ArtetaBasque Habitational name from any of several places in Navarre and Biscay, Spain, derived from Basque arte "oak tree, holm oak" and the toponymic suffix -eta "place of, abundance of".
ArtinoGreek Habitational name for someone from the city of Arta in Epirus.
ArtisEnglish English: regional name for someone from the French province of Artois, from Anglo-Norman French Arteis (from Latin Atrebates, the name of the local Gaulish tribe). This surname is popular in North Carolina and Virginia, of the US.
ArundelEnglish English surname which comes from two distinct sources. Either it was derived from a place name meaning "horehound valley" in Old English (from harhune "horehound (a plant)" and dell "valley"), or it was from Old French arondel, diminutive of arond "swallow", which was originally a Norman nickname given to someone resembling a swallow.
ArzolaBasque Castilianized form of a Basque topographic name, derived from (h)arri "stone, rock; glass" combined with -tza "large quantity, abundance" and -ola "location, place of".
AsaJapanese Variously written, sometimes with characters used phonetically. It can mean ‘morning’, but the most likely meaning is ‘hemp’, making it a topographic or occupational name. Both forms are found mostly in Amami, one of the Ryūkyū Islands.
AsaiJapanese Japanese surname meaning "shallow well".
AsaiJapanese From Japanese 浅 (asa) meaning "shallow" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".
AsakawaJapanese From Japanese 浅 (asa) meaning "shallow" and 川 or 河 (kawa) meaning "river".
AsakuraJapanese From Japanese 朝 (asa) meaning "morning", 浅 (asa) meaning "shallow", or 麻 (asa) meaning "hemp" and 倉 (kura) meaning "warehouse, storehouse".
AsamoahWestern African, Akan From the given name Asamoah. A famous bearer is the retired Ghanaian soccer player Kwadwo Asamoah (1988-).
AsanteWestern African, Akan From the ethnic name of the Ashanti, a sub-ethnic group of the Akan from southern Ghana. The name possibly means "warlike" in the Twi language.
AsaoJapanese Asa can mean "morning", "shallow" or "hemp" and o means "tail".
AsariJapanese From Japanese 浅 (asa) meaning "shallow" and 利 (ri) meaning "benefit, advantage".
AsariIndian, Hindi, Malayalam From a caste originating from Kerala, India. They belong to a larger group called Vishwakarma. The caste name is mostly linked to the community of people who do carpentry work.
AsaroItalian, Sicilian Derived from Sicilian Àsaru. A comune in the Province of Enna, Sicily.
AsatoJapanese (Rare) There are several readings for the name but 2 are Asa:"Morning",and To:"Door,Asa:"Safe" and To:"Village". There are multiple places in the Ryukyu's (where the name originates and mostly stays) that have that name;that could've been the influence... [more]
AscencioSpanish, Italian From the personal name (Latin Ascensius), favored by the early Christians, by whom it was bestowed with reference to the ascension of Christ (Late Latin ascensio).
AschanSwedish Shortened form of Aschanius (now obsolete) taken from the name of a village whose name was derived from Swedish ask "ash tree".
AshbrookEnglish Derived from Ampney St Mary, a small village and civil parish locally known as "Ashbrook", in Gloucestershire, England (recorded in the Domesday Book as Estbroce). It is named with Old English est meaning "east, eastern" and broc meaning "brook, stream".
AshbyEnglish English: habitational name from any of the numerous places in northern and eastern England called Ashby, from Old Norse askr ‘ash’ or the Old Norse personal name Aski + býr ‘farm’.
AshcroftEnglish English (chiefly Lancashire) topographic name from Middle English æsc ‘ash tree’ + croft ‘enclosure’, or a habitational name from a minor place named with these elements.
AshfordEnglish Derived from Ashford, which is the name of several places in England. All but one of these derive the second element of their name from Old English ford meaning "ford" - for the one in North Devon, it is derived from Old English worō or worth meaning "enclosure".... [more]
AshidaJapanese Combination of the kanji 芦 (ashi, "reed") and 田 (ta, "field").
AshkenaziJewish From a nickname given by Jews in Slavic countries to Jews from Germany. It was also used to denote a Yiddish-speaking Jew who had settled in an area where non-Ashkenazic Jews were the majority. The name ultimately comes from Hebrew אַשְׁכְּנַז (ashk'náz), a location mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, which is likely from Assyrian Aškūza.
AshlandEnglish This surname is derived from Old English æsc & land and it means "ash tree land."
AshmanEnglish, Anglo-Saxon Derived from Anglo-Saxon Æscmann, a byname meaning "pirate, seaman", composed of æsc "(boat or spear made of) ash tree" and man "person, man"... [more]
AshmoreEnglish English locational name, from either "Aisemare", (from Old English pre 7th Century "aesc" meaning ash plus "mere" a lake; hence "lake where ash-trees grow), or from any of several minor places composed of the Old English elements "aesc" ash plus "mor" a marsh or fen.
AsnicarItalian From Cimbrian haazo "hare" and ékke "hill, rise".
AsoJapanese From Japanese 阿蘇 (Aso) meaning "Aso", a former district in the former Japanese province of Higo in parts of present-day Kumamoto, Japan.... [more]
AsōJapanese Combination of the kanji 麻 (asa, "hemp plant") and 生 (fu, "place where vegetation grows"), thus "place where hemp plants grow". A famous bearer of this surname is Japanese Prime Minister Tarō Asō (麻生 太郎; b. 1940).
AsonEnglish The name Ason comes from Aythe where Aythe filius Thome received a charter of the lands of Fornochtis in Strathearn from Robert the Steward (later known as Robert II) around 1360. The next of the line was called Johem ayson iuuene... [more]
AßmanGerman Derived from Middle Low German asse "axle", this name used to denote an axle maker. In some cases, however, it can also be a variant of Asmussen.
AssoulineJudeo-Spanish From a place or tribal name derived from Tamazight aẓru meaning "stone, rock".
AstGerman German and Ashkenazic Jewish: from German Ast ‘knot (in wood)’ hence a nickname for a tough or awkward individual or a metonymic occupational name for a lumberjack. ... [more]
AstleyEnglish Derived from an English surname and place name meaning "eastern woodland clearing" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname is British singer, songwriter, and radio personality Rick Astley (1966-pres.).
AstoreItalian Derived from Italian astore meaning "goshawk", which is a bird of prey that was used for hunting in the Middle Ages. The surname had first started out as a nickname: either for a falconer, or for a person who had aquiline features or who was cunning by nature.
AsunciónSpanish Means "assumption" in Spanish, referring to the bodily taking up of Mary, the mother of Jesus, into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. The unaccented form, Asuncion, is much more common.
AtcittyNavajo From Navajo atsidí meaning "blacksmith" or "smithy, pounder, anvil".
AtempaMexican, Nahuatl (Hispanicized) Means "on the riverbank" or "on the bank of the lake", derived from Nahuatl atl meaning "water" combined with tentli "bank, shore" and the suffix -pan "in, on".
AthertonEnglish Habitational name from a place near Manchester named Atherton, from the Old English personal name Æðelhere + Old English tun meaning "settlement".
AtleeEnglish English: topographic name for someone whose dwelling was ‘by the clearing or meadow’, Middle English atte lee. The word lea or lee (Old English leah) originally meant ‘wood’, thence ‘clearing in a wood’, and, by the Middle English period, ‘grassy meadow’.
AtmoreEnglish Locational surname derived from Middle English atte more meaning "at the marsh".
AtondoBasque From the name of a neighbourhood in Itza, Navarre, meaning "next to the gorge, beside the mountain pass", derived from Basque ate "door, gate; gorge, narrow pass" and ondo "side, base, foundation; next to, beside".
AttalJudeo-Spanish Derived from Arabic عتال ('attal) meaning "porter, carrier".
AttardMaltese One possible origin of the name is that it refers to a place called "Atti" in Bologna, Italy. Therefore the name and it's variations would mean "a person from Atti".... [more]
AttenboroughEnglish Habitational name for a person from the village of Attenborough in Nottinghamshire, England, derived from the Old English given name Adda and burh meaning "fortified place". A famous bearer of this name was the English actor and filmmaker Richard Attenborough (1923-2014)... [more]
AubuchonFrench (Modern, ?) The Aubuchon name is French, but of uncertain origin. It is probably from the patronymic prefix au + buchon, a dialect term for a woodcutter (Standard French bûcheron).
AubutFrench The surname "Aubut" is Old French and was first found in the Burgundy region of France. It is derived from the Germanic name "Alberic" which is from the Latin name "Albericus."
AuclairFrench Patronymic from the personal name Clair or the nickname Leclair (‘the cheerful one’): (fils) à Leclair ‘(son) of Leclair’. It has also absorbed cases of Auclerc (from LeClerc).
AucoinFrench (Cajun) From French *au coin* meaning “at the corner”, referring to someone who lived at the corner of a block or town.
AudetFrench Southern French nickname from Gascon dialect audet "bird", variant of standard Occitan ausèl (modern French oiseau).
AudiArabic (Mashriqi) Lebanese and Palestinian surname. Believed to have originated from the Arabic word "al-'awdi," which means "the one who returns."
AudinoItalian Derived from first name 'Alda' which means 'wise and experienced.'
AudishEnglish (British) Audish was first found in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire in the south of England, people who had the surname 'Audish' were wealthy landowners, thus held in high esteem.
AuerbachGerman, Jewish Topographical name for someone who lived by a stream (Middle High German bach) that was near a swamp or marsh (auer).
AufderheideGerman Topographic name for someone who lived on a heath, derived from German auf der heide literally meaning "on the heath".
AugEstonian Aug is an Estonian surname derived from "auga" meaning "honorably".
AugelloItalian Italian (Campania) dialect variant of Uccello ‘bird’, hence either a nickname for a diminutive, birdlike person or an occupational name for a fowler. Compare Auciello.
AusleyEnglish (Modern) Rare surname which was from an English place name in which the second element is Old English leah "wood, clearing". The first element may be hors "horse" (in which case the name likely referred to a place where horses were put out to pasture) or the river name Ouse (ultimately from the ancient British root ud- "water").
AusterlitzGerman (Austrian), Jewish Derived from Slavkov u Brna (historically known as Austerlitz in German), a town located in Vyškov District, in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. This was real surname of the American actor and dancer Fred Astaire (1899-1987), as well as his sister Adele Astaire (1896-1981), an actress, singer and dancer.
AustriaSpanish (Philippines) From the name of the European country, either as an ethnic name or a reference to the Austrian Habsburg dynasty, which ruled Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries.
AutryEnglish, French A habitational name from any of the places in France named Autrey or Autry. French: from the Old French personal name Audry, from Germanic Aldric ‘ancient power’.
ÁvalosSpanish Etymologists note the name signifies a "native of Abalos" and the progenitor was someone who hailed from that location.
AvanceñaFilipino Hispanicised form of Arabic اِبْن سِينَا (ibn sīnā) meaning "son of Sina". This was the Arabic name for Avicenna (980-1037), a Persian polymath.
AveiroPortuguese, Spanish Demonymic surname refering to Aveiro a city in middle north-eastern Portugal. A famous bearer of this surname is Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.
AvelarPortuguese This indicates familial origin within the eponymous parish of the municipality of Ansião.
AvenaSpanish, Italian A traditionally Spanish and Italian occupational surname for a "grain grower or merchant", or the Italian habitation surname for Avena, Calabria. Means "oats". From the Latin avēna meaning 'oats, wild oats, straw'.
AventEnglish From a shortened form of the Anglo-Norman personal name or nickname Avenant or Avaunt, derived from Old French avenant meaning "beautiful, agreeable, fitting".