De HeerDutch Means "the lord" or "the gentleman" in Dutch, derived from Middle Dutch hêre "feudal lord, master, leader, gentleman". Could be a nickname for a person who acted as a leader, or an occupational name for someone who worked for a lord... [more]
ChaseFrench Topographic name for someone who lived in or by a house, probably the occupier of the most distinguished house in the village, from a southern derivative of Latin casa "hut, cottage, cabin".
DurkoRussian, Ukrainian, Belarusian Derived either from Russian дурной (durnoy) or Ukrainian дурний (durnyi) or Belarusian дурны (durny) all meaning "dump, foolish, stupid".
CarnegieScottish Habitational name from a place called Carnegie, near Carmyllie in Angus, from Gaelic cathair an eige "fort at the gap".
BarnewallAnglo-Norman, Irish A locational surname given to those who lived by a stream in either Cambridgeshire, which derives its name from the Olde English beorna meaning "warrior" and wella meaning "stream", or from one in Northamptonshire, which got its name from the Olde English byrge meaning "burial mound" and well, which also means "stream." a burial mound and 'well(a)'... [more]
LandEnglish, German Topographic name from Old English land, Middle High German lant, "land, territory". This had more specialized senses in the Middle Ages, being used to denote the countryside as opposed to a town or an estate.
MüschGerman Either a habitational name from a place named Müsch in Germany, or a topographic name meaning "bog", perhaps given to someone living near a bog.
ZagurskiPolish Derived from the Polish places Zagórz and Zagórze. Also given to those who lived on the side of a hill opposite a main settlement - za means "beyond" and góra means "hill".
BehringerGerman Habitational name for someone from either of two places called Behringen, near Soltau and in Thuringia, or from Böhringen in Württemberg.
RatasEstonian Ratas is an Estonian surname meaning "wheel".
MontevirgenSpanish (Philippines) From the Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora de Montevirgen, meaning "Our Lady of Mount Virgin," dedicated at the Convento de Montevirgen (Convent of Mount Virgin) in the municipality of Villalba de los Barros, located in Extremadura's Badajoz province in western Spain.
HeyerGerman, Dutch Occupational name for a grower or reaper of grass for hay, from Middle High German höu "grass, hay" and the agent suffix -er. Could also be a variant spelling of Heier.
MontecalvoItalian Habitational name from any of various places called Montecalvo ("bald mountain") especially Montecalvo Irpino in Avellino province, from the elements monte "mountain" and calvo "bald".
SamarageSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit समर (samara) meaning "coming together, meeting" or "conflict, struggle" combined with the Sinhala suffix -ගේ (-ge) meaning "of, home, house".
ShimoenooJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 下酔尾 (Shimoenoo) meaning "Shimoenoo", a former division in the area of Terushima in the city of Ichikikushikino in the prefecture of Kagoshima in Japan, or a name of a group of several households in the Kadowari System that took place in the Edo Period in the former Japanese province of Satsuma in parts of present-day Kagoshima, Japan.
CujecCroatian Derived from the word "cuj" which means "listen" or "hear" in English. Likely used to denote someone who was a good listener or was known for their attentive nature.
ElortzaBasque Derived from Basque elorri "hawthorn, thorn" and the abundance suffix -tza.
MaeyamadaJapanese Mae means "front, forward", yama means "mountain", and da is a variant of ta meaning "field, rice paddy, wilderness".
NuttRomansh Derived from Janutt, a medieval diminutive of the given name Johannes.
BlacksmithEnglish Occupational name for a blacksmith, a smith who work with iron. The name is rare in England and mostly found in North America, suggesting that it's a translation of a non-English name meaning "blacksmith" (see Kowalski, Raudsepp and Lefèvre for example).
JlassiArabic (Maghrebi), Berber From the name of an Tamazight (Berber) tribal confederation in Tunisia; the name could be from Arabic إِخْلَاص (ʾiḵlāṣ) meaning "sincerity, devotion, loyalty" or of unknown Berber meaning.
FreidhofGerman Topographical name from the German Fredihof 'graveyard', 'cemetery' (from Middle Low German, Middle High German vrithof 'enclosed farmstead or courtyard', later 'cemetery').
WalkinshawScottish Habitational name from Walkinshaw in Renfrewshire, which was probably named from Old English wealcere meaning "fuller" + sceaga meaning "copse".
d'EstaingFrench Derived from Estaing, a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France. A famous bearer was the French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (1926-2020).
SilberbergJewish The meaning of the name is "silver mountain" and comes from Germany
MauKhmer From Chinese 毛 (máo) meaning "Mao", an ancient region in parts of present-day Henan, China, during the Zhou Dynasty.
ChiavettaItalian From Italian "chiavetta", deriving from chiave meaning key.
MesinaItalian From Sardinian mesina "keg, small barrel", probably given as a nickname to someone with a round or fat build.
LurieJewish It is one of the oldest family trees in the world, tracing back at least to King David born c. 1037 BCE, as documented by Neil Rosenstein in his book The Lurie Legacy... [more]
BockelmannGerman Possibly derived from the name Bockel, a place in Germany. A famous bearer is Udo Jürgens (1934-2014), an Austrian musician, born Jürgen Udo Bockelmann.
GorenJewish Jewish (Ashkenazic) altered form of Horn (5), under Russian influence; since Russian has no h and alters h in borrowed words to g. In Israel the name has been reinterpreted by folk etymology as being from Hebrew goren 'threshing floor', which is in fact etymologically and semantically unrelated.
BreakspearEnglish From a medieval nickname for someone who had achieved notable success in jousts or in battle. Nicholas Breakspear (?1100-1159) was the original name of Pope Hadrian IV, the only English pope.
PernaItalian Meaning uncertain, possibly from the dialectic word perna "leg", denoting someone with a deformed or missing leg, or a variant of Perla.
BrunetteFrench (Quebec) Variant of Brunet, reflecting the French Canadian pattern of pronouncing the final -t, which is not pronounced in metropolitan French.
MiyoshiJapanese From Japanese 三 (mi) meaning "three" and 好 (yoshi) meaning "fond, pleasing" or 芳 (yoshi) meaning "perfume; balmy; favorable; fragrant".
MeesterDutch, Flemish, German Occupational name for a teacher, lecturer or a master craftsman, or a nickname for someone who had a bossy demeanor, derived from Dutch meester meaning "master". A famous bearer of this surname is the American actress, singer and model Leighton Meester (1986-).
KuroitaJapanese Kuro means "black" and ita mean "board, plank".
KadenGerman Habitational name for someone from Kaaden in North Bohemia, or any of several other places called Kaden.
AnschützGerman Occupational name for someone whose job was to keep a dam or pool filled with water. (Anschützen "to fill up")
RegelGerman from Middle High German regel "(monastic) rule" (from Latin regula), perhaps a metonymic occupational name for someone who worked in a monastery.
CarreraSpanish, Italian Spanish: topographic name for someone living by a main road, carrera ‘thoroughfare’, originally a road passable by vehicles as well as pedestrians (Late Latin carraria (via), a derivative of carrum ‘cart’), or a habitational name from any of various places named with this word.... [more]
BanovićSerbian, Croatian "Son of a Ban", the -ić "son of" suffix with ban, the title of class of Croatian nobility beginning in the 7th century approximately equivalent to viceroy, lord or duke, stemming potentially from the Turkic bajan ("rich, wealthy").
VoloshynmUkrainian From Ukrainian волох (volokh), and old term that denoted to a Romanian person.
BerthiaumeFrench French: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’ + helm ‘helmet’.
GladstoneScottish Habitational name from a place near Biggar in Lanarkshire, apparently named from Old English gleoda meaning "kite" + stān meaning "stone".
MutterGerman (also Mütter): occupational name for an official employed to measure grain, from Middle High German mutte, mütte 'bushel', 'grain measure' (Latin modius) + the agent suffix -er.
LesorukovmRussian From Russian dialectal лесорук (lesoruk), meaning "lumberjack, woodcutter". The word itself comes from лес (les) "forest" and рука (ruka) "hand, arm".
TammusEstonian Tammus is an Estonian surname derived from "tamm" meaning both "oak" and "dam".
LonsdaleEnglish Habitational name from the district of Lonsdale (straddling Lancashire Yorkshire and Westmorland) and also from Lonsdale in Great Ayton (North Yorkshire). The district takes its name from the river Lune (of uncertain origin) annd Old English dæl "valley"... [more]
ŌtsukaJapanese From Japanese 大 (ō) meaning "big, great" and 塚 (tsuka) meaning "hillock, mound".
ArifovmCrimean Tatar, Uzbek Means "son of Arif". Saide Arifova was a Crimean Tatar woman who saved roughly 75 children among others from the Nazis and the NKVD.
KloostermanDutch Derived from Dutch klooster "cloister, monastery" and man "person, man", given to someone who worked for a monastery or lived near one.
LearEnglish Means (i) "person from Leire", Leicestershire ("place on the river Leire", a river-name that may also be the ancestor of Leicestershire); or (ii) "person from Lear", any of several variously spelled places in northern France with a name based on Germanic lār "clearing"... [more]
ManteuffelGerman The Manteuffel family is the name of an old and influential German Pomeranian noble family. Manteuffel family was first mentioned in 1256, but the family history officially begins with Henricus Manduvel who is first mentioned on 14... [more]
SanterreFrench Habitational name from a place to the southeast of the Somme river, named with Latin sana terra "healthy, wholesome land".
DrakefordEnglish The first element of this locational surname is probably derived from the personal name Draca or Draki (see Drake), while the second element is derived from Old English ford meaning "ford"... [more]
NagaseJapanese From Japanese 永 (naga 3) meaning "perpetual, eternal" or 長 (naga) meaning "long" combined with 瀬 (se) meaning "torent, ripple, rapids, current".
EagleEnglish Nickname for a lordly, impressive, or sharp-eyed man, from Middle English egle "eagle" (from Old French aigle, from Latin aquila).
DemontignyFrench habitational name with fused preposition de "from" for someone from any of several places in various parts of France named Montigny (see Montigny).
TrolleSwedish, Old Swedish Swedish noble family. According to legend, an early ancestor killed a troll and that's how the family got its name. The family's coat of arms depicts a headless troll. The earliest known ancestor is Birger Knutsson Trulle (died approx... [more]