WilbrahamEnglish Denoted a person hailing from Wilbraham in Cambridgeshire, England. The place name itself means "Wilburg's homestead or estate" in Old English, Wilburg or Wilburga allegedly referring to a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon princess who was given the lands later called Wilbraham by her father, King Penda of Mercia.
WilburnEnglish A habitation name of uncertain origin found in the East Midlands. Speculation includes the possibility of the meaning "well" and "burn, borne" therefore meaning one who lived near a well or spring by a waterway crossing.
WildfongGerman An Americanized form of German Wildfang. A nickname from Middle High German Wiltvanc "Wildman Stranger", denoting a person who was not a member of the community.
WildinEnglish The former placename is composed of the Olde English pre 7th Century words "wilg", willow, and "denu", a valley; while the latter place in Worcestershire is derived from the Olde English personal name "Winela", plus the Olde English "dun", a hill or mountain.
WildrickEnglish From German Wildreich, a medieval personal name, from Old High German wildi "wild".
WillScottish, English, German Scottish and northern English from the medieval personal name Will, a short form of William, or from some other medieval personal names with this first element, for example Wilbert or Willard... [more]
WillertGerman German cognate and variant of Willard. From a personal name composed of the ancient Germanic elements willo "will, desire" and hard "hardy, brave, strong".
WilletsEnglish Occasionally a Habitational name from Willet in Elworthy. Probably a compound of Old English wiell will 'spring' + an unrecorded gīete 'stream'.(Ancestory.com) Or is a varation of the given name William.
WillingEnglish Patronymic from the Old English personal name Willa.
WillinghamEnglish Habitational name from a place named Willingham, notably one in Cambridgeshire and one in Suffolk. The first is recorded in Domesday Book as Wivelingham "homestead (Old English hām) of the people of a man called Wifel".
WillockEnglish From the medieval male personal name Willoc, a pet-form based on the first syllable of any of a range of Old English compound names beginning with willa "will, desire".
WillowEnglish topographic name from Middle English wilwewilghewillowe "willow" (Old English wiligwelig) for a person who lived at or near a willow tree or in an area where willow trees grew... [more]
WillowsEnglish (British) This is an English residential or perhaps occupational surname. It may originate from one of the various places in England called 'The Willows', or even a place such as Newton le Willows in Lancashire, or it may describe a supplier of willow.
WimmerGerman Occupational last name, meaning "wine maker," using a derivation of the element Wein (meaning "wine") and likely another derivation from -macher (meaning "maker"). It's possible as well that it is derived from Weimann.
WimpEnglish The surname has at least two origins. The first is occupational and describes a maker of 'wimplels', an Old English veil later much associated with nuns. Second, it may also be locational from the village of Whimple in Devonshire, or Wimpole in Cambridge.
WimpeyEnglish Perhaps a deliberate alteration of Impey. It is borne by George Wimpey, a British construction company, founded in Hammersmith, London in 1880 by George Wimpey (1855-1913)... [more]
WinchelEnglish from Old English wencel ‘child’, perhaps used to distinguish a son from his father with the same forename or perhaps a nickname for a person with a baby face or childlike manner
WindhamEnglish, Irish (Anglicized) English habitational name from Wyndham in West Sussex, near West Grinstead, probably named from an unattested Old English personal name Winda + Old English hamm ‘water meadow’; or from Wymondham in Leicestershire and Norfolk, named from the Old English personal name Wigmund (see Wyman) + Old English ham ‘homestead’... [more]
WindusEnglish Variant of Wingers. The name is a metonymic occupational name for a textile worker or weaver, derived from the Middle English wyndhows ("winding house").
WinegarGerman This German surname may belong to one whose ancestors worked in the food industry or in the production of vinegar. In German the letter “W” is pronounced as the letter “V” in English.
WinegardnerEnglish (American) Anglicized form of the German occupational surname Weingartner. A known bearer of this surname is the American writer Mark Winegardner (b. 1961).
WinfordEnglish English location name meaning "from a white ford or water crossing" or "from a meadow ford".
WinfreyEnglish From the Old English personal name Winfrith, literally "friend-peace". A famous bearer of this surname is Oprah Winfrey (1954-), a US television talk-show presenter.
WinkelGerman, Jewish Derived from Middle High German winkel "corner, angle", a topographic name for someone who lived on a corner of land in the country or a street corner in a town or city. This word also came to denote a corner shop (see Winkelmann)... [more]
WinkelDutch, Belgian Habitational name from any of numerous minor places named using the element winkel "corner".
WinkelmannGerman, Jewish German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): topographic name for someone who lived on a corner or kept a corner shop (see Winkel), with the addition of Middle High German man, German Mann ‘man’... [more]
WinkworthMedieval English Locative name from Winkworth Farm in Lea (Wilts), recorded as Winkeworthe in 1248. It is also possible that the surname is from Winkworth Farm in Godalming (Surrey), considering the presence of medieval early bearers in the county, but there are no medieval forms for this place-name and so the early bearers in Surrey may be migrants from the Wilts place, who later gave their name to the place in Surrey.
WinneyEnglish Derived from an unattested Old English given name, *Wyngeofu, composed of the elements wyn "joy" and geofu "battle".... [more]
WinnickEnglish (Rare) Habitational name for someone from a place called Winwick, for example in Northamptonshire or Cambridgeshire, both of which are named from the Old English personal name Wina + wic 'outlying dairy farm or settlement'.
WinstanleyEnglish From the name of a place in Lancashire, England, which means "Wynnstan's field" from the Old English masculine given name Wynnstan and leah meaning "woodland, clearing"... [more]
WinsteadEnglish Perhaps derived from the town of Wanstead in Greater London, England (recorded in the Domesday Book as Wenesteda), named with Old English wænn meaning "wagon" and stede meaning "place, site", but it is more likely derived from the village of Winestead in East Yorkshire, England, named from Old English wefa meaning "wife" and hamstede meaning "homestead"... [more]
WinterbergGerman Habitational name from any of several places named with Middle High German winter "winter" and berg "mountain".
WinterburnEnglish habitational name from any of various places called with Old English winter "winter" and burna "stream" meaning "winter stream" for a stream which only flows or flows at a faster rate during the winter and more or less dries up in summer such as Winterburn in Gargrave (Yorkshire) Winterbourne (Berkshire Gloucestershire) Winterbourne Bassett (Wiltshire) or one of thirteen parishes named Winterborne in Dorset including Winterborne Abbas Winterborne Monkton and Winterborne Zelstone... [more]
WinterfeldGerman A topographic name from Middle High German winter "winter" and feld "field" denoting a winter pasture or a field with an autumn sowing or a winter crop or a habitational name from any of various places so named for example near Salzwedel... [more]
WirtaFinnish From virta ‘stream’, used as a topographic name, also as a soldier’s name in the 17th century. Also adopted as an ornamental name, especially in western and southern Finland.
WiseEnglish Nickname for a wise or learned person, or in some cases a nickname for someone suspected of being acquainted with the occult arts, from Middle English wys "wise, thoughtful, knowledgeable; alert, aware"... [more]
WishEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a water meadow or marsh, Middle English wyshe (Old English wisc). Americanized spelling of Wisch.
WitekPolish, English (Rare) From the personal name Wit, a short form of Witold, a derivative of Lithuanian Vytautas, a compound of vyti 'to guide' + tauta 'the people'... [more]
WithallEnglish Possibly a variant of Whitehall or Whittle. Could alternatively derive from Withiel, the name of a village in Cornwall, ultimately from Cornish Gwydhyel meaning "wooded place".
WithamEnglish habitational name from any of various places so called particularly those in Essex Lincolnshire and Somerset though most often from Essex. The Essex placename may derive from Old English wiht "curve bend" and ham "village homestead"... [more]
WittlinJewish Eastern Ashkenazic, from the Yiddish female personal name Vitle, a pet form of Vite combined with the eastern Slavic suffix -in
WittmanGerman Wittman was first found in the Palatinate in the Rhineland valley. The surname Wittman was given to someone who lived in the area that was referred to as widem which was originally derived from the German word denoting church property.
WoganIrish From the Old Welsh personal name Gwgan or Gwgon, originally probably a nickname meaning literally "little scowler". (Cf. the second element in Cadogan.) This surname is borne by Irish radio and television presenter Terry Wogan (1938-).
WohlGerman, Yiddish Meaning "pleasant" in both Middle German and Ashkenazic Yiddish
WójcickiPolish Habitational name for a person originally from a place called Wójcice.
WójcińskiPolish Habitational name for someone from any of the many places called Wójcin, or from Wójcina in Tarnów voivodeship, named with wójt meaning "village headman".
WójtMedieval Polish Occupational name and title from Medieval Polish meaning Lord Protector or Governor. Derived from Latin advocatus. German variant Vogt, Swedish variant Fogde... [more]
WolfendenEnglish derived from the place called Wolfenden in the parish of Newchurch-in-Rossendale, Lancashire. The placename means "Wulfhelm's valley", or "the valley of Wulfhelm" derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name Wulfhelm, composed of the elements wulf "wolf" and helm "helmet, protection" and denu "valley".
WolfensbergerGerman (Swiss) Habitational name derived from the name of the now ruined castle of Wolfsberg near Bauma in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.
WolferGerman Either from a shortened form of the ancient Germanic personal names Wolfher or Wolfhart composed of the elements wolf "wolf" and hari "army" or hard "hardy, brave"... [more]
WollmannGerman Occupational name for a wool worker or wool trader Middle High German Middle Low German wollman derived from German wolle "wool" and man "man".
WollschlägerGerman Occupational name for someone who prepared wool for spinning by washing and combing or carding it, from Middle High German wolle(n)slaher, -sleger, Middle Low German wullensleger (literally ‘wool beater’).
WolowitzJewish This is the surname of the character Howard in the American television show "The Big Bang Theory".
WolseyEnglish From the medieval male personal name Wulsi (from Old English Wulfsige, literally "wolf-victory"). A famous bearer of the surname was English churchman and statesman Thomas Wolsey (Cardinal Wolsey), ?1475-1530.
WolstenholmeEnglish (British, Rare) A famous bearer is Chris Wolstenholme, bassist and sometimes vocalist of British alternative rock band Muse.
WondergemDutch Habitational name from Wondelgem or Wontergem in East Flanders, Belgium, using the suffix -gem which is related to Old Germanic haimaz meaning "home".
WoodbineEnglish (Rare) From the English word "woodbine" that means "honeysuckle(plant)"in English.It seems uncommon in the English-speak culture for a surname.Also some American place names,too.
WoodbridgeEnglish Originated in old England and likely linked to the town of Woodbridge in Suffolk, East Anglia, United Kingdom. Well known Woodbridge's include the Australian Tennis player Todd Woodbridge. There was a famous lineage of six English John Woodbridge's in the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries, all Church ministers... [more]
WoodfallEnglish English surname used as a first name. The name means "dweller by a fold in the woods" - in this case, "fold" means "sheep-pen".... [more]
WoodmanEnglish Occupational name for a woodcutter or a forester (compare Woodward), or topographic name for someone who lived in the woods. Possibly from the Old English personal name Wudumann.
WoodruffEnglish, Caribbean Topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of land where woodruff grew, Anglo-Saxon wudurofe composed of wudu "wood" with a second element of unknown origin.
WoodsonEnglish From a location in Yorkshire, England earlier spelled Woodsome and meaning "from the houses in the wood" or possibly a patronymic meaning "descendant of a wood cutter or forester."
WoolgarEnglish From the medieval male personal name Wolgar (from Old English Wulfgār, literally "wolf-spear").
WoolleyEnglish A habitational name from any of various places so-called. Most, including those in Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, and West Yorkshire in England, are derived from the Old English wulf, meaning "wolf", and leah, meaning "wood" or "clearing"... [more]
WorkScottish Scottish: habitational name from the lands of Work in the parish of St. Ola, Orkney.
WorkmanEnglish Ostensibly an occupational name for a laborer, derived from Middle English work and man. According to a gloss, the term was used in the Middle Ages to denote an ambidextrous person, and the surname may also be a nickname in this sense.
WorleyEnglish mostly found in Lancashire and Sussex. very old english surname. something to do with a hill near a stream.
WorsleyEnglish Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname from either of the places called Worsley in Lancashire and in Worcestershire. The place in Lancashire was recorded as "Werkesleia" in 1196, and means Weorchaeth's wood or glade, derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Weorchaeth", from weorc, work, fortification, and leah, a wood, or clearing in a wood... [more]
WorthEnglish Habitational name from any of several locations derived from Old English worþ "enclosure, enclosed homestead, settlement".
WorthingtonEnglish Habitational name from places in Lancashire and Leicestershire named Worthington; both may have originally been named in Old English as Wurðingtun "settlement (Old English tun) associated with Wurð", but it is also possible that the first element was Old English worðign, a derivative of worð ‘enclosure’.
WriedenJewish Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Fried or a short form of any of the various compound names beginning Frieden of the same derivation.
WriedtGerman, Danish From Old Germanic *wraiþ meaning "twisted, bent, uneven" or "angry, furious; hostile, violent". Could be a habitational name from an area with rough terrain or overgrown roots, or a nickname for someone with a bad temper.