GeisingerGerman Denoted a person from the town of Geising in Germany, which in turn got it's name from the Geisingberg mountain. The Geisingberg most likely got it's name from the Germanic geut or the Early New High German geußen, both meaning "to pour", and the German word Berg meaning "mountain"... [more]
ForsytheScottish, Northern Irish This surname has two possible origins. The more accepted explanation is that it comes from the Gaelic given name Fearsithe, which means "man of peace" from the elements fear "man" and sithe "peace"... [more]
TammsaarEstonian Tammsaar is an Estonian surname, meaning "oak island".
SasoriJapanese (Rare) This surname is used as 佐曽利 with 佐 (sa) meaning "assistant, help," 曽 (so, sou, zou, katsu, katsute, sunawachi) meaning "before, ever, formerly, never, once" and 利 (ri, ki.ku) meaning "advantage, benefit, profit."
ManglicmotIlocano From Ilocano manglikmot meaning "to surround, to encircle".
HawleyEnglish From the place name Hawley, specifically from the former settlement in Yorkshire from Old Norse haugr meaning "hill" and Old English leah meaning "woodland".
BugalhoPortuguese Portuguese surname Bugalho can be written in two different ways, with a U or with a O after de first letter. This because of different pronunciation from South and North. So with U South and with O North.... [more]
RalphEnglish From a Middle English personal name composed of Germanic rad "counsel, advice" and wolf "wolf". This was first introduced into England by Scandinavian settlers in the Old Norse form Ráðulfr, and was reinforced after the Conquest by the Norman form Ra(d)ulf... [more]
FleschGerman, German (Austrian) Possibly from the Middle High German fleisch, itself from the Old High German word fleisk meaning "flesh, meat".
SawtellEnglish (British) A dialectal variant of Sewell, which was first recorded in early 13th-century England. The later addition of the 't' was for easier pronunciation.... [more]
CattleyEnglish Means "person from Catley", Herefordshire and Lincolnshire ("glade frequented by cats"). It was borne by the British botanical patron William Cattley (1788-1835).
EklandSwedish (Rare) Combination of Swedish ek "oak" and land "land". A famous bearer is Swedish actress Britt Ekland (b. 1942), but in her case, the name is a variant of Eklund.
KawadaJapanese From Japanese 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
SangheraSanskrit The Sanghera (संघेडा) clan are descended from Chauhan Rajputs and are found chiefly amongst the Jatt Sikh tribes of Northwestern India.
CartagenaSpanish From the name of the city of Cartagena in southeastern Spain, derived from Latin Carthāgō Nova meaning "New Carthage" (ultimately derived from Phonecian qrt-ḥdšt meaning "new city").
KilKorean There is one Chinese character for the Kil surname. In the 1930 census, there was a significantly larger number of Kils living in Korea; it was the 62nd most common name in Korea. In a census taken after the Korean War, however, it had dropped to 72nd... [more]
HanJapanese Notable bearers are Megumi and Keiko Han, actresses.
HasunumaJapanese Hasu means "Lotus" and numa means "swamp, marsh".
SuursaluEstonian Suursalu is an Estonian surname meaning "big copse" or "big grove".
BlattGerman, Jewish Ornamental name derived from German blatt and Yiddish blat meaning "leaf", or a topographic name for someone who lived at a farm on a ledge on a mountainside, derived from Middle High German blate meaning "flat surface, ledge, plateau".
UebayashiJapanese From 上 (ue) meaning "above, top, upper" and 林 (hayashi) meaning "forest".
GlushkovRussian Derived from Russian глухой (glukhoy) meaning "deaf" or "remote, out-of-the-way", either used as a nickname for a deaf person or for someone originally from a remote place.
AbgarowiczPolish (Rare) Meaning "son of Abgar". The name originates from a wealthy Armenian merchant family (called Sołtan at the time) who settled in Kyiv in the 16th century... [more]
RozenkoUkrainian From dialectal Ukrainian роза (roza), meaning "rose".
PaterDutch, German, English, Polish From Latin pater "father", used as a religious title for a priest in Roman Catholicism. Possibly used semi-literally for a man who worked in the church, or figuratively for a solemn or pompous man.
CageEnglish from Middle English, Old French meaning "cage, enclosure". Denoting someone who lived by or was the keeper of a cage, in the sense "lock-up, prison for petty offenders".
StryjewskiPolish Habitational name for someone from a place called Stryjów in Zamość voivodeship, named with stryj meaning "paternal uncle", "father’s brother".
LöwenthalJewish, Swedish Ornamental name composed of German Löwe "lion" and T(h)al "valley". In some cases the Jewish name would have been an ornamental elaboration associated with the personal name Levi (or other names meaning "lion").
ClaineScottish, Irish Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Gille Eathain, a patronymic name meaning "son of the servant of Saint John."
PunzalanFilipino, Tagalog, Pampangan Possibly an occupational name for a maker of fences or a nickname derived from Spanish punzar meaning "to punch, to sting".
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).
UmenaJapanese From 梅 ume) meaning "plum" and 名 (na) meaning "reputation, name, status".
ArciniegaBasque Castilianized form. Name for someone from the Spanish town of Artziniega. The town's name likely comes from the Basque artzain meaning "shepherd" and -aga, a suffix for place names.
AmbedkarIndian, Hindi, Marathi Derived from the name of the village of Ambadawe (also called Ambavade) in Maharashtra, India. A notable bearer was B. R. Ambedkar (1891-1956), one of the authors of the Indian constitution.
El-shafeiArabic It means "the intercessor (which refers to the Prophet of Islam, who will hopefully intercede on one's behalf before God on the day of judgement)".
Sauve'French Sauve' from France to Canada. Changed probably due to an "a" and an "o" confusion in cursive. My granfather's was typo-ed on WW II old men's sign up in MA. or RI, USA.
TaimsaluEstonian Taimsalu is an Estonian surname meaning "floral/plant grove".
RaineyIrish, Scottish An Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Raighne, Ó Ráighne meaning "descendent of Raonull", the given name Raonull being derived from Old Norse Rögnvaldr, Røgnvaldr, Rǫgnvaldr (compare Ronald).
FallowEnglish, Jewish English: topographic name for someone who lived by a patch of fallow land, Middle English falwe (Old English f(e)alg). This word was used to denote both land left uncultivated for a time to recover its fertility and land recently brought into cultivation.... [more]
WallingAnglo-Norman From the Anglo-Norman personal name Walweyn, the Old German forename Waldwin, or the Old English personal name Wealdwine, which means "power-friend".
RidgewayEnglish Comes from Middle English 'riggewey', hence a topographic name for someone who lived by such a route or a habitational name from any of various places so named, for example in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, and Staffordshire.
GuanChinese From Chinese 管 (guǎn) meaning "administer, manage, control", also referring to the ancient state of Guan that existed in what is now Henan province.
KakutaJapanese From 角 (kaku) meaning "corner" and 田 (da) meaning "rice paddy, field".
BazzatyOssetian Derived from Georgian ბაზი (bazi) meaning "falcon" or from a given name derived from Tatar базу (bazu) meaning "to dare" (given in hopes that a son would become a warrior).
RužekCzech It means "rose". Derived from name Ružena.
WijayarathnaSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit विजय (vijaya) meaning "victory" and रत्न (ratna) meaning "jewel, treasure".
RanzGerman The surname that can have one of two origins. In some cases, it is derived from the ancient German given name, Rando, whose origins lie in the word rand, meaning "rim of shield"... [more]