FroudEnglish From the Old English personal name Frōda or Old Norse Fróði, both meaning literally "wise" or "prudent". A variant spelling was borne by British historian James Anthony Froude (1818-1894).
ElfvingSwedish Possibly a combination of an obsolete spelling of Swedish älv "river" and the suffix -ing (ultimately from Proto-Germanic -ingaz) meaning "coming from, belonging to, descending from"... [more]
PikachuBrazilian From Japanese ピカチュウ (Pikachuu), derived from the onomatopoeic words ピカピカ (pikapika), a sparkly sound, and チュウチュウ (chuuchuu), a mouse sound. It happens to be a nickname for someone with a short stature who runs super fast according to the famous barrier Yago Pikachu (born Glaybson Yago Souza Lisboa) a Brazilian footballer who plays for Fortaleza.
ShoesmithEnglish occupational name for a blacksmith who either specialized in shoeing horses (a farrier) or in making and fitting iron blades known as shoes such as the tips of spades and the plowshares on plow moldboards from Middle English sho "shoe" (Old English scoh) and smith "smith" (Old English smiþ).
De MetzMedieval Jewish, Medieval French A medieval Ashkenazic French habitational name originally meaning "of Metz", from the city of Metz (now known as Mettis) in Lorraine, which was originally known as Mediomatrica, after the Gaulish tribe of the Mediomatrici... [more]
DamaskinosGreek Greek surname and first name that means “from Damascus”.
YueChinese From Chinese 岳 (yuè) referring to the ancient title Tai Yue (太岳), which was used by officials in charge of sacrificial rituals on mountain sites.
ItsuboJapanese From 伊 (i) meaning "this" and 坪 (tsubo), a traditional unit of length.
RakhmaninovRussian From a nickname derived from Russian рахманный (rakhmannyy) meaning "lazy". A notable bearer was Russian composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Rakhmaninov (1873-1943).
FuChinese From Chinese 傅 (fù) meaning "teacher, instructor", also referring to an ancient place named Fu Yan (傅岩) possibly located in what is now Shanxi province. It could also come from the name of the ancient fief of Fu, which existed during the Western Zhou dynasty in what is now Shandong province.
MatsukazeJapanese From Japanese 松 (matsu) meaning "pine" and 風 (kaze) meaning "wind". A notable bearer of this surname is Japanese actor Masaya Matsukaze (松風 雅也).
YumiJapanese Yu means "cause, reason, logic" and mi means "beauty". ... [more]
KavasakiJapanese (Russified) Alternate transcription of Kawasaki more commonly used by ethnic Japanese living in parts of the former Soviet Union and Sakhalin Japanese residing on Sakhalin Island in Russia.
PopalzaiPashto Meaning unknown, possibly derived from Persian پوپل (pupal) meaning "betel nut". The Popalzai are a Pashtun sub-tribe of the Durrani in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan.
SyrettEnglish Either (i) from the medieval male personal name Syred (from Old English Sigeræd, literally "victory-counsel"); or (ii) from the medieval female personal name Sigerith (from Old Norse Sigfrithr, literally "victory-lovely").
GoussetFrench It is derived from the Old French word gousset, which means "purse" or "wallet". It is likely that this surname was originally given to someone who was a purse maker or a merchant who dealt in small items.
ProiettiItalian From Latin proiecto "abandoned, thrown away", given to foundlings and children abandoned at orphanages. The name may have been taken from la ruota dei proietti, or "foundling wheel", that some orphanages and religious institutes in Italy installed for infants to be anonymously abandoned in.
DeburauCzech (Gallicized) Gallicized form of Dvořák. Jean-Gaspard Deburau, born as Jan Kašpar Dvořák (1796-1846), was a Bohemian-French mime. He performed from 1816 to the year of his death at the Théâtre des Funambules, which was immortalized in Marcel Carné's poetic-realist film Children of Paradise.
GordilloSpanish Derived from the Spanish pet form of fat, "gordito"
JocelynEnglish Another of the names brought to England in the eleventh century by the Normans, and mentioned in the Domesday Book. Originally a masculine name only.
KinderknechtGerman Occupational name for a servant in charge of the children at a manor, derived from kinder (plural of kind) meaning "child" and knecht meaning "servant".
LavecchiaItalian Means "the old (one)" or "the old lady" in Italian, a nickname for a man who fussed like an old woman, or for someone from an old family. It can also denote someone from a toponym containing the element vecchia.
RugbyEnglish From Rugby, Warwickshire. Originally named *Rocheberie, from Old English *Hrocaburg, 'Hroca's fort', the name was altered due to influence fort Danish settlers, with the second element being replaced with Old Norse byr, 'farm'.... [more]
MadraswalaIndian (Parsi) From Madras (presently Chennai), the name of the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
AmbergGerman, Jewish German and possibly Jewish (Ashkenazic) habitational name from any of several settlements called Amberg (literally ‘by the mountain’), including a city in Bavaria. It could also be a topographic name of identical etymology... [more]
VillaseñorGalician (Hispanicized) Habitational name, apparently a Castilianized spelling of Galician Vilseñor, from any of three places in Lugo province named Vilaseñor.
FeijoPortuguese Feijo is a Portuguese surname derived from "feijão", meaning "bean," possibly referring to someone who grew or sold beans.
CarafaItalian It could derive from toponyms such as Caraffa del Bianco in the province of Reggio Calabria or Caraffa in the province of Catanzaro.... [more]
UmKorean Transliteration of the Korean reading of hanja 嚴 from Chinese meaning “stern”
QuadererGerman Nickname for someone stocky, from Middle High German quader meaning "building stone".
InthavongLao From Lao ອິນທະ (intha) referring to the Hindu god Indra and ວົງ (vong) meaning "lineage, family". This is the most common surname in Laos.
WakayamaJapanese From Japanese 若 (waka) meaning "young" and 山 (yama) meaning "mountain".
HiieleppEstonian Hiielepp is an Estonian surname derived from "hiis" (a sacred grove) alder".
GraffEnglish Metonymic occupational name for a clerk or scribe, from Anglo-Norman French grafe "quill, pen" (a derivative of grafer "to write", Late Latin grafare, from Greek graphein).
KriaučiūnasLithuanian Derived from Lithuanian kriaučius "tailor" combined with the patronymic suffix -ūnas.
Vogt Von WeidaMedieval German Toponymic variant of Vogt. This noble family split into several lines to include Weida, Gera, and Plauen. The Princes of Reuss descend from the Plauen line.
SaikiaIndian, Assamese From a military title used during the Ahom Kingdom that indicated an official who commanded 100 soldiers. The title itself is derived from Assamese শ (xo) meaning "hundred".
Van HelsingDutch (Rare) Habitational name that can derive from any of several locations. It is most famously used by the fictional character Abraham Van Helsing in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, in which case it may be invented.
AjtósiHungarian Derived from a destroyed medieval settlement in Békés County, meaning "with door" in Hungarian, from Hungarian ajtó "door". It could also mean "doormaker" in Hungarian.
MastGerman, Dutch Derived from Middle High German and Middle Dutch mast "mast (fodder made of acorns and beechnuts); the process of fattening livestock", an occupational name for a pig farmer or a swineherd. In some cases, however, the German name may also have been derived from Middle High German mast, mastic "fat, stout".
EjercitoSpanish (Philippines) From Spanish ejército meaning "army". A notable bearer was Joseph Ejercito Estrada (1937-), the 13th president of the Philippines.
KoKorean There is only one Chinese character for the surname Ko. There are ten different Ko clans, but they are all descended from the Ko clan of Cheju Island. There is no historical information regarding the founder of this clan, but there is a legend which tells of three men who appeared from a cave on the north side of Cheju Island’s Halla Mountain... [more]
NatkhoCircassian Shapsug name possibly derived from Adyghe нат (nāt) meaning "Nart" (referring to a Caucasian saga) combined with хъо (χo) meaning "pig".
BaccellieriItalian From baccelliere "batchelor", a title for a young knight, or a university disciple who had studied Canon Law for 5 years and Civil Law for 7 years.
ButkereitGerman (East Prussian) Derived from Prussian-Lithuanian butkėrė (Standard Lithuanian butkėrė), a Balticized form of German Böttcher "cooper, barrel maker" combined with the East Prussian German patronymic suffix -eit.
PremathilakaSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit प्रेम (prema) meaning "love, affection" and तिलक (tilaka) meaning "mark, dot, ornament".
CorbinEnglish, French Derived from French corbeau meaning "raven," originally denoting a person who had dark hair.
WeiChinese From Chinese 韦 (wéi) referring to the ancient state of Wei that existed in the pre-Qin period in what is now Henan province.
KolberGerman From an agent derived from Middle High German kolbe "club, cudgel" an occupational name for someone who made wooden clubs later for an armorer, or a habitational name for someone from Kolben in Württemberg or Cölbe in Hesse.
GingrichGerman (Americanized) Potentially from German “junge” and “reich,” meaning “rich at a young age.” Anglicized by immigrants as either Gingrich or Guengerich.
TibuEstonian Tibu is an Estonian surname meaning "chicken".
RybakPolish, Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Jewish Means "fisherman" in some Slavic languages. Derived from the word ryba "fish". A famous bearer is Byelarusian-Norwegian artist Alexander Rybak (b. 1986) who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009.
GernikaBasque (Rare) From the name of a town and municipality (called Guernica in Spanish and English) in Biscay, Basque Country, of uncertain etymology... [more]