This is a list of submitted surnames in which the number of syllables is 2.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
AudenEnglish This surname is derived from the Germanic given name Aldwin, of which the Old English equivalent is Ealdwine... [more]
AudiArabic (Mashriqi) Lebanese and Palestinian surname. Believed to have originated from the Arabic word "al-'awdi," which means "the one who returns."
AudishEnglish (British) Audish was first found in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire in the south of England, people who had the surname 'Audish' were wealthy landowners, thus held in high esteem.
AuñónSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Manchego municipality.
AuricFrench Meaning unknown. Georges Auric (15 February 1899 – 23 July 1983) was a French composer, considered one of Les Six, a group of artists informally associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie.
AusleyEnglish (Modern) Rare surname which was from an English place name in which the second element is Old English leah "wood, clearing". The first element may be hors "horse" (in which case the name likely referred to a place where horses were put out to pasture) or the river name Ouse (ultimately from the ancient British root ud- "water").
AventEnglish From a shortened form of the Anglo-Norman personal name or nickname Avenant or Avaunt, derived from Old French avenant meaning "beautiful, agreeable, fitting".
AwaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 阿波 (Awa), a clipping of 上阿波 (Kamiawa) or 下阿波 (Shimoawa), both areas in the city of Iga in the prefecture of Mie in Japan.
AwaJapanese From Japanese 阿波 (Awa) meaning "Awa", a former Japanese province in present-day Tokushima, Japan.
AwadArabic Occupational name for a player or maker of lutes, ultimately derived from Arabic عود ('ud) meaning "oud, lute".
AwsumbNorwegian Norwegian habitation surname. Åsum/Aasum/Aasumb is a common place name in Scandinavia, generally referring to an ancient farm or homestead. Derived from Old Norse aas ‘hill’ + um ‘around’. Norwegian emigrants from the Åsum farm in the traditional district of Vinger (Hedmark, Norway) adopted the Anglicized spelling ‘Awsumb’ after arriving in North America in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
AxelDutch (Rare), Flemish (Rare) Habitational name for someone from either of two places, Aksel in East Flanders or Axel in Zeeland, both possibly derived from a relative of Old High German ahsala "shoulder", referring to an elevated piece of land.
AxellSwedish Possibly a habitational name with the combination of ax, a Swedish word for the fruiting body of a grain plant, and the common surname suffix -ell.
AxénSwedish Combination of ax, a Swedish word for the fruiting body of a grain plant, and the common surname suffix -én.
AyanTurkish Means "evident, clear, manifest" in Turkish.
BablaPolish, Indian Polish: nickname from babula ‘(old) little woman, granny’, a hypocoristic derivative of baba (see Baba).... [more]
BabuIndian, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada Derived from Hindi बाबू (babu) meaning "father, sir", used as a respectful term of address for a man as well as a term of endearment for a young boy.
BacallRomanian, Jewish Variant spelling of Bacal. A famous bearer was the American actress Lauren Bacall (1924-2014).
BachaPashto Means "king" in Pashto, ultimately from Persian پادشاه (padeshah).
BaconEnglish, French, Norman An occupational surname for someone who sold pork, from Middle English and Old French bacun or bacon, meaning 'bacon', which is ultimately of Germanic origin. Can also be derived from the Germanic given names Baco, Bacco, or Bahho, from the root bag-, meaning 'to fight'... [more]
BaezSpanish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Spanish Báez, which might be a different form of Peláez (cf. Páez). A famous bearer is American singer and activist Joan Baez (1941-).... [more]
BaffaItalian The origins of this surname are uncertain, but it may be from Italian baffo "mustache", with the Latinate feminine suffix probably due to the influence of the word famiglia "family". Alternatively it may be Albanian in origin, of unexplained meaning.
BağcıTurkish Means "vigneron, winemaker" in Turkish.
BainbridgeEnglish from Bainbridge in North Yorkshire, named for the Bain river on which it stands (which is named with Old Norse beinn ‘straight’) + bridge.
BaioItalian From a nickname for someone with light brown or reddish-brown hair or beard, from baio meaning "bay horse", ultimately derived from Late Latin badius meaning "red-brown".
BakrArabic From the given name Bakr. A famous bearer was Abu Bakr (573-634), the first Islamic caliphate.
BakunPolish Possibly from bak "screaming" or bakać "to scold", from bakun "low-quality tobacco", or from the Hebrew personal name Bakum, possibly related to Habakkuk.
BalcıTurkish Means "beekeeper" in Turkish, ultimately from bal meaning "honey".
BaldisFrisian Frisian, Dutch, and North German: from a reduced and altered form of the personal name Balthasar (see Baltazar).
BaldrickMedieval English The name of Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson)'s much-hated slave in the comedy Blackadder.... [more]
BalkwillAnglo-Saxon (Archaic) From the Old English pre 7th Century balca, "beam", with wiell(a), "spring, stream", and probably refers to a primitive footbridge made by a tree trunk across the stream. The name may also be topographical for a dweller by the footbridge.
BallouHaitian Creole, French (Caribbean), French The Ballou name comes from that Medieval landscape of northwestern France known as Brittany. The name Ballou was originally derived from the family having lived in Brittany, where this distinguished family was established from ancient times... [more]
BandoJapanese It means "east of the slope", referring to eastern provinces of Osaka. The surname originates from there, and that is where it is most common.
BanikIndian Hindi word for "farmer, merchant" & Bengali word for "the merchant"
BanjarArabic From the name of the Banjar people, itself derived from Javanese mbanjarke meaning "separate, rearrange, organize". This surname is borne by people of Indonesian ancestry in Saudi Arabia.
BankheadScottish, Northern Irish Topographic name for someone who lived at the top or end of a bank or hill, derived from Middle English bank meaning "bank" and hed meaning "head". There are several minor places in Scotland so called, but the most likely source of the surname is one on the border between the parishes of Kilmarnock and Dreghorn in Ayrshire, Scotland.
BaradBiblical Hebrew (Rare) It's the Hebrew name of one the biblical plagues in the Hebrew bible that God cast on Egypt. It means Hail as in the Ice storm.
BaramHebrew Combination of the word am, means "people, nation" and the name Bar. This surname means "son of the nation" in Hebrew and its variant is Ambar which is the same elements but in reverse order.
BarbeauFrench Derived from barbeau meaning "barbel", a type of fish, hence a metonymic occupational name for a fisherman, or a nickname for a man with a sparse beard, the fish being distinguished by beardlike growths on either side of its mouth... [more]
BareillesFrench, Occitan Derived from the place name Bareilles, a village in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitania region of France. A famous bearer is the American musician and actress Sara Bareilles (1979-).
BargyAnglo-Saxon The surname Bargy was first found in Gloucestershire, where they held a family seat from ancient times.
BarilFrench During the middle ages, when people were named after their given job, Baril was what winemakers and brewers were named. Baril simply means "Barrel" or "Keg"
BarkerEnglish SURNAME Town cryer, or someone who shouts out notices
BaronEnglish, French From a title of nobility derived from Old French baron of uncertain origin and meaning, possibly from Frankish barō meaning "servant, man, warrior". It was used as a nickname for someone who worked for a baron or for a peasant with ideas above their station.
BaroudArabic From Arabic بارود (barud) meaning "gunpowder".
BarrowEnglish Habitational name from any of the numerous places named with Old English bearo, bearu "grove" or from Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, which is named with an unattested Celtic word, barr, here meaning "promontory", and Old Norse ey "island"... [more]
BarthorpeEnglish This surname originates from the village of the same name in the East Riding of Yorkshire, likely combining the Old Norse personal name Bǫrkr with Old Norse þorp meaning "village."
BascöurtFrench The Bascourt or Bascur surname is from France, from that place dates the beginning of the surname, however the French of previous centuries had no records of that surname. ... [more]
BassfordEnglish Habitational name from any of several places called Basford, especially the one in Nottinghamshire. There are others in Staffordshire and Cheshire. Either that or it's from Old English berc "birch tree" + Old English ford "ford".
BatchelorEnglish, Scottish Occupational name for an unmarried man, a young knight or a novice, derived from Middle English and Old French bacheler literally meaning "bachelor", ultimately from medieval Latin baccalarius.
BaucomEnglish Variant spelling of BALCOMBE, a habitational name from West Sussex derived from Old English bealu "evil" and cumb "valley".
BaumfreeDutch, American, African American This name is clearly derived from Sojourner Truth, a former African-American slave who was born as Isabella Bomefree (but at some point the surname was changed to the more German-looking Baumfree). Although Sojourner's original owners - James and Elizabeth Bomefree/Baumfree - were apparently of Dutch descent, it is questionable whether the surname is really of Dutch origin... [more]
BauzonFilipino Possibly from Hokkien 茅 (bâu) meaning "thatch, reeds" and 孫 (sun) meaning "grandchild".
BayırTurkish Means "slope, incline, hill" in Turkish.
BaylisEnglish Derived from the Middle English 'bail(l)i', a development of the Old French 'baillis'. In Scotland the word survives as 'bailie', the title of a chief magistrate for a part of a county or barony. The word survives in England as 'bailiff', an officer who serves writs and summonses for the court.
BeamishEnglish Habitational name for someone from Beaumais-sur-Dire in Calvados Beaumetz in Somme or one of three places called Beaumetz in Pas-de-Calais, all in northern France. In some cases it may be derived from a place called Beamish in County Durham... [more]
BeardenEnglish English habitational name, a variant of Barden, or from places in Devon and Cornwall called Beardon.
BeardmoreEnglish A habitational name from a lost place (probably in the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands of England, where the surname is particularly common).
BeatonEnglish As an English surname, it is derived from either the French town of Béthune, or from the medieval diminutive Beaton, short for Bartholomew or Beatrice... [more]
BeatyScottish, Northern Irish Variant form of Beattie. A famous bearer of this name was the American basketball player Zelmo Beaty (1939-2013).
BeauchampEnglish, French From the name of various places in France, for example in Manche and Somme, which was derived from Old French beu, bel meaning "fair, lovely" and champ, champs "field, plain".
BeaufordEnglish Variation of Buford. It is derived from the French word "beau", meaning "beautiful", and "ford", an Old English word meaning "river crossing".
BechmannGerman (Rare) Surname denoting someone who worked with pitch, from Middle High German bech / pech "pitch" and man, a suffix which can mean "man" or simply be used as a name suffix.
BeckettEnglish An Old English name simply meaning "beehive". Famous Irish playwrite Samuel Beckett bears this name.
BedfordEnglish From the English county Bedfordshire and its principal city or from a small community in Lancashire with the same name. The name comes from the Old English personal name Beda, a form of the name Bede and the location element -ford meaning "a crossing at a waterway." Therefore the name indicates a water crossing once associated with a bearer of the medieval name.
BednarzPolish Occupational name for a cooper in Polish.
BedsaulGerman Americanized form of the German surname Petzold, which comes from a Slavic pet form of the name Peter.
BedwellEnglish Derived from the town of Bidwell, Hertfordshire, England, from Old English words "Byde", which meant tub, and "Well", meaning fountain or spring. The surname is classified as a habitational name. The name Bedwell is most common in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, England, and the state of Indiana in the USA.
BegayNavajo Derived from the Navajo word biyeʼ meaning "his son". This was frequently adopted as a surname among the Navajo when Native Americans were required by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to formally adopt surnames for the purpose of official records.
BeginBelarusian, Jewish Nickname for a runner, derived from Belarusian бегун (begun) meaning "one who walks quickly". A noteworthy bearer was Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin (1913-1992), who is best remembered for signing a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, for which he and Anwar Sadat were both awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
BelgraveEnglish Aristocratic surname from French, meaning "beautiful grove"; comes from a place name in Leicestershire. A famous namesake is British polar explorer Belgrave Ninnis, who perished in Antarctica on a 1912 expedition.
BelhadjArabic (Maghrebi) Means "son of the pilgrim" from Arabic بْن (bn) meaning "son (of)" اَلحَاجّ (al-ḥājj) meaning "the pilgrim".
BellefleurFrench, Literature Means "beautiful flower" in French. This is the surname of the notable family in the 2001 to 2013 novel series The Southern Vampire Mysteries and the 2008-2014 TV series that inspired it, True Blood.
BellmanSwedish, English Swedish and English form of Bellmann. A notable bearer was Swedish composer, poet and entertainer Carl Michael Bellman (1740-1795).
BelovRussian From Russian белый (beliy) meaning "white".
BeppuJapanese From Japanese 別府 (Beppu), the name of several Japanese towns and divisions. In some cases these places names are normally read Byū or Befu. In other cases Beppu is a clipping of longer names such as 別府門 (Beppumon), 西別府 (Nishibeppu) or 上別府 (Kamibeppu).
BergenGerman, Dutch, Flemish, Jewish Originally denoted a person from any of the various places named Bergen in Germany and the Netherlands. It is also a variant of Berg. Famous bearers include the Americans Candice Bergen (1946-), an actress, and Polly Bergen (1930-2014), an actress, singer and television host.
BerginSwedish Derived from Swedish berg "mountain" and the common surname suffix -in.
BergkampDutch, German From the name of various places in the Netherlands and Germany, derived from Old Dutch and Old High German berg meaning "mountain" and kamp meaning "field". This name is borne by Dutch former soccer player Dennis Bergkamp (1969-).
BerglinSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain" and the surname suffix -in.
BerglindSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain, hill" and lind "linden tree".
BerglingSwedish Combination of Swedish berg "mountain" and the common surname suffix -ing "belonging to, coming from". It has also been found as a spelling variant of similarly spelled names, such as Berlin... [more]
BerlinSwedish Of uncertain origin. The name could be a shortened form of Berglin. It could also be a habitational name from the city in Germany or from a place in Sweden named with ber or berg "mountain"... [more]
BernthalJewish Ornamental name derived from the Yiddish given name Ber meaning "bear" and German thal meaning "valley". A famous bearer is American actor Jon Bernthal (1976-).
BexleyEnglish Habitational name from Bexley (now Bexleyheath in Greater London), which was named from Old English byxe ‘box tree’ + leah ‘woodland clearing’.
BhuiyaBengali Bangladeshi: from Bengali bhuyyan ‘landlord’, ‘chieftain’. Bearers of this surname claim descent from one of the twelve chieftains (nine Muslims and three Hindus), who ruled the Sultanate of Bengal (1336–1576)... [more]
BhuttoSindhi Meaning uncertain. This is the name of a prominent Pakistani political family of Sindhi origin. Two of its members, ZulfikarAli Bhutto (1928-1979) and Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007) served as prime ministers of Pakistan.
BiaNavajo The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs ("BIA") required all Indians to choose a family name. The Navajo family name Bia is derived from BIA ("Bureau of Indian Affairs")
BialikPolish, Czech, Jewish Derived from Polish biały meaning "white", originally a nickname for a person with blond hair or a pale complexion. A famous bearer of this name is American actress Mayim Bialik (1975-).
BiałyPolish Means "white" in Polish. This form is more often, but not exclusively, used by men.
BiddulphEnglish From the name of a town in Staffordshire, England, derived from Old English bī meaning "beside" and dylf meaning "digging" (a derivative of delfan "to dig").
BielerGerman, Jewish Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of the many places in eastern Europe whose name incorporates the Slavic element byel- ‘white’.... [more]
BielskiPolish Derived from Polish word for white, also can be derived from places called Bielsko.
BilligGerman Habitational name from a place named Billig, near Cologne. Nickname from Middle High German billich ‘proper’, ‘appropriate’.
BinghamEnglish Ultimately deriving from the toponym of Melcombe Bingham in Dorset. The name was taken to Ireland in the 16th century, by Richard Bingham, a native of Dorset who was appointed governor of Connaught in 1584... [more]
BingleyEnglish Habitational surname for someone originally from the town of Bingley in West Yorkshire, England. The name is either derived from the given name Bynna combined with the suffix -inga meaning "the people of" or from the Old English elements bing meaning "hollow" and leah meaning "woodland, clearing".
BircherGerman (Swiss) South German and Swiss German topographic name for someone who lived by a birch tree or in a birch wood, from Middle High German birche "birch" + the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant.
BisleyEnglish (British) Bisley is a locational surname from the village of Bisley in Surrey. It comes from the words biss meaning “water” and leah meaning “farm”.