Ben-hurJewish, Literature Means "son of Hur" in Hebrew. This was also the name of the protagonist of both the 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ and the 1959 film adaptation Ben-Hur, named Judah Ben-Hur.
FontanarosaItalian Denoted a person who came from one of the various places in Italy with this name or similar, derived from Italian meaning "red fountain".
HirosawaJapanese Hiro means "broad, spacious, wide" and sawa means "swamp, marsh".
Van SchaikDutch Derived from any of several places called Schaik, Schaijk, or Schadijk, derived from the original form Schadewijk possibly meaning "shaded place" or "inhospitable place" from Middle Dutch scade meaning either "shadow, shade" or "damage" combined with wijk "village, settlement".
SchlanserRomansh Derived from the place name Schlans, a former municipality in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.
LischkeGerman A German surname of slavic origin. A historic bearer was Johann Lischke, a German Protestant reformer in the 16th century. The name may come from the German word “Lisch,” which can refer to a marshy or wetland area.
BorondaAmerican (Hispanic), Basque Boronda is a Californio surname that is also of Basque origin. Boronda is the name of a place in Salinas California named after Jose Eusebio Boronda where he made his house out of Adobe. Today, It is a California national Historic landmark in Boronda road in Salinas.
BlacksmithEnglish Occupational name for a blacksmith, a smith who work with iron. The name is rare in England and mostly found in North America, suggesting that it's a translation of a non-English name meaning "blacksmith" (see Kowalski, Raudsepp and Lefèvre for example).
GraanoogstDutch, Dutch (Surinamese) Occupational name for a person who harvested grain, derived from Middle Dutch grâen literally meaning "grain, cereal" and ôgest meaning "harvest". A famous bearer is the Surinamese soldier and politician Ivan Graanoogst (c... [more]
KressGerman From Middle High German kresse "gudgeon", hence probably a nickname for someone thought to resemble the fish in some way or an occupational name for a fisherman.
OstorojniyUkrainian Ostorojniy - a surname derived from the Russian word "cautious". It was popular in the 19th century.
DarmadiChinese (Indonesian) Indonesianized form of Chinese surnames such as Huo (霍) or Wang (汪). Surnames like these were instituted during the New Order era (1966–1998) in Indonesia due to social and political pressure toward Chinese Indonesians.
CypressEnglish Translation of German Zypress, a topographic name for someone living near a cypress tree or a habitational name for someone living at a house distinguished by the sign of a cypress, Middle High German zipres(se) (from Italian cipressa, Latin cupressus), or possibly of any of various Greek family names derived from kyparissos ‘cypress’, as for example Kyparissis, Kyparissos, Kyparissiadis, etc.
AghdashlooPersian Denoted a person who came from various places named Ağdaş and Agdash in Azerbaijan, or Aqdash and Aghdash in Iran. A famous bearer is Shohreh Aghdashloo (1952-), an Iranian-American actress.
HitotoseJapanese (Rare) This surname consists of the kanji that reads "spring, summer, autumn, and winter" in that order.
InglestonEnglish (British) Ingleston is an exceptionally rare surname and seems to be posessed by a single family who much grew larger in the 19th century. ... [more]
AlmarzaSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 localities: the Castilian municipality of Almarza, Comarca of El Valle or the Riojan municipality of Almarza de Cameros.
PolitzerHungarian, German, Jewish Habitational name derived from any one of several places called Police (known as Pölitz in German) in the Czech Republic. Hugh David Politzer (1949-) is an American theoretical physicist who, along with David Gross and Frank Wilczek, discovered asymptotic freedom.
WanhataloFinnish From the Finnish "vanha talo." With the "vanha" meaning old or aged and "talo" being a place of living mostly a house. The most common translation is "old house".
MaghribiArabic (Maghrebi) Derived from Arabic المغرب (al-Maghrib) meaning "the west", also referring to the country of Morocco. It could be used to refer to a Moroccan person or (in English) someone from the Maghreb region of Northern Africa.
ArcheambeauFrench The name Archambeau is derived from the Latin personal name 'Arcambaldus'. In turn the name 'Arcambaldus', is derived from the Germanic word 'Ercan', which means precious in Germanic, and 'bald', meaning bold and daring.... [more]
BostwickEnglish Altered form of Bostock, the second element probably influenced by Old English wic "village, town".
OstwaldGerman from the ancient Germanic personal name Ostold composed of the elements ōst "east" (see Oest ) and Old High German walt(an) "to rule". Variant of Oswald.
RuisardFrench (Rare, ?) Originated as a result of trade between France and the Persian Empires before the Iranian Revolution, probably during the Safavid Dynasty. The surname has its roots in the Persian Riahi surname and the Arabic word رِيح (rīḥ) meaning "wind" and the Persian word “sered” before it was altered to fit French spelling rules.... [more]
BaldyEnglish Possibly derived from an Old English feminine given name, *Bealdgýð, composed of the elements beald "bold" and guð "battle", first recorded c.1170 as Baldith, and in other cases from the Old Norse byname or given name Baldi.
DukelowEnglish This surname is of Old French origin. It was initially introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066, and subsequently by French Huguenot refugees fleeing religious persecutions in their own country... [more]
TuzlaTurkish From a city in Bosnia named "Tuzla" or "salt mine". Formally occupied by the Ottoman Empire.
RaymondEnglish, French From the Norman personal name Raimund, composed of the Germanic elements ragin "advice, counsel" and mund "protection".
PotierFrench An occupational name for a maker of drinking and storage vessels, from potier "potter", an agent derivative of Old French pot "drinking vessel"... [more]
SuurbierDutch Dutch cognate of Sauerbier. A famous bearer was the Dutch soccer player Wim Suurbier (1945-2020).
RehemaaEstonian Rehemaa is an Estonian surname meaning "threshing land".
JiaChinese From Chinese 甲 (jiǎ) meaning "one, first", also referring to an ancient fief or small state named Jia located in what is now either Henan or Hebei province.
SelfEnglish East Anglian surname, from the medieval English masculine name Saulf which was derived from the Old English elements sǣ "sea" and wulf "wolf".
LöbeGerman Variant of Löwe from Middle High German lēwelöuwe "lion" hence a nickname for a brave or regal person. In some cases the surname may have been a topographic or habitational name referring to a house or inn distinguished by the sign of a lion.
SpielerGerman, Jewish Occupational Name For A Tumbler Or Jester German Spieler ‘Player’ Middle High German Spilære An Agent Derivative Of Spiln ‘To Play To Jest To Sport’.
WitekPolish, English (Rare) From the personal name Wit, a short form of Witold, a derivative of Lithuanian Vytautas, a compound of vyti 'to guide' + tauta 'the people'... [more]
BroomfieldEnglish From a place name meaning "gorse field", from Old English brom "gorse" and feld "field, open country".
KovtunUkrainian, Russian Means "plica, mophead" in Ukrainian, refering to someone with unkempt hair "Polish plait" .
OkuriJapanese O means "big, great" and kuri means "chestnut".
AcriItalian Habitational name from a city in Cosenza province named Acri, derived from Ancient Greek ἄκρα (akra) meaning "peak, top, extremity" or "citadel overlooking a town".
SiddiquiArabic, Urdu, Bengali From Arabic صَادِق (ṣādiq) meaning "true, truthful, veracious". It was traditionally used as an honorific title or a nickname for a trustworthy person.
UibolehtEstonian Uiboleht is an Estonian surname meaning "wintergreen (genus: Pyrola)".
SwanEnglish, Scottish Originally given as a nickname to a person who was noted for purity or excellence, which were taken to be attributes of the swan, or who resembled a swan in some other way. In some cases it may have been given to a person who lived at a house with the sign of a swan... [more]
SomanIndian Indian (Kerala, Tamil Nadu): Hindu name from Sanskrit soma ‘moon’ + the Tamil-Malayalam third-person masculine singular suffix -n. This is only a given name in India, but has come to be used as a family name in the U.S.
FuenteSpanish topographic name from fuente "fount, spring" (from Latin fons, genitive fontis), or a habitational name from any of numerous places in Spain named with this word... [more]
CronkhiteDutch (Americanized) Americanized form of the obsolete Dutch surname Krankheyt, derived from krankheid meaning "illness, weakness", most likely a nickname for a sickly individual.
RzymskiPolish Derived from a place named ryzm "Rome". Denoting for someone from Rome.
DilustroLiterature Madame diLustro is described as a fine cook and an excellent detective. She often hosts dinner parties and flies into a rage if one of her guests arrives even five minutes late. Snicket has to dash off to one of her dinner parties while in the middle of writing The Reptile Room.
CrownoverGerman (Anglicized) Americanised spelling of German Kronauer, denoting someone from Kronau, a town near Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It could also be an Americanised form of Kronhöfer (a variant of Grünhofer), a habitational name for someone from a lost place called Grünhof, derived from Middle High German gruene meaning "green" or kranech meaning "crane" and hof meaning "farmstead".
TilneyEnglish Used in farming familys back in the 18th century but its still living true! but this very rare and uniqe name is only used in three family in australia.
OwariJapanese From Japanese 終 (owa) meaning “last, to finish” and 里 (ri) meaning “village, the home of one’s parents, hometown”. The latter character is also an archaic Japanese unit of area.
AlgerieArabic (Maghrebi) Derived from the French Algérie meaning "Algeria" (referring directly to the country itself). It also refers to someone from Annaba, Algeria.
AgoncilloSpanish (Philippines) It is believed that the surname comes from an ancient Celtic settlement named Egon, whose ruins lie near the town of Agoncillo, La Rioja, Spain.
ArceriItalian From Italian arciere "archer, bowman". May alternately be from a place name, such as Arcera.
ChallengerEnglish Probably from a medieval nickname for a touchy or quarrelsome person (from a derivative of Middle English chalangen "to challenge"). A fictional bearer is Professor George Challenger, irascible scientist and explorer, leader of the expedition to Amazonia in Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Lost World' (1912).
KasetsiriThai From Thai เกษตร (kaset) meaning "farmland" and ศิริ (siri) meaning "glory; splendor".
BiscornetLiterature Derived from the Latin words bis, meaning "two" and cornet, meaning "horn". According to French urban legend, this was the last name of the architect who built the doorways in the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral... [more]
CamargoSpanish Habitational name for someone from a place in Andalusia called Camargo.
PendarvisEnglish (American) The American English spelling of the Cornish surname Pendarves. Ultimately, the surname is traced back to Pendarves Island, Cornwall.
AkbaşTurkish From Turkish ak meaning "white" and baş meaning "head".
AdrienneMedieval English The surname dervies from the Latin male given name "(H)adrianus", originally an ethnic name for someone from the seaport of Adria - which gave its name to the Adriatic Sea - who settled in Rome and became known as "the man from Adria" (in Latin, "Adrianus")... [more]
KrčmarCroatian Derived from Croatian krčmar meaning "innkeeper, tavern owner, barkeeper", which is ultimately derived from Croatian krčma meaning "inn, tavern, pub".... [more]
San JuanSpanish Means "Saint John", derived from Spanish santo "saint" combined with Juan 1. This is a habitational name for a person from any of various places called San Juan, so named for a local shrine or church dedicated to Saint John (San Juan).
NibbeGerman Nickname meaning ‘beak’, or from a short form of a Germanic personal name Nippo, composed of Old High German nit ‘hostility’, ‘eagerness’ + boto ‘messenger’.
LykoudisGreek Lykoudis (Greek: Λυκούδης) is a Greek surname, derived from the Greek word for wolf (Greek: λύκος, lykos). It may also have been used for individuals from the village of Lykoudi in Greece.
MeirelesPortuguese Habitational name for someone from a place called Meireles in Portugal, meaning unclear.