CaligiuriItalian Comes from the Greek words "kalos" meaning "beautiful" and "gheros" meaning "elderly," and was often given to children in the hopes that they would retain their beauty in their old age.
CalihuaNahuatl Meaning uncertain, possibly related to calli "house".
CalimlimPangasinan, Tagalog From Pangasinan and Tagalog kalimlim denoting a person who lived in a shaded area, from the word limlim meaning "shade, impending darkness".
CallenderEnglish Occupational name for a person who finished freshly woven cloth by passing it between heavy rollers to compress the weave. From Old Franch calandrier, calandreur.
CalliganIrish (Rare) Before Irish names were translated into English, Calligan had a Gaelic form of O Ceallachain, possibly from "ceallach", which means "strife".... [more]
CalonderRomansh Either derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Leonhard or from the name of the mountain Calanda.
CamVietnamese Vietnamese form of Gan, from Sino-Vietnamese 甘 (cam).
CámaraSpanish Occupational name for a courtier or servant who could access the private quarters of a king or noble, from Spanish cámara meaning "room, chamber".
CambriaItalian Possibly denoted someone from Cambria, Sicily, which might be of Arabic origin and unrelated to the latinized form of Cymru; alternatively, it could derive from the Roman cognomen Cambria, which would be related to the Latin toponym Cambria.
CammEnglish English (of Norman origin): habitational name for someone from Caen in Normandy, France.English: habitational name from Cam in Gloucestershire, named for the Cam river, a Celtic river name meaning ‘crooked’, ‘winding’.Scottish and Welsh: possibly a nickname from Gaelic and Welsh cam ‘bent’, ‘crooked’, ‘cross-eyed’.Americanized spelling of German Kamm.
CammarataItalian Habitational name from any of various places in Sicily named Cammarata, all derived from Greek καμάρα (kamara) meaning "vault".
CampagnaItalian Name for someone originally from any of various locations named Campagna, all derived from Latin Campania, itself from campus meaning "field".
CamperEnglish Respelling of German Kamper or Kämpfer (see Kampfer). The surname Camper is recorded in England, in the London and Essex area, in the 19th century; its origin is uncertain, but it may have been taken there from continental Europe.
CampionNorman, French English (of Norman origin) and French: status name for a professional champion (see Champion, Kemp), from the Norman French form campion.
CanadaFrench, English It derives from the Middle English "cane", a development of the Old French "cane", meaning cane, reed.
CanakTurkish From the Turkish town of Çanakkale. Canak is the Anglicised form, which may or may not retain its Turkish pronunciation.
CanalesSpanish Spanish: habitational name from any of several places called Canales, from canales, plural of canal ‘canal’, ‘water channel’, from Latin canalis.
CanavanIrish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Ceanndubháin "descendant of Ceanndubhán", a byname meaning "little black-headed one", from ceann "head" combined with dubh "black" and the diminutive suffix -án.
CanchéMayan From Yucatec Maya ka'anche' referring to the button mangrove (Conocarpus erectus), a type of shrub. Alternately it may be derived from che' meaning "wood, stick, board", referring to a raised seedbed or floorboards used to beat and cut cobs.
CancioSpanish A name for a person who first held the position of Chancellor.
CancroItalian Derived from Italian cancro "cancer". Probably an occupational name for a person who catches, cooks, sells crabs.
CandelaSpanish, Italian, Sicilian, Catalan Either an occupational name for a chandler (a candle maker or candle seller) or a nickname for a tall thin person, derived from candela meaning "candle" (from Latin candela).
CandyEnglish perhaps from Middle English candi "crystallized cane sugar" (via French from Persian qand "sugar") and used as a metonymic occupational name for a sugar merchant... [more]
CaneEnglish From the English word meaning "cane, reed", a nickname for someone tall and thin, or perhaps an occupational name for someone who gathered reeds.
CanelaSpanish Derived from the word 'canela' meaning cinnamon in Spanish. It Could also be a variant of the Catalan surname Candela.
CanizalesSpanish (Latin American) This surname came from around the beginnings of 1800 in south regions of Colombia where sugar cane was cultivated. It's a variation of Cañizales, that literally means "sugar cane fields".
CannellaItalian Diminutive form of canna "cane, reed, pipe", possibly a nickname for a tall, thin person, or perhaps taken directly from cannella "cinnamon (spice)" as a metonymic name for a spice merchant.
CannerJewish (Anglicized, Modern, Rare) Anglicized (American) version of one of many Eastern European Ashkenazi surnames including Cahana, Cahane, Kahana, Kahane, etc. Cahana et al is a version of the common surname Cohen.
CannizzaroItalian Derived from Sicilian cannizzu "wattle", denoting a maker of reed matting. Stanislao Cannizzaro (1826-1910) was an Italian chemist. He is famous for the Cannizzaro reaction and his influential role in the atomic-weight deliberations of the Karlsruhe Congress in 1860.
CañosaFilipino It is derived from the word 'Caña' meaning 'reed'. Born as a surname in before World War I, it is a newly formed family name built by Angelo Cañosa and his 2 siblings, formerly his birth surname is Caña when he and his siblings migrated to Agusan when they are wanted by the Spanish Authorities as they were berdugos(Killing Spanish allies)in their native place, Minglanilla and by rowing boats, they landed in Mindanao and he, Angelo Caña and his two siblings changed their family name into Cañosa... [more]
CanosaItalian It derives from the toponym Canosa di puglia.
CanovaRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and nova, the feminine form of the adjective nov "new".
CanoyFilipino Possibly derived from Hokkien 橄欖孫 (ka-núi-sun) meaning "great-grandchild".
CantEnglish Means "singer in a chantry chapel", or from a medieval nickname for someone who was continually singing (in either case from Old Northern French cant "song").
CantagalloItalian From the name of a town, or possibly a nickname meaning "singing rooster".
CanterburyEnglish Habitational name from Canterbury in Kent, named in Old English as Cantwaraburg "fortified town (burgh) of the people (wara) of Kent".
CaouetteFrench (Quebec) Altered form of French Cahouet, itself a regional form of chat-huant meaning "screech owl", hence a nickname referring to the bird.
CapaulRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the given name Paul.
CapdevilaCatalan From Catalan cap meaning "chief, head" and de vila meaning "of the town".
CapeFrench, English (British) French and English: metonymic occupational name for a maker of capes and cloaks, or perhaps a nickname for someone who habitually wore a cloak or cape, from Middle English and Old Norman French cape ‘cape’, ‘cloak’, ‘hooded cloak’ (in French also ‘hood’ or ‘hat’), from Late Latin cappa, capa, probably a derivative of caput ‘head’ (see Capp)... [more]
ČapekCzech Derived from a diminutive of Czech cáp meaning "stork", applied as a habitational name for someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of a stork. In some cases the family name may have derived from a heraldic symbol.
CapelEnglish From the Domesday Book of 1086, from the old French word 'capele' meaning chapel.
CapelleFrench, English, Dutch, Flemish French topographic name for someone living by a chapel, from a regional variant of chapelle "chapel" (compare Chapell 2), or a habitational name from any of several places named La Capelle... [more]
CapraroItalian Occupational name for a goatherd, derived from Italian capra meaning "goat".
CapriItalian habitational name for someone from Capri the island in the Bay of Naples.
CaprioItalian from Latin caprae ‘goats’ or possibly from Greek kapros "(wild) boar" and so a metonymic occupational name for a goatherd or swineherd or a nickname for someone thought to resemble a goat or boar.
CapshawEnglish Unexplained. Perhaps a habitational name from Cadshaw near Blackburn, Lancashire, although the surname is not found in England.
CapuaItalian From the name of a city in Campania, Italy, possibly derived from Etruscan 𐌂𐌀𐌐𐌄𐌅𐌀 (capeva) meaning "city of marshes", though this etymology is disputed.
CaraccioloItalian Famous bearer of this surname is Canadian-Italian singer Alessia Caracciolo (1996-).
CaradineEnglish, German (Anglicized) Americanized form of German Gardein, itself a Germanized spelling of French Jardin. It could also denote someone from the village and civil parish of Carden in Cheshire, England.
CarafaItalian It could derive from toponyms such as Caraffa del Bianco in the province of Reggio Calabria or Caraffa in the province of Catanzaro.... [more]
CarandangFilipino, Tagalog Occupational name for someone who dried things using fire, derived from Tagalog dangdang meaning "heating, toasting, drying through exposure to fire or glowing coals".
CarawayEnglish Probably means "spice merchant" (from Middle English carewei "caraway").
CarbajalSpanish, Judeo-Spanish Probably a habitational name denoting someone originally from any of the multiple locations called Carbajal in León, Asturias, or Zamora in Spain. Alternatively, it may be of pre-Roman origin from the word carbalio meaning "oak", denoting someone who either lived near an oak tree or who was like an oak tree in some way.... [more]
CardEnglish English: metonymic occupational name for someone who carded wool (i.e. disentangled it), preparatory to spinning, from Middle English, Old French card(e) ‘carder’, an implement used for this purpose... [more]
CardenEnglish From the name of a village in Cheshire, England, derived from Old English carr "stone, rock" and worþign "enclosure, estate".
CardenEnglish Derived from Middle English cardoon "wild thistle, artichoke thistle". Could be a nickname for someone who carded wool (which was originally done with thistles), for a person who lived near a thistle patch, or for a prickly and unapproachable person... [more]
CarderEnglish Occupational name for a wool carder or someone who makes carders.
CardilloItalian Cardillo is a surname of Sicilian origin, derived from the word cardilla, meaning ''goldfinch''.
CardinalEnglish, French From the rank of the Catholic Church, derived from Latin cardinalis "pertaining to a door hinge", through the notion of the function of such priests as ‘pivots’ of church life. It was used as a nickname for someone who habitually wore red or acted like a cardinal.
CardoSpanish, Italian From cardo "thistle, cardoon" (from Latin carduus) either a topographic or occupational name for using wool carder thistles, or from the given name Cardo a short form of given names Accardo, Biancardo, or Riccardo.
CardonFrench from the name of several places in southern France called (Le) Cardon. Or from Old Norman French cardon "thistle" (a diminutive of carde from Latin carduus) hence a topographic name for someone who lived on land overgrown with thistles an occupational name for someone who carded wool (originally a process carried out with thistles and teasels) or perhaps a nickname for a prickly and unapproachable person... [more]
CardoneItalian, Sicilian From Sicilian carduni "thistle, teasel, cardoon" possibly a topographic name but also could mean "rough, uncouth, stingy, or miserly".
CarducciItalian From Riccarduccio, an affectionate form of the given name Riccardo. A famous bearer of this surname is Italian poet Giosuè Carducci (1835-1907), winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1906.
ĈaristoEsperanto Occupational name for a charioteer, from ĉaro, meaning "a chariot, wagon, or cart", and -isto, a suffix used for professions.
CarlanIrish Anglicized form of Irish O'Carlain or O'Caireallain, from the Irish carla meaning a "wool-comb" and an meaning "one who" which roughly translates as "one who combs wool"... [more]
CarlanderSwedish Combination of the given name Karl or Swedish karl "man" and ander, from classical Greek andros, "man".
CarlbergSwedish Combination of the given name Carl or Swedish karl "man", and berg "mountain".
CarlinSwedish (Rare) Combination of the given name Karl, which is also a common place name prefix, and the common surname suffix -in (originally from Latin -inus "descendant of").