ClaxtonEnglish From the names of any of several settlements in England, derived from either the personal name Clacc (from Old Norse Klakkr "bump, hillock") or the Old English word clacc "hill, peak" combined with tun "town, settlement".
ClaybergEnglish Meaning is unknown, but it most likely means "clay mountain", from surnames Clay "clay" and Berg "mountain".
ClaypoolEnglish Derived from Claypole, a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, named from Old English cl?g meaning "clay" and pol meaning "pool".
ClercFrench Occupational or status name for a member of a minor religious order or for a scholar Old French clerc from Late Latin clericus from Greek klerikos a derivative of kleros "inheritance legacy" with reference to the priestly tribe of Levites (see Levy ) "whose inheritance was the Lord"... [more]
ClericoItalian Occupational or status name for a member of a minor religious order or for a scholar from Late Latin clericus (see Clerc ). Italian cognitive of Clark.
ClevelandEnglish English regional name from the district around Middlesbrough named Cleveland ‘the land of the cliffs’, from the genitive plural (clifa) of Old English clif ‘bank’, ‘slope’ + land ‘land’... [more]
ClevelandNorwegian (Anglicized) Americanized spelling of Norwegian Kleiveland or Kleveland, habitational names from any of five farmsteads in Agder and Vestlandet named with Old Norse kleif "rocky ascent" or klefi "closet" (an allusion to a hollow land formation) and land "land".
ClevengerEnglish Occupational name for a keyholder derived from the word claviger, itself from Latin claviger meaning "key-bearer".
CleverleyEnglish Probably means "person from Cleveley", Lancashire ("woodland clearing by a cliff").
CleverlyEnglish From a nickname for an intelligent or quick-witted person.
CliffEnglish habitational name from any of numerous places called Cliff(e), Cle(e)ve, or Clive, from Old English clif "slope, bank, cliff", or a topographic name from the same word... [more]
CliftEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a crevice in rock, derived from Middle English clift meaning "cleft". The American actor Montgomery Clift (1920-1966) was a famous bearer of this name.
ClingerEnglish (American) Americanized spelling of German Klinger.Possibly a variant of Clinker. an English occupational name for a maker or fixer of bolts and rivets.
ClooneyEnglish, Irish (Anglicized) From Gaelic Ó Cluanaigh meaning "descendant of Cluanach". Cluanach was a given name derived from Irish clauna "deceitful, flattering, rogue".
CloptonEnglish Habitational name from any of various places, for example in Essex, Suffolk, and Warwickshire, named Clopton from Old English clopp(a) meaning "rock", "hill" + tūn meaning "settlement".
CloreEnglish (American) Americanized spelling of German Klor (from a short form of the medieval personal name Hilarius (see Hillary) or Klar).
ClossGerman Variant of Kloss and, in North America, also an altered form of this. It is also found in Lorraine, France.
ClossonScottish this name is of the noble family in Orkney islands known as the closson whom came to Orkney with the viking raiders in the early 900's and they founded the noble house of closson there of
CloudEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived near an outcrop or hill, from Old English clud "rock" (only later used to denote vapor formations in the sky).
CloudFrench From the Germanic personal name Hlodald, composed of the elements hlod "famous, clear" and wald "rule", which was borne by a saint and bishop of the 6th century.
CloughEnglish (British) The distinguished surname Clough is of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin. It is derived from the Old English "cloh," meaning "ravine" or "steep-sided valley," and was first used to refer to a "dweller in the hollow."
ClyNavajo From Navajo tłʼaaí meaning "lefty, left-handed one", from the verb nishtłʼa "to be left-handed".
ClydeScottish A river in the south-west of Scotland, running through Inverclyde, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire, and the city of Glasgow. The second longest in Scotland; and the eighth longest in the United Kingdom... [more]
ClydesdaleEnglish, Scottish From the name of a location in Lanarkshire, Scotland, meaning "Clyde’s valley", derived from the name of the river Clyde.
CoachIrish Origin uncertain. Most probably a reduced form of Irish McCoach, which is of uncertain derivation, perhaps a variant of McCaig.
CoachFrench Possibly an altered spelling of French Coache, from the Norman and Picard term for a damson, probably applied as a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of plums.
CoadyIrish Coady or Cody originated in the Southern Counties of Ireland. The Norman family Odo le Ercedekne acquired land in Kilkenny, Ireland in early 1300's. In medieval records it was spelled Lerceddkne and then Archdeken and then Archdeacon... [more]
CoakleyIrish From Irish Gaelic Mac Caochlaoich "son of Caochlaoch", a personal name meaning literally "blind warrior".
CoardEnglish, Northern Irish Derived from Old French corde "string", a metonymic occupational name for a maker of cord or string, or a nickname for an habitual wearer of decorative ties and ribbons.
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.
CoatneyEnglish The initial bearer of this surname lived in a little cottage.
CobainScottish This unusual surname is of Old Norse origin and is found particularly in Scotland. It derives from an Old Norse personal name Kobbi, itself from an element meaning large, and the Gaelic bain, denoting a fair person, with the diminutive ('little' or 'son of') form Cobbie.
CocciaItalian Meaning uncertain, possibly from Sicilian cocciu "grain, berry", denoting a kind of gruel; an occupational name for a farmer from Greek κόκκος (kokkos) "grain, seed"; or from Italian coccia "head, shell", referring to someone with a large head, or who was stubborn.
CoccimiglioItalian From Sicilian cuccumeli, the name of several fruit-bearing deciduous trees or of the hackberry plant, itself borrowed from an Ancient Greek word; possibly κοκκύμηλον (kokkymelon) "plum", literally "cuckoo apple", or from κόκκος (kókkos) "grain, seed, kernel" and μῆλον (mêlon) "apple, any fruit from a tree".
CoccoItalian Possibly from Italian cocco, meaning "darling, favourite" or "hen's egg".
CockeEnglish nickname from Middle English cok ‘cock’, ‘male bird or fowl’ (Old English cocc), given for a variety of possible reasons. Applied to a young lad who strutted proudly like a cock, it soon became a generic term for a youth and was attached with hypocoristic force to the short forms of many medieval personal names (e.g. Alcock, Hancock, Hiscock, Mycock)... [more]
CockerEnglish, German (Anglicized) Originally a nickname for a bellicose person, from Middle English cock "to fight". Also an anglicized form of Köcher.
CocoItalian, Sicilian occupational name for a cook a seller of cooked meats or a keeper of an eating house from southern Italian coco "cook" (from Latin cocuscoquus)... [more]
CocuzzaItalian From cocuzza "gourd", "pumpkin", applied either as an occupational name for a grower or seller of gourds or a nickname for a rotund individual.
CodispotiItalian A Calabrian surname from Greek οικοδεσπότης (oikodespótis) "host, master of the house".
CodringtonEnglish Habitational name from Codrington in Gloucestershire.
CoeEnglish English (Essex and Suffolk): nickname from the jackdaw, Middle English co, Old English ca (see Kay). The jackdaw is noted for its sleek black color, raucous voice, and thievish nature, and any of these attributes could readily have given rise to the nickname.
CoggeshallEnglish Habitational name from Coggeshall in Essex, England, which was derived from Cogg, an Old English personal name, and Old English halh meaning "nook, recess".
CoitMedieval Welsh, French, English The surname Coit was first found in Carnarvonshire, a former country in Northwest Wales, anciently part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, and currently is divided between the unitary authorities of Gwynedd and Conwy, where they held a family seat... [more]
ColburnEnglish Habitational name from a place near Catterick in North Yorkshire.
ColcloughEnglish Derived from a place called Cowclough in Whitworth, Lancashire.
ColdenEnglish, Scottish English: habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire named Colden, from Old English cald ‘cold’ col ‘charcoal’ + denu ‘valley’.... [more]
ColgateEnglish habitational name from Colgates in Kent named with Old English col "charcoal" and gæt "gate" indicating a gate leading into woodland where charcoal was burned... [more]
ColleyEnglish With variant Coley, can mean "dark" or "blackbird" or it can be a nickname for Nicholas. Colley was used as a surname for generations of students from the same family taught by a teacher over many years in James Hilton's sentimental novel "Goodbye, Mr... [more]
CollierEnglish From the English word for someone who works with coal, originally referring to a charcoal burner or seller. Derived from Old English col "coal, charcoal" combined with the agent suffix -ier.
CollinSwedish Either a combination of an unknown first name element (possibly derived from a place name) and the common surname suffix -in, or a variant of German Colin.
ColoItalian From the personal name Colo, a short form of Nicolo (see Nicholas). (Colò) nickname from medieval Greek kolos ‘lame’, classical Greek kylos.
CologneFrench Habitational name from a place in France called Cologne.
ColoneItalian From an augmentative form meaning “big Nicolas” of the personal name Cola.
ColonelAmerican From a French word for a military rank of an officer who led a column of regimental soldiers. Could be a nickname for someone with a military bearing or demeanor.
CombeFrench Either a topographic name for someone living in or near a ravine from combe "narrow valley ravine" (from Latin cumba a word of Gaulish origin); or a habitational name from Combe the name of several places in the southern part of France of the same etymology.
CombèsFrench Either a topographic name from combe "narrow valley ravine" (see Combe ) or a habitational name from any of various places in southern France for example in Hérault named Combes.
ComerEnglish Occupational name for a maker or seller of combs, or to someone who used them to prepare wool or flax for spinning, derived from Middle English combere, an agent derivative of Old English camb meaning "comb"... [more]
ComishManx Manx: from Gaelic Mac Thómais ‘son of Thomas’. The main seat of the family in the Isle of Man was Ballacomish ‘Comish's (or Thomas's) farm’ (Arbory, IoM).
ComitoItalian From the medieval Latin comitus, meaning "count", or the medieval Greek form of this word, komitos, used as a nickname for someone who put on airs and graces or worked for a count.
ComleyEnglish Either a nickname from Middle English cumly, which means “fair,” “beautiful,” and “pleasing,” or a habitational name from Comley in Shropshire named with Old English cumb meaning “valley” + lēah meaning “woodland clearing.”
CommanderEnglish From Middle English comander "commander, leader, director", derived from Old French comandeor "military commander". This may have been either an occupational name or a nickname.
CommonsBreton It's generally believed this name comes from a Breton personal name, derived from element "cam," meaning "bent," or "crooked;" or from the herb "cummin" (cumin). Or from the place name Comines, in Flanders, Northern France.... [more]
ComptonEnglish Habitational name from any of the numerous places throughout England (but especially in the south) named Compton, from Old English cumb meaning "short, straight valley" + tūn meaning "enclosure", "settlement".
ComteFrench Nickname for someone who worked for a count or for someone acting haughty from Old French contecunte "count"... [more]
ConantOld Celtic, Pictish A patronym from the ancient Celtic personal name Conan, which derives from the Celtic kunovals meaning "high" and "mighty".... [more]
CondeSpanish 1 Spanish and Portuguese: “nickname from the title of rank conde ‘count’, a derivative of Latin comes, comitis ‘companion’.”... [more]
CondéFrench habitational name from any of several places in Normandy and Picardy called Condé a French form of the Gaulish condate "junction of rivers".
ConejoSpanish from conejo "rabbit" (from Latin cuniculus), presumably applied as a nickname with various possible connotations (big ears, timidity, etc.) or otherwise as a metonymic occupational name for a rabbit catcher or dealer... [more]
ConeyEnglish Means "seller of rabbits", or from a medieval nickname for someone thought to resemble a rabbit (in either case from Middle English cony "rabbit").
ConfaloneItalian from gonfalone "standard banner" from Old French gonfalon (of ancient Germanic origin) a metonymic occupational name for a standard bearer either in a military context or as the officer of a guild responsible for carrying the banner in religious processions... [more]
CongdonIrish, English A variant of Irish "Condon". In English usage: a habitational name from a lost or unidentified place; probably Devon or Cornwall, where the modern surname is most frequent.
ConiglioItalian, Sicilian From coniglio "rabbit" (from Latin cuniculus ) applied as a nickname for a timid person or a metonymic occupational name for a dealer in rabbits... [more]
ConklinEnglish Origin unidentified. Possibly of Dutch origin, deriving from konkelen "to plot, intrigue, deceive" or from a given name containing the element kuoni meaning "brave, bold"... [more]