SelvaCatalan, Italian From any of various places in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, or northern Italy named Selva, as for instance the Catalan district La Selva, from selva "wood", Latin silva.
ShimokataJapanese Shimo can mean "under, below" and kata can mean "shape" or "single".
GrattàLate Greek (Italianized, Modern, Archaic, Expatriate) Historical origins of Grattà are found in The Southern Region of Italy in The Province of Catanzaro, Calabria; predominately in the Comune of Girafalco and Palermiti. There is also at least one Coat of Arms that place the name being used in the The Commune of Lucca, Region of Tuscany in Central Italy.
KlaasseppEstonian Klaassepp is an Estonian surname meaning "glass smith".
MascheranoItalian Occupational name for maker of masks, derived from Italian mascherare meaning "to mask". The Argentine former soccer player Javier Mascherano (1984-) is a famous bearer of this name.
ArandaSpanish Habitational name from any of various places for example Aranda de Duero in Burgos province which bears a name of pre-Roman probably Celtic origin.
KinneGerman From the female given name Kinne, a Silesian diminutive of Kunigunde.
ChuVietnamese Vietnamese form of Zhou, from Sino-Vietnamese 周 (chu).
ArceriItalian From Italian arciere "archer, bowman". May alternately be from a place name, such as Arcera.
WiesenthalJewish Ornamental name from German Wiese "meadow" + Tal "valley".
BelmondoItalian Name of Italian origin meaning "beautiful world". Famous bearers of the name are the French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo (1933-) and the Italian cross-country skier, twice Olympic champion and four times World champion Stefania Belmondo (1969-).
PodwojskiPolish Archaic -- denotes the office of a minor church official.
RigoldiItalian Derived from the given name Rigo, a short form of various names.
Van ErpDutch Means "from Erp" in Dutch, a town in North Brabant, Netherlands, possibly derived from Old Dutch *apa "watercourse" and an unclear first element.
UkaiJapanese From Japanese 鵜 (u) meaning "cormorant (a type of bird)" and 飼 (kai) meaning "domesticate, raise".
PyleDutch (Americanized) Americanized form of Dutch Pijl, a metonymic occupational name for a marksman or an arrowsmith, derived from pijl meaning "arrow".
JaggardEnglish The name Jaggard is rooted in the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. It was originally a name for someone who worked as a person who tends draughthorses.
NakacheJudeo-Spanish From Arabic نقاش (naqqash) meaning "engraver, inscriber, sculptor".
FlerchingerGerman Flerchinger is a name with origins from the city of Flörschingen or Flörange in the Saarland region on the French and German border.
DoughtonEnglish Habitational name from Doughton in Gloucestershire or Doughton in Norfolk, both from Old English dūce meaning “duck” + tūn “farmstead.”
MadridSpanish habitational name from what is now Spain's principal city Madrid. Throughout the Middle Ages it was of only modest size and importance and did not become the capital of Spain until 156 Its name is of uncertain origin most probably a derivative of Late Latin matrix genitive matricis "riverbed" much changed by Arabic mediation (see Madrigal ). There are other smaller places of the same name in the provinces of Burgos and Cantabria and these may also be sources of the surname.
RenshawEnglish, Scottish A habitational surname from any of the so-called or like-sounding places in the United Kingdom. These include Renishaw in Derbyshire, Ramshaw in Durham, the lost Renshaw in Cheshire and Radshaw in Yorkshire... [more]
YanChinese From Chinese 颜 (yán) meaning "face, countenance", also referring to the ancient fief of Yan that existed during the Western Zhou dynasty in what is now Shandong province.
InmanEnglish (British) Anglo-Saxon in Origin. Occupational surname given to a person who "tended a lodge or an inn". Surname first found in Lancashire, England.
MaukCzech, Russian The word Mauk is the Eastern European meaning for night. In the early ages a small group of people in the area now known to be in or around Russia and the czech republic founded this word and made it their name... [more]
MasseterEnglish Perhaps means "brewery worker" (from Middle English mash "fermentable mixture of hot water and grain" + rudder "rudder-shaped stirrer").
GallantEnglish Nickname for a cheerful or high-spirited person, from Old French, Middle English galant "bold, dashing, lively". The meanings "gallant" and "attentive to women" are further developments, which may lie behind some examples of the surname.
BaranesJudeo-Spanish From the name of the Baranis tribe of the Amazigh (Berber) people, derived from an Arabic plural form of the name of the tribe's founder, Burnus. His name has been connected to the Arabic word برنس (burnus) meaning "burnoose, cloak".
TanidaJapanese From Japanese 谷 (tani) meaning "valley" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
ValenEnglish, Scottish English and Scottish: from a medieval personal name, Latin Valentinus, a derivative of Valens (see also Valente), which was never common in England, but is occasionally found from the end of the 12th century, probably as the result of French influence... [more]
QuantrellEnglish From a medieval nickname for an elegantly or flamboyantly dressed person (from Middle English quointerel "dandy, fop", from quointe "known, knowledgeable, crafty, elegant").
SheriffEnglish, Scottish Occupational name for a sheriff, derived from Middle English schiref, shreeve, shryve literally meaning "sheriff", or from Old English scir meaning "shire, administrative district" and (ge)refa meaning "reeve"... [more]
KabuhashiJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 株 (kabu) meaning "tree stump, company share stock" and 橋 (hashi) meaning "bridge", possibly referring to a bridge next to a tree stump.
TyskSwedish Means "German" in Swedish. It probably started out as a nickname for someone who had immigrated from Germany or for someone who had German ancestry. It could also be a 'soldier name' and refer to the military unit someone belonged to... [more]
PewWelsh From Welsh ap Hew or ap Hugh "son of Hugh" (see Pugh). A fictional bearer is Blind Pew, the blind pirate in Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island' (1883).
NejiJapanese (Rare) This surname is used as 子師, combining 子 (shi, su, tsu, ko, -ko, ne) meaning "child, sign of the rat (1st sign of Chinese zodiac)" with 師 (shi, su, nara.u, moromoro) meaning "army, exemplar, expert, master, model, teacher, war."
BarnerEnglish Southern English habitational name for someone who lived by a barn.
RelyeaGerman, French (Anglicized) Altered spelling of southern German and French Rellier, or probably a regional variant of Swiss German Reller, especially in the western provinces of Austria... [more]
GuðnadóttirIcelandic Means "daughter of Guðni". A notable bearer is Icelandic musician and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir (b. 1982).
PelissierFrench From Old French "Pelicier", (Meaning "Furrier", from an agent derivative of pelice, meaning "Fur cloak", from Late Latin "pellicia", from "pellis", meaning "skin fur". An occupational name of someone likely in the fur and hide trade.
WeixelGerman German: variant spelling of Weichsel, a topographic name for someone who lived near a sour cherry tree (St. Luce cherry), from Middle High German wīhsel (modern German Weichsel(n), pronounced ‘Weiksel’.
EscatelSpanish Derived from the Latin word “scatellum,” which means “small coin”. It is likely that the surname originally referred to someone who was involved in the production or circulation of small coins, or who had a reputation for being particularly frugal or economical... [more]
UmakoshiJapanese From Japanese 馬 (uma) meaning "horse" and 越 (koshi) meaning "pass, through, over".
WadiaIndian (Parsi) Parsi surname possibly derived from Wadia, the name of a village in Gujarat.
PoryadinmRussian From Russian порядок (poryadok), meaning "order".
BarkisEnglish Meant "person who works in a tannery" (from Middle English barkhous "tannery" - bark was used in the tanning process). A fictional bearer is Barkis, a carrier in Charles Dickens's 'David Copperfield' (1849) who sends a message via David to Clara Peggotty that "Barkis is willin'" (i.e. to marry her).
TauntonEnglish Habitational name from Taunton in Somerset, Taunton Farm in Coulsdon, Surrey, or Tanton in North Yorkshire. The Somerset place name was originally a combination of a Celtic river name (now the Tone, possibly meaning ‘roaring stream’) + Old English tūn ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’... [more]