GainesEnglish, Norman, Welsh English (of Norman origin): nickname for a crafty or ingenious person, from a reduced form of Old French engaine ‘ingenuity’, ‘trickery’ (Latin ingenium ‘native wit’). The word was also used in a concrete sense of a stratagem or device, particularly a trap.... [more]
GajdaSerbian, Croatian, Czech A slavicized variant of the German surname, Geidl. This was most notably used by Radola Gajda, a Czech military commander and politician who slaviczed his name from Rudolf Geidl.
GakpoWestern African, Ewe Means "iron, metal" in Ewe, possibly derived from a nickname or an occupation. It is usually found in Ghana and Togo. Dutch soccer player Cody Gakpo (1999-) bears this name.
GallSpanish In fact it is Catalan. See italian Gall... [more]
GallScottish, Irish, English Nickname, of Celtic origin, meaning "foreigner" or "stranger". In the Scottish Highlands the Gaelic term gall was applied to people from the English-speaking lowlands and to Scandinavians; in Ireland the same term was applied to settlers who arrived from Wales and England in the wake of the Anglo-Norman invasion of the 12th century... [more]
GallandFrench Nickname for a cheerful or high-spirited or bold person from Old French galant "lively vivacious" also "bold valiant" (the meanings "gallant" and "attentive to women" developed only in the 16th century) the present participle of Old French galer "to be in good humor to enjoy oneself" a word of ancient Germanic origin... [more]
GallantEnglish Nickname for a cheerful or high-spirited person, from Old French, Middle English galant "bold, dashing, lively". The meanings "gallant" and "attentive to women" are further developments, which may lie behind some examples of the surname.
GalletFrench Either a nickname for a cheerful companion a noun derivative of the Old French verb galler "to enjoy oneself to have fun". Or from a pet form of the personal name Gall.
GalloisFrench Either a nickname for a bon vivant Old French galois. Or perhaps an ethnic name from gallois "Welsh".
GallyFrench Derived from southern French gal "rooster", this name was used as a nickname for a vain or conceited person.
GaltEnglish An early member was a person with a fancied resemblance to the wild boar.
GamanayakeSinhalese From Sanskrit ग्राम (grāma) meaning "village, settlement" and नायक (nāyaka) meaning "hero, leader".
GambonEnglish, Irish Derived from Anglo-Norman French gambon meaning "ham", itself derived from a Norman-Picard form of Old French jambe meaning "leg". A famous bearer is the Irish-English actor Sir Michael Gambon (1940-).
GamelinFrench From pet form of any of the compound personal names formed with gamal, related to Old Norse gamall, Old German gamel "old", "aged". ... [more]
GammonEnglish From a medieval nickname applied to a merry or sportive person (from Middle English gamen "game"), or to someone who walked in a strange way or had some peculiarity of the legs (from Anglo-Norman gambon "ham").
GampEnglish (British) This surname is thought to originate from Sarah or Sairey Gamp, Mrs. Gamp as she is more commonly known, in the novel Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens.... [more]
GandinFrench From the French gandin, pronounced /ɡɑ̃dœ̃/, which is a word used for a dandy, an elegant young man with affected, quite often ridiculous, manners.
GansGerman, Dutch Means "goose" in German and Dutch, either an occupational name for someone who worked with geese, a habitational name for someone who lived by a sign depicting a goose, or a nickname for someone walked oddly or was considered silly or foolish... [more]
GansGerman, Dutch From Old High German ganz "whole, intact, healthy", a nickname for a particularly strong or healthy person.
GantenbeinRomansh Derived from Romansh canta bein "he or she sings well".
GanzonFilipino From Hokkien 顏 (gân) meaning "face, colour, hue" and 孫 (sun) meaning "grandchild".
GarandFrench nickname or status name from the Old French legal term garant "guarantor". perhaps from a personal name based on the ancient Germanic element warin "protection shelter" or "guard".
GarfiasSpanish Nickname from the plural form of regional garfia 'claw paw' a word of Arabic origin.
GarvinIrish Anglicized form of Irish Ó Gairbhín "descendant of Garbhán", a given name derived from a diminutive form of Old Irish garb "rough, coarse, rugged, cruel".
GąsiorPolish Means "gander (male goose)" in Polish. It was used as a nickname for a person who resembled a gander or as an occupational name for a keeper of geese.
GatchalianFilipino, Tagalog From a Hispanicised spelling of Gat Sa Li-Han, a Chinese title meaning "lord of Li-Han". It was used by the rulers of Li-Han, an ancient Philippine state that was located in the present-day city of Malolos.
GatlinEnglish English of uncertain origin; probably a variant of Catlin or Gadling, a nickname from Old English gœdeling ‘kinsman’, ‘companion’, but also ‘low fellow’.
GatmaitanFilipino, Tagalog From a Hispanicised form of Gat Maitan, a title meaning "lord of Mait" that was used by rulers of an ancient place named Mait or Maitan.
GattoItalian Derived from Old Italian gatto meaning "cat", ultimately from Late Latin cattus. This was a nickname for a person who resembled a cat in some way.
GattusoItalian, Sicilian Sicilian and Calabrian variant of Gatto, notably borne by the Italian former soccer player Gennaro Gattuso (1978-).
GayeEnglish Possibly a nickname for a cheerful person, derived from the archaic word "gay" meaning "happy". A famous bearer was the American singer Marvin Gaye (1939-1984).
GemistosGreek, Late Greek Means "full, laden" in Greek, supposedly referring to a head full of knowledge. One of the earliest recorded bearers was Georgios Gemistos Plethon, a Greek scholar of the late Byzantine era. He chose the pseudonym Plethon (from πλῆθος (plethos) "multitude, great number", from πλήθω (pletho) "to fill") partly in reference to the meaning of his surname.
GemitoItalian From a misspelling of genito "to be born", given to sculptor Vincenzo Gemito upon being abandoned at an orphanage as an infant.
GermanEnglish, Norman, German, Jewish, Greek From Old French germain meaning "German". This sometimes denoted an actual immigrant from Germany, but was also used to refer to a person who had trade or other connections with German-speaking lands... [more]
GharbiArabic (Maghrebi) Means "westerner, one from the west" from Arabic غرب (gharb) meaning "west, occident". In Tunisia it is typically used as a name for someone originally from Algeria or Morocco (being the two westernmost countries in North Africa).
GharibiPersian Derived from Persian غریب (gharib) meaning "strange, rare, foreign".
GhatakIndian, Bengali Derived from Sanskrit घटक (ghataka) meaning "striving for, bringing about, accomplishing".
GhezziItalian Patronymic or plural form of a nickname from Old Italian ghezzo ‘dark’
GiannoneItalian From a diminutive meaning "big Gianni" formed by combining the personal name Gianni with -one, a suffix used to form augmentatives.
GlassIrish, Scottish Anglicized form of the epithet glas "gray, green, blue" or any of various Gaelic surnames derived from it.
GlauberJewish (Ashkenazi) Derived from German glauben "to believe" and the suffix -er. It was originally given either to an elder of the tribe, one renowned for his counsel, or to a layman who kept 'the faith'.
GlavnyymRussian Means "main". Given as a nickname to a leader or chief, probably of a village.
GlushkovRussian Derived from Russian глухой (glukhoy) meaning "deaf" or "remote, out-of-the-way", either used as a nickname for a deaf person or for someone originally from a remote place.
GoffoItalian From Italian meaning "clumsy, awkward".
GoforthEnglish Probably given to someone who likes to lead
GognonFrench, Occitan Nickname for an aggressive or belligerent man, from Old French Gagnon ‘ mastiff’, ‘guard dog’. Possibly from Occitan ganhon ‘young pig’, applied as an offensive nickname. See also Gonyeau.
GogoiIndian, Ahom Means "younger brother" or "king" in Ahom.
GołąbPolish Nickname for a mild-mannered or peace-loving man, from Polish golab "dove".
GoldenEnglish From the English word golden, likely a nickname for someone with blonde hair.
GoodchildEnglish Nickname derived from Middle English god "good" and cild "child". In some cases, it might have instead derived from godchild and been a nickname for someone who was the godchild of a prominent member of the community.
GoodenoughEnglish From a medieval nickname probably applied either to someone of average abilities or to an easily satisfied person; also, perhaps from a medieval nickname meaning "good servant".
GoodfellowEnglish Generally explained as a nickname meaning 'good fellow' or 'good companion'.
GoodfriendEnglish Nickname for a reliable friend or neighbor, from Middle English gode meaning "good", and frend meaning "friend". It is an English translation and cognate of German Gutfreund, from Middle High German guot meaning "good" and vriunt meaning "friend".
GoodsonEnglish Nickname for a dutiful son, from Middle English gode ‘good’ + sone ‘son’.
GoodwillEnglish Nickname for a friendly or amiable person; from Middle English god(e), gud(e)goud(e), meaning "good" and wil(le), meaning "will, volition".
GoodyMedieval English From Middle English god dai ‘good day’, possibly applied as a nickname for someone who frequently used this greeting.... [more]
GoodyearEnglish Probably a nickname from Middle English expression gode ‘good’ (Old English gōd) + year, yere ‘year’ commonly used as an intensifier in questions e.g. ‘What the good year?’... [more]
GooseEnglish, Norman Occupational name for a goose-herd (a person who tends to geese) or a medieval nickname for a person who resembled a goose in some way. It could also be a English (of Norman French origins) cognate of Gosse.
GóraPolish A Polish and Jewish name that means; ‘mountain’, ‘hill’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived on a hillside or in a mountainous district, or perhaps a nickname for a large person
GorbachenkoUkrainian From Russian горбач (gorbach) meaning "hunchback, humpback"
GorbachevRussian From Russian горбач (gorbach) meaning "hunchback, humpback". A notable bearer is Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-), a former Soviet politician.
GoscinnyPolish Derived from Polish adjective gościnny from word gość meaning 'guest'.
GossEnglish Derived from the Old English word gos meaning "goose."
GoswamiIndian, Bengali, Hindi, Assamese Derived from Sanskrit गोस्वामिन् (gosvamin) meaning "religious mendicant" (literally "owner of cows" or "lord of cows"), from गो (go) meaning "cow" and स्वामिन् (svamin) meaning "owner, lord, master".
GottsteinGerman Topographic name from a field name meaning literally "God's rock" derived from the elements got "god" and stein "stone"... [more]
GötzGerman Originally a hypocorism of Gottfried, which is derived from an Old High German given name. Variants include the surnames Getz and Goetz, as well as the given name Götz.
GouChinese From Chinese 苟 (gǒu) meaning "careless, casual, indifferent".
GoudDutch, Afrikaans Means "gold" in Dutch, an occupational name for a goldsmith, or possibly a nickname for a person with blonde hair. It could also be a variant form of Gott.
GoudeauGermanic (Rare, Archaic), French Possible variant of the surname Goethe. It also possibly derives from the diminutive Old French of "gode", meaning "happy-go-lucky, debauched".
GouezBreton From Breton meaning "wild, fierce, savage".
GoupilFrench nickname for someone with red hair or for a cunning person from Old French goupil "fox" Late Latin vulpiculus a diminutive of classical Latin vulpes a distant cognate of Wolf . This was replaced as a vocabulary word during the Middle Ages by Renard originally a personal name.
GourkuñvBreton Breton combination of gour and kuñv meaning "a charming, affable, gentle or conciliatory man". The digraph -ff was introduced by Middle Ages' authors to indicate a nasalized vowel.
GourmandFrench, Walloon From French gourmandise meaning "gluttony, greedy eating". Perhaps a nickname for someone who eats a lot.
GovorovmRussian Denoted a talkative person or a storyteller, from Russian говорит (govorit) meaning "to speak".
GozonFilipino From Hokkien 五孫 (gō͘-sun) meaning "fifth grandson".
GrandjeanFrench, French (Swiss) Derived from French grand meaning "tall, large" and the given name Jean 1, hence possibly a nickname for a tall or large person.
GrawertLow German, German (East Prussian) As a Low German name, Grawert is derived from Middle High German grā and Old High German grāo "gray" (originally "shimmery, gleaming"). As a surname, it was a nickname given to someone with gray hair.... [more]
GrbavacCroatian Derived from grbavo, meaning "bumpy" or "hunchbacked".
GreayEnglish (Rare) The name Greay originated when a family matriarch changed the name to differentiate between the two families with the same name Grey. There was a wedding between the two families and it was easier if the name was changed.
GreeleyEnglish, Norman English (of Norman origin): nickname for someone with a pock-marked face, from Old Northern French greslé ‘pitted’, ‘scarred’ (from gresle ‘hailstone’, of Germanic origin).
GreenleafEnglish From Old English grēne "green" and lēaf "leaf", presumably applied as a nickname, the significance of which is now lost.
GreifGerman Means "Griffin" in German. From the mythological creature.
GreinerUpper German, German (Swiss) Nickname for a quarrelsome or cantankerous person, derived from Middle High German grīner meaning "squabbler, quarreler" (ultimately an agent derivative of grīn meaning "loud, cry, screaming, shouting")... [more]
GrellGerman Nickname for an irritable or irascible person, from Middle High German, Middle Low German grellen "to be angry".
GriesUpper German Topographic name for someone who lived in a sandy place from Middle High German griez meaning “sand pebble” or a shortened form of German Griese.
GrieseLow German Nickname for a gray-haired man from Middle Low German grīs meaning “gray.”
GriffioenDutch Dutch cognate of Griffin 2. Could be a habitational name referring to a sign depicting a griffin, or derived from a coat of arms.
GriffoItalian From grifo "gryphon" (Latin gryphus, Greek gryps, of Assyrian origin), hence a nickname for someone thought to resemble the mythical beast.
GriffonFrench From a diminutive of Old French griffe "claw", hence a nickname for a grasping or vicious person, or perhaps for someone with a deformed or otherwise remarkable hand.
GrignonFrench From French 'grignard' meaning "angry" and "contemptuous", and Old French (of Germanic origin) 'grignier' "to grit the teeth" or "curl the lips".
GrillGerman From a nickname for a cheerful person, from Middle High German grille "cricket" (Old High German grillo, from Late Latin grillus, Greek gryllos). The insect is widely supposed to be of a cheerful disposition, no doubt because of its habit of infesting hearths and warm places... [more]
GrinerGerman (Anglicized), Jewish Americanised form of German Greiner. It could also denote a person who came from various German places called Grüna or Grünau. In Jewish, it is a topographic name for someone who lived in a green of leafy area, derived from Yiddish grin meaning "green" or Middle High German gruene meaning "greenery".
GrinfelderCroatian Derived from German grün, "green", and feld, "field".
GrischottRomansh Variant of Grisch by way of combining it with the diminutive suffix -ott.
GriselFrench, French (Swiss) Derived from the Old French adjective grisel, a variant of gris meaning "grey". It was a nickname for a person with grey hair a grey complexion or who habitually wore grey.
GrissomEnglish From a diminutive of Grice, which was originally a nickname for a grey-haired man, derived from Middle English grice, gris meaning "grey" (itself from Old French gris, apparently of Germanic origin).
GrobGerman A nickname for a strong, heavy man, or for a lout, from Middle High German g(e)rop "coarse".
GroschGerman Either a metonymic occupational name for a moneyer or possibly a nickname for an avaricious person from Middle High German Middle Low German grosche "groschen" a medieval thick silver coin its name ultimately derived from medieval Latin denariusgrossus literally "thick coin".
GrosjeanFrench, French (Belgian) Derived from French gros "large" and the given name Jean 1. As a nickname, it is sometimes applied to a person who is perceived as stupid.
GrotiusDutch (Latinized) Latinized form of De Groot. This name was used by the Dutch humanist, theologian and jurist Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), born as either Huig de Groot or Hugo de Groot... [more]
GruberJewish A nickname from an inflected form of Yiddish dialect grub meaning ‘rude' or 'impolite’.
GrullonDominican, Mexican, French Possibly from a derivative of Spanish grulla "crane (bird)" presumably applied as a nickname for tall thin person; in Mexico however grulla denotes a crafty person
GrumpyEnglish, English (American) Grumpy was english name possibly origin of Germanic languages and other spoken languages or other European languages
GrünGerman, Jewish from Middle High German gruoni "green fresh raw" hence a nickname for someone who habitually dressed in green a topographic name for someone who lived in a green and leafy place or a habitational name for someone from a place called with this word such as GrunaGrunau in Silesia... [more]
GuChinese From Chinese 辜 (gū) meaning "crime, wrong, sin".
GuancheSpanish (Canarian), Berber, Guanche Derived from the name of the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands before the Spanish conquest. The Guanche people were a Berber-speaking people who arrived in the Canary Islands in the 5th century AD... [more]
GuerzoniItalian From guercio "cross-eyed, one-eyed; blind in one eye".
GuestEnglish Nickname for a stranger or newcomer to a community, from Middle English g(h)est meaning "guest", "visitor" (from Old Norse gestr, absorbing the cognate Old English giest).
GuijarroSpanish Spanish: nickname from guijarro 'pebble' perhaps applied to a man who sold pebbles (used for paving the streets).
GuilbeauFrench Possibly from Ancient Germanic wil, meaning "will, power", and Latin bellus, meaning "beautiful".