CastonEnglish A habitational name from a place named Caston, which is from the unattested Old English personal name Catt or the Old Norse personal name Káti + Old English tūn meaning ‘farmstead, settlement’.
CastrejonSpanish Habitational Name From Any Of Various Places Called Castrejón Especially In Valladolid Province Or A Topographic Name From A Diminutive Of Castro ‘Castle’ From Latin Castrum ‘Fort Roman Walled City’.
CastrogiovanniItalian Habitational name from Castrogiovanni, the name until 1927 of Enna in central Sicily.
CaswellEnglish Habitational name from places in Dorset, Northamptonshire, and Somerset named Caswell, from Old English cærse '(water)cress' + well(a) 'spring', 'stream'.
CatapanoItalian Means "catapan, governor of a catepanate", ultimately from Byzantine Greek κατεπάνω (katepánō) "(the one) placed at the top, or the topmost".
CatchpoleEnglish Meant "bailiff, especially (originally) one who could seize domestic animals in lieu of tax or debt" (from Anglo-Norman cachepol, from cacher "to chase" + pol "chicken").
CattEnglish Nickname from the animal, Middle English catte "cat". The word is found in similar forms in most European languages from very early times (e.g. Gaelic cath, Slavic kotu). Domestic cats were unknown in Europe in classical times, when weasels fulfilled many of their functions, for example in hunting rodents... [more]
CattanoSicilian (Rare) Meaning "captain," this name began as a nickname in the Medieval Ages, probably for someone who actually was a ship's captain, or perhaps for someone who acted in some way like a captain.
CattellAnglo-Saxon, French, Old Norse Originated in Scandinavia as a patronym of the first name Thurkettle, a derivative of the Old Norse name Arnkell, which is composed of arn meaning "eagle" and ketil meaning "a helmet" or "a helmeted warrior" as well as "cauldron", but helmet is the more likely translation... [more]
CatterallEnglish Derived from a town in England named "Catterall".
CattermoleEnglish Found mainly in Norfolk and Suffolk. Meaning uncertain; possibly from an east Anglian term meaning “dweller at the dyke”, or from Old French quatre moles “four mills”.
CaulfieldIrish Comes from the Irish Gaelic Mac Cathmhaoil, which was Anglicized to McCawell and then morphed into Caulfield. Mac Cathmhaoil comes from a word meaning "chieftan".
CavaItalian, Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese From cava ‘cave’, ‘cellar’ (from Latin cavea), hence a metonymic occupational name for someone employed in the wine cellars of a great house, a topographic name for someone who lived in or near a cave, or a habitational name from any of numerous places named with this word.
CaveNorman, French, English A name of various possible origins. As a Norman French name Cave can mean "bald" from cauf or it can mean "worker in a wine cellar" or "one who dwelt in or near a cave". As an English name Cave refers to a Yorkshire river whose fast current inspired the name meaning "swift".
CaverlyEnglish English surname, a variant of the English surname Calverley, itself derived from the Old English calf "calf" and leag "field, clearing".
CaviedesCantabrian (Hispanicized) Castilianized form of a surname that indicates familial origin within an eponymous locality in the municipality of Valdáliga.
CaviezelRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Viezel, a Romansh form of Wetzel.
CavillEnglish Derived from Cavil, a place located in the East Riding of Yorkshire in northern England, named from Old English ca meaning "jackdaw" and feld meaning "open country". It is borne by the British actor Henry Cavill (1983-).
CawoodEnglish Traditional English habitational surname meaning "jackdaw wood" from the Old English ca referring to 'jackdaw' (a member of the crow family), and wudu 'wood'.
CeddiaItalian (Modern) Great grandparent from San Marco in Lamis, Province of Foggia, Apulia region of Italy.
CedergrenSwedish Combination of Swedish ceder "cedar" and gren "branch".
CeesayWestern African, Manding Gambian surname of Mandinka origin, which originally indicated a descendant of a marabout, i.e. a West African Muslim teacher and religious leader.... [more]
CenChinese From Chinese 岑 (cén) referring to the ancient fief of Cen, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Shaanxi province.
CenaEnglish (American), English Cena is a prominently used English name. It is derived from the word "see", however it rather than referring to the ability to see it, what it actually refers to is the inability to see as the other half of the name ("-na") means "naw" a synonym for "no"... [more]
CendejasSpanish Cendejas is a city in Guadalahara. It is short for Cendejas de la Torre.
CentofantiItalian Means "a hundred soldiers on foot" in Italian, derived from Italian cento meaning "(a) hundred" and Italian fanti, which is the plural form of fante meaning "soldier, infantryman"... [more]
CentoreItalian from cento ore "hundred gold pieces" hence probably a nickname for a wealthy person.
CenturiónSpanish Originally a nickname derived from Spanish centurión (ultimately from Late Latin centum) literally meaning "centurion". Historically, a centurion is a military officer who commanded one hundred men in an Ancient Roman army during the classical period.
CepedaSpanish A nickname for someone from the region where they grow vineyards.
CeraSpanish, Italian, Catalan, Sicilian Metonymic occupational name for a wax seller, derived from Latin cera meaning "wax". A famous bearer of this surname is Canadian actor and musician Michael Cera (1988-).
CerasuoloItalian Means "cherry-colored." Appears as a word in many Italian dictionaries, but may have origins in the Greek period of Naples, where it seems to have originated. There are at least two villages found with the name, the most notable being near Monte Cassino, where many Japanese-American soldiers won Medals of Honor or other awards for heroism during WW II... [more]
CerdaSpanish, Portuguese Nickname for a person with a prominent tuft of hair, derived from Spanish and Portuguese cerda meaning "bristle, stiff, coarse, short, thick hair", ultimately from Late Latin cirra.
CerdàCatalan Denoted someone from Cerdanya (also called La Cerdanya), a natural and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain.
CerettiItalian (Tuscan), Medieval Italian (Tuscan) The surname Cerri is derived from the Italian word cerro, which means bitter or Turkey oak. Often Italian local surnames bore the prefix "di", which signifies emigration from one place to another.... [more]
CerezoSpanish (European) Surname, in general, of toponymic origin, frequent and distributed throughout Spain, from the noun -cerezo-, "fruit tree whose fruit is the cherry". The surname was derived from nicknames or through the many toponyms in Cerezo existing in Spain, names of populations such as Cerezo (Cáceres), Cerezo de Mohernando (Guadalajara), etc., whose name was taken by some individuals for be native from one of them, as was the custom in the Middle Ages.There were, therefore, different houses of the surname Cerezo unrelated to each other, the Castilian and Extremaduran being very old, whose branches passed to La Rioja, Andalusia, Valencia and Murcia.
CeriseFrench, Italian Italian habitational name from La Cerise or Torrent-La Cerise placenames in Valle d'Aosta from French cerise "cherry"; and French occupational name from cerise "cherry" (from Latin cerasus) applied as a metonymic occupational name for someone who grew or sold cherries.
CerqueiraPortuguese Habitational name from any of various places named Cerquerira, in most cases from a Latin derivative of quercus "oak". The family name also occurs in Sicily, probably of the same origin.
CespedesSpanish From the plural of cesped "peat", "turf" (Latin caespes, genitive caespitis), applied as a habitational name from a place named Céspedes (for example in Burgos province) or named with this word, or a topographic name for someone who lived by an area of peat, or possibly as a metonymic occupational name for someone who cut and sold turf.
CestareEnglish (American, Modern) There is a similar name, Sastre, which is the Spanish form of the surname Sarto, meaning "tailor." The name CESTARE is phonetically similar to Sastre and could be a derivative of that name.... [more]
CestaroItalian From cesta "basket" and the suffix -aro, an occupational name for a basket maker.
CeylanTurkish Turkish surname meaning "gazelle" from Persian carān جران.
ChaKorean Cha is a relatively uncommon family name in Korea. The Yeonan Cha clan is the only clan. The founding ancestor was Cha Hyo-jeon, son of Ryoo Cha-dal (류차달) (10th century AD). Most of the clan's members live in Gyeongsang, Hwanghae, and P'yŏngan provinces... [more]
ChaHmong From the clan name Tsab or Tsaab associated with the Chinese character 張 (zhāng) (see Zhang).
ChabotFrench From chabot ‘bull-head’, a species of fish with a large head, hence a nickname for someone with a big head and a small body.
ChaffeyEnglish Possibly, Chaffcombe in Somerset or Chaffhay in Devon
ChaffinEnglish A diminutive that originated from the Old French word chauf, which itself is derived from Latin calvus, both meaning "bald". Originally used as an Anglo-Norman nickname for a bald man.
ChaissonFrench, English Variant of the French surname Chiasson originally denoting someone from the the municipality of Chiasso in Ticino, Switzerland, located along the Swiss/Italian border.... [more]
ChaitJewish Jewish occupational name derived from the Hebrew word חייט meaning "tailor".
ChakravartiMarathi, Hindi Derived from Sanskrit चक्रवर्तिन् (chakravartin) meaning "world-ruler, emperor, monarch" (literally "wheel-turner" or "one who's wheels are turning"), from चक्र (chakra) meaning "wheel, circle" and वर्तिन् (vartin) meaning "abiding, moving, turning"... [more]
ChalcraftEnglish Surname of Anglo- Saxon origin. Topographical or locational surname... [more]
ChaleunLao Means "flourish, prosper" or "much, many" in Lao.
ChalkEnglish English: from Old English cealc 'chalk', applied as a topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of chalk soil, or as a habitational name from any of the various places named with this word, as for example Chalk in Kent or Chalke in Wiltshire.
ChallengerEnglish Probably from a medieval nickname for a touchy or quarrelsome person (from a derivative of Middle English chalangen "to challenge"). A fictional bearer is Professor George Challenger, irascible scientist and explorer, leader of the expedition to Amazonia in Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Lost World' (1912).
ChallonerFrench, Welsh Derived from a town in France of the same name. This family derive their origin from Macloy Crum, of the line of chiefs in Wales, who resided several years in Challoner.
ChalmersScottish Variant of Chambers. The -l- was originally an orthographic device to indicate the length of the vowel after assimilation of -mb- to -m(m)-.
ChamberlinFrench French cognate of Chamberlain. Occupational name for an official in charge of the private chambers of his master from Old French chamberlenc "chamberlain".
ChamounArabic, Arabic (Maghrebi), Assyrian, Jewish French-influenced variant of Arabic شمعون (see Shamoun), mainly used in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and parts of North Africa. This name was borne by Lebanese president Camille Chamoun (1900-1987).
ChampagneFrench regional name for someone from Champagne, named in Latin as Campania (from campus "plain", "flat land"). This is also the name of various villages in France, and in some cases the family name may derive from one of these.
ChampionEnglish, French Derived from the Middle English and Old French words campion, champiun and champion all meaning "athlete" such as a wrestler or boxer; also "warrior hired to do battle in single combat on behalf of others" (from Late Latin campio genitive campionis a derivative of campus "plain field of battle")... [more]
ChamplainFrench Name given to those who live in or around fields. Known barrer of the name is Samuel de Champlain who founded Quebec, Canada and after whom the lake is named.
ChandrasekharIndian A Hindu name meaning literally "holder of the moon" (an epithet of the god Shiva). A notable bearer of this surname was the Indian-born US physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910-1995); the Chandrasekhar limit, i.e. the upper limit for the mass of a white dwarf star beyond which the star collapses to a neutron star or a black hole, is named after him.
ChanthalangsyLao From Lao ຈັນທະ (chantha) meaning "moon" and ລັງສີ (langsi) meaning "ray, beam".
ChanthavongLao From Lao ຈັນທະ (chantha) meaning "moon" and ວົງ (vong) meaning "lineage, family".
ChanthavongsaLao From Lao ຈັນທະ (chantha) meaning "moon" and ວົງສາ (vongsa) meaning "family".
ChantryEnglish Means "singer in a chantry chapel" or "one who lives by a chantry chapel". A chantry was a type of chapel, one endowed for the singing of Masses for the soul of the founder (from Old French chanterie, from chanter "to sing").
ChaoChinese Alternate transcription of Chinese 趙 (see Zhao).
ChapaSpanish An occupational name for a metalworker meaning "metal sheet", amongst other things. It may also come from the name of a place in Galicia, Spain, or the Basque word and oak bush, "chaparro".
ChapdelaineFrench Compound name derived from Old French chape meaning "hooded cloak, cape, hat" and de laine meaning "of wool", probably applied as a metonymic occupational name for a maker of such apparel, or as a nickname for someone who wore a distinctive cloak or hat.
ChapelFrench Occupational name for a maker of cloaks or a nickname for a person who wore a distinctive cloak, from a diminutive of Old French chape meaning "cape, cloak".
ChapelleFrench Topographic name for someone who lived near a chapel from French chapelle "chapel" or from several places in France and Belgium called (La) Chapelle and variant of Lachapelle, Capelle, and Chappelle.
ChapinFrench, Spanish From a reduced form of French eschapin or Spanish chapín, a term for a light (woman's) shoe; perhaps a nickname for someone who habitually wore this type of footwear or possibly a metonymic occupational name for a shoemaker.
ChappellEnglish Name for someone who lived near a chapel, derived from Old French chapele meaning "chapel".
ChapuisFrench Occupational name from Old French chapuis "carpenter joiner" a derivative of chapuiser "to cut" (from Late Latin cappulare). Variant of Chappuis.
CharlierFrench, Walloon Occupational name for a cartwright wheelwright from Old French charrelier a derivative of charrel "cart" a diminutive of char "cart carriage".
CharnockEnglish (Rare) The locational surname originates from two places, Charnock Richard and Heath Charnock, which are both located in Lancashire, England.... [more]
CharretteFrench Derived from Old French char(r)ete "small cart", itself a diminutive of char "cart carriage".
ChartersEnglish Scottish (Kirkcudbrightshire) and northern English, ultimately of Norman origin. This is a habitational name derived from the French town of Chartres, which is named from the Gaulish tribe recorded in Latin sources as the Carnutes.
ChartierFrench An occupational name for a carter from an agent derivative of Old French charette "cart".
ChaseFrench Topographic name for someone who lived in or by a house, probably the occupier of the most distinguished house in the village, from a southern derivative of Latin casa "hut, cottage, cabin".