre (1895-1972), the founder of the clothing brand Balenciaga.
BarberaItalian Feminine form of Barbero, perhaps denoting a barber’s wife. Alternatively, it could derive from the name of a kind of grape from the Piemonte region.
BeardenEnglish English habitational name, a variant of Barden, or from places in Devon and Cornwall called Beardon.
BerniniItalian Bernini was the surname of famous sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680).
BigotFrench Either from Old French bigot possibly meaning "beggar" or from the Norman interjection bî got ("by God"), used as a pejorative nickname for the Normans... [more]
BluthGerman, Jewish German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from Middle High German bluot, German Blüte ‘bloom’, ‘flower head’. ... [more]
BornMaltese Not to be confused with the German surname Born.
BornGerman, English A topographical name indicating someone who lived near a stream, from the Old English "burna, burne". Alternatively, it could be contemporarily derived from the modern English word "born". Possible variants include Bourne, Burns 1 and Boren.
BoschAmerican The surname Bosch originates from the Old Norse word "buski," meaning "bush," or "woods” thus it is classed at a toponymic surname and was most likely used by a man who lived near a prominent bush... [more]
BotticelliItalian Etymology uncertain. It can derive from the Italian word botte meaning "barrel" and from the occupation bottaio meaning "cooper". In the case of Sandro Botticelli it has probably another origin... [more]
BraqueFrench Surname of cubist artist Georges Braque.
BrueghelDutch, Flemish From the name of various places in the Netherlands and Flanders, Belgium, for example the village of Breugel in North Brabant. Their names mean "enclosed area, hunting preserve" in Dutch. This was the surname of a Dutch-Flemish family of artists who were influential during the Renaissance period in the Low Countries... [more]
CanovaRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and nova, the feminine form of the adjective nov "new".
CarmackEnglish Anyone with information about this last name please edit.
CarringtonEnglish, 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]
CartierFrench, 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.
CassattFrench Origin uncertain. This is not known as a surname in Britain. It may be an Americanized form of a French name such as Casault.
CoatesEnglish Name for a cottager or a person who lived in a humble dwelling, derived from Old English cote meaning "cottage, hut". It could also be used as a habitational name for someone from any of numerous locations with this name.
CohenIrish Either a version of Cowan or Coyne, not related with the jewish surname.
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.”
DürerGerman, History In the case of the German painter Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), this was a variant of the German surname Türer, a German translation of Hungarian Ajtósi, meaning "doormaker", to adapt to the local Nuremberg dialect... [more]
EisnerGerman, Jewish Occupational name for an ironworker, smith, or ironmonger, from an agent derivative of Middle High German īsen and German Eisen, meaning ‘iron’ (see Eisen).
ElbeGerman habitational name from any of various places called Elbe, Elben or from the river name.
EnsorEnglish Derived from Endesor, a village in Derbyshire, indicating a person who lived there. Endesor itself is Old English, coming from the genitive case of the first name Ēadin and ‘ofer’, meaning ‘sloping ridge’ (From ‘Dictionary of American Family Names’, 2nd edition, 2022).... [more]
EscherGerman Derived from German Esche meaning "ash (tree)", a habitational name for someone who lived near an ash tree, or came from a place named after it. This name was borne by the Dutch graphic artist M. C. Escher, known for making works inspired by mathematics.
GainsboroughEnglish From the city of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, England. A famous bearer of this surname includes English painter Thomas Gainsborough.
GuChinese From Chinese 顾 (gù) referring to the ancient state of Gu, which existed during the Xia dynasty in what is now Henan province.
GuChinese From Chinese 辜 (gū) meaning "crime, wrong, sin".
GuChinese From Chinese 谷 (gǔ) referring to the ancient fief of Qin Gu, which existed in what is now the province of either Gansu or Shaanxi. Alternately it may come from the name of the fief of Jia Gu, which was part of the state of Qi during the Zhou dynasty.
GuChinese From Chinese 古 (gǔ) possibly derived from Kucheng (古成 or 苦城), the name of an ancient fief that may have existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Henan province... [more]
GucciItalian Patronymic or plural form of the given name Guccio, a late medieval Italian diminutive of various names ending in go, such as Arrigo (via Arriguccio) or Ugo (via Uguccio)... [more]
GurungNepali From the name of the Gurung (Tamu) people of Nepal, itself an exonym probably of Tibetan origin.
GurungGurung From Nepali गुरुङ (Guruṅ) meaning "Gurung", a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group.
HortaCatalan, Portuguese Means "garden" (Latin hortus), hence a topographic name for someone who lived by an enclosed garden or an occupational name for one who was a gardener.
HuntEstonian Hunt is an Estonian surname meaning "wolf".
JudgeEnglish, Irish occupational name for an officer of justice or a nickname for a solemn and authoritative person thought to behave like a judge from Middle English Old French juge "judge" (from Latin iudex from ius "law" and dicere "to say") which replaced the Old English term dema... [more]
KochJewish Koch - which also has the meaning of Cook in German's origin was however not from that meaning. It origins are to be traced in the Jewish ancestory. The original meaning came from the word Star. Amongst the related surnames (with or without bar in front or a ba or similar appended) are: Koch, Kochba, Kok, Kock, Kuk, Coq, Coqui, Cook (as a translation from the perceived meaning of cook) and a host of others... [more]
KojimaJapanese From Japanese 小 (ko) meaning "small" or 児 (ko) meaning "young" and 島 (shima) meaning "island".
KruisDutch, Flemish Means "cross" in Dutch, a habitational name for someone who lived near a crossroads, a sign depicting a cross, or a place where people were executed. Could also denote someone who made crosses, either the religious symbol or the instrument of torture.
KupkaCzech, Polish, Ukrainian, Slovak, Sorbian, Jewish Nickname or topographic name from the Polish, Ukrainian, Czech and Sorbian word kupka, a diminutive of kupa meaning "heap, pile", in Upper Sorbian also "lump".... [more]
LaveryIrish, Northern Irish From the Gaelic Ó Labhradha, "descendants of Labhradha" (speaker, spokesman, the father of Etru, chief of the Monagh of the Irish over-kingdom of Ulaid); the name of an ancient family originating from Magh Rath (present-day Moira, County Down, Northern Ireland)... [more]
MazzolaItalian From a diminutive of Italian mazza meaning "maul, mallet".
McCartneyScottish Gaelic Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac Artaine, (meaning ‘son of Artan’) which is a diminutive of the personal name Art, meaning ‘bear’ or ‘hero’. Compare Irish Mac Artáin (see McCartan), of which this surname is a variant.
MilletFrench, Catalan metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of millet or panic grass or a topographic name for someone who lived by a field of millet from French and Catalan millet (from Latin milietum a derivative of milium in Old French mil "millet").
ModiglianiItalian Used by Sepharditic Jews, this surname comes from the Italian town of Modigliana, in Romagna. Famous bearers of this surname include painter Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920) and Nobel Prize in Economics recipient Franco Modigliani (1918–2003).
MolyneuxFrench Possibly a habitational name from Moulineux, meaning "mill of the waters", or derives from the Old French name De Molines or De Moulins, meaning "mill". The surname has been linked to a large French family that settled in Lancashire from France.
MondrianDutch Variant of Mondriaan. A notable bearer was the Dutch-American abstract painter Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), born Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan Jr. (He changed his name in 1912, dropping the extra a from his surname).
MuchaPolish, Slovak, Czech, Ukrainian Nickname for an irritating person or someone considered of no importance, from mucha "fly".
MunchDanish, French, Norwegian (Rare) Either a variant of Münch or Munk, both meaning "monk". A notable bearer was Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (1863-1944), whose best known work is 'The Scream'.
MurilloSpanish Habitational name for someone from any of various locations called Murillo, so named from a diminutive of Spanish muro meaning "wall".
NagaiJapanese From Japanese 長 (naga) meaning "long" or 永 (naga) meaning "eternity" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".
NeustädterGerman Habitational name for someone from any of many places in Germany and Austria called Neustadt.
NiemeyerLow German North German nickname for a newly arrived steward or tenant farmer, from Middle Low German nie ‘new’ + Meyer.
NugentEnglish, Irish, French An English, Irish (of Norman origin) and French habitational surname derived from any of several places in northern France (such as Nogent-sur-Oise), From Latin novientum and apparently an altered form of a Gaulish name meaning "new settlement".
OdaJapanese From the Japanese 小 (o) "small," 尾 (o) "tail" or 織 (o) "fabric," "material," "cloth" and 田 (ta or da) "rice paddy" or 多 (ta or da) "many."... [more]
OkasEstonian Okas is an Estonian name meaning "thorn".
O'KeeffeIrish Variant of O'Keefe. A notable bearer was the American painter Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986).
ŌnoJapanese From the Japanese 大 (oo) "big" and 野 (no) "field," "area."
PalladioItalian Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. He designed churches and palaces, but he was best known for his country houses and villas. The architectural treatise, The Four Books of Architecture, summarizes his teachings... [more]
PoortvlietDutch From the name of the village and former municipality called Poortvliet in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands, derived from Middle Dutch port meaning "port, harbour, storage yard, city" and vliet meaning "brook, stream, river, creek, inlet"... [more]
QuantDutch, German From Middle Dutch quant meaning "companion, comrade" or "trickster, prankster, rogue", ultimately from an older term meaning "journeyman, tradesman, small merchant". Compare Quandt.
QuantEnglish Nickname for a clever person from Middle English cwointe/queynte meaning "intelligent, skilled" or "cunning, deceptive", as well as "wonderful, strange, unknown". Ultimately derived from Latin cognitus "known, recognised".
RockwellEnglish Means "person from Rockwell", Buckinghamshire and Somerset (respectively "wood frequented by rooks" and "well frequented by rooks"). Famous bearers include American illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) and Utah pioneer Porter Rockwell (1813-1878).
RodinJewish Metronymic from the Yiddish personal name Rode, and related to the Old Czech root rád "merry", "joyful".
RoheLow German The surname ROHE is from a short form of a Germanic formed with Middle High German Rouen 'to roar' or old High German ruin 'Care' , 'intent' (See roch).
RouppertFrench (Rare) Derived from the given name Rouppert, which is a gallicization of Ruppert, the Upper German form of Rupert.... [more]
SpeerGerman, Dutch, English German and Dutch cognate of Spear, as well as an English variant of the same surname.
StieglitzGerman Meaning goldfinch, Stiglitz was borrowed into German from a Slavic language, probably Old Czech stehlec. Several possible origins: of the surname can be: ... [more]
SugarGerman (Rare) Sugar is the surname of talented storyteller, writer, and composer Rebecca Rae Sugar (creator of animated series Steven Universe).
TajiriJapanese From Japanese 田 (ta) meaning "paddy, field" combined with 尻 (shiri) "behind, end, rear".
TakadaJapanese From Japanese 高 (taka) meaning "tall, high" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
TamayoSpanish from a town in the burgos region in spain.
TangChinese From Chinese 汤 (tāng) meaning "hot water, soup, broth", originally derived from the name of Cheng Tang, the first king of the Shang dynasty.
TezukaJapanese From Japanese 手 (te) meaning "hand" and 塚 (tsuka) meaning "mound, hillock, grave".
ToriyamaJapanese From Japanese 鳥 (tori) meaning "bird" and 山 (yama) meaning "mountain, hill". A notable bearer of this surname is Akira Toriyama (1955–), a manga artist best known for creating the Dragon Ball manga series.
TsuchiyaJapanese From Japanese 土 (tsuchi) meaning "earth, soil, ground" and 屋 (ya) meaning "roof, dwelling" or 谷 (ya) meaning "valley".
UtagawaJapanese Uta means "song" and Gawa comes from Kawa, meaning "river".
Van Der BiltDutch Means "from De Bilt", the name of a town derived from Middle Dutch belt "mound, heap, hill".
Van Der SteenDutch, Flemish Means "from the stone", a habitational name for someone from any of various minor places called Steen or Ten Stene, for example in the Belgian provinces of East Flanders and Brabant.
Van DongenDutch Means "from Dongen", a village in North Brabant, Netherlands, derived from donk "sandy hill (in marshy area)".
Van EyckDutch It means "of the oak", Eyck is a different, more archaic spelling of the word "eik" which means oak.
Van RuisdaelDutch Means "from Ruisdael", the name of a lost castle, also called Ruisschendaal, near the village of Blaricum in North Holland, the Netherlands. It means "noisy valley" in Dutch. This name was borne by members of the Van Ruisdael family of artists during the Dutch Golden Age, notably the landscape painter Jacob van Ruisdael (c... [more]
VieiraEnglish (Anglicized) A surname of British origin mainly from Ireland and Scotland but Anglicised into and english name when many Vieira's immigrated to England.
VuittonFrench Derived from the Old High German word "witu" and the Old English pre 7th century "widu" or "wudu", meaning a wood, and therefore occupational for one living by such a place.