CrabbEnglish, Scottish From Old English crabba "crab (crustacean)", a nickname for someone with a peculiar gait. Could also be from the sense of "crabapple (tree)", from Middle English crabbe "crabapple, wild apple", hence a topographic name for someone who lived by a crabapple tree, or a nickname for a cantankerous person, with reference to the sourness of the fruit.
CrabtreeEnglish The ancestors of the Crabtree surname lived in the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. It comes from when they lived in the county of Yorkshire. Their name, however, indicates that the original bearer lived near a prominent crabtree.
CraigheadScottish Habitational name for someone who lived in places of this name in Scotland.
CraigieScottish Habitational name from any of several places in Scotland called Craigie, or simply a topographic name derived from Scottish Gaelic creag.
CraigmileScottish Derived from Craigmyle, a place in the village of Kincardine O'Neil, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It could also be an occupational name for a baker who made cracknel biscuits.
CraneEnglish From Middle English crane "crane (bird)", a nickname for a tall, thin man with long legs. The term included the heron until the introduction of a separate word for the latter in the 14th century... [more]
CranleyIrish The surname Cranley was first found in Ulster (Irish: Ulaidh), where they held a family seat but were also to be found in County Offaly and Galway. The sept is styled the Princes of Crich Cualgne and are descended from Cu-Ulladh, a Prince in 576.
CraparottaItalian From Sicilian crapa "she-goat" and rotta "broken".
CravenIrish, English Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Crabháin (County Galway) or Mac Crabháin (Louth, Monaghan) ‘descendant (or ‘son’) of Crabhán’... [more]
CravottaSicilian From a Sicilian immigrant to America, Cravotta was changed to Cravatta upon arrival at Ellis Island. The name means "bowtie."
CrawEnglish, Scottish, Northern Irish One who had characteristics of a crow; sometimes used as an element of a place name e.g. Crawford, and Crawfordjohn in Lanarkshire, Crawshawbooth in Lancashire, and Crawley in Sussex
CreightonEnglish From Irish 'crioch' meaning "border", and Old English 'tun' meaning "town".
CrellinManx Manx: shortened form of Gaelic Mac Nialláin ‘son of Niallán’ a diminutive of the personal name Niall. This name has been explained as a metathesized form of Crennall
CremaItalian From the name of a city in Lombardy, Italy, derived from Lombardic (an Old Germanic language) krem "small hill".
CrenshawEnglish The derivation of this surname is from the Old English pre 7th Century "Crawa", a crow, with "sceaga" a grove, thus "Crowswood". The earliest recording of this placename is in the Lancashire Inquests of 1324 and appears as "Croweshagh".
CrepeauFrench From the Latin word, crispus, meaning "curly hair".
CressGerman, Jewish, Belarusian A variant of the German surname Kress. From the Middle High German "kresse" meaning "gudgeon" (a type of fish) or the Old High German "krassig", meaning "greedy". Can also be from an altered form of the names Erasmus or Christian, or the Latin spelling of the Cyrillic "КРЕСС".
CrestaItalian, Romansh Derived from Italian and Romansh cresta "crest" (ultimately from Latin crista). This name was perhaps applied as a topographic name for someone who lived by the crest of a mountain or as a nickname with reference to the comb of a rooster.
CreteFrench French (adjectival form Crété ‘crested’): nickname for an arrogant individual, from Old French creste ‘crest (of a hill)’ (Late Latin crista), used with reference to the comb of a rooster... [more]
CreusCatalan Means "crosses" in Catalan, the plural of creu. Also compare Spanish Cruces. A famous bearer of this surname is the Spanish footballer Xavi Hernández Creus (1980-).
CrevierFrench Either a derivative of Old French creve meaning “crevice” or “fissure” hence a topographic name for someone who lived on arid land or an occupational name for a seller of crawfish from an agent derivative of Old French crevis meaning “crawfish.”
CribbsEnglish (Rare) Unknown origin. Likely either from the Old English given name Crispin, which derives from a Latin nickname meaning "curly-haired", or from the place Cribbis near Lauder, England.
CrislerGerman (Americanized) Americanized form of German Kreisler or Griessler or, in the south, an occupational name for a grocer from Middle High German griezmel meaning “milled grain.”
CristEnglish From Old English Crīst meaning "Christ, the Messiah" (see Christos 1). May have been a nickname for someone who played the part of Christ in a pageant, or a short form of a given name containing it as an element, such as Christian or Christopher.
CriteLow German, Upper German (Americanized) Probably an Americanized form of South German Kreit or Kreith which are topographic names derived from Middle High German geriute meaning “land cleared for farming” or of North German Kreite which is a nickname for a quarrelsome person derived from Middle Low German kreit meaning “strife.”
CrivelliItalian From the Italian crivello, which is derived from the Latin cribrum, meaning "sieve," (a mesh food strainer); likely an occupational name for a maker or user of sieves.
CrnkovićCroatian Derived from crn "black". The name refers to a person who was dark-skinned, or a person from the region Crna Gora "Black Mountain" (modern-day Montenegro).
CroakerEnglish Meant "person from Crèvecoeur", the name of various places in northern France ("heartbreak", an allusion to the poverty of the local soil).
CrockettEnglish, Scottish Nickname for someone who affected a particular hairstyle, from Middle English croket ''large curl'' (Old Norman French croquet, a diminutive of croque "curl", "hook").
CromptonEnglish Derived from the Old English word "Crometun"
CromwellEnglish Habitational name from places in Nottinghamshire and West Yorkshire named Cromwell, from Old English crumb "bent, crooked" and well(a) "spring, stream".
CronkhiteDutch (Americanized) Americanized form of the obsolete Dutch surname Krankheyt, derived from krankheid meaning "illness, weakness", most likely a nickname for a sickly individual.
CronkiteDutch (Anglicized) Variant form of Cronkhite. A well-known bearer of this surname was the American broadcast journalist and anchorman Walter Cronkite (1916-2009).
CrookScottish, English Possible origin a medieval topographical surname, denoting residence from the Middle English word "crok" from the Old NOrse "Krokr". Possibly a maker or seller of hooks. Another possibility is meaning crooked or bent originally used of someone with a hunch back.
CrooksEnglish Habitational name from Crookes in Sheffield (Yorkshire), named with Old Norse krókr ‘hook, bend’.... [more]
CroomEnglish Based on a nickname for a crippled person or a hunchback, derived from Middle English crom(p) and Old English crumb, meaning "bent", "crooked", or "stopping". (See Crump.)
CroomEnglish An occupational surname for a maker, seller, or user of hooks. Derived from Middle English crome or cromb, meaning "hook" or "crook".
CroomEnglish A habitational surname, describing someone who lived in a place named Croom or Croome.
CrowEnglish From Middle English crow, Old English crawa, applied as a nickname for someone with dark hair or a dark complexion or for someone thought to resemble the bird in some other way.
CrownerEnglish Means "coroner" (from Anglo-Norman corouner "coroner", a derivative of Old French coroune "crown").
CrownoverGerman (Anglicized) Americanised spelling of German Kronauer, denoting someone from Kronau, a town near Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It could also be an Americanised form of Kronhöfer (a variant of Grünhofer), a habitational name for someone from a lost place called Grünhof, derived from Middle High German gruene meaning "green" or kranech meaning "crane" and hof meaning "farmstead".
CrowtherEnglish Originally meant "person who plays the crowd (an ancient Celtic stringed instrument)". It was borne by British entertainer Leslie Crowther (1933-1996).
CroyIrish (Anglicized) A shortened form of the surname McRoy, from Irish Gaelic Mac Rúaidh "son of Ruadh", literally "the red one".
CroyScottish Means "person from Croy", the name of various places in Scotland.
CrozierEnglish, French English and French occupational name for one who carried a cross or a bishop’s crook in ecclesiastical processions, from Middle English, Old French croisier.
CrudupGerman (Anglicized) Probably an Americanised form of North German Gratop, a nickname for an old man, derived from Middle Low German gra meaning "gray" and top meaning "braid". Famous bearers of this name include the Americans Billy Crudup (1968-), an actor, and Arthur Crudup (1905-1974), a Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist.
CruikshankScottish From a medieval Scottish nickname for someone with a crooked leg (from Scots cruik "bent" + shank "leg"). This was the surname of British caricaturist George Cruikshank (1792-1872) and British actor Andrew Cruikshank (1907-1988).
CrumbleGerman Probably an altered form of German Krumpel or Krümpel a nickname from Middle High German krum(p) 'deformed crooked'; skeletal deformities were common in the Middle Ages often as a result of childhood illnesses such as rickets.
CrumbleyEnglish Derived from the Old English word crump meaning "bent, crooked." Perhaps a name for a person with an abnormal spine. One notable person with this surname is evil doer Ethan Crumbley, who was a school shooter in Oxford High School in Michigan.
CrumpEnglish Originally a nickname for a crippled or deformed person, from Middle English cromp, crump meaning "bent, crooked, stooping" (from Old English crumb).
CrusoeEnglish (Rare) According to Reaney and Wilson this name was taken to England by John Crusoe, a Huguenot refugee from Hownescourt in Flanders, who settled in Norwich.
CuayaAsturian This indicates familial origin within the eponymous parish of the municipality of Grau.
CubaPortuguese, Asturian-Leonese, Galician, Spanish habitational name from any of the places in Portugal (in the provinces of Alentejo and Beira Baixa) or Spain (in Aragon, Asturies, and Galicia) named Cuba, from cuba ‘barrel’ (from Latin cupa)... [more]
CubbonManx Manx contracted form of the Irish Gaeilge "Mac Ghiobúin". See also McCubbon
CuberoSpanish occupational name for a cooper, from an agent derivative of cuba ‘barrel’, ‘tub
CubillasSpanish Denoted a person from one of the various places of this name in Castile and León, Spain, which may derive from a diminutive of Old Spanish cuba meaning "barrel", ultimately from Latin cupa (see Cuba)... [more]
CuelloSpanish, South American From Spanish meaning "neck". Could be a nickname for a person with a stiff neck.
CuencaSpanish Cuenca is an ancient Spanish last name which originated from Cuenca, a city in the Kingdom of Castilla.... [more]
CuervoSpanish Means "raven, crow" in Spanish, ultimately from Latin corvus. From a nickname for a man with strikingly glossy black hair or with a raucous voice. Alternatively, a habitational name from places containing this word (e.g. El Cuervo, Teruel).
CuetoSpanish Habitational name from any of numerous places especially in Asturias named with the topographic term cueto meaning “hill, or fortified settlement.”
CugnoItalian From Sicilian cugnu "wedge", indicating someone who lived on a hill or other topographical "wedge", someone whose occupation involved using an axe, or a person who was considered to be hard or angular in personality or appearance.
CuiChinese From Chinese 崔 (cuī) referring to a place called Cui that existed in what is now Shandong province.
CuizonFilipino From Hokkien 貴孫 (kuì sun) meaning "expensive grandchild" or "precious grandchild".
CulbertEnglish, Scottish, Irish Meaning and origin are uncertain. Possibly derived from an unattested given name composed of beorht "bright" and an uncertain first element, or an altered form of Cuthbert... [more]
CulkinIrish Reduced anglicization of Irish Gaelic Mac Uilcín meaning "descendant of Uilcín", a diminutive of Ulick, itself an Irish diminutive of William... [more]
CullimoreEnglish (Rare) Apparently a habitational name from an unidentified place. There is a place called Colleymore Farm in Oxfordshire, but it is not clear whether this is the source of the surname, with its many variant spellings
CullyEnglish From an Irish surname which was derived from Ó Colla meaning "descendant of Colla". The Old Irish name Colla was a variant of Conla (perhaps the same Connla).
CulpeperEnglish Variant of Culpepper. Known bearers of this surname include: Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1664), an English herbalist, physician and astrologer; and English colonial administrator Thomas Culpeper, 2nd Baron Culpeper (1635-1689), governor of Virginia 1680-1683... [more]
CulpepperEnglish Means "person who collects, prepares and/or sells herbs and spices" (from Middle English cullen "to pick" + pepper).
CulverEnglish Means "person who keeps or looks after doves", or from a medieval nickname for someone thought to resemble a dove (e.g. in mild disposition) (in either case from Middle English culver "dove")... [more]
CulvértFrench, English, Irish English version of the Old French, Culvere. Means Peaceful and Mildest of tempers.
CumbaGaulish A topographic name from Gaulish cumba meaning "narrow valley" or a habitational name for a village associated with this name (see Coombe).
CummerEnglish The surname Cummer has origins in both English and Scottish cultures. In English, it's thought to be a topographic name for someone who lived by a bend in a river, derived from the Middle English word "cummer," meaning "bend" or "meander." In Scottish, it could also be a variant of the surname Comer, derived from the Gaelic word "comar," meaning "confluence" or "meeting of waters."
CummingIrish, Scottish, English Perhaps from a Celtic given name derived from the element cam "bent", "crooked"
CundallEnglish This is an English surname, deriving from the village so-named in North Yorkshire. The village takes its name from the Cumbric element cumb meaning 'dale' (cognate with Welsh cwm, 'valley') and Old Norse dalr meaning 'valley', forming a compound name meaning 'dale-valley'.
CurcioItalian This name derives from Latin “curtĭus”, which in turn derives from the Latin “curtus” meaning “shortened, short, mutilated, broken, incomplete”.
CureFrench From cure meaning “vicarage” or “presbytery,” possibly applied as a nickname to an employee or from a homonymous word meaning “healing” or “cure” possibly used as a metonymic occupational name for a healer.
CureFrench From curé which means “(parish) priest” used as a metonymic occupational name for a servant in the household of a priest or applied as an ironic nickname.
CurialeItalian (Rare) In ancient Rome, the curiales (from co + viria, 'gathering of men') were initially the leading members of a gentes (clan) of the city of Rome. Their roles were both civil and sacred. Each gens curialis had a leader, called a curio... [more]
CurielSpanish Habitational name that comes from the town of Curiel in the Valladolid province of Spain.