PorteFrench, German, English from Old French porte "gateway entrance" (from Latin porta) hence a topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a fortified town (typically the man in charge of them)... [more]
HadoJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 波 (ha) meaning "wavelength" and 動 (do, dou, dō) meaning "motion, change, confusion"
MerridewEnglish A different form of Meredith (from the Welsh personal name Meredydd, perhaps literally "lord of splendour"). It occurs in Wilkie Collins' 'The Moonstone' (1868) belonging to Mrs Merridew, widowed sister to Sir John Verinder.
DarabontHungarian, Romanian Occupational name meaning "guardsman" in Hungarian, ultimately derived from French brabançon. The American movie director Frank Darabont (1959-) is a famous bearer of this name.
PhanuwatThai (Rare) From Thai ภาณุ (phanu) meaning "light, Sun" and วัฒน์ (wat), from วัฒน (watthana-) meaning "prosperity, beauty".
GreenbergerGerman, Jewish Anglicized form of the German surname Grünberger, which is formed from the words grün "green", Berg "mountain", and the habitational suffix -er. This name indicated a person who lived on or near a forest-covered mountain.
LiljemanSwedish (Rare) From the Swedish lilja meaning "lily" and the suffix man meaning "man."
ButtaItalian Italian: from a short form of a compound name formed with butta- ‘throw’, as for example Buttacavoli.Italian: from an old German feminine personal name Butta.Italian: variant of Botta.
CampionNorman, French English (of Norman origin) and French: status name for a professional champion (see Champion, Kemp), from the Norman French form campion.
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".
NoarEnglish This surname is thought to be derived from nore which could mean "shore, cliff." This could denote that someone might have lived in a shore or cliff. It may also be used as a surname for someone who lived in the now 'diminished' village of Nore in Surrey.
SchildhauerGerman First appeared during the Middle Ages in Central Europe/Germany. The name means "Shield-Maker" and suggests correlation to Blacksmiths or or other forms of metalwork in the time period.
MortlockEnglish Habitational name denoting someone from Mortlake, Surrey, or from Mortlach, Banff. Mortlake could mean either "Morta’s meadow", from the byname Morta and Old English lag "wet pasture, marshy field", or "salmon stream", from mort "young salmon" and lacu "stream, pool"... [more]
BascianiItalian The surname Basciani derives from a nickname probably given to the family of origin (from the Latin "Bassus"), for the probable short stature of some components, although the derivation from the Campania family "Bassus" is not excluded.
BarreauFrench Possibly a variant of Barreur, an agent derivative of barrer ‘to bar’, ‘to close or block off’, hence possibly an occupational name for a jailer or doorkeeper.
ChomchuenThai Means "congratulations" from Thai ชม (chom) meaning "see, watch, praise, admire" and ชื่น (chuen) meaning "happy, joyful, delighted".
DuongKhmer Means "disk, circle" or "dear, darling, beloved" in Khmer.
TardáguilaSpanish Tardáguila is a Spanish surname that is believed to have originated from the Basque region of Spain. The surname is a combination of the words "tarda", which means late, and "aguila", which means eagle... [more]
BechmannGerman (Rare) Surname denoting someone who worked with pitch, from Middle High German bech / pech "pitch" and man, a suffix which can mean "man" or simply be used as a name suffix.
ReizigerDutch, Dutch (Surinamese) Derived from Middle Dutch reisiger meaning "traveller, voyager", ultimately from Middle High German meaning "soldier on horseback". It is notably borne by the Dutch former soccer player Michael Reiziger (1973-).
CedergrenSwedish Combination of Swedish ceder "cedar" and gren "branch".
PischeddaSardinian Thought to derive from the Sardinian word pischedda, which translates to "little fish", possibly indicating a connection to fishing or aquatic occupations that were prevalent in coastal communities.
KusanagiJapanese From Japanese 草 (kusa) meaning "grass" and 彅 (nagi) meaning "cutter". A notable bearer of this surname is actor Tsuyoshi Kusanagi (草彅 剛, Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, 1974–).
LättemäeEstonian Lättemäe is an Estonian surname derived from "läte" meaning "spring" or "fountain" and "mäe" meaning "hill" and "mountain"; "spring mountain".
SeixasPortuguese Habitational name from any of various places called Seixas in Galicia, Spain, most likely derived from Galician seixo meaning "pebble, stone" (ultimately from Latin saxum).
DanzaItalian Probably a habitational name from a place in Salerno, Italy. In the case of American actor Tony Danza, it’s a shortened form of Iadanza, used as a stage name.
MonarrezSpanish Hispanic (Mexico; Monárrez): Altered Form Of Basque Munárriz Itself A Castilianized Form Of A Habitational Name From Munarritz (Also Amunarritz In Castilian Munárriz) A Town In Navarre.
GloucesterEnglish habitational name from the city of Gloucester. The place originally bore the British name Glevum (apparently from a cognate of Welsh gloyw "bright") to which was added the Old English element ceaster "Roman fort or walled city" (from Latin castrum "legionary camp")... [more]
MacDowellScottish, Irish Variant of McDowell. A famous bearer is American actress Andie MacDowell (1958-). Another was the American composer and pianist Edward MacDowell (1860-1908).
LotspeichEnglish possibly from Bavarian lott ‘mud’ + speich ‘spittle’, ‘moist dirt’, either a topographic name for someone who lived on land in a muddy area or a nickname for someone who had a dirty appearance... [more]
DiabateWestern African From the name of the Diabaté clan of the Mandinka and the closely related Soninke peoples, usually interpreted as “the irresistible.”
SacdalanFilipino, Tagalog From Tagalog sakdalan meaning "perfection, excellence, extremeness".
AbdelmassihArabic Means "servant of the anointed (Christ)" from Arabic عبد ال (‘abd al) meaning "servant of the" and مسيح (masīḥ) meaning "anointed, Messiah, Christ", used by Arabic-speaking Christians.
CraneEnglish From Middle English crane "crane (bird)", a nickname for a tall, thin man with long legs. The term included the heron until the introduction of a separate word for the latter in the 14th century... [more]
ScarrEnglish Derived from the word ‘skjarr’ meaning a rocky outcrop / hill
BlixtSwedish From Swedish blixt "lightning, flash".
AkasakiJapanese From Japanese 赤 (aka) meaning "red" and 崎 or 﨑 (saki) meaning "cape, peninsula".
SherrardEnglish Probably from a medieval nickname based on Middle English shere "bright, fair", with the derogatory suffix -ard.
SrisuwanThai From Thai ศรี (si) meaning "glory, honour, splendour" combined with สุวรรณ (suwan) meaning "gold".
DiasamidzeGeorgian Means "son of Diasami", from a Georgian given name of unknown meaning, perhaps meaning "master" or derived from Abkhaz дәаӡа (dwaʒa) meaning "uncultivated land, virgin soil" (thus used to refer to someone who plowed land)... [more]
TederichGerman, Swiss, Scandinavian The origin and meaning of the surname Tederich is uncertain. It may be derived from the German word "Teder," which means tender or soft, or a variation of the surname Tiederich, which is a habitational name derived from Tiederen, a place name in Holstein.... [more]
TaşdemirTurkish From Turkish taş meaning "stone" and demir meaning "iron".
MitreaRomanian Romanian name, derived from the word mitra, meaning the hat of a high priest(mitropolit).
DeereIrish Reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Duibhidhir (see Dwyer).
ArlottEnglish From a medieval nickname for a ne'er-do-well (from Middle English harlot or arlot "vagabond, base fellow"; "prostitute" is a 15th-century development). This surname was borne by Jack Arlott (1914-1991), a British journalist, poet and cricket commentator.
ČekasLithuanian Likely an ethnonym meaning "Czech". Also possibly from the Polish surnames Czak or Czech.