WilletsEnglish Occasionally a Habitational name from Willet in Elworthy. Probably a compound of Old English wiell will 'spring' + an unrecorded gīete 'stream'.(Ancestory.com) Or is a varation of the given name William.
WillmanEnglish Occupational name for someone who was the servant of a man called Will.
WinsteadEnglish Perhaps derived from the town of Wanstead in Greater London, England (recorded in the Domesday Book as Wenesteda), named with Old English wænn meaning "wagon" and stede meaning "place, site", but it is more likely derived from the village of Winestead in East Yorkshire, England, named from Old English wefa meaning "wife" and hamstede meaning "homestead"... [more]
WitlyEnglish Variant of Whitley, a habitational name from any of various places named with Old English hwit ‘white’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.
WitteGerman, Dutch, English Cognate to and variant of White, a nickname for someone with white or blonde hair or an unusually pale complexion
WittmanGerman Wittman was first found in the Palatinate in the Rhineland valley. The surname Wittman was given to someone who lived in the area that was referred to as widem which was originally derived from the German word denoting church property.
WongchaiThai From Thai วงศ์ (wong) meaning "lineage, family, dynasty" and ไชย (chai) meaning "victory".
WongkaeoThai From Thai วงศ์ or วงษ์ (wong) meaning "lineage, family, dynasty" and แก้ว (kaeo) meaning "crystal, glass, diamond".
WongkhamThai From Thai วงศ์ (wong) meaning "lineage, family, dynasty" and คำ (kham) meaning "gold".
WongyaiThai From Thai วงศ์ (wong) meaning "lineage, family, dynasty" and ใหญ่ (yai) meaning "big, large, great".
WoodbineEnglish (Rare) From the English word "woodbine" that means "honeysuckle(plant)"in English.It seems uncommon in the English-speak culture for a surname.Also some American place names,too.
WoodnutEnglish From a rare Anglo-Saxon personal name meaning "bold as Wade" and meant to honor the legendary Germanic sea-giant named Wade.
WoodsonEnglish From a location in Yorkshire, England earlier spelled Woodsome and meaning "from the houses in the wood" or possibly a patronymic meaning "descendant of a wood cutter or forester."
WoolleyEnglish A habitational name from any of various places so-called. Most, including those in Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, and West Yorkshire in England, are derived from the Old English wulf, meaning "wolf", and leah, meaning "wood" or "clearing"... [more]
WorkmanEnglish Ostensibly an occupational name for a laborer, derived from Middle English work and man. According to a gloss, the term was used in the Middle Ages to denote an ambidextrous person, and the surname may also be a nickname in this sense.
WriothesleyEnglish (British) Name is of unknown origin, deriving from older Wrotteslega, who were a family that held estates in Staffordshire in the late 1100s. Possibly a combination of wrot "snout" and leah "meadow, cleaning", suggesting it's origin as a pig farm.
WursterGerman Derived from German Wurst (Middle High German wurst) "sausage" and thus either denoted a butcher who specialized in the production of sausages, or was used as a nickname for a plump person or someone who was particularly fond of sausages.
WyethEnglish May come either from the Old English word "withig" meaning "willow" or from Guyat, a pet form of the Old French given name Guy. Probably unrelated to Wyatt.
WymoreEnglish From a town called Waymore in England, possibly abandoned. Combining Old English wic meaning "dwelling place," and mor meaning "moor."
XūwángChinese A Chinese surname taken from combining 須 (xū) meaning "must, necessary" with 王 (wáng) meaning "king, monarch". It is the Chinese reading of the Japanese surname Suō.
YabeJapanese From the Japanese 矢 (ya) "arrow" and 部 (be) "region," "division," "part."
YabsleyEnglish It is believed to be a derived spelling of Abboldesi, a place now more commonly known as Abbotsley or Abbotsleigh. However, the original surname had nothing to do with "Abbots" in any spelling, and derives from to the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Eadbeald" meaning "Prosperity-bold".
YabuJapanese Possibly from 薮 (yabu) meaning "thicket, bush, underbrush, grove".
YardleyEnglish Habitational name for someone from any of the various locations in England named Yardley, derived from Old English gierd meaning "branch, twig, pole, stick" and leah meaning "wood, clearing".
YelleyEnglish (British) The surname Yelley was first found in Oxfordshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed... [more]
YelnatsLiterature Invented by Louis Sacher for his novel "Holes". The name was created because it is Stanley spelled backwards. Stanley Yelnats IV is the main character in the novel.
YeltsinmRussian Possibly from Russian word ель (jel') meaning "spruce, fir" and the relational suffix -ин (-in).
YeterTurkish Means "enough, sufficient" in Turkish.
YetimTurkish Means "orphan" in Turkish, ultimately from Arabic يتيم (yatim).
YezhovmRussian Derived from Russian word "ёж (yozh)" meaning hedgehog. Yezhov was the last name of Nikolay Yezhov, the leader of the Soviet NKVD from 1936-38 who is known for Yezhovshchina.
YoheMedieval English The Yohe surname comes from the Old English word "ea," or "yo," in Somerset and Devon dialects, which meant "river" or "stream." It was likely originally a topographic name for someone who lived near a stream.
YolcuTurkish Means "passenger, traveller" in Turkish.
YoldaşTurkish Means "traveling companion" in Turkish.
YomtovHebrew (Modern) Means "good day", derived from Hebrew יום (yom) means "day" and טוב (tov) means "good".
YuiJapanese It is written three ways: 由 (yu) meaning "reason, cause" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mineshaft, pit". Or (yu) meaning the same as the latter, but with 比 (i) meaning "compare". Lastly, 油 (yu) can mean "oil" and (i) meaning the same as the first example.... [more]
YüksekTurkish Means "high, lofty, great, noble" in Turkish.
YükselTurkish Means "increase, rise, ascend" in Turkish.
YumbeJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 弓 (yun), a contraction of 弓 (yumi) meaning "bow, archery" and 部 (be) meaning "division", possibly referring to a fighter who specialized in archery.
YumiJapanese Yu means "cause, reason, logic" and mi means "beauty". ... [more]
ZachowGerman Meaning unknown. A notable bearer of this name is Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, a organist, musician, and composer who lived from 1663 to 1712. Zachow, Wisconsin is an unincorporated community named after a local landowner, William Zachow.
ZaghloulArabic (Egyptian) Means "squab, young dove" in Egyptian Arabic. A notable bearer was the Egyptian statesman and revolutionary Saad Zaghloul (1857-1927).
ZakhaevRussian Russian surname, likely a derivative of the given name Zakhey combined with the Russian suffix "-ev" ("of"), therefore meaning "of Zakhey."... [more]
ZaniItalian Comes from the personal name Z(u)an(n)i, a northeastern (Venetian) form of Gianni (from Giovanni, Italian equivalent of John). Zani or Zanni is a comic figure in the Commedia del’Arte, and the surname may be a nickname derived from this use, which is also the origin of the English word zany.
ZeldesYiddish An eastern Ashkenazic matronymic surname derived from the Yiddish female personal name Zelde (from the Middle High German word sælde meaning either 'fortunate', 'blessed', or 'happiness'.)
ZelleGerman, Dutch Topographic name from Middle High German zelle "(hermit's) cell", or a habitational name from various places called Zelle or Celle.
ZennerUpper German South German: unflattering nickname for a surly, snarling person, from an agent derivative of Middle High German zannen 'to growl or howl' or 'to bare one's teeth'.
ZouaouiArabic (Maghrebi) Indicates a member of the Igawawen (called Zouaoua in French) Kabyle tribe, from Maghrebi Arabic زواوة (zwāwa). The tribe's name is of uncertain meaning; it may be derived from the name of a massif in Kabylie, Algeria.
ZrnčićCroatian Possibly derived from the Slavic element zrn, of unknown meaning.... [more]
ZuckerJewish Occupational name for a confectioner or a nickname for someone with a sweet tooth, from German zucker or Yiddish צוקער (tsuker) both meaning "sugar". It is also used as an ornamental name.
ZufallMedieval German A German name from the Middle High German "zuoval," meaning "benefit," "coincidence" or "windfall." It was a nickname for a lucky person, most likely a person to whom a plot of land had been given. It could also be an occupational name for a tax collector.
ZuillEnglish, Scottish From the town of Zuill, Scotland. The "Z" pronounced as "Y" comes from ancient yogh representing a variety of sounds. The name itself is of unknown origin.
ZwingliSwiss Possibly derived from a place name in Toggenburg, Switzerland. A notable bearer was Huldrych Zwingli (1484 – 1531), leader of the protestant reformation in Switzerland, who was born in Wildhaus, Toggenburg... [more]
ZyrinRussian Derived from Russian зырянин (zyryanin) or зыря (zyrya) meaning "Komi, Zyrian". This may have been a nickname for someone who looked like a person of this ethnic group.