ApicellaItalian Southern Italian: from a diminutive of apa ‘bee’, probably applied as a nickname for an industrious person, or possibly as a metonymic occupational name for a beekeeper.
ArabeyaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 荒 (ara) meaning "uncultivated, desolate", 部 (be) meaning "department, division; part", and 谷 (ya) meaning "valley".
AràbiaItalian, Spanish Ethnic name for someone from Arabia or some other Arabic-speaking country or a nickname for someone who had visited or traded with one of these countries.
AradhyaIndian, Sanskrit Means "one who worships god". Commonly seen in India, Karnataka and other parts of India like kashi. They wear holy thread (yagnopaveetha).
ArafukaJapanese From Japanese 荒 (ara) meaning "uncultivated, desolate" and 深 (fuka) meaning "deep; profound". It may have been derived from Ara 2.
ArahiraJapanese From Japanese 荒 (ara) meaning "rough; harsh; intense" and 平 (hira) meaning "flat; flattened" or, in a dialect, "cliff", referring to a rough flatland or a rough cliff.... [more]
AranaBasque, Central American This indicates familial origin within either of 3 eponymous localities: the hamlet in the County of Trebiñu, the neighborhood in Gasteiz, or the neighborhood in Bermeo.
ArandaSpanish Habitational name from any of various places for example Aranda de Duero in Burgos province which bears a name of pre-Roman probably Celtic origin.
AranetaFilipino From a Basque name derived from haran meaning "valley" combined with the toponymic suffix -eta.
AravenaCorsican This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the commune of Fuzzà.
ArayaJapanese From Japanese 荒 (ara) meaning "rough, wild" and 谷 (ya) meaning "valley".
ArayamaJapanese From Japanese 荒 (ara) meaning "wild, rough, desolate, barren" and 山 (yama) meaning "mountain, hill".
ArboledaSpanish From arboleda meaning "grove of trees". This is the name of a prominent Colombian family, in which case it is derived from their region of origin in Arboleya, Spain.
ArcillaSpanish (Philippines) From Spanish arcilla meaning "clay," derived via Latin from Greek ἄργιλλος (árgillos), ultimately from ἀργός (argós) meaning "white."
ArciniegaBasque Castilianized form. Name for someone from the Spanish town of Artziniega. The town's name likely comes from the Basque artzain meaning "shepherd" and -aga, a suffix for place names.
ArdellaAfrican American Derivative of Arden, popularized by the poem of the same name by Langston Hughes, the most well-known Black poet of the Harlem Renaissance. Meaning is "garden dweller."... [more]
ArdzinbaAbkhaz Means "son of silver" from Abkhaz араʒны (aradzny) meaning "silver" and аҧа (apa) meaning "son".
AretxabaletaBasque Original Basque form of Arechavaleta, composed of aritx (a variant of haritz) meaning "oak tree" or "tree" combined with zabal "wide, ample" and the suffix -eta meaning "abundance of" or "place of".
AretxagaBasque It indicates familial origin within the eponymous ghost town within the council of Murgia in the municipality of Zuia.
AretxederraBasque Habitational name from a neighborhood in the municipality of Gordexola, Spain, derived from Basque aretx "oak tree" (a variant of haritz) and eder "beautiful, good; abundant".
AristavaAbkhaz Mingrelian form of the Abkhaz name Арстаа (Arstaa) ultimately derived from the Ancient Greek personal name Aristarchus.
ArisugawaJapanese Notable bearers are members of the Arisugawa clan, such as Princess Arisugawa no Miya Oriko and her father Prince Arisugawa no Miya Orihito.
ArmeniaItalian, Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese Ethnic name or regional name for someone from Armenia or who had connections with Armenia. This surname is derived from the feminine form of Armenio, which is ultimately from Greek Αρμένιος (Armenios) meaning "Armenian"... [more]
AroraIndian, Hindi, Punjabi From the name of the ancient city of Aror in what is now the Sindh province, Pakistan. The city's name may have been derived from Hindi और (aur) meaning "more, also".
ArraGalician, Sicilian Habitational name from a place in Galicia called Arra, this surname was also found in some parts of Sicily.
ArrigunagaBasque From the name of a beach in the municipality of Getxo, Spain, possibly derived from Basque (h)arri "stone, rock" combined with gune "place, area" and the collective suffix -aga.
ArrillagaBasque From the name of a neighborhood in the municipality of Usurbil, Spain, derived from Basque (h)arri "stone, rock" and a variant form of (h)iri "town, city" combined with -aga "place of, abundance of".
ArshbaAbkhaz Most likely from a contracted form of Arabic أَرْشَد (ʾaršad) meaning "most sensible, most reasonable" or Persian ارشد (arshad) "senior, superior, eldest" combined with Abkhaz аԥа (āpā) "son".
ArtabiaBasque (Rare) From the name of a neighborhood in the municipality of Allin, Navarre, possibly derived from Basque arte "oak (tree), evergreen oak, holm oak" or arto "millet; corn, maize" combined with the suffix -be "lower part".
ArtetaBasque Habitational name from any of several places in Navarre and Biscay, Spain, derived from Basque arte "oak tree, holm oak" and the toponymic suffix -eta "place of, abundance of".
ArtziniegaBasque From the name of a town and municipality in Álava, Basque Country, probably derived from Basque artzain "shepherd" and -aga "place of, group of".
ArzamendiaBasque Derived from Basque mendi "mountain" and an uncertain first element, possibly haritz "oak tree", artz "bear", or a combination of (h)arri "rock, stone" and the abundance suffix -tza.
ArzolaBasque Castilianized form of a Basque topographic name, derived from (h)arri "stone, rock; glass" combined with -tza "large quantity, abundance" and -ola "location, place of".
AsaJapanese Variously written, sometimes with characters used phonetically. It can mean ‘morning’, but the most likely meaning is ‘hemp’, making it a topographic or occupational name. Both forms are found mostly in Amami, one of the Ryūkyū Islands.
AsaharaJapanese From Japanese 朝 (asa) meaning "morning", 浅 (asai) meaning "shallow", or 麻 (asa) meaning "hemp" combined with 原 (hara) meaning "field, plain".
AsahinaJapanese From Japanese 朝 (asa) meaning "morning", 比 (hi) meaning "comparison, match, equal" or 日 (hi) meaning "sun, day", and 奈 (na), a phonetic character.
AsakaJapanese From the Japanese 淺 or 浅 (asa) "superficial" and 香 (ka) "odour," "smell," 加 (ka) "increase," "step-up" or 賀 (ka) "congratulation."
AsakawaJapanese From Japanese 浅 (asa) meaning "shallow" and 川 or 河 (kawa) meaning "river".
AsakuraJapanese From Japanese 朝 (asa) meaning "morning", 浅 (asa) meaning "shallow", or 麻 (asa) meaning "hemp" and 倉 (kura) meaning "warehouse, storehouse".
AshikagaJapanese Ashikaga is a surname that originated with samurai families. Kaga means "Flower Bud,Reed" and Ashi means "Place",but it is most commonly, ( if not always ) written with characters meaning ,"foot" and "advantage".
AshitaniharaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 芦谷原 (Ashitanihara), a variant reading of 芦谷原 (Ashitaniharu) meaning "Ashitaniharu", a division in the division of Shukukubota in the area of Makizono in the city of Kirishima in the prefecture of Kagoshima in Japan or it being a name of a group of several households in the same location, for the Kadowari System that took place in the Edo Period in the former Japanese province of Satsuma in parts of present-day Kagoshima, Japan.
AtempaMexican, Nahuatl (Hispanicized) Means "on the riverbank" or "on the bank of the lake", derived from Nahuatl atl meaning "water" combined with tentli "bank, shore" and the suffix -pan "in, on".
AusmaaEstonian Ausmaa is an Estonian surname meaning "honorable land".
AustriaSpanish (Philippines) From the name of the European country, either as an ethnic name or a reference to the Austrian Habsburg dynasty, which ruled Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries.
AvanceñaFilipino Hispanicised form of Arabic اِبْن سِينَا (ibn sīnā) meaning "son of Sina". This was the Arabic name for Avicenna (980-1037), a Persian polymath.
AvaraItalian Feminine form of Italian avaro, meaning "miser" or "mean, stingy, avaricious".
AvenaItalian, Spanish Means "oats" in Spanish and Italian, an occupational surname for a grain grower or merchant. It can also be a toponymic surname derived from Avena, Calabria.
AvidzbaAbkhaz Derived from Georgian ავი (avi) meaning "currish, severe, sullen" combined with ძე (dze) "son" and Abkhaz аԥа (āpā) "son". The name was most likely borne by Georgians under the spelling Avidze, which was modified with the Abkhaz suffix -ba after migration to Abkhazia.
AwaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 阿波 (Awa), a clipping of 上阿波 (Kamiawa) or 下阿波 (Shimoawa), both areas in the city of Iga in the prefecture of Mie in Japan.
AwaJapanese From Japanese 阿波 (Awa) meaning "Awa", a former Japanese province in present-day Tokushima, Japan.
AyohuaNahuatl Meaning uncertain, possibly from ayotli "squash, pumpkin" or ayotl "turtle" combined with the possessive suffix -hua, or from ayohua "to fill with water".