AmunategiBasque Habitational name derived from Basque -tegi "place of" and an uncertain first element, possibly amuno "hill, mound" or amuna "grandmother".
ShishidoJapanese Japanese: habitational name taken from a district in Hitachi (now Ibaraki prefecture), written with a variant character for ‘flesh’ and ‘door’. It is found mostly in northeastern Japan.
LevertonEnglish This surname combines the Old English personal female name Leofwaru or the Old English word læfer meaning "rush, reed" with another Old English word tún meaning "enclosure, field, farm, dwelling." The etymology with the female name addition fits in with the town of the same name in Berkshire while the etymology with the word addition fits in with the one in Lincolnshire.
RondelliItalian, English, French From the medieval name "Rondello" derived from French "rondel" meaning "go around, round" or "rondel", a French old nickname for a round, plump man.
AkashiroJapanese From 赤 (aka) meaning "red" and 城 (shiro) meaning "castle".... [more]
ToometEstonian Toomet is an Estonian surname, possibly derived from "toomingas" ("bird cherry") or, from a variant of the masculine given name "Toomas".
MacConallScottish (Anglicized, Rare), Irish (Anglicized, Rare) Anglicized form of Scottish and Irish Gaelic Mac Conaill 'son of Conall', the personalized name composing of the elements con, which is an inflected form of cú 'wolf' + gal 'valor'. Giving the ultimate meaning due to variegated spellings of this specified name, is "Battle-Wolf of High Valor."
LomasEnglish, Scottish, Scottish Gaelic Variant spelling of "Lomax", meaning a steam pool devoted from Lumhalghs, Lancs. Also variant spelling of "Lennox", meaning Elmwood in Gaelic.
NordbyNorwegian, Danish The first half of the word nord is derived from the Old Norse word norþr which means "north", while the second half of the word by is derived from the Norwegian word byr or bo meaning "farmstead" or "settlement"... [more]
ForsythScottish Variant of Forsythe. Known bearers include the Scottish botanist William Forsyth (1737-1804), after whom the genus Forsythia is named, and Scottish inventor Alexander John Forsyth (1769-1843).
HanawaJapanese Either from 花 (hana) meaning "flower" and 輪 (wa) meaning "loop, ring, wheel" or 塙 (hanawa) meaning "mountain, projecting tableland". The 花輪 spelling has multiple readings.
Van TienhovenDutch Means "from Tienhoven", the name of several villages in the Netherlands. Their names mean "ten parcels of land" in Dutch. A famous bearer was the Dutch politician Gijsbert van Tienhoven (1841-1914), a Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
TakazatoJapanese 高 (Taka) means "high, expensive, tall" and zato is a variant of 里 (sato) meaning "type of measurement, village, league, parent's home". ... [more]
HaleviHebrew Means "The Levite" in Hebrew, from the word ha which means "the", and the surname Levi.
ReschkeGerman Derived from the Middle High German word "rasch" meaning "quick," or "hot-headed". As such, it may have originated as a nickname for a quick or rash person.
KackleyGerman Probably an Americanized spelling of German Kächele (see Kachel).
Ben NunHebrew Joshua or Yehoshua Ben Nun functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Exodus and Numbers, and later succeeded Moses as leader of the Israelite tribes in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua
SheriffEnglish, Scottish Occupational name for a sheriff, derived from Middle English schiref, shreeve, shryve literally meaning "sheriff", or from Old English scir meaning "shire, administrative district" and (ge)refa meaning "reeve"... [more]
ZuillEnglish, Scottish From the town of Zuill, Scotland. The "Z" pronounced as "Y" comes from ancient yogh representing a variety of sounds. The name itself is of unknown origin.
LustgartenJewish An invented Jewish name based on German Lustgarten "pleasure garden" (perhaps alluding to the Garden of Eden). It was borne by British barrister, writer and broadcaster Edgar Lustgarten (1907-1978), presenter of television crime reconstructions.
BrancatoItalian This surname can be derived from a given name (thus making it a patronymic surname) as well as from a place name (thus making it a locational surname). In the case of a patronymic surname, the surname is derived from the medieval Italian given name Brancato, which is a variant form of the given name Brancazio, itself ultimately derived from the late Latin given name Brancatius... [more]
MerlJewish Jewish (Ashkenazic) metronymic from the Yiddish female personal name Merl, a pet form of Hebrew Miryam (see Mirkin).
MatareseItalian habitational name for someone from Matera (see Matera ) from materräisë a local adjectival form of the placename (in standard Italian materano).
ZhugeChinese One of the rare Chinese double character surnames. It is ranked 314th in the Hundred Family Surnames. The first character 諸 can be read as "all, these, various" and the second character 葛 as meaning "vine, vines"... [more]
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]
GabiriaBasque From the name of a town and municipality in Basque Country, Spain, derived from Basque gabi "blacksmith’s hammer, mallet" and hiri "village, town, city".
UzumakiJapanese (Rare) This name combines 渦 (ka, uzu) meaning "eddy, vortex, whirlpool" or 太 (ta, tai, futo.i, futo.ru) meaning "big around, plump, thick" with 巻 (kan, ken, maki, ma.ki, ma.ku) meaning "book, coil, part, roll up, scroll, tie, volume, wind up."... [more]
KamaseJapanese From Japanese 釜 (kama) meaning "cauldron; pot; kettle" and 瀬 (se) meaning "rapids; current".
CarrelFrench French: from Old French quar(r)el ‘bolt (for a crossbow)’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of crossbow bolts or a nickname for a short, stout man. The word also meant ‘paving slab’, and so it could also have been a metonymic occupational name for a street layer... [more]
WhinerayEnglish Means "person from Whinneray", Cumbria, or "person who lives in a nook of land growing with gorse" (in either case from Old Norse hvin "whin, gorse" + vrá "nook of land"). It was borne by New Zealand rugby player Sir Wilson Whineray (1935-2012).
LánzéChinese From Chinese 蓝, 藍 (lán) meaning "blue" combined with 澤, 泽 (zé) meaning "lake, swamp".
ArandaSpanish Habitational name from any of various places for example Aranda de Duero in Burgos province which bears a name of pre-Roman probably Celtic origin.
AmecheItalian (Anglicized) Americanised form of Amici. A famous bearer was American actor, comedian and vaudevillian Don Ameche (1908-1993). After portraying the title character in the movie The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939), his surname led Americans to use the word ameche as a juvenile slang for a telephone.
MarcantonioItalian Ancient family, called Marcantonio or Di Marcantonio, of clear and ancestral virtue, flourished in Abruzzo.
Di ColaItalian The surname Di Cola originates from the diminutive of the male name Nicola, widespread especially in the city of Bari, devoted to its patron saint.
StockhardtGerman Nickname for a stiff person, from Stock "stick, staff, trunk" and hart "hard".
QuintelaPortuguese Has its roots in Latin, deriving from "quintus," meaning "fifth." It likely originated from describing a person as the fifth child in a family or from the division of land among heirs, where a fifth part was given to one heir.
MatlockEnglish From the name of a town in Derbyshire, England, meaning "moot oak, oak where meetings were held", derived from Old English mæðel "meeting, gathering, council" (see mahal) and ac "oak (tree)".
AlmendingerUpper German, German (Swiss) Habitational name for someone from a place called Allmendingen, of which there are two examples in Switzerland, in the canton of Bern, and one in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
HosekinDutch (Archaic) Occupational name for a maker or seller of hose (garments for the legs), from Middle Dutch hose "stocking, boot".
SherrardEnglish Probably from a medieval nickname based on Middle English shere "bright, fair", with the derogatory suffix -ard.
WithielCornish (Anglicized, Rare) From the name of a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, derived from Cornish Gwydhyel "wooded place" (compare Old Welsh guid "trees").
OnotoraJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 男虎 (onotora) meaning "male tiger", from 男 (o) meaning "male; man", の (no), an unwritten possessive particle, and 虎 (tora) meaning "panthera tigris", referring to someone with qualities of a male tiger.... [more]
UrieScottish, English, Irish From the Scottish Fetteresso parish, Kincardineshire. May mean someone who is brave and loud.
KoradaPolish Polish: nickname from porada ‘advice’, ‘counsel’.
OrrisEnglish (Canadian) This unusual and interesting name is of Italian, Latin origin, and derives from one of the earliest Roman names, "Horatius". The name is thought to mean something connected with "hora", the Latin for "hour", but the original meaning has been lost... [more]
GlendenningScottish Habitational name from a place in the parish of Westerkirk, Dumfries, recorded in 1384 as Glendonwyne. It is probably named from Welsh glyn meaning "valley" + din meaning "fort" + gwyn meaning "fair", "white".
BehringerGerman Habitational name for someone from either of two places called Behringen, near Soltau and in Thuringia, or from Böhringen in Württemberg.