DareEnglish This interesting surname has two possible derivations. Firstly, it may derive from the Olde English pre-7th Century personal name "Deora", Middle English "Dere", which is in part a short form of various compound names with the first element "deor", dear, and in part a byname meaning "Beloved"... [more]
DeeEnglish, Scottish From the name of any of various rivers in England and Scotland named Dee, itself derived from Celtic dewos meaning "god, deity".
DeenArabic, Urdu Alternate transcription of Arabic دين or Urdu دین (see Din).
DeldojarScottish (Anglicized, Rare) Deldojar is a nickname for Bangladeshi traders who settled on the coastal port of Perth and Kinross, Scotland. This name is taken from the name of the merchant's hometown, Deldur upazila, a district of Tangail in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
DeutchGerman (Rare), Jewish (Rare) "German". Used as a last name for those who had none in the 17-18th century. Continues to today, albeit rarely.
DeyIndian, Bengali, Assamese, Odia Derived either from Sanskrit देव (deva) meaning "god" or देय (deya) meaning "fit or proper (for a gift)".
ĐớiVietnamese Vietnamese form of Dai, from Sino-Vietnamese 戴 (đới).
DiaoChinese From Chinese 刁 (diāo) referring to the ancient state of Diao, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Shaanxi province. It was adopted due to being homophonous with the character 雕, which was the actual name of the state.
DionFrench Meaning uncertain. It may be a habitational name from any of various locations called Dion or Dionne, derived from the Gaulish element divon- meaning "(sacred) spring" or Celtic dēwos meaning "god, deity"... [more]
DiopWestern African, Wolof From Joob, the name of a Wolof clan, derived from a totemic word meaning "black craned swan" or "peacock".
DoakScots A Scots Gaelic name said to be either an Anglicized version of Dabhóc that is a pet form of the given name David or a pet form of the given name Caradoc.
DoeEnglish An English nickname for a gentle person from the word for a female deer. Originally a female first name transferred to use as a surname. Well known in American law as a hypothetical surname for a person unnamed in legal proceedings, as in Jane Doe or John Doe.
DouChinese From Chinese 窦 (dòu) meaning "hole, burrow".
DownEnglish Derived from Old English dun meaning "down, low hill".
DownsEnglish This surname is derived from the Old English element dun meaning "hill, mountain, moor." This denotes someone who lives in a down (in other words, a ridge of chalk hills or elevated rolling grassland).
DrostDutch, German, Danish Means "reeve, steward; sheriff, bailiff" in German and Dutch, a title for the administrative head of a court or district.
DruxGerman Variant of Trux, which itself is a contracted form of Truxes and derived from the German word Truchsess, ultimately from Middle High German truhsaeze and Old High German truhtsazzo (from truht "band; cohort; regiment" and saza "seat; chair").... [more]
DưVietnamese Vietnamese form of Yu 2, from Sino-Vietnamese 余 (dư).
DuanChinese From Chinese 段 (duàn) referring to the ancient fief of Duan Gan (段干).
DuckEnglish, Irish English from Middle English doke "duck", hence a nickname for someone with some fancied resemblance to a duck, or an occupational name for someone who kept or hunted ducks. Alternatively, a variant form of Duke... [more]
DudeEnglish Derived from Old English word doughty which meant "manly".
DulKhmer Derived from Sanskrit डुल (dula) meaning "shake, tremble".
DyeEnglish, Welsh English: from a pet form of the personal name Dennis. In Britain the surname is most common in Norfolk, but frequent also in Yorkshire. Welsh is also suggested, but 1881 and UK both show this as an East Anglian name - very few in Wales.
EadeEnglish (British, ?) Originally derived from the Old English name Eadwig. Surname found mainly in Scotland and northern England. Americanized spelling of Norwegian Eide... [more]
EastEnglish From the English vocabulary word, ultimately derived from Proto-Germanic *austrą "east". It originally denoted someone who lived to the east of something, or someone who came from the east.
EidArabic Means "feast, holiday, festival" in Arabic. It is typically used to refer to the two major religious holidays observed by Muslims, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
EkKhmer Means "one, first" in Khmer, ultimately from Sanskrit एक (eka).
ElamEnglish English habitational name for someone from a place called Elham, in Kent, or a lost place of this name in Crayford, Kent. The first is derived from Old English el ‘eel’ + ham ‘homestead’ or hamm ‘enclosure hemmed in by water’... [more]
EllMedieval This name derives from the Medieval given name Elis first recorded in the 1220 Pipe Rolls of Middlesex "Elis de Adham". The ultimate origin of the name is the Hebrew, Elisha or Elijah (meaning "Jehovah is God")... [more]
EtheGreek Plural form of ethos. Ethos forms the root of ethikos (ἠθικός), meaning "moral, showing moral character". Used as a noun in the neuter plural form ta ethika (τὰ ἠθικά), used for the study of morals, it is the origin of the modern English word ethics.
EunKorean (Rare) From Sino-Korean 殷 (eun) meaning "great, many, magnificent; flourishing".
EunKorean (Rare) From Sino-Korean 恩 (eun) meaning "favor, grace, mercy".
EunKorean (Rare) From Sino-Korean 慇 (eun) meaning "to be kind, to be wealthy".
EwellEnglish Habitation name from the town of Ewell in Surrey or from Temple Ewell or Ewell Manor, both in Kent or Ewell Minnis near Dover. Originally from Old English Aewill meaning "river source" or "spring".
EyreEnglish Derived from Middle English eyer, eir "heir", originally denoting a man who was designated to inherit or had already inherited the main property in a particular locality. The surname was borne by the heroine of Charlotte Brontë's 'Jane Eyre' (1847).
FaïsMedieval Occitan, Occitan (Rare) Derived from Old French and Occitan fagot, meaning "bundle" (of sticks/twigs), denoting someone who collects bundles.
FangChinese From Chinese 方 (fāng) referring to Fang Shu, a minister and adviser to King Xuan of the Western Zhou dynasty. Alternately it may have come from a place called Fang Shan (方山), which existed in what is now Henan province.
FangChinese From Chinese 房 (fáng) referring to the ancient state of Fang, which existed in what is now Henan province.
FeiChinese From Chinese 费 (fèi) referring to the ancient state of Fei, which existed during the Xia and Zhou dynasties in what is now Shandong province. Alternately it may come from Feiyi (費邑), the name of a fief that existed in the state of Lu (during the Zhou dynasty) in what is now Shandong province.
FiennesEnglish Derived from Fiennes, a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. The wealthy and influential Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes family, prominent in British society, originated in northern France... [more]
FineEnglish (?) English nickname for a clever or elegant man, from Old French fin ‘fine’, ‘delicate’, ‘skilled’, ‘cunning’ (originally a noun from Latin finis ‘end’, ‘extremity’, ‘boundary’, later used also as an adjective in the sense ‘ultimate’, ‘excellent’).
FromSwedish From Swedish from "pious, devout, religious, holy".
FuChinese From Chinese 傅 (fù) meaning "teacher, instructor", also referring to an ancient place named Fu Yan (傅岩) possibly located in what is now Shanxi province. It could also come from the name of the ancient fief of Fu, which existed during the Western Zhou dynasty in what is now Shandong province.
GamKorean South Korean, from Sino-Korean "甘" (Gam) meaning "Sweet".
GanChinese From Chinese 甘 (gān) of uncertain origin, possibly from the name of Shang dynasty minister Gan Pan or from the name of an ancient territory called Gan that existed in what is now Shaanxi province.
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]
GarthEnglish Means "garden" from northern Middle English garth (Old Norse garþr, garðr) "piece of enclosed ground; garden, paddock" originally denoting one who lived near or worked in a garden.
GauntEnglish This name is believed to have derived "from the town of Gaunt, now Ghent, in Flanders."... [more]
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).
GeChinese From Chinese 葛 (gé) referring to the ancient state of Ge, which existed during the Xia dynasty in what is now Henan province.
GearEnglish Derived from the Germanic name element ger, meaning "spear".
GengChinese From Chinese 耿 (gěng) referring to the ancient city of Geng, which existed during the Shang dynasty in what is now Henan province. Alternately it may come from the name of an ancient state that existed during the Spring and Autumn period in present-day Shanxi province.
GladSwedish Swedish soldier name meaning "happy". ... [more]
GloopLiterature, Popular Culture Augustus Gloop is an obese and gluttonous character in Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, published in 1964.
GoetzGerman Originally a hypocorism of the given name Gottfried. Variants include the surnames Getz, Götz and the given name Götz.
GongChinese From Chinese 龚 (gōng) referring to the ancient state of Gong (written as 共), which existed during the Shang dynasty possibly in what is now Henan province. This name was adopted in place of 共 by future descendants to flee persecution.
GoosGerman, Flemish, Dutch Either a metonymic occupational name for a breeder or keeper of geese, from Middle Low German gōs and Middle Dutch goes "goose", or a short form of an Old German personal name containing Gote "Goth" or got "god", particularly Goswin or Gozewijn (a compound name with the second element wini "friend").
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.
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.
GrzybPolish Meaning "mushroom", a nickname for an old man or simpleton, or signifying someone whose profession involved mushrooms.
GuChinese From Chinese 顾 (gù) referring to the ancient state of Gu, which existed during the Xia dynasty in what is now Henan province.
GuChinese From Chinese 辜 (gū) meaning "crime, wrong, sin".
GuChinese From Chinese 谷 (gǔ) referring to the ancient fief of Qin Gu, which existed in what is now the province of either Gansu or Shaanxi. Alternately it may come from the name of the fief of Jia Gu, which was part of the state of Qi during the Zhou dynasty.
GuChinese From Chinese 古 (gǔ) possibly derived from Kucheng (古成 or 苦城), the name of an ancient fief that may have existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Henan province... [more]
GuanChinese From Chinese 管 (guǎn) meaning "administer, manage, control", also referring to the ancient state of Guan that existed in what is now Henan province.
GüçTurkish Means "power, strength, force" in Turkish.
GuedjJudeo-Spanish Possibly derived from the Kabyle word agaji related to movement, though it may in fact be a variant of the surname Guez.
HäggSwedish From Swedish hägg meaning "prunus padus", but also known as "hackberry, bird cherry". It is a type of small tree native to northern Asia and Europe.
HajArabic Refers to a person who has participated in the حج (hajj), the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia that Muslims must undertake at least once in their lifetimes.
HajjArabic Alternate transcription of Arabic حاج (see Haj).
HakKorean From Sino-Korean 鶴 (hag) meaning "crane" or 斈 (hag) meaning "learn".
HaltzBasque Derived from Basque haltz "alder (tree)".
HeldGerman, Jewish, Dutch Means "hero" in German, ultimately derived from Middle High German helt. This name was bestowed upon a person either in its literal meaning or else in an ironic sense.
HenceGerman, English, Welsh An American spelling variant of Hentz derived from a German nickname for Hans or Heinrich or from an English habitation name found in Staffordshire or Shropshire and meaning "road or path" in Welsh.