WadleyEnglish From a place in England named with Old English wad "woad" or the given name Wada combined with Old English leah "woodland clearing".
WadlowEnglish Habitational name from a lost place, Wadlow in Toddington.
WadsworthEnglish Location name from Yorkshire meaning "Wæddi's enclosure or settlement" with Wæddi being an old English personal name of unknown meaning plus the location element -worth. Notable bearer is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) for whom the middle name was his mother's maiden name.
WagaharaJapanese Waga is possibly from waka meaning "young" and hara means "plain, field".
WagleNorwegian A habitational name derived from farmsteads in Rogaland named Vagle, from the Old Norse vagl meaning a '‘perch’' or '‘roost'’, referring to a high ridge between two lakes.
WakatsuchiJapanese From the Japanese 若 (waka) "young" and 土 (tsuchi) "earth," "soil."
WakatsukiJapanese Combination of the kanji 若 (waka) meaning "young" and 槻 (tsuki) meaning "Zelkova tree". A famous bearer of this surname was Japanese Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijirō (若槻 禮次郎; 1866–1949).
WakehamEnglish, Cornish A locational surname for someone who lived in one of three places called Wakeham in various parts of England, including Cornwall and/or Devon.
WakeleyEnglish Habitational name from Wakeley in Hertfordshire, named from the Old English byname Waca, meaning ‘watchful’ (see Wake) + Old English leah ‘woodland clearing’.
WakiJapanese Wa means "harmony" and ki means "tree, wood".
WakidaJapanese Waki means "side" and da means "rice paddy, field".
WakitaJapanese From Japanese 脇 (waki) meaning "side" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
WalbrzychiakPolish Means a person who is from the city of Walbrzych in Poland.
WalcottEnglish habitational name from any of several places called Walcott Walcot or Walcote for example in Lincolnshire Leicestershire Norfolk Oxfordshire and Wiltshire all named in Old English wealh "foreigner Briton serf" (genitive plural wala) and cot "cottage hut shelter" (plural cotu) meaning "the cottage where the (Welsh-speaking) Britons lived".
WaldEnglish, German, Jewish Originally indicated a person who lived in or near a forest, from Old English weald or from Old High German wald... [more]
WaldenEnglish From various places in England derived from Old English wealh "foreigner, Celt" and denu "valley".
WaldmannGerman topographic name for someone who lived in a forest or alternatively an occupational name for a forest warden from Middle High German waltman literally "forest man" derived from the elements wald "forest" and man "man"
WaldorfGerman Habitational name from any of at least three places so called, derived from Old High German wald "forest" and dorf "village, settlement"... [more]
WaldronMedieval German, Old Norman, Scottish Gaelic, English (British) Derived from the German compound wala-hran, literally "wall raven", but originally meaning "strong bird". Also derived from the Gaelic wealdærn, meaning "forest dwelling", thought to be derived from the Sussex village of Waldron... [more]
WaldsteinGerman, Jewish Habitational surname for a person from a place in Bohemia called Waldstein, which is derived from Middle High German walt "forest" + stein "stone".
WalkingtonEnglish Habitational name from a place in East Yorkshire named Walkington, from an unattested Old English personal name Walca + -ing- denoting association with + tūn.
WalkinshawScottish Habitational name from Walkinshaw in Renfrewshire, which was probably named from Old English wealcere meaning "fuller" + sceaga meaning "copse".
WallIrish Anglicized from of de Bhál, a Gaelicized form of de Valle (see Devall).
WalliserGerman Denoting somebody from Valais (German form Wallis), a canton in Switzerland, or someone who immigrated from Valais, ultimately from Latin vallis "valley, vale".
WallworkEnglish (British) Anglo-Saxon name originating from Lancashire, first recorded in Worsley in 1278. May originate from the Old Warke area in Worsley, shown as "Le Wallwerke" in old documents. The surname Walworth may be related.
WalmerEnglish Habitational name from Walmer in Kent, so named from Old English wala (plural of walh "Briton") + mere "pool", or from Walmore Common in Gloucestershire.
WalpoleEnglish Originally indicated a person from either of two places by this name in Norfolk and Suffolk (see Walpole). Famous bearers of the surname include Robert Walpole (1676-1745), the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, and his youngest son, the writer Horace Walpole (1717-1797)... [more]
WalworthEnglish Habitational name from Walworth in Heighington (Durham) and Walworth in Newington (Surrey) both named with Old English wealh "foreigner Briton serf" (genitive plural wala) and worþ "enclosure".
WangChinese From Chinese 汪 (wāng) referring to the ancient state of Wang Mang (汪芒) or Wang Wang (汪罔) in present-day Zhejiang province.
WanhataloFinnish From the Finnish "vanha talo." With the "vanha" meaning old or aged and "talo" being a place of living mostly a house. The most common translation is "old house".
WapelhorstLow German "Wapel" (pronounced VA-pel) is a river in Northern Germany. "Horst" means 'eagle's nest' in modern German but also means 'man of the forest' in Old German.
WarabiJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 蕨 (warabi) meaning "Japanese bracken fern". There are multiple places in Japan with this name.
WarburtonEnglish From the village and civil parish of Warburton in Greater Manchester (formerly in Cheshire), England, derived from the Old English feminine given name Werburg (itself derived from wǣr meaning "pledge" and burh "fortress") and Old English tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town".
WardellEnglish, Irish A habitational name from Wardle in Lancashire and possibly Wardle in Cheshire, both named with Old English elements weard "guard, guardian" hyll "hill" meaning "watch hill"... [more]
WarnsGerman, Dutch Patronymic form of the Germanic given name Warn (see Warin). Alternatively, a habitational name from various Frisian places likely named using the same or similar elements.
WashburnEnglish Northern English topographic name for someone living on the banks of the Washburn river in West Yorkshire, so named from the Old English personal name Walc + Old English burna ‘stream’... [more]
WatayōJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 濟陽 (Watayō), a variant reading of Japanese 濟陽 (Saiyō), from Chinese 濟陽 (Jìyáng) meaning "Jiyang", a town in the county of Xiayi in the city of Shangqiu in the province of Henan in China.... [more]
WathersIrish The surname originated in Donegal, Ireland. MacConuisce was an Anglicized form of o'hUisce. Uisce translates to water in English. Wathers is a rather uncommon name because it is an untraditional way of spelling Waters... [more]
WatneyEnglish Probably means "person from Watney", an unidentified place in England (the second syllable means "island, area of dry land in a marsh"; cf. Rodney, Whitney)... [more]
WaverlyEnglish Meaning, "from Waverley (Surrey)" or "from the brushwood meadow." From either waever meaning "brushwood" or waefre meaning "flickering, unstable, restless, wandering" combined with leah meaning "meadow, clearing."
WawrzyszewskiPolish This indicates familial origin within the Masovian village of Wawrzyszew.
WebleyEnglish Habitational name for a person from the civil parish of Weobley in Herefordshire, from the Old English personal name Wiobba and leah "woodland, clearing".
WeddellScottish, English Derived from Wedale, the original name of the parish of Stow in Scotland, possibly composed of Old English weoh "idol, image; temple, sacred place", weod "weed, herb", or wedd "pledge, contract" combined with dæl "dale, valley"... [more]
WedderburnScottish From the name of a location in Berwickshire, Scotland, which is derived from wedder “wether” and Old English burn “stream”.
WedmoreEnglish (British) Habitational name from Wedmore in Somerset, recorded in the 9th century as Wethmor, possibly meaning ‘marsh (Old English mor) used for hunting (w?the)’.
WeekleyEnglish Originally meant "person from Weekley", Northamptonshire ("wood or clearing by a Romano-British settlement"). British philologist Ernest Weekley (1865-1954) bore this surname.
WeghorstDutch, German Habitational name from a location near Hanover, possibly derived from weg "way, road" and horst "thicket, grove, heap, elevated land" or "nest of a bird of prey, eyrie".
WehlburgGerman (Rare), Dutch (Rare) Possibly derived from German Wehl "pool of water (esp. behind a dyke)" (cognate to Dutch weil "vortex, maelstrom; dyke breach pool") and burg "fortress, citadel".
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.
WeideGerman Either a topographic name for someone who lived by a conspicuous willow or by a group of willow trees from Middle High German wide "willow"... [more]
WeidlingGerman (Austrian) May refer to the district of Weidling, located in the municipality of Klosterneuburg, which is situated in Lower Austria, near Vienna. A notable person with this surname was Helmuth Weidling, a German general of the Wehrmacht during World War II.
WeilGerman, Jewish South German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of various places so named in Baden, Bavaria, and Württemberg, from Latin villa ‘country house’, ‘estate’ (later used of a group of houses forming a settlement).
WeilerGerman, Jewish Habitational name from any of several places so named in southern Germany. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Weil.
WeiningerGerman (Swiss), Jewish Denoted a person from Weiningen, a municipality in the Canton of Zürich, Switzerland. It is also a Jewish ornamental name derived from German wein meaning "wine" and the suffix -inger.
WeinlandGerman Topographic name for someone who lived in a wine-producing area from Middle High German win "wine" and land "land" or a habitational name from a place so named.
WeintraubGerman, Jewish from Middle High German wintrub "grape" derived from wein "wine" and traub "grape" hence either a metonymic occupational name for a vintner or a topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by a sign depicting a bunch of grapes... [more]
WeisenburgerGerman, Jewish Habitational name for someone from any of numerous places named Weissenburg "white fortress".
WeisfeldGerman, Jewish topographic name from a field name composed of Middle High German wiz "white" and feld "open country". Cognate of Whitfield.
WelbornEnglish Habitational name from Welborne in Norfolk, Welbourn in Lincolnshire, or Welburn in North Yorkshire, all named with Old English wella ‘spring’ + burna ‘stream’.
WelburnEnglish English surname meaning "From the Spring brook"
WelcomeEnglish Derived from several places named Welcombe.
WeldEnglish Meant "one who lives in or near a forest (or in a deforested upland area)", from Middle English wold "forest" or "cleared upland". A famous bearer is American actress Tuesday Weld (1943-).
WeldonEnglish Weldon is one of the many names that the Normans brought with them when they conquered England in 1066. The Weldon family lived in Northamptonshire, at Weldon.... [more]
WelfordEnglish From any of the various places in England, all derived from Old English wille "well, spring, stream" or welig "willow" and ford "ford".
WellingtonEnglish Habitational name from any of the three places named Wellington, in Herefordshire, Shropshire, and Somerset. All are most probably named with an unattested Old English personal name Weola + -ing- (implying association with) + tun ‘settlement’.
WellmanEnglish From German Welle meaning "wave" and man, meaning "man", referring to someone who lived by a stream.
WellmannGerman Means "man who lived near the well" from welle "spring, well, wave" combined with mann "man".
WeltonEnglish Habitational name from any of various places named Welton, for example in Cumbria, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, and East Yorkshire, from Old English well(a) ‘spring’, ‘stream’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’.
WemyssScottish From the lands of Wemyss in Fife, which is derived from Gaelic uaimheis "cave place".
WenChinese From Chinese 温 (wēn) meaning "warm", also referring to any of several territories that were called Wen, namely an ancient state that existed during the Zhou dynasty.
WendoverEnglish From a town in England, from Brittonic “winn”, meaning ‘white’, and “dwfr”, meaning ‘gate’.
WengerGerman, German (Swiss) The surname Wenger is derived from the Middle High German word "wenger," "meaning "wagoner" or "cartwright."" It was an occupational name given to someone who worked as a wagon maker or driver.Another possible origin is that is derived from the German word, wenge, "meaning field of meadow"
WensleyEnglish Habitational name from Wensleydale in North Yorkshire.
WentworthEnglish Habitational name from places in Cambridgeshire and South Yorkshire called Wentworth, both from the Old English byname Wintra or winter, both meaning "winter", and Old English worþ "enclosure".
WerdumGerman Werdum is a municipality in the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony, Germany.
WestdykeEnglish Name given to someone who lived on the west side of a dyke.
WestenEnglish, Scottish Habitational name from any of numerous places named Weston, from Old English west 'west' + tun 'enclosure', 'settlement'. English: variant of Whetstone.
WestendorfGerman A habitational surname that means 'West Village' in German.
WestenraLiterature The name is originated from a term meaning 'Lights from the West'. The name could be given to someone who is born in the west. This was the surname of a character in the novel Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker.
WesterGerman From Middle High German wëster ‘westerly’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived to the west of a settlement, or a regional name for one who had migrated from further west.
WestergårdSwedish, Finnish From Swedish väster meaning "west, western" combined with gård meaning "farm, yard, estate".
WestermanEnglish Topographical surname for someone who lived west of a settlement or someone who had moved to the west, from Old English westerne meaning "western" and mann meaning "man, person".
WestermannLow German From Middle Low German wester meaning "westerly" and man meaning "man", making it a topographic surname for someone who lived west of a settlement or a regional surname for someone who had moved to the west... [more]
WestgateEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived near a west gate in a city, or a habitual surname for someone from Westgate. It is derived from Middle English west meaning "west" and gate "gate" (or "street" in northern and eastern areas; from Old Norse gata).
WestmorelandEnglish Habitational name from the former county of Westmorland, from Old English folk name Westmoringas "people from the west of the moors" and land.
WestobyEnglish (British) This surname denotes a settlement located on the west side of a village. It derives from Old Norse vestr “west” and býr "farm, settlement"... [more]
WestoverEnglish Habitational name from Westover in Somerset and the Isle of Wight or Westovers in Sussex. The former two are both named with Old English west "west" and ofer "ridge" or ōfer "bank"... [more]
WestraDutch, West Frisian Means "from the west", derived from Dutch west "west, western, westwards" combined with the Frisian habitational suffix -stra.
WestropEnglish (British) Viking name local to Somerset and several counties in the North East of England. Approximate meaning "place to the west of the village with the church".
WestwoodEnglish, Scottish Habitational name from any of numerous places named Westwood, from Old English west "west" and wudu "wood".
WhaleyEnglish From the name of the village of Whaley and the town of Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire, or the village of Whalley in Lancashire, England. It is derived from Old English wælla meaning "spring, stream" and leah meaning "woodland clearing".
WhalleyEnglish Variant form of Whaley. A famous bearer is the English actress Joanne Whalley (1961-).
WhartonEnglish Derived from an Olde English pre 7th Century river name Woefer.
WhatleyEnglish From any of the various places in England named with Old English hwæte "wheat" and leah "woodland clearing".
WheeldonEnglish Habitational name from a place in Derbyshire named Wheeldon, from Old English hweol ‘wheel’ (referring perhaps to a rounded shape) + dun ‘hill’, or from Whielden in Buckinghamshire, which is named with hweol + denu ‘valley’.
WhentEnglish Topographical for someone who lived by a cross road, or perhaps a very sharp bend in the road. The derivation being from the Olde English pre 7th century word "wendan," meaning to wander.
WhinerayEnglish Means "person from Whinneray", Cumbria, or "person who lives in a nook of land growing with gorse" (in either case from Old Norse hvin "whin, gorse" + vrá "nook of land"). It was borne by New Zealand rugby player Sir Wilson Whineray (1935-2012).
WhitbyEnglish English surname which was from either of two place names, that of a port in North Yorkshire (which comes from the Old Norse elements hvítr "white" (or Hvíti, a byname derived from it) combined with býr "farm") or a place in Cheshire (from Old English hwit "white" (i.e., "stone-built") and burh "fortress").
WhitehallEnglish From the name of any of several locations in England, derived from Old English hwit "white" and halh "nook, corner", or sometimes heall "hall, manor".
WhitehornScottish A locational name from Whithorn near Wigtown, from Old English hwit "white" and ærn "house".
WhitehouseEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived in a white house or a habitational name for places in England so-called, all derived from Old English hwit "white" and hus "house".
WhitelawScottish Habitational name from any of various places in Scotland so-called, derived from Old English hwit "white" and hlaw "mound, small hill".
WhitelockEnglish It is believed to be a habitational surname derived from Whitlock in Shropshire, England.
WhitfieldEnglish It is locational from any or all of the places called Whitfield in the counties of Derbyshire, Kent, Northamptonshire and Northumberland, or from the villages called Whitefield in Lancashire, the Isle of Wight and Gloucestershire.
WhitgiftEnglish Means "person from Whitgift", Yorkshire ("Hvítr's dowry"). This surname was borne by Anglican churchman John Whitgift (?1530-1604), archbishop of Canterbury 1583-1604 (in addition, Whitgift School is an independent day school for boys in South Croydon, founded in 1595 by John Whitgift; and Whitgift Centre is a complex of shops and offices in the middle of Croydon, Greater London, on a site previously occupied by Whitgift School).
WhitleyEnglish This surname is derived from a place name composed of Old English elements hwit meaning "white" and leah meaning "clearing, grove."
WhitmarshEnglish English habitational name from Whitemarsh, a place in the parish of Sedgehill, Wiltshire, named from Old English hwit ‘white’ (i.e. ‘phosphorescent’) + mersc ‘marsh’. Compare Whitmore.
WhittleseyEnglish A habitational surname for someone from Whittlesey, an ancient market town in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire in England. The town's name is derived from an unattested Old English personal name Wittel (or Witil), an occupational name given to a moneyer, and the Old English eg, meaning "island", also used to describe a piece of firm land in a fen... [more]
WiKorean (Rare) From Sino-Korean 魏 (Wi) meaning "Wei", a former Chinese state.
WickEnglish, German English: topographic name for someone who lived in an outlying settlement dependent on a larger village, Old English wic (Latin vicus), or a habitational name from a place named with this word, of which there are examples in Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Worcestershire... [more]
WickershamEnglish A habitational surname that originates from a lost medieval site or village of Norse origins.... [more]
WienerGerman Derived from German Wiener meaning "inhabitant of Vienna". The Austrian capital city is known as Wien in German.
WiersmaWest Frisian Can be a patronymic form of the given name Wier, a contracted form of Wieger (see also Wiro), or a toponymic surname from West Frisian wier "artificial hill, dwelling mound", a cognate of English weir and Dutch wierde.
WierzbickimPolish From Polish villages derived from wierzba, meaning "willow".
WiesenthalGerman Habitational name from any of various places called Wiesent(h)al.
WiesnerGerman German: habitational name for someone from a place called Wiesen, or topographic name for someone who lived by a meadow, a derivative of Middle High German wise ‘meadow’.
WigleyEnglish Derived from the words wicga "bug" and leah "woodland, clearing"
WigmoreEnglish habitational name from Wigmore in Herefordshire so named from Old English wicga in the sense "something moving quaking unstable ground" and mor "marsh".
WigtilNorwegian The Wigtil name comes from a Norwegian farm name where workers used their first names and were identified with the last name by whatever farm they were currently working at. "Wigtil" apparently is derived from "Vigtil" which means "fight" or "bloody battle" suggesting a dispute over the land which led to a bloody conflict.
WigtonEnglish From Old English elements wic meaning "dwelling, settlement" and tun meaning "enclosure, farmstead".
WiibaruOkinawan The Okinawan language reading of its kanji, 上原 meaning "upper plain" or 植原 meaning "planted plain".
WijnaldumFrisian, Dutch, Dutch (Surinamese) From Wijnaldum, the name of a village within the city of Harlingen in northwest Friesland in the Netherlands, derived from the given name Winald combined with Old Frisian hēm meaning "home, settlement"... [more]