OikonomosGreek Means "housekeeper, steward" from the Greek word οἰκόνομος (oikonomos), derived from οἶκος (oikos) "house, household" and νόμος (nomos) "law, custom"... [more]
AnzaiJapanese From Japanese 安 (an) meaning "peace" and 西 (sai) meaning "west", 斎 (sai) meaning "purification, worship", or 済 (sai) meaning "settle, finish".
LembergJewish Habitational name from the city of Lviv in Ukraine, from its German name Lemberg.
HoedDutch Means "hat, cover", an occupational name for a hatmaker.
MálagaSpanish Habitational name for someone from Málaga, capital of the province of the same name in Andalusia.
BundiRomansh Derived from Romansh bun "good" and di "day" (compare Bongiorno and Bonasera). Another theory, however, derives this name from the given name Abundius.
TarchaneiotesGreek (1) Either from the village of Tarchaneion in Thrace, (2) from Mongol word targan, for "smith",(3) from the Khazar noble title tarkhan, ultimately of Sogdian/Saka origin.
ErripaldaBasque It indicates familial origin within the eponymous hamlet in the Navarrese municipality of Gorza.
WathersIrish The surname originated in Donegal, Ireland. MacConuisce was an Anglicized form of o'hUisce. Uisce translates to water in English. Wathers is a rather uncommon name because it is an untraditional way of spelling Waters... [more]
De BieDutch Means "the bee" in Dutch, a nickname for a beekeeper or a for a busy person, or perhaps a habitational name for someone who lived near a sign depicting a bee.
CrenshawEnglish The derivation of this surname is from the Old English pre 7th Century "Crawa", a crow, with "sceaga" a grove, thus "Crowswood". The earliest recording of this placename is in the Lancashire Inquests of 1324 and appears as "Croweshagh".
Al-ZahraniArabic Means "the Zahrani" in Arabic, referring to the Zahran (زهران) tribe in Saudi Arabia. The name itself is derived from Arabic زهراني (zahran) meaning "flowering, blossoming", ultimately from زَهْرَة (zahra) meaning "flower, blossom" (see Zahrah).
Van Der GraafDutch Means "from the canal", derived from Dutch graaf "canal, excavated watercourse", itself related to graven "to dig".
JeterFrench (Huguenot), German Jeter is a French and German surname. It is the last name of former New York Yankees baseball player, Derek Jeter. It's also the last name of Carmelita Jeter, an American sprinter who specializes in the 100 meter sprint.
RoncesvallesSpanish The name of a village in Navarre (Spain) where there was a Priory of Saint Mary of which the Hospital of Our Lady of Rouncevale at Charing Cross London was a cell.
MártirSpanish from mártir "martyr" probably a nickname for someone devoted to the religious cult of a Christian martyr or perhaps one who had played the part of a Christian martyr in a religious play.
FrankowskimPolish Habitational name for someone from any of the various locations named Franki, Frankowo, or Frankowa, all derived from Polish frank "franc, free"
DoughtyEnglish Doughty. This interesting surname of English origin is a nickname for a powerful or brave man, especially a champion jouster, deriving from the Middle English "doughty", Olde English pre 7th Century dohtigdyhtig meaning "valiant" or "strong"... [more]
CaswellEnglish Habitational name from places in Dorset, Northamptonshire, and Somerset named Caswell, from Old English cærse '(water)cress' + well(a) 'spring', 'stream'.
StifterGerman, German (Austrian) Means "founder" in Middle High German, from stiften "to bring about, endow, donate", a name for a tenant farmer on previously unoccupied land, or a habitational name from the related word Stift meaning "endowed monastery, secular convent, church foundation".
HullerEnglish Topographical name for a 'dweller by a hill', deriving from the Old English pre 7th Century 'hyll' a hill, or in this instance 'atte hulle', at the hill.
ChanthaphoneLao From Lao ຈັນທະ (chantha) meaning "moon" and ພອນ (phone) meaning "blessing".
KäsperEstonian Käsper is an Estonian surname derived from the masculine given name "Kasper".
KrishIndian Shortened form of Krishna or of any other name beginning with Krishna (such as Krishnan, Krishnaswami, Krishnamurthy, etc.), used in the U.S. by families from southern India. It is not in use in India.
CaylusFrench Of debated origin and meaning; theories include a Southern French corruption of Latin castellum "castle, fort, citadel, fortress, stronghold".
KinkleGerman Derived from the Middle High German word "kunkel," which meant "spindle." It is thus supposed that the first bearers of this surname were spindle makers in occupation.
ManoItalian From the given name Mano, a short form of names such as Romano.
ZbornakAmerican Zbornak is a surname. A famous bearer is Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur) from “The Golden Girls”.
MateerNorthern Irish (Anglicized) A variant of Mcateer used chiefly by Northern Irish Protestants. The change in spelling of the element Mac or Mc, meaning "son" in Irish, removed its bearers' connections to Irish-speaking Catholics during a time when it would have been socially beneficial to be seen as Protestant Unionists.
BoltEnglish From Middle English bolt meaning "bolt", "bar" (Old English bolt meaning "arrow"). In part this may have originated as a nickname or byname for a short but powerfully built person, in part as a metonymic occupational name for a maker of bolts... [more]
AjtósiHungarian Derived from a destroyed medieval settlement in Békés County, meaning "with door" in Hungarian, from Hungarian ajtó "door". It could also mean "doormaker" in Hungarian.
SuwannaphumThai (Rare) From Thai สุวรรณภูมิ (Suwannaphum), from Sanskrit सुवर्णभूमि (Suvárṇabhūmi) meaning "Suvarnabhumi", referring to various places throughout Southeast Asia as "golden land; land of gold".
MaiselYiddish, German, French Predominantly seems to be a matronymic surname from the Yiddish feminine name Mayzl. Although it is believed that it derived from the Hebrew name Meïser, which means “representative of God”... [more]
KunihikoJapanese Kuni means "country, large place" and hiko means "prince".
SchulerJewish Occupational name for a Talmudic scholar or the sexton of a synagogue, from an agent derivative of Yiddish shul "synagogue".
YongChinese From Chinese 雍 (yōng) either referring the ancient state of Yong, located in what is now Henan province, or the ancient fief of Yong, which existed during the Shang dynasty in what is now Shaanxi province.
AsoJapanese From Japanese 阿蘇 (Aso) meaning "Aso", a former district in the former Japanese province of Higo in parts of present-day Kumamoto, Japan.... [more]
MilibandJewish This is the surname of British Labour Party politicians Ed and David Miliband, who are ethnically Jewish.
KummEstonian Kumm is an Estonian surname meaning "vault" and "arch".
LykovRussian Derived from Russian лыко (lyko) meaning "bast". The founder of the surname may have been a shoemaker or a ropemaker.
AkatsukiJapanese 丹 (Aka) means "red" and 月 (tsuki) means "month, moon". This surname is a reference to what the moon looks like during a lunar eclipse.... [more]
CahenzliRomansh Derived from Romansh casa "house" and, by extension, "household, family" and the German given name Hänsli.
KukavaGeorgian (Rare), Mingrelian (Rare) Not much is known about the meaning of the Mingrelian last name "Kukava" (Mingrelia being a province in Georgia), but it is recorded that the surname was possibly Apsuafied somewhere in 17th century, being turned into "Kukaa" (-aa is usually an Apsuan surname suffix) and then re-Mingrelifying some decades later back to its current form - "Kukava." The earliest known person with the last name dates back to 17th century, his name being Ivana Kuka, a Mingrelian male who lived in the Abkhazia province of Georgia.
ZsigmondyHungarian Derived from the given name Zsigmond. The Austrian-born chemist Richard Adolf Zsigmondy (1865-1929), together with German physicist Henry Siedentopf, invented the ultramicroscope... [more]
EllingsonNorwegian The name Ellingson came from Norway and was spelled Ellingsen but then it was changed to fit with more common English spelling. Ellingson most likely came from the son of Elling but may have more meanings.
PaideEstonian Paide is an Estonian surname taken from the town of the same name in Järva County.
ItzsteinGerman Topographic surname that originated from broad regions around the river Itz in Thuringia, Germany. The word "Stein" (German word for stone) historically was also used to describe castles on a hill or at a river, thus a possible meaning of the name is "castle at the river Itz".
MalloryEnglish, Anglo-Norman The more common variant of the surname Malory. Originally an Anglo-Norman byname for an unfortunate or unhappy person, from the Old French word "maleuré" meaning "unfortunate", "wretched" "wicked"... [more]
ChapdelaineFrench Compound name derived from Old French chape meaning "hooded cloak, cape, hat" and de laine meaning "of wool", probably applied as a metonymic occupational name for a maker of such apparel, or as a nickname for someone who wore a distinctive cloak or hat.
KrupskayafRussian, Yiddish (Russified) Derived from Russian крупа (krupa), meaning "grains". This was the last name of Nadezhda Krupskaya, Lenin's wife.
BäckströmSwedish Combination of Swedish bäck "brook, small stream" and ström "stream".
KongChinese From Chinese 孔 (kǒng) meaning "hole, opening". According to legend, this name was created by Cheng Tang, the founder and first king of the Shang dynasty. He formed it by combining the character for his family name, 子 (zǐ) (his full personal name was Zi Lü), with 乙 (yǐ), the second part of his style name, Da Yi (or Tai Yi)... [more]