BalkwillEnglish Possibly derived from the name of a lost settlement in Devon, composed of Old English balca "balk, beam; ridge, bank" and wella "spring, stream". Alternatively, can be a variant form of Bakewell.
ScanavaccaItalian Possibly an occupational name for a butcher, from scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and vacca "cow".
PhonevilayLao From Lao ພອນ (phone) meaning "blessing" and ວິໄລ (vilay) meaning "splendid, beautiful".
PeeleEnglish This surname was given topographically to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. A famous bearer of this surname is actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director Jordan Peele.
WickramasuriyaSinhalese From Sanskrit विक्रम (vikrama) meaning "stride, pace" or "valour" and सूर्य (surya) meaning "sun".
EamesEnglish Probably from the possessive case of the Middle English word eam ‘uncle’, denoting a retainer in the household of the uncle of some important local person. Possibly also a variant of Ames.
ShazarHebrew Referred to someone living near acacia trees that tend to be twisted, derived from Hebrew שָׁזַר (shazar) literally meaning "to twist, to be twisted, to intertwine". A famous bearer was the Israeli president, author and poet Zalman Shazar (1889-1974), who was born Shneur Zalman Rubashov.
De La TorreSpanish Topographic name "from (de) the tower (la torre)", i.e. someone who lived by a watchtower, "from (de) the tower (la torre)".
AllisterScottish The name Allister is derived from the given name Alexander, which in turn was originally derived from the Greek name, which means defender of men. In the late 11th century, Queen Margaret introduced the name, which she had heard in the Hungarian Court where she was raised, into Scotland by naming one of her sons Alexander... [more]
ÁvalosSpanish Etymologists note the name signifies a "native of Abalos" and the progenitor was someone who hailed from that location.
TennōjiJapanese (Rare) Composed of Japanese ten 天 meaning "heaven," ō (which becomes nō due to renjō) 王 meaning "king," and ji 寺 meaning "temple" or "Buddhist temple."
SmithwickEnglish habitational name from Smethwick in Staffordshire Smethwick Green near Brereton Heath (Cheshire) or a lost place called Smithwick in Southover (Sussex). The place name means "the farm of the smiths" from Old English smiþ "smith" and wic "dwelling specialized farm"... [more]
GödelGerman From an Old German personal name, Godilo, Godila.German (Gödel): from a pet form of a compound personal name beginning with the element god ‘good’ or god, got ‘god’.Variant of Godl or Gödl, South German variants of Gote, from Middle High German got(t)e, gö(t)te ‘godfather’.
GoldmannGerman, Jewish occupational name for someone who worked with gold denoting anything from a gold-miner to a maker of gold jewelry or a gilder (someone skilled in decorating surfaces with a very thin layer of gold leaf)... [more]
GabaratyOssetian Derived from Алгуз (Alguz), an earlier Ossetian family name of unknown meaning. Historically, the last of the Alguz family migrated to the village of Zalda (located in present-day South Ossetia), where most members of the family presently reside.
PtashnykUkrainian Denoted to someone who took care of birds, from Ukrainian птах (ptakh) "bird".
AbeygunaratneSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit अभय (abhaya) meaning "fearless" combined with गुण (guna) meaning "quality, property, attribute" and रत्न (ratna) meaning "jewel, treasure".
BermejoSpanish Originally a nickname for a man with red hair or a ruddy complexion, from Spanish bermejo "reddish, ruddy" (itself from Latin vermiculus "little worm", from vermis "worm", since a crimson dye was obtained from the bodies of worms).
ShakshukiArabic (Maghrebi) Most likely from Libyan Arabic شَكْشُوكَةٌ (šakšawka) meaning “a mixture”, referring to a type of North African dish made of vegetables and fried eggs.
BacriJudeo-Spanish Possibly derived from Arabic بكر (bikr) meaning "firstborn, eldest". Alternately it may be an occupational name for a cowherd or cattle merchant from بقر (baqar) meaning "cattle".
LlapashticaKosovar, Albanian, Serbian Derived from the name of Kosovan villages named Llapashticë e Poshtme or Llapashticë e Epërme. It could also denote a person from Serbian villages called Donja Lapaštica or Gornja Lapaštica.
KlemmGerman Either from Middle High German klem "narrow, tight", a nickname for miserly person, or from the related klemme "constriction; narrows", a habitational name for someone who lived in a narrow area... [more]
AlptekinTurkish, Uyghur From Turkish alp meaning "brave, hero" and the Old Turkish title tegin meaning "prince".
WalkinshawScottish Habitational name from Walkinshaw in Renfrewshire, which was probably named from Old English wealcere meaning "fuller" + sceaga meaning "copse".
GadolinFinnish (Rare) Derived from the name of the homestead Magnula in Kalanti (formerly Nykyrko) parish in southwest Finland. Magnula is thought to be associated with Latin magnus "large, big, great" and the name Gadolin is derived from Hebrew gadol with the same meaning... [more]
RitzGerman From a short form of the personal name Rizo, itself derived in part from Richard and in part from Heinrich (see Henry).
GardeaBasque From the name of a neighborhood in the municipality of Laudio in Álava, Spain, of uncertain etymology. Possibly derived from Basque gari "wheat" and -di "place of, forest of", or from garagardi "barley field" and arte "in between"... [more]
ReinertGerman North German: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements ragin ‘counsel’ + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’, for example Reinhard ( see Reinhardt ).
BragaPortuguese The first man to own this name was a feudal lord on Portugal, near to the region of Coimbra. Could also come from the other surname "Bragança".
KleindienstGerman Originally an occupational name for a farmhand or laborer, who was second in line to a more highly paid class of servant. Derived from German klein meaning "small, little" and dienst meaning "service, duty".
KluivertDutch, Dutch (Surinamese) Nickname perhaps related to Dutch kluiven meaning "to gnaw, to bite, to nibble". A notable bearer is Dutch former soccer player Patrick Kluivert (1976-).
MalenkovRussian Patronymic derived from Russian маленький (malen'kiy) meaning "little, small". The Soviet leader Georgy Malenkov (1902-1988) was a notable bearer of this name.
SagaraJapanese From Japanese 相 (saga) meaning "nature, custom, fate, destiny" and 良 (ra) meaning "good, virtuous, respectable" or 楽 (ra) meaning "comfort, ease".
CaraballoSpanish Occupational name for a knight or a knight's servant.
LifSwedish This is most likely a name adopted by soldiers in the 17th century. The actual meaning is unclear. It could be taken directly from the Swedish word liv meaning "life" or from a location named with this element.
DevaneyIrish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Duibheannaigh ‘descendant of Duibheannach’, a personal name of uncertain origin; the first element is dubh ‘black’, the second may be eanach ‘marshy place’... [more]
ManzoniItalian Of uncertain origin: could be derived from a nickname given to those who raised and took care of bullock, or from the medieval terms manso or mansueto, denoting a gentle person.... [more]
LoitEstonian Loit is an Esotnian surname meaning "flare". Also, probably from "loits", meaning "incantation" or "spell".