HelberGerman Occupational name for a thresher, from Middle High German helwe 'chaff' + the agent suffix -er; alternatively, it could be a habitational name from a place called Helba near Meiningen.
CortrightEnglish Habitational surname from the Dutch Kortrijk for a person from a place of this name in Flanders. Perhaps also a respelling of English Cartwright.
TewksburyEnglish Derived from Tewkesbury, a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is named with the Old English given name Teodec and burg meaning "fortification".
BierceEnglish, Welsh English variant and Welsh form of Pierce. A famous bearer was the American author, journalist and poet Ambrose Bierce (1842-c. 1914), who wrote The Devil's Dictionary and other works... [more]
TunireIrish Originates from an old folklore joke. Originates from Tuuniro
NaiduIndian The surname Naidu occurs in communities of Andhra Pradesh. It is composed of a stem word ‘naya’, which means leader or chief. The suffix ‘du’ is a third person masculine suffix in Telegu.
DoakScots A Scots Gaelic name said to be either an Anglicized version of Dabhóc that is a pet form of the given name David or a pet form of the given name Caradoc.
HorsleyEnglish Habitational name from any of the various places called Horsley in England, all derived from Old English hors "horse" and leah "woodland, clearing", probably referring to a place where horses were put out to pasture.
ClercFrench Occupational or status name for a member of a minor religious order or for a scholar Old French clerc from Late Latin clericus from Greek klerikos a derivative of kleros "inheritance legacy" with reference to the priestly tribe of Levites (see Levy ) "whose inheritance was the Lord"... [more]
SangChinese From Chinese 桑 (sāng) referring either to the ancient city of Qiong Sang, which existed in what is now Shandong province, or the ancient state of Sang, which existed in what is now Henan province and was annexed by the state of Qin.
PininfarinaItalian A combination of "pinin", Piedmontese for youngest/smallest brother, and Farina, the Italian variant of Miller. This is the name of the Italian coachbuilder, founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina, later Battista Pininfarina.
SowaJapanese From 宗 (so) meaning "religion, sect, denomination, main point, origin, essence" and 和 (wa) meaning "harmony, Japanese style, peace, soften, Japan".
FischmannGerman, Jewish Cognate of Fishman. occupational name for a fish seller from Middle High German fisc Yiddish fish (German fisch) "fish" and Middle High German and Yiddish man (German mann) "man".
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).
KatayoseJapanese From Japanese 片 (kata) meaning "one-sided, partial" and 寄 (yose) meaning "contribute, donate, increase".
BurwitzPolabian From Polabian bur "farmer" and the Germanized Slavic ending -witz.
BuitenhuisDutch Means "country house, building outside of the city" in Dutch, derived from buiten "outside, out of; in the country" and huis "house, home, residence".
StellaItalian Italian for "star". Either possibly derived from the given name Stella 1, or from several places in Italy containing the word stella.
FerrandFrench, English This French surname can be derived from a given name (thus making it a patronymic surname) as well as from a nickname (thus making it a descriptive surname). In the case of a patronymic surname, the surname is derived from the medieval French masculine given name Ferrand, which was a variant form of the name Fernand, itself a contraction of Ferdinand.... [more]
BezshtankoUkrainian From Ukrainian без (bez), meaning "without" and a diminutive form of штанів (shtaniv), meaning "pants". Compare the surname Shtanko.
HappyEnglish, Scottish From a nickname for a fortunate person, derived from Middle English happy "fortunate, prosperous, blessed". In some cases, an Anglicized calque of any of the surnames meaning "happy, fortunate" (i.e., French L'Heureux or German Glück).
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]
BuffetFrench Occupational name for a maker of furniture, derived from Old French buffet meaning "table, cupboard". It could also be a nickname for an angry and violent man, from Old French buffet meaning "slap in the face"... [more]
ZabelGerman The surname has multiple meanings. It may come from a Slavic given name, or the High German word zabel, meaning "board game" - given, perhaps, as a nickname to those who played many board games.
MaukCzech, Russian The word Mauk is the Eastern European meaning for night. In the early ages a small group of people in the area now known to be in or around Russia and the czech republic founded this word and made it their name... [more]
ArlottaSicilian From the French personal name Arlot, recorded in the Latinized form Arolottus from the 13th century.
GoldwaterGerman (Anglicized), Jewish (Anglicized) This name is an Anglicized form of the German or Ashkenazic ornamental surname 'Goldwasser', or 'Goldvasser'. The name derives from the German or Yiddish gold', gold, with 'wasser', water, and is one of the very many such compound ornamental names formed with 'gold', such as 'Goldbaum', golden tree, 'Goldbert', golden hill, 'Goldkind', golden child, 'Goldrosen', golden roses, and 'Goldstern', golden star.
YeltsinmRussian Possibly from Russian word ель (jel') meaning "spruce, fir" and the relational suffix -ин (-in).
NedelcuRomanian (Modern) Entered Romania around the 16th century via Bulgaria as a popular female given name - Neda/Nedelea etc., attested under the form of Nedelco/Nedelcu in the historical region of Basarabia around 1560, became a surname in the following century... [more]
KochiyamaJapanese From 河 (ko) meaning "river, stream", 内 (chi) meaning "inside" and 山 (yama) meaning "mountain".
NorvellScottish A habitation surname for someone from Normanville, Normandy.
HigginsEnglish Patronymic from the medieval personal name Higgin, a pet form of Hick.
BuurmanDutch From Old Dutch bur meaning "neighbour, resident" or "peasant, farmer" combined with man "person, man". Compare Baumann.
TrémontFrench Habitational name from any of several locations in France, derived from Latin trans "across, beyond" and mons "mountain", making it a cognate of Italian Tremonti... [more]
PeregrineEnglish, Popular Culture Derived from the given name Peregrine. A fictional bearer is Alma LeFay Peregrine, a character from the novel "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" (2011) by Ransom Riggs.
TakiyaJapanese (Rare) Taki (滝) means "waterfall", ya (谷) means "valley". One notable fictional character who bears this surname is Genji Takiya (滝谷 源治) from Crows Zero, this surname is very rare.
HazardEnglish, French Nickname for an inveterate gambler, a crafty person, or a brave or foolhardy man prepared to run risks, from Middle English hasard via Old French hasart "dice game, game of chance", later used metaphorically of other uncertain enterprises... [more]