LandisGerman, German (Swiss) German and Swiss German nickname for a highwayman or for someone who lays waste to the land, from Middle High German landoese.
LangEstonian Lang is an Estonian surname meaning "relative" and "in-law".
LangPopular Culture From 狼 (láng) meaning "wolf". Shi-Long Lang is a character in the game Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, a wolf-themed Interpol agent who speaks mainly in quotes and metaphors about wolves... [more]
LangevinFrench From French l'Angevin meaning "the Angevin", denoting a person from the French province of Anjou.
LangfieldEnglish Habitational name for someone originally from any of the various locations in England named Langfield, from Old English lang meaning "long" and feld meaning "field".
LanghansGerman German and Dutch: distinguishing nickname for a tall man (see Lang) called Hans.
LanghoferGerman Habitational name for someone from any of several places called Langhof.
LanghornEnglish, Danish, Dutch Northern English: probably a habitational name from a minor place in Soulby, Cumbria, called Longthorn, from Old English lang ‘long’ + horn ‘projecting headland’, or a topographic name with the same meaning.... [more]
LanierFrench, English Occupational name designating one who worked in the wool trade (see Lane 2), derived from Old French lanier (ultimately from laine) meaning "wool", or for a keeper of donkeys, from Old French asnier literally "donkey keeper, donkey driver"... [more]
LaniganIrish Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Lonagáin 'descendant of Lonagán
LänikEstonian Länik is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "elanik" meaning "occupant", "resident" or "dweller".
LansingEnglish Derived from the name of Lancing, a place in West Sussex, which was composed of the Old English personal name Wlanc and -ingas meaning "family of" or "followers of".
LaporteFrench Topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a fortified town (and often was in charge of them; thus in part a metonymic occupational name), from Old French porte "gateway", "entrance" (from Latin porta, "door", "entrance"), with the definite article la... [more]
LappGerman From Middle High German lap(pe) ‘cloth’, ‘patch’, ‘rag’; a metonymic occupational name for a mender of clothes or shoes, or a nickname for a simple-minded person.... [more]
LapsleyScottish, English, Medieval English Combination of Old English læppa ”end of a parish” and leah ”woodland clearing”. Another meaning could be possible.
LarivièreFrench (Modern) From the region of Bourgoigne, in France, meaning 'the river'. The name is likely a topographic reference to the physical location, likely a river in this case.
La RosaItalian Derived from Italian rosa meaning "rose", used as a name for someone who lived by a rose bush.
LaroseFrench Topographic name for someone who lived at a place where wild roses grew; or a habitational name from a town house bearing the sign of a rose. It may also have been a nickname for a man with a ‘rosy’ complexion, as well as a nickname of a soldier... [more]
LarterEnglish From the old Teutonic word 'lahtro' which is to do with a place that animals bear their young. This was modifed in several dialects to be 'lahtre', 'lattr', 'lauchter' and 'lawchter'. ... [more]
LarussoItalian Derived from the Italian word "Rosso," which comes from the Latin words "Rubius and Rossius," which mean "red." As a surname, larusso was originally a nickname for a person with red hair or a reddish complexion.
LasagnaItalian From Italian (lasagna) denoting a popular Italian dish made of stacked layers of thin flat pasta alternating with fillings such as ragù and other vegetables, cheese, seasonings and spices.
LasalleFrench 1. French: local name or occupational name for someone who lived or worked at a manor house, from Old French sal(e) ‘hall’ (modern French salle; see also Sale), with the definite article la... [more]
LaskarisGreek From ancient and medieval Greek laskaris, a kind of soldier, from Persian laeshkaer "army". This is the same word as Urdu lascar "sailor" and Arabic el-askari "the army", "the troops".
LaskiPolish, Hungarian, Jewish Polish (Laski) and Jewish (from Poland): habitational name from Lasko (now Lask) in Sieradz voivodeship, named with laz, lazy ‘clearing in a forest’. ... [more]
LatimerEnglish English occupational name for a clerk who could translate documents to and from Latin and/or other languages, from Anglo-Norman French latinier, latim(m)ier.
LatinoItalian From the medieval personal name Latino, originally an ethnic name for someone of Latin as opposed to Germanic, Byzantine or Slavic descent.
LatoHungarian, Polish From Hungarian látni meaning ‘to see’, hence a nickname for a wise person or an occupational name for a clairvoyant, or possibly for an official who checked the quality of products at markets.... [more]
LatourFrench Either a topographic name for someone who lived near a tower usually a defensive fortification or watchtower from Old French tūr "tower"; or a habitational name from any of various places called Latour or La Tour named with this word.
LattanzioItalian My great-great grandmother's name was Patrizia Maria Lattanzio. After she passed and my Great-grandmother sent my grandmother to America, the officials mis-spelled her name on her documents and the last name was shortened to Lattanzi... [more]
LauGerman nickname for a physically strong person from Middle High German louwelauwe "lion". In some cases the surname may have been a topographic or habitational name referring to a house or inn distinguished by the sign of a lion... [more]
LauEstonian Lau is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "lauk" meaning "table" or "desk" or "laul" meaning "song".
LauderScottish, Northern Irish From a village in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders. It derives from the Celtic Lauuedder, probably indicating a rapidly flowing river, cognate with Modern Welsh llifer meaning 'to gush'.
LäuferGerman, Jewish Habitational name for someone from a place called Lauf, also an occupational name for a messenger or a nickname for a fast runner, from an agent derivative of Middle High German loufen, German laufen ‘to run’.
LaufferGerman The lauffer name is generally thought to have evolved from a place name to a surname. ... Versions of the name that evolve from the word "läufer," which meant "runner," are thought to have originally been an occupational name for a messenger.
LaughtonEnglish Habitational name from any of the numerous places in England so called. Most of them, as for example those in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (near Gainsborough), Sussex, and West Yorkshire, are named with Old English leac ‘leek’ + tun ‘enclosure’... [more]
LaukEstonian Lauk is an Estonian surname meaning both "leek" and "coot" (Fulica).
LauperGerman (Swiss) From the short form of a Germanic personal name composed of the elements liut 'people', 'tribe' + berht 'famous'. topographic name for someone who lived at a Lauben, a row of houses and stores with an arcade in front, from Middle High German loube 'arbor', 'bower', 'gallery'.
LaurEstonian Laur is an Estonian surname, a shortened for of "Lauri"; a masculine given name.
LauraItalian Either from the given name Laura or a topographic name from Latin laurea meaning "laurel".
LauraSpanish Of uncertain origin; in some cases, it is possibly a habitational name from a place named Laura.
LaurelSpanish, Portuguese, Filipino, Tagalog, Cebuano Topographic name for someone who lived by a laurel tree, Spanish laurel (Latin laurus), or a habitational name from Laurel in the Canary Islands.
LauterbachGerman From the name of various places in Germany, for example the village of Lauterbach in the district of Rottweil, Baden-Württemberg.
LautermilchGerman (Modern) Comes from German words Lauter, meaning 'pure', or 'nothing but', and Milch, meaning 'milk'. This could mean that the people who first used this name were farmers.
LavenderEnglish, Dutch Occupational name for a washerman or launderer, Old French, Middle Dutch lavendier (Late Latin lavandarius, an agent derivative of lavanda ‘washing’, ‘things to be washed’)... [more]
LaverEnglish Occupational name for a washer, from French laveur (see Lavers). Also the name of a parish in Essex, England.
LaverdièreFrench Habitational name from various places named La Verdière in France, or a variant of the name Leverdier (see Verdier).
LaverdiereFrench (Quebec) Said to be a locational or occupational name related to land and greenery. Related to the Cauchons, descended from Quebec. A noble Paris woman was sent to Quebec for marriage in the 17th century.
LaverdureFrench From the French place name La Verdure meaning "greenness, greenery".
LaverickEnglish Derived from Old English lāferce meaning "lark", making it a cognate of Lark.
LaversEnglish English (chiefly Devon and Cornwall): Medieval English and occupational, from pre-10th century Old French "lavandier". Introduced by the Normans after 1066, originally described a worker in the wool industry, and was a metonymic or nickname for a person employed to wash raw wool or rinse the cloth after fulling... [more]
LaveryIrish, Northern Irish From the Gaelic Ó Labhradha, "descendants of Labhradha" (speaker, spokesman, the father of Etru, chief of the Monagh of the Irish over-kingdom of Ulaid); the name of an ancient family originating from Magh Rath (present-day Moira, County Down, Northern Ireland)... [more]
LavieFrench Dialectal variant of French voie "way, road", ultimately from Latin via "road, street, path", combined with the French feminine article la.
LavioletteFrench, French (Quebec), French (Acadian) A secondary surname, associated with some forty family names in Canada and also used independently since 1698, a nickname from the flower violette ‘violet’, with the definite article la. In feudal France it was a name given to soldiers and domestic servants.
LawfordAnglo-Saxon This surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from any of the various places called Lawford which have as their component elements the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Lealla", cognate with the Old High German "Lallo", and the Olde English "ford", a ford... [more]
LawlerIrish, Scottish This Irish surname is of Gaelic language origin. The surname derives from the original Gaelic 'O'Leathlobhair' meaning 'descendant of leathlobhair'. Leathlobhair derives from 'Leath' meaning 'Half' and 'Lobhar' meaning 'leper'.... [more]
LawtonEnglish Habitational name, common in Lancashire and Yorkshire, from Buglawton or Church Lawton in Cheshire, or Lawton in Herefordshire, named in Old English as ‘settlement on or near a hill’, or ‘settlement by a burial mound’, from hlaw ‘hill’, ‘burial mound’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’... [more]