CherryEnglish From Middle English chirie, cherye "cherry", hence a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of cherries, or possibly a nickname for someone with rosy cheeks.... [more]
CheryFrench The name Chery is derived from the Anglo Norman French word, cherise, which means cherry, and was probably used to indicate a landmark, such as a cherry tree, which distinguished the location bearing the name.
ChestnutEnglish From Old French castan "chestnut tree" (Latin castanea), a name for someone who lived near a particular chestnut tree, or possibly a nickname for someone with chestnut-coloured hair (see Chastain).
ChestnuttEnglish "Chestnut." A notable bearer is Charles Waddel Chestnut, a novelist.
ChetcutiMaltese Derived from Arabic كتكوت (katkūt) meaning "(newborn) chick, young chicken".
ChevapravatdumrongThai Possibly from Thai ชีวประวัติ (chiwaprawat) meaning "biography" combined with ดำรง (damrong) meaning "uphold, sustain". A notable bearer is Cherry Chevapravatdumrong (1977-), an American screenwriter of Thai descent known for her work in the animated television series Family Guy.
CheyneEnglish Locational or topographical surname derived from Old French chesne, chesnai "oak tree, oak grove", ultimately derived from medieval Latin casnetum.
ChiakiJapanese (Rare) Depending on the kanji used can mean different things. Chi means "thousand" or "wisdom" and aki means "bright", "autumn", "sparkle", "crystal ball" or "shining". This is the last name of Naomi Chiaki, a Japanese singer... [more]
ChicaneVarious Unknown origins/meaning. Some sources claim it is a variation of the surname "Chick". Chicane is also a French word meaning "to cavil, to quibble".
ChigurhLiterature, Popular Culture Meaning unknown. It is intended to be "ethnically ambiguous", but one theory suggests that it may be derived from the Spanish verb seguir meaning "to follow, to continue". This name was invented by the American author Cormac McCarthy for the villain in his novel No Country for Old Men (2005)... [more]
ChigusaJapanese This surname is used as 千種, 千草 or 千艸 with 千 (sen, chi) meaning "thousand", 種 (shu, -gusa, tane) meaning "class, kind, seed, species, variety", 草 (sou, kusa, kusa-, -gusa) meaning "draft, grass, herbs, pasture, weeds, write" and 艸 (sou, kusa) meaning "grass, plants."... [more]
ChiharaJapanese From Japanese 茅 (chi) meaning "thatch" or 千 (chi) meaning "thousand" combined with 原 (hara) meaning "field, plain". A notable bearer of this surname is Minori Chihara (茅原 実里), a Japanese voice-actress who is best known for voicing Yuki Nagato from the Haruhi Suzumiya series and Aya Natsume from Tenjō Tenge.
ChiovaroSicilian Unknown meaning. Brought over to the United States from Sicilian immigrants, where the pronunciation changed from KEE-o-vah-row to SHIV-ahr-ow.
ChirawetsunthonkunThai (Rare) From Thai จิร (chira) meaning "long", เวช (wet) meaning "doctor; physician", สุนทร (sunthon) meaning "beautiful; nice; well", and กุล (kun) meaning "tribe, race, lineage".
ChirayangyuenThai (Rare) Means "to endure long", From Thai จิร (chira-) meaning "long; extended" and ยั่งยืน (yangyuen) meaning "to endure; to last".
ChitsawangdiThai (Rare) From Thai จิตต์ (chit) meaning "mind; heart; soul; spirit; mentality", สว่าง (sawang) meaning "bright; shining", and ดี (di) meaning "good".
ChiuraJapanese (Rare) This surname is used as 千浦, 地浦 or 知浦 with 千 (sen, chi) meaning "thousand," 地 (ji, chi) meaning "earth, ground", 知 (chi, shi.raseru, shi.ru) meaning "know, wisdom" and 浦 (ho, ura) meaning "bay, beach, creek, gulf, inlet, seacoast."... [more]
ChivaareeThai From Thai ชีวะ (chiwa) meaning "life" and อารี (ari) meaning "tolerant, liberal, generous; magnanimous"
ChokshiIndian From Gujarati čoksi ‘jeweler’, ‘assayer of gold and silver’, from čokəs ‘precise’, ‘circumspect’, a compound of čo- ‘four’, ‘four-way’, ‘all-round’ (Sanskrit čatus- ‘four’) + kəs ‘assaying’ (Sanskrit kạsa ‘rubbing’, ‘touchstone’).
ChristmasEnglish Either an occupational name for someone who was responsible for arrangement of festivities for Christmas day, or it might a nickname for someone who was born on Christmas.
ÇifliguAlbanian (Rare) This surname derives from the Albanian city Çiflig. The word Çiflig comes from the Turkish term for land management in the Ottoman Empire. Albania was under Ottoman rule for almost 500 years and has many cities and surnames that derive from Turkish terms.
ClagueManx Shortened Anglicization of either Gaelic Mac Luathóg "son of Luathóg", itself derived from a diminutive of Gaelic luath, Manx leah "swift", or from Gaelic Mac Laoghóg "son of Laoghóg", which is derived from a diminutive of Gaelic laogh and Manx lheiy "calf".
ClavellFrench, Catalan The first documented records of the surname Clavell appear in Catalunya between 1291 and 1327. The word clavell traces back to the Indo-European words "kleu", later "klawo" meaning a metal tool. In Latin "clavus", it eventually became a surname "Clavell".
ClaveroEnglish, Catalan 1 English: occupational name from Old French clavier ‘doorkeeper’ (from Latin clavis ‘key’).... [more]
ClefItalian At the end of the 10th century, Gregorian musical scribes increased the precision of early notation by introducing a horizontal line to indicate a base pitch. The pitch of this line was indicated by a letter at its start... [more]
ClerihewScottish A Scottish surname of unknown origin and meaning. A clerihew is a humorous or satirical verse consisting of two rhyming couplets in lines of irregular metre about someone who is named in the poem. It was invented by the British author Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956; Clerihew was his mother's maiden name)... [more]