ZwaanDutch Means "swan" in Dutch. Could be a nickname for a person who resembled a swan in some way, an occupational name for a swan keeper, or a patronymic derived from a given name containing the element swan... [more]
ManhattanEnglish From the name of the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City, in the U.S. state of New York. Derived from the Munsee Lenape language term manaháhtaan (where manah- means "gather", -aht- means "bow" and -aan is an abstract element used to form verb stems), meaning "the place where we get bows" or "place for gathering the (wood to make) bows"... [more]
OorzhakTuvan Means "not a thief", derived from Tuvan оор (oor) meaning "thief, burglar" combined with чок (chok) meaning "not, no".
Van De KerkhofDutch Means "from the churchyard", derived from Middle Dutch kerke meaning "church" and hof meaning "court, garden, yard". Famous bearers of this surname include twin brothers René and Willy Van De Kerkhof (1951-), both retired Dutch soccer players.
SarracinoItalian From Neapolitan sarracino, meaning "Saracen", a term used to refer to a variety of ethnic and religious groups, including a nomadic people from Sinai, Muslims, and pirates from the Mediterranean.
CummerEnglish The surname Cummer has origins in both English and Scottish cultures. In English, it's thought to be a topographic name for someone who lived by a bend in a river, derived from the Middle English word "cummer," meaning "bend" or "meander." In Scottish, it could also be a variant of the surname Comer, derived from the Gaelic word "comar," meaning "confluence" or "meeting of waters."
AbazaArabic From the name of the Abazin (or Abaza) people native to the Northwest Caucasus. This name was adopted by Abazins, Circassians, and Abkhaz who were expelled from the Caucasus in the 19th century.
ShōzōJapanese (Rare) This surname is used as 宗 (shuu, sou, mune) meaning "origin, religion, sect" and 像 (zou) meaning "figure, image, picture, portrait, statue."... [more]
MoscatoItalian Variant of the personal name Muscato, also Americanized spelling of Greek Moskatos, a metonymic occupational name for a grower of muscat grapes.
DuffieldEnglish The meaning is dove field or open country. It's origin is the Yorkshire area named after a few places there.... [more]
PalmieriItalian Derived from Italian palmiere meaning "pilgrim".
BecquerelFrench A notable bearer was French scientist Henri Becquerel (1852-1908) who discovered radioactivity. A becquerel (Bq), the SI unit for radioactivity, is named after him.
SäinasEstonian Säinas is an Estonian surname meaning "ide/orfe" (a freshwater species of fish; genus Leuciscus).
MilletFrench, Catalan metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of millet or panic grass or a topographic name for someone who lived by a field of millet from French and Catalan millet (from Latin milietum a derivative of milium in Old French mil "millet").
Van Der KooiDutch Means "from the pen", derived from Dutch kooi "cage", given to someone who owned a duck decoy field for hunting, or who came from a place named after one.
SissonEnglish metronymic from the medieval female personal name Siss, Ciss, short for Sisley, Cecilie, or possibly from a pet form of Sisley (with the old French diminutive suffix -on). variant of Sessions.
ProctorEnglish Occupational name from Middle English prok(e)tour "steward" (reduced from Old French procurateour, Latin procurator "agent", from procurare "to manage"). The term was used most commonly of an attorney in a spiritual court, but also of other officials such as collectors of taxes and agents licensed to collect alms on behalf of lepers and enclosed orders of monks.
AllemannGerman (Swiss) Derived from German Alemanne, originally "member of the Alemanni tribe", this word came to denote "of Germanic descent". It was used to refer to members of the German-speaking population of Switzerland (as opposed to those who spoke one of the Romance languages; compare Welsch).
De ZeeuwDutch Means "the Zealander", indicating someone from the Dutch province of Zealand.
AritaJapanese From Japanese 有 (ari) meaning "have, possess" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
CanizalesSpanish (Latin American) This surname came from around the beginnings of 1800 in south regions of Colombia where sugar cane was cultivated. It's a variation of Cañizales, that literally means "sugar cane fields".
RozbiewskiPolish (?) Unknown, possibly related to any of the words: rozbież ("crossroads", "outskirts"),... [more]
GhassanArabic (Modern) The Ghassan surname originated in the village of Furzol in eastern Lebanon. It is believed that the name came from Shefa-'Amr in Israel, and was brought by Ghassans that were fleeing the unjust rule of Ahmed al-Jazzar, the Wali of Sidon and Damascus in the late 18th century... [more]
KauschGerman From a medieval form of the Old High German personal name Chuzo.
WredenGerman, Jewish Habitational name for any place in Germany or Denmark, of uncertain meaning. Famous bearers include Davey Wreden (1988-) is an American game designer known for his work in The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide as well as his brother, American internet personality, Douglas Scott Wreden (1991-), known by his pseudonym DougDoug.
AlmaguerCatalan Habitational name from a place in Valencia named Almaguer.
HamreNorwegian Derived from various places named Hamre in Norway. The name is derived from Old Norse hamarr meaning "stone, rock face, steep cliff".
HabsburgGerman This surname may have been used by someone whose descendants originated from the House of Habsburg, which was one of the most important royal houses in Europe. It is assumed that the surname is derived from High German Habichtsburg meaning "hawk castle," but some historians and linguists believe that it may actually be derived from Middle High German hab/hap meaning "ford", as there is a river with a ford nearby.
YouensScottish comes from the Gaelic personal name Eógan, which comes from the Latin name, Eugenius, which means well born. Youens is a patronymic surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames.
KolaFinnish From vernacular forms of Ancient Greek Νικόλαος (See Nikolaos). It could also be from Swedish kol "coal", possibly denoting a coal miner, or kota, a type of conical tent.
KandhalIndian, Gujarati People with the last name of "Kandhal" are commonly descendants of Rao Kandhal who belonged to the "Rathore" clan of Rajputs (warrior class) in India. "Rao" is a royal title. Rao Kandhal was younger brother of Rao Jodha who founded the princely state of Jodhpur in western Rajasthan, India... [more]
YezhovmRussian Derived from Russian word "ёж (yozh)" meaning hedgehog. Yezhov was the last name of Nikolay Yezhov, the leader of the Soviet NKVD from 1936-38 who is known for Yezhovshchina.
OsowskimPolish Habititional surname for someone from a village called Osowa, derived from Polish osowy meaning "aspen" (the type of tree).
HermèsFrench Either a topographic name for someone who lived in a deserted spot or on a patch of waste land from Occitan erm "desert waste" (from Greek erēmia) and the topographic suffix -ès, or from the given name Hermès.
DonScottish Don derives from the Old Gaelic "donn", brown, or the Old English pre 7th Century "dunn", brown, or the Old English pre 7th Century "dunn", dull brown or dark, and was originally given as a distinguishing nickname to someone with dark hair or a swarthy complexion.
PortmanEnglish Status name meaning "townsman, burgher, citizen" in Middle English, derived from Old English port "port, harbour" (from Latin portus) and mann "person, man".
SchönrockGerman Either a metonymic occupational name for a baker from Middle High German schœn "fine" (see Schoen ) and rogge "rye"... [more]
KhayasiJapanese (Russified) Alternate transcription of Hayashi more commonly used by ethnic Japanese living in parts of the former Soviet Union and Sakhalin Japanese residing on Sakhalin Island in Russia.
NalisCroatian (Rare) Meaning unknown. A famous bearer of this surname is Antun Nalis, aka Tonči Nalis, a post-World War 2 actor in Croatian and Yugoslav cinema in the 1950s and 1960s.
MccorsleyIrish My guess is that my surname was changed sometime in the early 1800's but have never learned how my family name derived from or from where it originated.
HongChinese, Korean From Chinese 洪 (hóng) meaning "flood" or "vast, wide".
SikderBengali From a historical title used to denote a person who owned one quarter of land, derived from Bengali সিকি (siki) meaning "quarter, fourth".
MasudaJapanese From Japanese 増 (masu) meaning "increase", 益 (masu) meaning "benefit", 舛 (masu) meaning "oppose, to go against" (kun reading), 桝 (masu) meaning "box seat, measure" or 升 (masu) meaning "box" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
CembrolaItalian My family is from St. Angelo, de Oliva, Naples, Italy
YettEnglish Derived from the Old English word geat, meaning gate.
PiénoelFrench (Rare) French surname that possibly refers to the buckled shoes that the original bearer was wearing, in which case it is derived from Old French pié meaning "foot" combined with Old French noiel meaning "buckle"... [more]
CulbertEnglish, Scottish, Irish Meaning and origin are uncertain. Possibly derived from an unattested given name composed of beorht "bright" and an uncertain first element, or an altered form of Cuthbert... [more]
UtsunomiyaJapanese From Japanese 宇 (u) meaning "house, eaves, universe", 都 (tsu) meaning "city", and 宮 (miya) meaning "temple, shrine, palace".
MathrafalMedieval Welsh Named for Castle Mathrafal (Castell-Mathrafal) in Powys, Mid Wales. The House of Mathrafal ruled over Powys for much of the Mediaeval period. Notable members of the family included Owain Glyn Dŵr, who led a rebellion against English rule in 1400.
PrioreItalian from Italian priore "prior" either a nickname or occupational name which probably most often originated as a metonymic occupational name for a servant of a prior or some important lay dignitary... [more]
FunayamaJapanese From Japanese 舟 or 船 (funa) meaning "boat, ship" and 山 (yama) meaning "mountain, hill".
GerbrandyDutch, Frisian Variant of Gerbrandij. This name was borne by the Dutch prime minister Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy (1885-1961; birth name Pieter Gerbrandij), who led the government-in-exile based in London, England following the Nazi German invasion of the Netherlands during World War II.