SplinterLow German, German From Low German splinter ‘splinter’; probably a metonymic occupational name for a woodworker.
BevierFrench (Germanized) From Old French bevier, meaning "a measure of land". This was probably a nickname for someone who owned or worked such a piece of land. This surname was first found in Austria, where the name Bevier came from humble beginnings but gained a significant reputation for its contribution to the emerging medieval society.
FennoyAmerican Fennoy is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Fennoy family once lived near a marsh or swamp. Another name for wetlands is fen, in the Old English fenn, from which this name is derived.
SabourinFrench (Quebec), French (Huguenot) Southern French surname, originally a nickname for a pleasant or amiable person, from a diminutive of sabor meaning "flavor, taste" (Old French saveur). The Huguenots brought this surname to England, and from there it may have been introduced to North America.
SumterEnglish This surname is derived from an official title. 'the sumpter.' Old French sommetier, a packhorseman, one who carried baggage on horseback
SteffesDutch, German A patronymic from a shortened form of the personal name Steffen.
BrizendineFrench, English, Jewish Derived from a personal name, probably of Celtic origin (Latinized as Britus), which was borne by a 5th century saint, who succeeded St. Martin as bishop of Tours.
Tôn ThấtVietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 宗室 (tông thất) meaning "imperial clan", originally given to members of the royal family of the Nguyễn dynasty.
DurkoRussian, Ukrainian, Belarusian Derived either from Russian дурной (durnoy) or Ukrainian дурний (durnyi) or Belarusian дурны (durny) all meaning "dump, foolish, stupid".
HansardEnglish Possibly from Middle English hansard "merchant or citizen of a Hanseatic town". Alternatively, from the given name Ansard, derived from ansu "god" and ward "guard" or hard "strong".
ŽeleznikSlovene From the Slavic word "železo/zhelezo", meaning " iron", denoting to a person who worked with iron.
GulliverEnglish From a medieval nickname for a greedy person (from Old French goulafre "glutton"). Jonathan Swift used it in his satire 'Gulliver's Travels' (1726), about the shipwrecked ship's surgeon Lemuel Gulliver, whose adventures "offer opportunities for a wide-ranging and often savage lampooning of human stupidity and vice."
CannockEnglish From from the town of Cannock in Staffordshire, England. The surname itself might be derived from Old English cnocc, meaning "hillock."
HoyleWelsh, English Derived from Old English holh meaning "hole". It is thought to have originally been a name for someone who lived in a round hollow or near a pit.
RittGerman Either a topographic name from Old High German ritta meaning "reeds" or a habitational name from a place near Kassel, Germany. Alternately it may also be a variant of Ried.
HoudinFrench Variant of Bodin , a pet form of Bodo, a short form of any of various ancient Germanic personal names with the element bod ‘messenger’.... [more]
LinneyEnglish From an Old English female personal name Lindgifu, Lindgeofu, composed of the elements lind ‘lime (wood)’, i.e. ‘shield’ (a transferred sense) + gifu, geofu ‘gift’.
CopernicusHistory Nicolaus Copernicus is a mathematician and astronomer who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than the Earth at the center of the universe... [more]
CommanderEnglish From Middle English comander "commander, leader, director", derived from Old French comandeor "military commander". This may have been either an occupational name or a nickname.
PačarizBosnian Derived from Turkish "paçariz" meaning "damage, difficulty, or mess" ... [more]
LionsEnglish Variant of Lyons influencd by the spelling of the word lion
HerzlGerman, Jewish Variant of Hertz. It was notably borne by the Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, writer and political activist Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), who is considered the founder of the modern Zionist movement.
PaytasHungarian, English (American) From the Hungarian nickname pajtás meaning "comrade, pal". Possibly originates from the Ottoman Turkish word پایداش (paydaş) meaning "partner, sharer". A notable bearer of the surname is the American YouTuber Trisha Paytas.
KarunanayakeSinhalese From Sanskrit करुणा (karuna) meaning "compassion, kindness, mercy" and नायक (nayaka) meaning "hero, leader".
GanusRussian Possibly derived from Russian анис (anis) referring to the anise (Pimpinella anisum) plant or from the Turkish given name Gainislam itself from Arabic عَيْن (ʿayn) meaning "spring, source" combined with the name of the religion Islam.
PagourtzisGreek Derived from Greek Παγούρι (Pagouri) meaning "flask, canteen", a vessel containing (usually) water.
TakizawaJapanese Taki means "waterfall" and zawa comes from sawa meaning "marsh, swamp".
DeeEnglish, Scottish From the name of any of various rivers in England and Scotland named Dee, itself derived from Celtic dewos meaning "god, deity".
OrtolanoItalian, Spanish occupational name for a cultivator or seller of fruit and vegetables ortolano "gardener" from a derivative of orto "vegetable garden" (from Latin hortus "garden"). The term was also used in the medieval period to denote both a cleric with a fervant devotion to pastoral work and a rough or uncouth person and in some instances may have been applied as a nickname in either sense... [more]
EspadaPortuguese, Spanish metonymic occupational name for an armorer or a swordsman from espada "sword" (from Latin spata from Greek spathe originally denoting a broad two-edged sword without a point)... [more]
KalmusEstonian Kalmus is an Estonian surname meaning "sweet flag (a waterside plant; Acorus calamus)".
ZhabaBelarusian, Russian Derived from Belarusian жаба (zhaba) meaning "toad, frog". This is an ancient Belarusian noble surname.
TabatabaeiPersian From the name of Ibrahim Tabataba ibn Ismail, a descendant of Ali. He was supposedly given the name because he pronounced the Persian word قبا (qaba) (meaning "garment, cloak") as طبا (taba).
QuastGerman habitational name from any of several places so named in northern Germany. metonymic occupational name for a barber or nickname for someone who wore a conspicuous tassel or feather, from Middle Low German, Middle High German quast(e) "tuft", "tassel", "brush", also "fool".
ScotlandEnglish (i) "person from Scotland"; (ii) "person from Scotland or Scotlandwell", Perth and Kinross; (iii) from the Norman personal name Escotland, literally "territory of the Scots"
HamillIrish According to MacLysaght, a shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hÁdhmaill "descendant of Ádhmall", which he derives from ádhmall "active".
St NicholasEnglish Indicated the original bearer was from a place named after Saint Nicholas.
WalwynEnglish Either (i) from the Old English personal name Wealdwine, literally "power-friend"; or (ii) perhaps from the medieval personal name Walwain, the Anglo-Norman form of Old French Gauvain (cf... [more]
RöntgenGerman Meaning uncertain. This was the name of German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845-1923) who discovered and studied x-rays. Röntgen called the radiation "X" because it was an unknown type of radiation.