BrendenNorwegian Derived from Old Norse brenna "land cleared for cultivation by burning" (also known as svedjebruk "slash-and-burn agriculture").
WinchelEnglish from Old English wencel ‘child’, perhaps used to distinguish a son from his father with the same forename or perhaps a nickname for a person with a baby face or childlike manner
CuadraAsturian Asturian-Leonese: probably a habitational name from a place in Asturies called Cuadra.
BoeingEnglish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of German Böing. This was the surname of American industrialist William Boeing (1881-1956) who founded The Boeing Company, a manufacturer of airplanes.
SekinoJapanese From Japanese 関 (seki) meaning "frontier pass" and 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness".
UribarriBasque Habitational name derived from Basque uri "town, city" and barri "new". Compare Ulibarri.
TozziItalian Derived from Italian tozzo meaning "squat, stocky, thickset". ... [more]
ShebaniArabic (Maghrebi) From the name of an Arab tribe which is derived from Arabic شيب (šīb) meaning "white hair, grayness" or "cold, snow". This surname is chiefly used in Libya.
ReddenEnglish Location name meaning "clearing or cleared woodland." Communities called Redden include one in Roxburghshire, Scotland and another in Somerset, England. A notable bearer is actor Billy Redden who played the dueling banjoist Lonnie in the 1972 film 'Deliverance.'
BonecutterEnglish Likely from someone who's job was to work with deceased people.
SkarsgårdSwedish (Rare) Allegedly a habitational name derived from Skärlöv, a village located on the island of Öland, Kalmar County, Sweden. The name of the village is said to mean "Skare's farm" (Skares gård in Swedish)... [more]
ZatzJewish Abbreviation of the Hebrew phrase Zera TSadikim "seed of the righteous", assumed in a spirit of pious respect for one’s ancestors.
HứaVietnamese Vietnamese form of Xu 2, from Sino-Vietnamese 許 (hứa).
TamashiroJapanese Means "jewel castle" or "ball castle" in Japanese. From the Japanese words 玉 (jewel, ball) and 城 (castle). This surname is of Okinawan origin.
PalmaSpanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Italian Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, and southern Italian: habitational name from any of various places named or named with Palma, from Latin palma ‘palm’. ... [more]
LeelynEnglish Locational surname denoting a person from Leyland, in Lancashire.
VolkmannGerman Probably denoted for a speaker or a people's person, derived from German volk "people" and mann "man". Alfred Wilhelm Volkmann (1801-1877) was a German physiologist, anatomist, and philosopher... [more]
IzturitzeBasque From the name of a commune in south-western France, possibly derived from Basque estura "strait, scrape; narrowing, tightening" and the abundance suffix -tza.
TetleyEnglish habitational name from Tetlow in Manchester. The placename derives from the Old English male personal name Tetta or female Tette annd Old English hlaw "mound hill"... [more]
TrainorIrish Reduced form of McTraynor, an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Thréinfhir "son of Tréinfhear", a byname meaning "champion, strong man" (from tréan "strong" and fear "man").
UigaEstonian Uiga is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "eluiga" meaning "life" and "age".
DanforthEnglish Probably a habitational name, perhaps from Darnford in Suffolk, Great Durnford in Wiltshire, or Dernford Farm in Sawston, Cambridgeshire, all named from Old English dierne ‘hidden’ + ford ‘ford’.
GiesingerGerman Denoted a person from the town of Giesing in Germany. Or perhaps a variant spelling of Geisinger. A famous bearer of this surname is the German singer-songwriter Max Giesinger.
MccarleyIrish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Fhearghaile "son of Fearghal", a personal name meaning "valiant man".
AntsorenaBasque (Rare) Habitational name of uncertain etymology. Possibly means "Antso’s place", from the given name Antso (a Basque form of Sancho) and the genitive suffix -aren "of".
LuxtonEnglish English habitational name from a minor place, probably one of two in Devon, so called from the possessive form of the Middle English personal name or surname Lugg (from Old English Lugga) + Middle English tune, tone ‘settlement’ (Old English tun).
FangChinese From Chinese 方 (fāng) referring to Fang Shu, a minister and adviser to King Xuan of the Western Zhou dynasty. Alternately it may have come from a place called Fang Shan (方山), which existed in what is now Henan province.
AmaniTigrinya From the given name Amani (see user-submitted name) meaning "faith" in Tigrinya. It is possibly related to Arabic Iman or Swahili Imani, also meaning "faith".
KinukawaJapanese From 絹 (kinu) meaning "silk" combined with 川 or 河 (kawa) meaning "stream, river".
CulchethEnglish Habitational name from a village in Cheshire, England, derived from Welsh cul "narrow" and coed "wood, trees".
AllgeierGerman The harried officials at Ellis Island began to assign surnames based upon the pronunciation of the name by the immigrant, rather than attempting to ferret out the actual spelling. ... [more]
DesangesFrench (Rare) Means "from the angels", possibly connected to the French title of the Virgin Mary Notre Dame des Anges, meaning "Our Lady of the Angels". Bearers of this surname include Louis William Desanges (1822-1905), an English artist of French descent, and French historian Jehan Desanges (1929-).
ScheeleGerman, Dutch, Swedish (Rare) From Middle Low German schele and Dutch scheel meaning "squinting, cross-eyed". A notable bearer was German-Swedish pharmaceutical chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742-1786) who discovered oxygen and identified several other elements.
MirotvoretsRussian Means "maker of peace" in Russian, from мир (mir) "peace" and творец (tvorets) "creator, maker". Probably given to someone who often mediated fights between villagers.
FitzsimonsIrish Fitzsimons (also spelled FitzSimons, Fitzsimmons or FitzSimmons) is a surname of Norman origin common in both Ireland and England. The name is a variant of "Sigmundsson", meaning son of Sigmund. The Gaelicisation of this surname is Mac Shíomóin.
WaddellEnglish Possibly derived from Woodhill in Wiltshire, England, derived from Old English wad "woad" and hyll "hill". Alternatively, could be from the Middle English given name Wadel.
NoriegaAsturian This indicates familial origin within an eponymous village.
LoughtyScottish Uncommon Scottish surname meaning 'by a lake'. It is derived from the Scottish word 'loch', meaning lake, combined with the suffix 'ty', in this case signifying 'by'.
ValdovinosSpanish Spanish: from a personal name of ancient Germanic origin composed of the elements bald 'bold brave' + win 'friend'.
GlosterEnglish habitational name from the city of Gloucester. The place originally bore the British name Glevum (apparently from a cognate of Welsh gloyw "bright") to which was added the Old English element ceaster "Roman fort or walled city" (from Latin castrum "legionary camp")... [more]
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).
KilcommonIrish Indicated a person who was from Kilcommon, Erris, County Mayo in Ireland. The place name Kilcommon derives from the Gaeltacht phrase Cill Chomáin, meaning "church of St. Comán."
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.
SpendloveEnglish From a medieval nickname for someone who spread their amorous affections around freely. A different form of the surname was borne by Dora Spenlow, the eponymous hero's "child-wife" in Charles Dickens's 'David Copperfield' (1849-50).... [more]
CorteSpanish, Catalan, Italian, Portuguese From corte "court", applied as an occupational name for someone who worked at a manorial court or a topographic name for someone who lived in or by one.
AbikoJapanese From 安 (a) "peaceful, cheap, rested, low" or 我 (a) meaning "I, me, myself, selfish, oneself, ego" combined with 孫 (bi) meaning "grandchild", and 子 (ko) meaning "child, sign of the rat".
VellalaIndian, Tamil It is a Tamil name, denoting agricultural laborers.
StarGerman, Jewish Means "starling (bird)" in German, probably denoting a talkative or perhaps a voracious person. Alternatively, an Anglicized form of Stern 2.
AndertonEnglish, Irish habitational name from any of the three places so named in Cheshire, Lancashire, and Devon. Those in Cheshire and Lancashire are named with the personal name Eanred (Old English) or Eindriði (Old Norse) and Old English tun "settlement"... [more]
FichtnerGerman The Fichtner family name first began to be used in the German state of Bavaria. After the 12th century, hereditary surnames were adopted according to fairly general rules, and names that were derived from locations became particularly common