Van Der SpekDutch Habitational name derived from Middle Dutch specke "log dam, bridge of tree trunks, road through a marshy area".
Van Der SteenDutch, Flemish Means "from the stone", a habitational name for someone from any of various minor places called Steen or Ten Stene, for example in the Belgian provinces of East Flanders and Brabant.
Van der WeideDutch Means "from the pasture" in Dutch, either a topographic name for someone who lived by a meadow, or a metonymic occupational name for a butcher.
Van der WerfDutch Means "from the wharf" or "from the shipyard" in Dutch, derived from werf meaning "quay, wharf, shipyard", or from the older form werve "dyke, quay, bank". Can be a topographic name for someone who lived near such a place, or an occupational name for someone who worked at a shipyard, such as a carpenter.
Van Der ZandenDutch Means "from the sand", most likely given to someone who lived near sandy grounds. It originated in the southeastern part of the Netherlands.
Van DeusenDutch (Americanized) Most likely an altered form of Van Deursen. Alternatively, could be a habitational name for someone from the German town of Deusen, north of Dortmund, in North Rhine-Westphalia near the Dutch border... [more]
Van De VenDutch Habitational name of someone from any of multiple place in the Netherlands named Ven or Venne, derived from Dutch ven "mere, fen, small lake" or the older form venne "mire, bog, wetland".
Van De WeteringDutch Means "from the drainage channel", from Dutch wetering "canal, waterway, drainage channel" or the name of a town using it as an element.
Van DrielDutch Means "from Driel" in Dutch, referring to either the village Driel or any of several other settlements containing driel as an element... [more]
Van DyneDutch (Americanized) Americanized form of Dutch Van Duijne, a habitational name from any of several locations in the Netherlands name Duin or Duinen, derived from the element duin "dune".
Van EckDutch Means "from Eck", a town in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. Derived from hek "fence".
Van EdenDutch Refers to someone from the town Ede in Gelderland province.
Van EgmondDutch Means "from Egmond" in Dutch, the name of a town and former municipality in North Holland. The toponym is possibly derived from heeg-munde (or hecmunda) meaning "enclosed fortress".
Van ErpDutch Means "from Erp" in Dutch, a town in North Brabant, Netherlands, possibly derived from Old Dutch *apa "watercourse" and an unclear first element.
Van EsDutch Means "from the ash tree", denoting someone who lived by an ash tree or who came from a place named for them, such as Esch.
Van GeelkerkenDutch, Flemish Means "from the yellow churches", derived from Dutch geel meaning "yellow" and kerken, the plural of kerk meaning "church". A notable bearer was the infamous fascist political leader Cornelis van Geelkerken (1901-1976), who founded the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (NSB) during World War II, alongside Anton Mussert.
Van GelderDutch Dutch toponymic surname meaning "from/of Guelders", a county and later duchy in the Low Countries.
Van GemertDutch Means "from Gemert" in Dutch, the name of a village in North Brabant, Netherlands, possibly derived from Old Germanic mari "lake" (compare Old Dutch meri) combined with the collectivising prefix ga-.
Van GentDutch Means "from Ghent" in Dutch, the name of a city in Belgium possibly derived from Celtic ganda "confluence; place where two rivers meet", or from the name of the Celtic goddess Gontia, tutelary deity of the river Günz#.
Van GestelDutch Means "from Gestel" in Dutch, a settlement in North Brabant, Netherlands derived from either gestel "height between two river valleys" or gestel "guest house, inn" (compare Gastel).
Van GilsDutch Means "from Gilze" in Dutch, a village in North Brabant, Netherlands. Possibly derived from a cognate of Old Norse gil "gap, ravine, gully".
Van GinkelDutch Means "from Ginkel" in Dutch, the name of a settlement in Gelderland, Netherlands, possibly derived from Old Dutch gengi "accessible, passable" and lo "light forest, forest clearing".
Van GoolDutch Means "from Goirle" in Dutch, the name of a town in North Brabant, Netherlands, derived from Middle Dutch goor "filth, dirty; swampy forest floor" and lo "forest clearing, light forest".
Van GriekenDutch Means "of Greeks", derived from Dutch Griek "Greek (person)".
Van HaitsmaDutch Habitational name for someone from Haitsma, a place in Friesland.
Van HalenDutch Habitational name for a person from the villages Hoog en Laaghalen in the Dutch province of Drenthe or Halen near Hasselt in Belgian Limburg. Famous bearers include Dutch-born American musicians Eddie Van Halen (1955-2020) and his brother Alex Van Halen (1953-) of the rock band Van Halen... [more]
Van HarenDutch Means "from Haren" in Dutch, the name of several settlements derived from haar "sandy ridge".
Van HeldenDutch Means "from Helden" in Dutch, the name of a village in Limburg, Netherlands, derived from Old Dutch helde "slope, incline".
Van HelmondDutch Means "from Helmond" in Dutch, a municipality in Southern Netherlands, of unknown etymology. It could derived from the Dutch dialectal hel "low-lying" and Old Dutch munte "hill, place of refuge during flooding".
Van HelmontBelgian, Dutch Possibly a variant of Van Helmond. Jan Baptist van Helmont (1580-1644) was a Belgian chemist, physiologist, and physician, considered as the founder of pneumatic chemistry.
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.
Van HertrooijDutch Means "from Hertrooij", most likely a place name in the Netherlands. It could possibly derive from Middle Dutch hert meaning "deer" and rood meaning "red".
Van HeukelomDutch, Belgian Denoted someone from any of several places Heukelom or similar, derived from Old Dutch *hukila "hill, elevated place" and hem "home, settlement".
Van HeusenDutch Heusen is derived from the town Husum in Holland. The town was on the Zuyder Zee, Holstein, Holland.
Van HeutszDutch (Archaic) A bearer of this name is J.B. van Heutsz, also known as the Pacificator of Aceh, former governor general of the Dutch East Indies.
Van IerselDutch Habitational name from the town of Eersel in North Brabant, Netherlands, derived from the Old Dutch personal name *Ari combined with lo "forest clearing, light forest".
Van IersselDutch Variant of Van Iersel. A famous bearer is the former Dutch soccer player Kees van Ierssel (1945-).
Van IngenDutch Means "from Ingen" in Dutch, the name of a village in Gelderland, Netherlands, of uncertain etymology.
van MaarschalkerweerdDutch Habitational name denoting someone from Maarschalkerweerd, a place near Utrecht in the Netherlands. Derived from Dutch maarschalk "marshal" and weerd "land next to water, riverine island".
Van MaurikDutch Means "from Maurik" in Dutch, which is a town in the east of the Netherlands.
Van MierloDutch Means "from Mierlo", a village in the Netherlands. Likely derived from a compound of Old Dutch *mier "swamp" and lo "light forest".
Van MusschenbroekDutch Means "from Musschenbroek", a hamlet in Limburg, derived from plural form of Dutch mus "sparrow" and broek "marsh, wetland". Pieter van Musschenbroek (1692–1761) was a Dutch scientist credited with the invention of the first capacitor.
van NiekerkAfrikaans Topographic name for any of the various locations named Nieuwerkerk in The Netherlands or Nieuwerkerken in Belgium. The name itself means "of the new church" from Dutch van meaning "of" combined with nieuw meaning "new" and kerk meaning "church".
Van NistelrooijDutch Means "from Nistelrode", a small village in the province of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands. It is derived from Middle Dutch nest meaning "nest, burrow, resting place" and lo meaning "light forest", combined with rode meaning "land cleared of trees"... [more]
Van OmmenDutch Means "from Ommen" in Dutch, a city and municipality in northeastern Netherland, historically attested as de Vmme or Ummen, of unknown etymology. It could derived from a prehistoric hydronym.
Van OmmerenDutch Means "from Ommeren", a small village in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands.
Van OoijenDutch Means "from Ooijen" in Dutch, the name of a hamlet in Limburg, Netherlands, as well as several other settlements derived from Middle Dutch ooy "floodplain, wetland, meadow in the bend of a river".
Van OortDutch Means "from the edge (of town)", derived from Middle Dutch ort "edge, corner, outermost point of a region". Sometimes altered to or from the surname Van Noort.
Van OssDutch Means "from Oss", a town in the southern Netherlands.
Van OtterlooDutch Means "from Otterlo", a village and former municipality in Gelderland, possibly derived from Dutch otter "otter" and lo "pool".
Van PeltDutch, Flemish Habitational name for someone from Pelt (formerly Pedele), Overpelt, or Neerpelt, possibly derived from a word meaning "marshy place".
Van PersieDutch Means "from Persia", most likely derived from the name of a house that traded in Persian goods. Alternatively, it might derive from Perche, a former province in France.
Van ReenenDutch, South African Means "from Rhenen", the name of a city in Utrecht, Netherlands. Possibly derived from Proto-Germanic *hraini "clean, pure", or from Rijn "the Rhine (river)" combined with Old Dutch hem "home, settlement".
Van ReesDutch Means "from Rees", a German town on the bank of the Rhine that probably derives its name from Kleverlandish rys "willow grove".
Van RensselaerDutch From Soleur, one of the areas or regions of Switzerland.
Van RielDutch Means "from Riel" in Dutch, a toponym of uncertain origin.
Van RooijenDutch Derived from any of several places named using the suffix rooien, denoting an area cleared of trees.
Van RooyenAfrikaans van Rooyen related to Van Rooijen, is an Afrikaans and Dutch toponymic surname. May be rooted from the Rhine area of the Netherlands, possibly having meant "from Rhine" originally... [more]
Van SchaikDutch Derived from any of several places called Schaik, Schaijk, or Schadijk, derived from the original form Schadewijk possibly meaning "shaded place" or "inhospitable place" from Middle Dutch scade meaning either "shadow, shade" or "damage" combined with wijk "village, settlement".
Van SchieDutch Means "from Schie" in Dutch, the name of a canalised river that lends its name to several nearby toponyms. Possibly related to Middle Dutch scheiden "to separate, to part".
Van SchijndelDutch Means "from Schijndel" in Dutch, the name of a village in North Brabant, Netherlands, derived from lo "forest clearing, light forest" and an uncertain first element.
VansickleDutch (Americanized) Americanized form of a hypothetical Dutch surname, probably derived from either the given name Sikkel (see Siegel) or from sikkel meaning "sickle, scythe".
Van 't BoveneindDutch Means "from Boveneind", the name of various places in the Netherlands, itself meaning "from the top end" in Dutch. It is derived from boven meaning "upper, upstream" and eind meaning "edge, end".
Van TienhovenDutch Means "from Tienhoven", the name of several villages in the Netherlands. Their names are derived from Middle Dutch tien meaning "ten" and a plural form of huue meaning "piece of land of a certain size"... [more]
Van TilburgDutch Means "from Tilburg" in Dutch, the name of a city in North Brabant, Netherlands, derived from Old Dutch tilli "newly cultivated land" and burg "fortress, fortified settlement, citadel".
Van TolDutch Means "of (the) toll" or "from Tol" in Dutch, derived from tol "toll (fee); toll booth, toll house", a habitational name for someone who lived near or in a toll house or a place named for one, or a metonymic occupational name for a toll collector... [more]
Van 't SchipDutch Means "from the ship", derived from Middle Dutch schip literally meaning "ship". It is borne by the Dutch-Canadian former soccer player John van 't Schip (1963-).
Van TuijlDutch Means "from Tuil", the name of two different settlements, both derived from Old Dutch tiole or tiuli "agricultural land, pasture".
Van UdenDutch Means "from Uden" in Dutch, a town in North Brabant, Netherlands.
Van VelsenDutch Means "from Velsen" in Dutch, a municipality in North Holland, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *pel "swamp, marsh" combined with the hydronymic suffix *isa.
Van VuchtDutch Means "from Vucht", a place name probably derived from Middle Dutch vucht "humid area, wetland".
Van WageningenDutch Means "from Wandeningen" in Dutch, denoting a person from the municipality of Gelderland, Netherlands, from Dutch Wagano with collective suffix -ung-
Van WanrooijDutch Means "from Wanroij" in Dutch, the name of a town in North Brabant, Netherlands, probably derived from Middle Dutch wan "bad, insufficient, lacking; un-" and rode "land cleared of trees".
Van WertDutch (Americanized, Archaic), Flemish Habitational name for someone from places in Belgium and the Netherlands called Weert, (De) Weerd, Weerde, or Waarde, all derived from Middle Dutch wert "holm, area surrounded by rivers".
Van WezelDutch Means "from Wezel", the name of several locations in the Netherlands.
Van WijkDutch Means "from Wijk", the name of several towns in the Netherlands derived from wijk "neighbourhood, district, settlement".
Van WijngaardenDutch Means "from Wijngaarden", a village in South Holland, Netherlands, meaning "vineyards" in Dutch. It’s uncertain if there was ever actually a vineyard in or near the village.
Van WormerDutch (Rare) Means "from Wormer", a town in North Holland. Derived from Old Dutch wer "fishing weir" and mere "lake", or possibly from Proto-Germanic *werm "water".
Van ZonDutch Variant of van Son. In some cases, it could denote someone who lived or worked in a building named De Zon "the sun", probably named for a sign depicting the sun.
VaradkarIndian, Hindi, Marathi Derived from the name of the village of Varad in the Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra, India. A famous bearer is the Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar (1979-).
VargiuItalian From the name of a former settlement. Possibly from Latin varius, "many colours, variegated".
VarnellEnglish Variant of Farnell. This form originated in southwestern England, where the change from F to V arose from the voicing of F that was characteristic of this area in Middle English.
VarnerGerman Habitational name for someone from Farn near Oberkirch, or Fahrnau near Schopfheim.
VarneyEnglish From the French place name Vernay, derived from Gaulish verno- "alder" and the locative suffix -acum. A fictional bearer is the vampire Sir Francis Varney, the title character of the mid-19th-century gothic horror story Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood.
VatanabeJapanese (Russified) Alternate transcription of Watanabe more commonly used by ethnic Japanese living in parts of the former Soviet Union and Sakhalin Japanese residing on Sakhalin Island in Russia.
VauxFrench French, English, and Scottish habitational name from any of various places in northern France called Vaux, from the Old French plural of val ‘valley’.
VeaSpanish, Galician Habitational name, principally from Vea in Soria province, but in some cases from any of four places with the same name in Pontevedra province, Galicia.
VeaNorwegian Habitational name from any of four farmsteads so named, from the plural of Old Norse viðr meaning "wood", "tree".
VeeNorwegian Habitational name from farmsteads named Ve, for example in Hordaland and Sogn, from Old Norse vé "sacred place".
VerdejoSpanish Habitational name from any of the places so called.
VerdierFrench, Norman, English Occupational name for a forester. Derived from Old French verdier (from Late Latin viridarius, a derivative of viridis "green"). Also an occupational name for someone working in a garden or orchard, or a topographic name for someone living near one... [more]
VerdonFrench Habitational name from a place so named, for example in Dordogne, Gironde, and Marne.
VerdonkDutch Contraction of van der Donk meaning "from the donk", a donk being a kind of sandy hill found in a swamp.
VerkuilenDutch, Flemish Reduced form of van der Kuylen, a topographic name derived from kuil "pit, quarry, hole in the ground", or a habitational name for someone from Kuil in East Flanders or Kuilen in Limburg.
VerlaineFrench, French (Belgian) Habitational name for someone from Verlaine in the province of Liège, Belgium. Paul Verlaine was a noted bearer.
VermontFrench (Rare) Derived from french, meaning "green mountain" (Vert, "green"; mont, "mountain").
VerneFrench, English As a French surname refers to someone who lived where alder trees grew. While the English version can mean someone who lived where ferns grew, Verne can also mean a seller of ferns which in medieval times were used in bedding, as floor coverings and as animal feed.
VernedaSpanish, Catalan As a Spanish and Catalan surname refers to someone who lived where alder trees grew.
VerranCornish Perhaps means "person from Treverran", Cornwall (from Cornish tre "farmstead" with an unknown second element), or "person from Veryan", Cornwall ("church of St Symphorian").
VeskiojaEstonian Veskioja is an Estonian surname meaning "(water) mill creek".
ViVietnamese Vietnamese form of Wei, from Sino-Vietnamese 韋 (vi).
ViceEnglish May come from "devise", an Old French word that means "dweller at the boundary". It may also derive a number of place names in England, or be a variant of Vise.
VidegainSpanish Videgain is a surname. It is of Basque origin language with the form Bidegain. Videgain is considered a Spanish surname because the letter V does not exist in the Basque alphabet. It extended through the Iberian peninsula following the Reconquista, where different forms of the name developed and houses were founded with the differentiation of Videgáin, Bidegain, Videgaín... [more]
VienneauFrench Denoted a person from Vienne, a commune in the Isère department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France, or perhaps derived from the given name Vivien 1.
VieuFrench From a place called Vieu in Ain from Latin vicus "village". French cognitive of Vico.
VignaItalian Meaning "vineyard", referring to someone who lived near one.
VignolaItalian habitational name from any of various minor places so named from vignola "small vineyard".
ViigipuuEstonian Viigipuu is an Estonian surname meaning "ficus tree".
ViirelaidEstonian Viirelaid is an Estonian surname meaning "tern islet".
ViirmaaEstonian Viirmaa is an Estonian surname derived from "viir" meaning both "sea swallow" and "varved" (annual layer of sediment or sedimentary rock) and "maa" ("land").
VilaamilSpanish Habitational name from Villamil a place in Asturias.
VilallongaCatalan It indicates familial origin within the eponymous Valencian municipality.
VillaniItalian Derives from Latin villa "village, farm, settlement", related to Italian villano "peasant" or "rude, bad-mannered".
VillanovaItalian, Spanish Habitational name from any of numerous places so called from Latin villa nova "new settlement" (see Villa) from the elements villa "town" and nova "new"... [more]
VillaquiránSpanish It indicates familial origin within either of 2 municipalities: Villaquirán de los Infantes or Villaquirán de la Puebla.
VillardGalician, Portuguese A Galician and Portuguese surname in the north of Iberian Peninsula. It's a last name belonging to ancient Celtic tribes.
VillarrealSpanish Habitational name from any of various places called Villarreal (or Villareal), derived from Spanish villa meaning "farm, town, settlement" and real meaning "royal".
VillarrubiaSpanish Spanish: habitational name from Villarrubia (Córdoba) Villarrubia de los Ojos (Ciudad Real) or Villarrubia de Santiago (Toledo) so named from villa '(outlying) farmstead (dependent) settlement' (see Villa ) + rubia 'light red'.
VillarruelSpanish Cognate of Villa with the second element of unexplained etymology. Compare Villarroel.
VillasanteSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the Castilian municipality of Merindad de Montija.
VillasenorSpanish Habitational name, apparently a Castilianized spelling of Galician Vilseñor, from any of three places in Lugo province named Vilaseñor.
VillatoroSpanish Presumably a name given to someone from Villatoro, Spain