SchadeGerman, Dutch From schade "damage, injury", a derivative of schaden "to do damage, harm, hurt", generally a nickname for a thug or clumsy person, or, more particularly, a robber knight, who raided others’ lands.
AceEnglish, Norman, Medieval French The surname Ace's origin is from a Norman and Old French personal name, Ace, Asse, from Germanic Frankish origin Azzo, Atso, a pet form of personal names containing adal ‘noble’ as a first element.
KoitmetsEstonian Koitmets is an Estonian surname meaning "dawn forest".
VadeboncœurFrench (Quebec) From the French phrase va de bon cœur meaning "go with a good (merry) heart". This was a secondary surname, common among soldiers in colonial French Canada, which has been adopted as a principal surname.
BagchiBengali Habitational name from the village of Bagcha in present-day West Bengal, India.
BraunsteinerGerman (Austrian) This surname means brown stone in German and it may be an ornamental surname or an occupational surname for someone who may have been a miner.
IniestaSpanish Habitational name from places called Iniesta in the province of Cuenca, in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. The Spanish former soccer player Andrés Iniesta (1984-) is a well-known bearer of this surname.
KensleyEnglish This surname might derive from the surname Kinsley or from the locational surname Kelsey (denoting someone who is from either North or South Kelsey in Lincolnshire).
KoussaArabic Probably comes from Moroccan Darija, when Koussa mean "homosexuality", people with this name were seen as homosexual and had no choice.
BourbonFrench Habitational name for a person mainly from the lordship of Bourbon-l'Archambault in Allier, now a spa town, derived from the Celtic god Borvo, from Proto-Celtic *borvo "froth, foam". It could be from other places containing Bourbon of the same origin.
MaroniItalian Can be a nickname derived from Italian maroni "balls, bollocks", from the Latin given name Maronius, or from a diminutive of the Germanic-origin name Ademaro... [more]
WolfitEnglish From the medieval male personal name Wolfet or Wolfat (from Old English Wulfgēat, literally "wolf-Geat" (the name of a Germanic people)). This surname was borne by Sir Donald Wolfit (1902-1968), a British actor and manager.
Aisin-GioroManchu From the combination of the branch name Aisin meaning "gold" and the clan name Gioro from Yilan, Heilongjiang, China.
MalefeijtDutch A variant spelling of Malefeyt. This is also actually an archaic spelling (as the sound written as -eijt will be always be written as -eit or -ijt in modern times), but it has (barely) managed to survive into modern times... [more]
DimaliwatFilipino, Tagalog Means "firm, stubborn" from Tagalog di meaning "no, not" and liwat meaning "to transfer (liquid from one container to another)".
TaczanowskiPolish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 Greater Polish villages in Gmina Pleszew: Taczanów Pierwszy or Taczanów Drugi.
RittGerman Either a topographic name from Old High German ritta meaning "reeds" or a habitational name from a place near Kassel, Germany. Alternately it may also be a variant of Ried.
ŌkumaJapanese Combination of the kanji 大 (ō, "big, great") or 逢 (ō, "meeting") and 熊 (kuma, "bear") or 隈 (kuma, "recess, corner, shade")
CabañaSpanish, Portuguese Habitational name from a place named with Spanish cabaña ‘hut’, ‘cabin’ (Late Latin capanna, a word of Celtic or Germanic origin).
BasraIndian, Punjabi From the name of a city in present-day Iraq, Basra (البصرة).
Baz-oolTuvan (Rare) Means "another boy" from Tuvan база (baza) meaning "also, too, another" combined with оол (ool) "son, boy".
AkdağTurkish Habitational name for someone who lived near any of the various mountains named Akdağ in Turkey, from Turkish ak meaning "white" and dağ meaning "mountain".
ContractorIndian (Parsi) Parsi occupational surname for a contractor, or someone who works on the basis of a contract. As the British rule of India demanded for all Parsees to adopt a surname, many adopted English vocabulary based on their occupation (i.e. Engineer or Merchant).
ArjasEstonian Arjas is an Estonian surname, a corruption of the Estonian word "harjas" meaning "bristle" and "quill".
YanukovychUkrainian Viktor Yanukovych was president of Ukraine from 2010-2014.
TakinoueJapanese Taki means "waterfall", no is a possessive particle meaning "therefore, of", and ue means "top, above, upper".
SchwingGerman Occupational name for someone whose job was to swingle flax, i.e. to beat the flax with a swingle in order to remove the woody parts of the plant prior to spinning, from Middle German swingen meaning "to swing" or swing meaning "swingle".
ArabieFrench Ethnic name denoting someone from Arabia or an Arabic-speaking person.
GaddamuTelugu Variant of Gaddam. This surname means "on the hill" It is derived from the Telugu words "gadda (గడ్డ)" which means hill and "meeda (మీద)/meedi (మీది)" which means on. The two words were put together and shortened to Gaddamu.
MalefeytDutch (Archaic) Archaic Dutch surname that is now no longer in use (not in this exact spelling, that is): the spelling reflects the surname's origin from older times (as -eyt is an exclusively archaic spelling that has not survived into modern times like its counterparts -eit and -ijt did)... [more]
CavalliniItalian The surname comes from the words "cavallaro," which means a horse dealer; or from "cavalieri," meaning a horseman, rider or knight.
BickhamEnglish Habitational name from places so named in Devon and Somerset, most of which are most probably named with an Old English personal name Bicca and Old English cumb "valley". The first element could alternatively be from bica "pointed ridge".
NodaJapanese Variant reading or transcription of Japanese Kanji 納田 (see Nōda).
MaytwayashingOjibwe Unknown meaning, most commonly found in Anishinaabe communities in Manitoba. A notable bearer is Clifford Maytwayashing, a legendary fiddle player.
RoossaarEstonian Roossaar is an Estonian surname meaning "rose island".
ÇillerTurkish Means "freckles" in Turkish, referring to a person with freckles on their face. A notable bearer was Turkey's first female prime minister, Tansu Çiller (1946-).
PrevedorosGreek From the Italian rank of provveditore "he who sees to things" (overseer) was the style of various local district governors in the extensive, mainly maritime empire of the Republic of Venice.
MaquedaSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 eponymous localities: the Manchego municipality or the neighborhood of the Andalusian municipality of Málaga.
IhimaeraMaori This name in English means Ishmael. This name is not only a surname but was used at least in the past as a first name. This name could have another origin. This is the last name of the first Maori author to produce a book made up of stories Witi Ihimaera (1944- ).
NaiJapanese From Japanese 名 (na) meaning "name, famous; reputation" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".
KlopferGerman, Jewish (Ashkenazi) Derived from Middle High German klopfen "to knock, pound, hammer", an occupational name for a clothmaker, metalworker, miner, or hunter. As a Jewish name, it can refer to a shulklopfer, someone who knocks to call people to synagogue.
ByamEnglish Probably means "person from Bytham", Lincolnshire ("homestead in a valley bottom"). Glen Byam Shaw (1904-1986) was a British theatre director.
OruçTurkish From Turkish oruç meaning ''fast, to abstain from food''.
SastrowardoyoJavanese Means "writings of the heart" from Sanskrit शास्त्र (shastra) meaning "scripture, writings" and हृदय (hrdaya) meaning "heart". This is the name of a Javanese family of nobility.
BurkettEnglish English: from an Old English personal name, Burgheard, composed of the elements burh, burg ‘fort’ (see Burke) + heard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’... [more]
GreenleeEnglish habitational name from any of various minor places, for example in Staffordshire, so named from Old English grene ‘green’ + leah ‘woodland clearing’.
JugaEstonian Juga is an Estonian surmane meaning "waterfall" and "cascade".
FinkleyEnglish Habitational name for a person from the hamlet of Finkley in Hampshire, derived from Old English finc "finch" and leah "woodland, clearing".
RochelleFrench, English habitational name from La Rochelle the name of several places in various parts of France especially that in Manche from a diminutive of Old French roche "rock cliff promontory"... [more]
HirayamaJapanese From Japanese 平 (hira 2) meaning "level, even, peaceful" and 山 (yama) meaning "mountain".
MecklenburgGerman, Jewish Regional name for someone from this province in northern Germany. Derived from Old Saxon mikil "big, great" and burg "castle".
MagaldiItalian, South American Patronymic or plural form of the Old German personal name Magoald (from the elements megin, magan "strength, might, power" and wald "power"), or else a nickname from magaldo meaning "evil, wicked", which was derived from the personal name... [more]
BeaufayFrench (Rare) In most cases, this surname is a locational surname that most likely took its name from the village of Beaufay, which is nowadays located in the Sarthe department of France. The village was called Bello Faeto, Bellofaido and Belfaidus during the Early Middle Ages, ultimately deriving its name from Latin bellus fagus (or bellum fagetum) meaning "beautiful beech tree(s)" or "beautiful beech woodland"... [more]