WispEnglish The surname of the author of Quidditch Through The Ages in the Harry Potter Universe, Kennilworthy Whisp. Probably referring to the wind, or a family of people who usually were nearly bald.
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]
WitschgeDutch Dutch cognate of Witzke. Famous bearers of this surname include brothers Rob (1966-) and Richard Witschge (1969-), both of whom are former Dutch soccer players.
WoganIrish From the Old Welsh personal name Gwgan or Gwgon, originally probably a nickname meaning literally "little scowler". (Cf. the second element in Cadogan.) This surname is borne by Irish radio and television presenter Terry Wogan (1938-).
WojtyłaPolish Derived from a diminutive of the given name Wojciech. It was the surname of Karol Józef Wojtyła (1920-2005), the pope John Paul II.
WolferGerman Either from a shortened form of the ancient Germanic personal names Wolfher or Wolfhart composed of the elements wolf "wolf" and hari "army" or hard "hardy, brave"... [more]
WolfitEnglish From the medieval male personal name Wolfet or Wolfat (from Old English Wulfgēat, literally "wolf-Geat" (the name of a Germanic people)). This surname was borne by Sir Donald Wolfit (1902-1968), a British actor and manager.
WolfordGerman Means where the wolves cross the river/stream. Wolf meaning the animal and Ford meaning crossing a body of shallow water.... [more]
WolowitzJewish This is the surname of the character Howard in the American television show "The Big Bang Theory".
WolseyEnglish From the medieval male personal name Wulsi (from Old English Wulfsige, literally "wolf-victory"). A famous bearer of the surname was English churchman and statesman Thomas Wolsey (Cardinal Wolsey), ?1475-1530.
WolstonEnglish From the Middle English personal name Wolfstan or Wolstan, Old English Wulfstan, composed of the elements wulf ‘wolf’ + stan stone or a habitational name from any of a large number of places called Woolston(e) or Wollston, all of which are named with Old English personal names containing the first element Wulf (Wulfheah, Wulfhelm, Wulfric, Wulfsige, and Wulfweard) + Old English tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’.
WoodbridgeEnglish Originated in old England and likely linked to the town of Woodbridge in Suffolk, East Anglia, United Kingdom. Well known Woodbridge's include the Australian Tennis player Todd Woodbridge. There was a famous lineage of six English John Woodbridge's in the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries, all Church ministers... [more]
WrangelGermanic The surname Wrangel was first found in Westphalia. The name is derived from the place name Warangale (now Wrangelshof) in Estonia.... [more]
WymerEnglish Either (i) from the medieval male personal name Wymer (from Old English Wīgmǣr, literally "war-famous"); or (ii) from the Old Breton male personal name Wiumarch, literally "worthy-horse".
WynWelsh, English English: from the Old English personal name and byname Wine meaning ‘friend’, in part a short form of various compound names with this first element. Welsh: variant of Gwynn.
WyndScottish, Irish Scotland or Ireland not sure of original origin. There was a childe Wynd some type of royal who slayed a dragon type thing worm or something and a Henery Wynd who was a mercenary in a battle at north inch in Scotland
WynnWelsh Derived from the given name Gwynn, itself from Welsh gwyn meaning "white, fair; blessed".
WynnEnglish From Old English wine "friend", which could be used as a byname or personal name (see Wine).
XudoyberdiyevafUzbek Feminine form of Xudayberdiyev. Halima Xudoyberdiyeva (1947-2018) was an Uzbek poet whose themes at different times of her career have dealt with Uzbek nationhood and history, liberation movements, and feminism.
YagodaJewish (Russified) Russified form of Iyeguda. It also means "berry" in Russian. This was the surname of Genrikh Yagoda, the head of the NKVD (1934-1936).
YardyEnglish The most likely origin of this surname is that it was used to denote someone who held a piece of land known as a "yarde", from the Middle English word "yerd".
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).
YellowhairNavajo, Cheyenne Native American (mainly Navajo; also Yellow Hair): translation into English of a personal name such as Navajo BitsiiʼŁitsoii (literally ‘His Yellow Hair’), which is derived from bitsiiʼ ‘his hair’ and łitso ‘yellow’, or Cheyenne Heova'ehe, derived from the prefix heov- ‘yellow’ and the suffix -a'e ‘hair’.
YellowmanIndigenous American Native American (also Yellow Man): translation into English of a personal name such as Navajo HastiinŁitso, based on hastiin ‘man’ and łitso ‘yellow’, referring to the color of the complexion or the hair (Juxtapose Yellowhair).
YoheMedieval English The Yohe surname comes from the Old English word "ea," or "yo," in Somerset and Devon dialects, which meant "river" or "stream." It was likely originally a topographic name for someone who lived near a stream.
YonaoJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 与 (yo) or 與 (yo), both meaning "to bestow, to participate, to provide, cause, gift, godsend" or referring to a given name with one of those characters and 猶 (nao) meaning "still".
YouensScottish comes from the Gaelic personal name Eógan, which comes from the Latin name, Eugenius, which means well born. Youens is a patronymic surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames.
YousafzaiPashto Alternate transcription of Pashto يوسفزی (see Yusufzai). A notable bearer is Pakistani education activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai (1997-).
YuhannaJudeo-Arabic (?) Yuhanna or John is one of the apostles of Christ, the prophet of Christians and the religion of Christianity, who believe that he ascended to heaven.