Submitted Surnames on the United States Popularity List
This is a list of submitted surnames in which the name appears on the United States popularity list.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
DemskiPolish Refers to a dweller at, or near, an oak tree.
DemskyPolish, Jewish Derived from Polish dab and demb meaning "oak", which is either a habitational name from a place with the same name or an ornamental name with reference to the tree and its qualities of strength and durability.
DemuroItalian Probably denoting someone from Muro, Basilicata. Alternately, may be a nickname from Sardinian muru "wall" or "donkey".
DenhamEnglish From the name of various places in England, most of which meant "farm in the valley" (from Old English denu "valley" + ham "homestead"). Notable bearers of the surname included John Denham (1615-1669), an English poet; British Labour politician John Denham (1953-); and British actor Maurice Denham (1909-2002).
Den HartogDutch Derived from Dutch hertog "duke", a nickname for someone behaved in a haughty manner, or an occupational name for someone who worked for a duke’s household.
DennehyIrish Anglicized form of Irish Gaelic Ó Duineachdha meaning "descendant of Duineachaidh", a given name meaning "humane". A famous bearer was American actor Brian Dennehy (1938-2020).
DenningtonEnglish Habitational name from a place in Suffolk, recorded in Domesday Book as Dingifetuna, from the Old English female personal name Denegifu (composed of the elements Dene meaning "Dane" + gifu meaning "gift") + Old English tūn meaning "enclosure", "settlement".
DentonEnglish Habitational name from any of the various places called Denton in England, all derived from Old English denu "valley" and tun "enclosure, town"... [more]
De PaulaSpanish a Metronymic from the female personal name Paula and from a shortened form of Francisco de Paula a personal name bestowed in honor of Saint Francis of Paola
De PoorterFlemish, Dutch Means "the burgher, the citizen (of a city)", ultimately derived from poort "gate".
DeppGerman Derived from Germanic depp which is a nickname for a joker (person who plays jokes on others). A notable bearer is Johnny Depp, an American actor.
DepuydtBelgian Flemish (also De puydt): nickname from Middle Dutch puyt puut ‘frog’ with the addition of the definite article de ‘the’. "Depuydt" means "the frog". It's origins are in Ypres.
DerbyshireEnglish Habitational name from a county in England, derived from Old English Deorby (see Derby) and scir "shire, district".
DereTurkish Means "creek, brook, stream" in Turkish.
DeremerDutch Occupational name for a belt maker or cutter of leather straps, from Dutch riem "belt, strap". It could also be a name for a peat digger, someone who "riems" peat.
De RomaMedieval Spanish (Rare) A Spanish locational surname meaning “Of Rome”, perhaps for a Spaniard who lived in Rome or an Italian expat who immigrated to Spain
DerrettEnglish (British) From a Middle English personal name Der(i)et, derived from Old English Dēorgēat, Dȳregēat, which are composed of the elements dēore meaning “dear” or dēor meaning “bold, fierce” + the tribal name Gēat... [more]
DerricottEnglish Habitational name, possibly a variant of Darracott, from Darracott in Devon. However, the present-day concentration of the form Derricott in the West Midlands and Shropshire suggests that this may be a distinct name, from a different source, now lost.
DerryIrish, English English variant of Deary, or alternatively a nickname for a merchant or tradesman, from Anglo-French darree ‘pennyworth’, from Old French denree... [more]
De RuiterDutch Means "the rider" in Dutch, derived from Middle Dutch ruter "freebooter, vagrant, robber", later meaning "cavalryman, soldier, armed horseman". It could also be a nickname based on an event, in one case deriving from an incident involving a ride on a runaway pig.
DerungsRomansh Derived from the preposition de "of" and Latin runcare "to weed out, to thin out, to root up", referring to someone who lived near a clearing.
DesaiIndian, Marathi, Gujarati From a feudal title derived from Sanskrit देश (desha) meaning "country, kingdom" and स्वामिन् (svamin) meaning "owner, master, lord".
De SalvoItalian Meaning of "De" is "From", or "Of", so probably "From Salvo".
DesaulniersFrench (Quebec) Topographic name denoting a property distinguished by a grove of alder trees, derived from Old French au(l)ne meaning "alder".
De SaussureFrench (Swiss) Referred to a person who came from various places named Saussure, Saulxures or Saussay in northern France. Their names are derived from Medieval Latin salcetum, a derivative of Latin salix meaning "willow"... [more]
DesautelsFrench (Quebec), French A habitational name from the French des meaning "from the" and various places in France called Les Autels, a name which is a derivative of the Latin altare meaning "altar" in the sense of a small chapel.
DeshmukhIndian, Marathi From the historical title देशमुख (deśmukh) meaning "district head", derived from Sanskrit देश (deśá) meaning "country, district" combined with मुख (múkha) meaning "face".
DeshpandeIndian, Marathi Means "district accountant", derived from Sanskrit देश (deśá) meaning "country, kingdom, province" combined with पण्डित (paṇḍitá) meaning "learned, wise man".
DeslauriersFrench (Quebec) A topographic name for someone living among laurels, a combination of the fused preposition and plural definite article des ‘from the’ + the plural of Old French lorier ‘laurel’.
DesmaraisFrench Means "from the marsh", from French marais "wetlands, swamp, marsh".
De SouzaPortuguese Means "of Sousa" in Portuguese, referring to the River Sousa flowing through northern Portugal. The word Sousa itself is derived from the Latin saxa, saxum meaning "stone, rock". The surname is more commonly used in Brazil and Portuguese-speaking African countries today.
Des RochesFrench Either a topographic name for someone living among rocks or a habitational name from any of several places named with this word, meaning "from the rocks" in French.
DesrouleauxFrench, Haitian Creole Means "of the scrolls" in French. It is a occupational name for a scribe, a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing... [more]
DesruisseauxFrench, French (Quebec) Topographic name for someone who lived in an area characterized by streams, from the fused preposition and plural definite article des meaning "from the" and ruisseaux (plural of ruisseau) meaning "stream".
DesserJewish Habitational name from the city of Dessau in Germany.
DesslerGerman, Yiddish Meaning Unknown. Known primarily in pop culture as the surname of a certain Michelle in the Fox tv hit 24 and of a certain villain called Albert in Space Battleship Yamato.
DevallFrench, English Devall (also DeVall) is a surname of Norman origin with both English and French ties.Its meaning is derived from French the town of Deville, Ardennes. It was first recorded in England in the Domesday Book.In France, the surname is derived from 'de Val' meaning 'of the valley.'
DevaneMarathi Someone descended from deva(god).Someone who is like a god
DevaneyIrish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Duibheannaigh ‘descendant of Duibheannach’, a personal name of uncertain origin; the first element is dubh ‘black’, the second may be eanach ‘marshy place’... [more]
DevonEnglish Regional name for someone from the county of Devon. In origin, this is from an ancient British tribal name, Latin Dumnonii, perhaps meaning "worshipers of the god Dumnonos".
DevonJamaican Patois (Modern, Rare) The name Devon is of English and Irish origin and means "Warrior of God". This name is also very common in the British West Indies, especially Jamaica.
DevoreFrench French: variant of De Var, a habitational name for someone from a place named Var, for example in Charente. Respelling of French Devors, a habitational name, with the preposition de, for someone from Vors in Aveyron.
DevoyEnglish Anglicized form of Gaelic surname Ó Dubhuidhe ‘descendant of Dubhuidhe’, a name probably derived from dubh "dark, black" and buidhe "sallow".
De WaalDutch, Walloon Means "the Walloon" in Dutch, derived from Middle Dutch wale, originally indicating a person who came from Wallonia, a French-speaking region of southern Belgium. It could also possibly be a variant spelling of Van Der Walle and De Walle meaning "the wall"', though evidence for this is lacking... [more]
De WaardDutch From Dutch waard "innkeeper, host, landlord, protector", derived from Middle Dutch weert. Alternatively, from Middle Dutch waert "floodplain, riverine island".
DewanIndian, Pakistani Status name for a treasurer or court official, from Arabic diwan "royal court", "tribunal of justice", or "treasury". Under the Mughal administration in India the dewan was usually the highest official in a state.
DewanIndian, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Nepali From a title for a high-ranking government official or minister, derived from Persian دیوان (divan) meaning "royal court, tribunal, ministry, assembly".
De WildeDutch Means "the wild", from Middle Dutch wilt "wild, savage, untamed".
De WinterDutch Means "the winter" in Dutch, a nickname for a cold or gloomy man, or perhaps for someone born in the winter. It could also be a habitational name referring to a house or tavern named for the season.
De WolfDutch, Flemish Means "the wolf", a nickname given to someone associated with wolves in some way, or a habitational name for someone who lived by a sign depicting a wolf. Could also be a patronymic form of Wolf.
DiabArabic From Arabic ذئب (dhiʾb) meaning "wolf".
DiabateWestern African From the name of the Diabaté clan of the Mandinka and the closely related Soninke peoples, usually interpreted as “the irresistible.”
DiakosGreek Meaning Deacon. Notable bearer of this name is Athanasios Diakos (1786–1821), a Greek military commander during the Greek War of Independence and a national hero.
DialScottish Variant of Dalziel, representing the usual pronunciation of this name in Scotland. Perhaps also an altered form of Irish Dyal.
DialIndian (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Dayal. It is also found in South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana.
DialWestern African From the name of the Dial clan of the Fulani people of unexplained etymology. The younger form of the clan name is Diallo.
DialloWestern African, Fula Derived from the Fula clan name Jallo of uncertain meaning. Diallo is a common name throughout West Africa.
DiamantJewish Derived from Yiddish דימענט (diment) meaning "diamond".
DiamantisGreek Derived from the Byzantine Greek word διαμάντιν (diamántin), itself from the Italian diamante (Late Latin diamas), ultimately from the Ancient Greek word ἀδάμας (adámas) meaning "diamond".
DiamondJewish Americanized form of a Jewish surname, spelled in various ways, derived from modern German Diamant, Demant "diamond", or Yiddish dimet or diment, from the Middle High German diemant (via Latin from Greek adamas ‘unconquerable’, genitive adamantos, a reference to the hardness of the stone)... [more]
DiamondIrish Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Diamáin "descendant of Diamán", earlier Díomá or Déamán, a diminutive of Díoma, itself a pet form of Diarmaid.
DiamondEnglish English variant of Dayman (see Day). Forms with the excrescent d are not found before the 17th century; they are at least in part the result of folk etymology.
DiaoChinese From Chinese 刁 (diāo) referring to the ancient state of Diao, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Shaanxi province. It was adopted due to being homophonous with the character 雕, which was the actual name of the state.
DiawaraWestern African From the name of the Diawara clan and ethnic subgroup of the Soninke people which is apparently derived from the name of the town of Dia in Mali or from the name of the medieval Dia Dynasty of Gao, also in Mali.
DickensheetsEnglish (American) Americanized spelling of German Dickenscheid, a habitational name from a place named Dickenschied in the Hunsrück region. The place name is from Middle High German dicke ‘thicket’, ‘woods’ + -scheid (often schied) ‘border area’ (i.e. ridge, watershed), ‘settler’s piece of cleared (wood)land’.
DickerEnglish Either an occupational name for a digger of ditches or a builder of dikes, or a topographic name for someone who lived by a ditch or dike, derived from Middle English dike or dik meaning "dyke.
DickermanEnglish, German, Jewish Possibly derived from Middle High German dic(ke) "strong, thick" and Mann "man, male, husband".
DickeyIrish Northern Irish: from a pet form of the personal name Dick 1.