BrahamEnglish From the name of a town called Braham, probably derived from Old English brom meaning "broom (a type of plant)" and ham meaning "home, settlement" or hamm meaning "river meadow".
GrafelmanGerman From the small village of Grafelmünd, located in the southern region of Bavaria. The name is derived from the Old High German words graf, meaning "count" or "earl", and munt, meaning "mouth" or "entrance."
ShamounArabic, Assyrian, Jewish Derived from the given name شامون (Shamʿūn), itself an Arabic form of Simon 1, used mainly among Christians and Jews... [more]
CesurTurkish Means "bold, brave, courageous" in Turkish.
SärekannoEstonian Särekanno is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "säre" ("violent" or "sudden") and "kanne" ("bearing" or "entry").
BloemendaalDutch Means "valley of flowers", the name of several places in the Netherlands, derived from bloem "flower" and dal "valley, dale". Cognate to German Blumenthal.
LangEstonian Lang is an Estonian surname meaning "relative" and "in-law".
GingrichGerman (Americanized) Potentially from German “junge” and “reich,” meaning “rich at a young age.” Anglicized by immigrants as either Gingrich or Guengerich.
MorantEnglish, French From the Old French personal name Morant, perhaps from a nickname meaning "steadfast", or alternatively of Germanic origin and meaning literally "courage-raven". A known bearer was the British-born Australian soldier and poet Breaker Morant, original name Edwin Henry Murrant (?1864-1902).
WigrenOld Norse From the Old Norse Végrein derived from the prefix "Wi-" or "Vi-" in Scandinavian place names and surnames often relates to "holy place" or "sanctuary" (from Old Norse vé meaning a sacred place or shrine) with the suffix "-gren" means "branch" in Swedish.
NoceItalian Means "nut" or "walnut" in Italian. Could be a topographic name for someone who lived where nut trees grew, an occupational name for a grower or seller of walnuts, or perhaps a nickname based on the bearer’s strength of character, or a physical characteristic such as brown hair or skin.
CleverlyEnglish From a nickname for an intelligent or quick-witted person.
ByresScottish Byres was first used as a surname by the descendants of the ancient Boernician clans of Scotland. The first Byres family lived in or near the place named Byers in Scotland. The place-name, Byers, derives from the Old English word byre, which means cattle shed... [more]
KandimaaEstonian Kandimaa is an Estonian surname derived from "kandis" ("neck of the woods") and "land".
MitchamEnglish Habitational name from Mitcham in Surrey so named from Old English micel "big" and ham "village homestead" or ham "water meadow" meaning either "the great homestead" or "the great meadow".
VečeřaCzech Means "supper". Pronounced "veh-cze-zha".
FleetwoodEnglish Means "From the town of Fleetwood, in Lancaster".
LucíaSpanish, Italian From the feminine personal name Lucia, feminine derivative of Latin lux meaning "light".
KenmochiJapanese From 剣 (ken, tsurugi) meaning "sword" and 持 (mochi, ji, chi, mo.tsu) meaning "to hold, to have".
NeubertGerman Derived from the German word “neu,” meaning “new,” and the word “Bert,” which is a shortened form of the Germanic given name “Berthold,” meaning “bright ruler.” So, it means “new bright ruler”.
YefimovichRussian Grigori Yefimovich who is best known as "Rasputin" was a Russian peasant, mystic and private adviser to the Romanovs (Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Tsarina Alexandra in the early 20th century).
ImberiGerman (Swiss) It comes from Stuttgart Germany from the late 1800s. Then the name moved to a small village outside of Odessa Ukraine, in my family at least.
O'hurleyIrish The name Hurley itslef come from the stick used in the game of Hurling, first played in Ireland. The name might have origanated due to a player of the game being dubbed hurley... [more]
RugeGerman Nickname from Middle High German ruowe, ruge ‘quiet’, ‘calm’ or Low German rug ‘rough’, ‘crude’.... [more]
LeverichEnglish The surname Leverich was first found in West Yorkshire at Liversedge, a township that dates back to the Domesday Book where it was listed as Livresec, a manor belonging to Radulf, a vassal of Ilbert de Lacy... [more]
CaanScottish, German, Jewish Altered spelling of Jewish Cohen, or probably denoted a person from the city of Aberdeen in Scotland. Famous bearers of this surname include American actor James Caan (1940-2022), as well as his son Scott Caan (1976-), also a noted actor.
St-gelaisFrench (Quebec) From the French place name Saint-Gelais which was allegedly named for a 5th-century bishop of Poitiers. The name Gelais is a variant of Gélase.
SimueangThai From Thai ศรี (si) meaning "glory, honour, splendour" and เมือง (mueang) meaning "city, town, state".
LaverickEnglish Derived from Old English lāferce meaning "lark", making it a cognate of Lark.
EisenGerman, Jewish German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for an ironworker or smith, or an ironmonger, from Middle High German isen ‘iron’, German Eisen. It may also have been used as a nickname, with reference to the strength and hardness of iron or to its color, while as a Jewish name it was also adopted as an ornamental name from modern German Eisen ‘iron’ or the Yiddish cognate ayzn.
MonomachosGreek Meaning gladiator or 'the one that fights alone.' A surname of a Byzantine family from Nicomedia (Izmit).
DeschanelFrench Derived from French eschamel meaning "stepladder" or des chanels meaning "from the channels, from the little jugs". An occupational nickname for a trader, it supposedly originated in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France... [more]
BrinkerGerman, Dutch Derived from brink "edge, slope" or "village green", indicating that the bearer of the surname lived near a prominent slope of land or next to the centre of a village.
CusackIrish An Irish family name of Norman origin, originally from Cussac in Guienne (Aquitaine), France. The surname died out in England, but is common in Ireland, where it was imported at the time of the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century.
CarradineEnglish, German (Anglicized) Variant spelling of Caradine. This name is borne by members of the Carradine family of actors, notably the American actor John Carradine (1906-1988).
RundqvistSwedish Combination of Swedish rund "round" and qvist, an archaic spelling of kvist, "twig".
IshinakaJapanese Ishi means "stone, rock" and naka means "middle".
RääkEstonian Rääk is an Estonian surname meaning "Corn crake (Crex crex)".
TänavsuuEstonian Tänavsuu is an Estonian surname literally meaning "street mouth" ("street entry", or "the beginning of the street"); derived from the compound words "tänav" ("street") and "suu" ("mouth").
FiscusGerman From Latin fiscus "basket", a humanistic Latinization of the German surname Korb. This is a metonymic occupational name for a basketmaker or a peddler, or a habitational name for someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of a basket.
MurlandIrish Murland is an Irish surname, which according to MacLysaght's The Surnames of Ireland is MacMurghalain in Gaelic, ultimately deriving from words meaning "sea" and "valor".
SunaharaJapanese From Japanese 砂 (suna) meaning "sand" and 原 (hara) meaning "meadow, plain, field".
CaouetteFrench (Quebec) Altered form of French Cahouet, itself a regional form of chat-huant meaning "screech owl", hence a nickname referring to the bird.
KnatchbullEnglish A nickname from Old English knatch "to strike" + bull "bull", indicating strength.
FitzEmpressHistory, Anglo-Norman Means "son of the empress" in Anglo-Norman French. The three sons of Empress Matilda (1102-1167) were known as Henry FitzEmpress (King Henry II of England), Geoffrey FitzEmpress, Count of Nantes, and William FitzEmpress, Count of Poitou.
YotsuyanagiJapanese From Japanese 四柳 (Yotsuyanagi) meaning "Yahaba", a former village in the district of Kashima in the former Japanese province of Noto in parts of present-day Ishikawa in Japan.... [more]
FlintEnglish, German Topographic name for someone who lived near a significant outcrop of flint, Old English, Low German flint, or a nickname for a hard-hearted or physically tough individual.
HollandRomani Holland is an English surname that was adopted by some Romani families that immigrated to England in the 1500s. It is unclear if the surname was simply adopted, or if it an anglicised form of a Romani surname.
SeagerEnglish, German (Modern) English: from the Middle English personal name Segar, Old English S?gar, composed of the elements s? ‘sea’ + gar ‘spear’.... [more]
KoniecznyPolish Originally meant "final, last" in Polish, used to refer to a person who lived at the end of a village.
YanChinese From Chinese 颜 (yán) meaning "face, countenance", also referring to the ancient fief of Yan that existed during the Western Zhou dynasty in what is now Shandong province.
ScogingsEnglish, Old Danish A surname of Scandinavian origin from the old Norse and old Danish by-name "Skeggi" or "skoggi", meaning 'the bearded one'. Common in areas invaded and settled by Scandinavians in the 8th and 9th Centuries.
VecchioItalian Means "old, aged" in Italian, originally used as a nickname for an older or oldest son or for someone who was prematurely grey or wrinkled.
VaikjärvEstonian Vaikjärv is an Estonian surname meaning "quiet/still lake".
BjörnSwedish Means "bear" in Swedish. Either taken directly from the given name (see Björn) or from a nickname for a big, hairy person. It may also be derived from a place named with the element björn.
EmmenDutch The surname Emmen carries a legacy of wealth, power, and historical significance within the Netherlands, a name once whispered with admiration in the halls of influence and etched into the annals of Dutch aristocracy... [more]