BouaziziArabic (Maghrebi) Means "father of Aziz" in Arabic (chiefly Maghrebi). A notable bearer was Mohamed Bouazizi (1984-2011), a Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire... [more]
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").
PelekanosGreek Means woodpecker" from Greek pelekanos "green woodpecker" (cognate with pelekan "pelican"; both come from pelekys "axe" the pelican because its beak is shaped like an axe the woodpecker because it uses its beak like an axe).
ShinmarAncient Hebrew (Hellenized, Archaic, ?) 'Shin'; literally translated as 'god', 'crown'. 'Mar'; Hebrew translation for 'master'. Used by Ancient Hebrew descendants/Jews still existing in Middle East & India. Also a city that exists in West Punjab with majority Hebrew/Jews & synagogues.... [more]
ChinjiJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 鎮寺 (Chinji), from 鎮寺門 (Chinjimon), a name of a group of several households in the Kadowari System that took place in the Edo Period in the former Japanese province of Satsuma in parts of present-day Kagoshima, Japan, as well as surrounding areas.
LeafEnglish Derived from Old English lēof "dear, beloved".
VentrisEnglish Probably from a medieval nickname for a bold or slightly reckless person (from a reduced form of Middle English aventurous "venturesome"). It was borne by British architect and scholar Michael Ventris (1922-1956), decipherer of the Mycenaean Greek Linear B script.
WeerawansaSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit वीर (vira) meaning "hero, man, brave" and वंश (vansa) meaning "lineage, clan, family".
SitnikovmRussian From Russian ситник (sitnik), meaning "rush (plant)".
FoleyIrish As a northern Irish surname it is derived from the Gaelic personal name Searrach, which was based on searrach "foal, colt" and anglicized as Foley because of its phonetic similarity to English foal.
EhlertGerman From a Germanic personal name composed of the elements agil "edge", "point (of a sword)" + hard "brave", "hardy", "strong" or ward "guard".
Tôn NữVietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 孫女 (tôn nữ) meaning "granddaughter", originally used as a title for various royal women belonging to the Nguyễn dynasty.
BosoItalian From the medieval personal name Boso, from a Germanic personal name derived from a pejorative nickname meaning ‘leader’, ‘nobleman’, or ‘arrogant person’. Compare Dutch Boos.
MantelEnglish, German, French, Dutch nickname for someone who wore a cloak in a particularly conspicuous way or with a striking design, from Middle English, Middle High German, Old French, and Middle Dutch mantel "cloak, coat" (from Late Latin mantellus)... [more]
SumanasenaSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit सुमन (sumana) meaning "good-minded, benevolent" and सेना (sena) meaning "army".
PutneyEnglish habitational name from Putney in Surrey (now Greater London) named in Old English from the personal name Putta (genitive Puttan) and hyth "landing place quay".
TroiPopular Culture Possibly a variant or corruption of Troy. A notable fictional bearer was the Star Trek: The Next Generation character Deanna Troi, who was the counselor aboard the USS Enterprise.
BangDanish Originally a nickname denoting a loud or brash person, from Old Danish bang "noise" (from Old Norse banga "to pound, hammer" of echoic origin). A literary bearer was Danish author Herman Bang (1857-1912).... [more]
WindusEnglish Variant of Wingers. The name is a metonymic occupational name for a textile worker or weaver, derived from the Middle English wyndhows ("winding house").
CandemirTurkish Means "iron soul" from Turkish can meaning "soul, spirit" and demir meaning "iron".
LidmanSwedish Combination of Swedish place name element lid "slope, hillside" and man "man". A notable bearer was Swedish writer Sara Lidman (1923-2004).
KishioJapanese Kishi means "bank, shore, beach" and o means "tail".
CitronFrench, Venetian Ultimately from Latin citrum meaning "lemon, citrus fruit". Possibly an occupational name for someone who sells or raise lemons or any citrus fruit.
YuasaJapanese From Japanese 湯 (yu) meaning "hot spring" and 浅 (asa) meaning "shallow".
LahiffeIrish (Rare) From Irish Ó Laochdha meaning "descendant of the hero" or "descendant of the heroic", ultimately from laoch "warrior, hero".
DurhamEnglish Denotes a person from either the town of Durham, or elsewhere in County Durham, in England. Durham is derived from the Old English element dun, meaning "hill," and the Old Norse holmr, meaning "island."
HaversEnglish Possible variant of Haver, a German, Dutch and English surname. In Germany or England it refers to oats and is used as an occupational surname for a grower or seller of oats... [more]
WadsworthEnglish Location name from Yorkshire meaning "Wæddi's enclosure or settlement" with Wæddi being an old English personal name of unknown meaning plus the location element -worth. Notable bearer is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) for whom the middle name was his mother's maiden name.
BuffaItalian From Sicilian buffa, "toad". May alternately derive from Rebuffo.
MalkawiArabic (Arabized) The surname 'Malkawi' deprives from the town of Malka, a small village in Jordan bordering Syria.
SusanEnglish, Dutch, Jewish (Sephardic) As an English (London) and Dutch surname, it comes from the feminine personal name Susanna, from Hebrew שושן (shushan) meaning "lily, lily of the valley".... [more]
MyśliwiecmPolish Derived from the Polish word myśliwy meaning "hunter."
RolstonEnglish English habitational name from any of various places, such as Rowlston in Lincolnshire, Rolleston in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Staffordshire, or Rowlstone in Herefordshire, near the Welsh border... [more]
KircherGerman from Middle High German kirchner "minister, sexton patron" hence an occupational name for a priest or a church assistant.
DaleNorwegian, Danish Habitational name from any of the various farmsteads called Dale in Norway. Derived from Old Norse dalr "valley".
StungevičiusLithuanian The oldest currently known use of the surname in history was for a Polish-Lithuanian noble Kazimieras Stungevičius who lived circa 1667 within the village of Stungaičiai in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth... [more]
QuillenIrish The surname Quillen is derived from the personal name Hugelin, which is a diminutive of Hugh. The Gaelic form of the name is Mac Uighilin.
SurridgeEnglish From the medieval personal name Seric, a descendant of both Old English Sǣrīc, literally "sea power", and Sigerīc, literally "victory power".
FantuzziEmilian-Romagnol, Italian A surname derived from the medieval name "Fantino", which is a diminutive of "Fante", usually meaning "infant" or "child", but it was also used to refer to a "foot soldier".
BarreirosPortuguese, Galician Habitational name from any of various places in Galicia called Barreiros, from Portuguese and Galician barreiro meaning "slough, clay".
FariesScottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic Faries (meaning: fair, beautiful, or handsome) is derived from ancient Scottish Dalriadan MacFergus clans of the mountainous west coast of Scotland... [more]
PonceSpanish, English The Ponce name was carried into England after the migration from Normandy following the Norman Conquest of 1066.'Ponce' is derived from 'Ponsoby',a place in Cumberland, where the family settled. The Ponce motto is 'Pro rege, lege grege' meaning "For the King, law, and people"
ElgezabalBasque From the name of a neighborhood in the municipality of Zornotza, Spain, derived from Basque elge "field, cultivated land" and zabal "wide, broad, open".
CaligiuriItalian Comes from the Greek words "kalos" meaning "beautiful" and "gheros" meaning "elderly," and was often given to children in the hopes that they would retain their beauty in their old age.
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]
NishiiJapanese From Japanese 西 (nishi) meaning "west" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".
ChapelFrench Occupational name for a maker of cloaks or a nickname for a person who wore a distinctive cloak, from a diminutive of Old French chape meaning "cape, cloak".
BoomgaardenEast Frisian, Dutch From Dutch boomgaard "orchard", literally "tree garden", an occupational name for an orchard worker or a topographic name for someone who lived in or by an orchard.
TheronSouthern African, Afrikaans, Occitan Habitational name for someone from any of various locations in Occitanie named Théron or Thérond, ultimately from Latin torus meaning "elevation, height, embankment". A famous bearer is South African and American actress Charlize Theron (1975-).
DahmerGerman, Danish A northern German or Danish habitual name for someone from one of the many places named Dahme in Brandenburg, Holstein, Mecklenburg, or Silesia. A famous bearer of this name was Jeffrey Dahmer, serial killer (1960 - 1993).
NadoriMoroccan Habitational name from the Rifian city or province of Nador. A famous bearer is singer Rachid Nadori.
OllokiBasque (Rare) From the name of a village in Navarre, Spain, derived from Basque oilo "chicken, hen".
NatsumiJapanese (Rare) This is occasionally,but rarely used as a last name. Natsu means "Summer",and Mi in this surname means "Look". So the literal meaning of this could be "Look at Summer",or "The Look of Summer"... [more]
ÅngströmSwedish Combination of Swedish ånga "steam" and ström "river, current, stream". A notable bearer was Swedish physicist Anders Ångström (1814-1874), one of the founders of the science of spectroscopy... [more]