AbagnaleItalian Either an occupational name for a shepherd or a person who lived near a sheepfold (derived from Italian abbagnale meaning "good shepherd, good sheepfold"), or a topographic name for someone who lived in a wet or swampy area (from abagnato meaning "drenched, soaked")... [more]
AbajyanArmenian From Turkish abacı referring to a maker or seller of woollen homespun cloth or garments, ultimately from aba meaning "coarse woollen cloth".
ÁbalosSpanish Habitational name for someone originally from the municipality of Ábalos in La Rioja, Spain, likely of Basque origin.
AbañoFilipino Possibly derived from Spanish baño meaning "bath".
AbayonFilipino, Cebuano Derived from Cebuano abay meaning "parallel, analogue, juxtapose".
AbazaArabic From the name of the Abazin (or Abaza) people native to the Northwest Caucasus. This name was adopted by Abazins, Circassians, and Abkhaz who were expelled from the Caucasus in the 19th century.
AbecassisJudeo-Spanish From Hebrew אָב (áv) meaning "father" and Arabic قَصَّاص (qaṣṣāṣ) meaning "storyteller, narrator" (used as a title for community leaders and rabbis among North African Jews).
AberdeenScottish, English Habitational name denoting someone from the Scottish city Aberdeen, derived from Scottish Gaelic aber "river mouth" and the name of the river Don.
AbergelJudeo-Spanish Means "one-legged" or "one-footed" in Moroccan Arabic, from Arabic رجل (rijl) meaning "leg, foot".
AbieraFilipino It is borne by approximately 1 in 1,140,397 people. This last name occurs mostly in Asia, where 96 percent of Abiera live; 95 percent live in Southeast Asia and 95 percent live in Malayo-Asia. This last name is most prevalent in The Philippines, where it is borne by 6,047 people, or 1 in 16,742.
AbikoJapanese From 安 (a) "peaceful, cheap, rested, low" or 我 (a) meaning "I, me, myself, selfish, oneself, ego" combined with 孫 (bi) meaning "grandchild", and 子 (ko) meaning "child, sign of the rat".
AbiruJapanese From Japanese 畔蒜 (Abiru) meaning "Abiru", a manor that was in the former district of Ahiru in the former Japanese province of Kazusa in parts of present-day Chiba, Japan.... [more]
AbitbolJudeo-Spanish Means "father of drums" (figuratively referring to a drum maker) from Arabic أَبُو (abū) meaning "father" and طَبْل (ṭabl) meaning "drum".
AbkhaziGeorgian Means "Abkhaz person" in Georgian, referring to a member of the Abkhaz ethnic group inhabiting the Black Sea coast. This was the name of a Georgian family of princely status descended from the Shervashidze ruling family of Abkhazia.
AdamskiPolish Patronymic from Adam suffixed with -ski based on habitational names.
AdamthwaiteEnglish Habitational name for a person from a place in Ravenstonedale, derived from Middle English personal name Adam and Old Norse þveit "clearing, pasture"... [more]
AfonsoPortuguese Old (6th century derived) Iberian surname, associated with the first dynasty and King of Portugal, Afonso Henriques. The surname was used by all the subsequent illegitimate children of that dynastic line.
AgarwalHindi, Marathi, Punjabi Habitational name for someone originally from the town of Agroha in the Indian state of Haryana.
AgassiArmenian, Persian, Italian The surname Agassi most likely evolved from a nickname for someone resembling a mappie, perhaps jokingly referred to as chattering or nagging person. ... [more]
AgataJapanese (Rare) From 県 or 縣 (agata) meaning "prefecture, county, countryside, subdivision, district".
AgawaJapanese 阿 (A) means "nook, flatter, corner" and 川 (kawa) meaning "stream, river".... [more]
AghaeiPersian From the Persian title آقا (âqâ) meaning "sir, lord, mister".
AghdashlooPersian Denoted a person who came from various places named Ağdaş and Agdash in Azerbaijan, or Aqdash and Aghdash in Iran. A famous bearer is Shohreh Aghdashloo (1952-), an Iranian-American actress.
AgincourtMedieval English Surname Agincourt was first found in Lincolnshire where "Walter de Aincourt, who came from Aincourt, a lordship between Mantes and Magny Normandy, where the remains of the ancient family castle still exists... [more]
AglipayFilipino, Ilocano Means "to play with lipay seeds", referring to a type of thorny shrub or bush.
AgojoTagalog From Tagalog aguho referring to a type of flowering tree (scientific name Casuarina equisetifolia).
AikiJapanese From Japanese 相 (ai) meaning "together, mutually" and 木 (ki) meaning "tree, wood".
AikyōJapanese From Japanese 愛 (ai) meaning "love, affection" and 敬 (kyō) meaning "respect, honour, reverence". One known bearer is Hisashi Aikyō (1976-), a retired Japanese baseball player... [more]
AizenPopular Culture This Japanese surname is used as 藍染 with 藍 (ran, ai) meaning "indigo" and 染 (sen, shi.mi, shi.miru, -shi.meru, -ji.miru, so.maru, so.meru, -zo.me, -zome) meaning "colour, dye, paint, print, stain." Normally, this would be romanticised as Aizome.... [more]
AkatsukaJapanese From Japanese 赤 (aka) meaning "red" and 塚 (tsuka) meaning "hillock, mound".
AkatsukiJapanese 丹 (Aka) means "red" and 月 (tsuki) means "month, moon". This surname is a reference to what the moon looks like during a lunar eclipse.... [more]
AkibaJapanese From the Japanese 秋 (aki) "autumn" and 葉 (ha or ba) "leaf."
AkibaraJapanese This surname combines 昭 (shou, aki) meaning "shining, bright", 秋 (shuu, aki, toki) meaning "autumn" or 穐 with the same sounds and meaning with 原 (gen, hara) meaning "field, meadow, original, plain, prairie, primitive, tundra, wilderness."
AlanísSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Andalusian municipality.
AlaouiArabic (Maghrebi) From the given name Ali 1. This is the name of the current ruling royal family of Morocco, which was founded in 1631.
AlarcónSpanish Alarcón was a fort owned by the arabs in the Iberian Peninsula (Alarcón literally meaning 'the fort' in arabic), and the spaniards had the goal of owning it during the spanish reconquista. After 9 months of siege, Fernán Martínez de Ceballos climbed the walls of the fort using only two daggers and opened the gates from the inside allowing the castillan army to come in and conquer Alarcón... [more]
AlbalatCatalan Means "white winged" from medieval Catalan alb ("white") and alat ("winged"), originally from Latin albalatus ("of white wings") and used by the Visigoths before the Umayyad conquest of Hispania to name the cotton thistle because of its whitish spiny-winged stems.
AlbaneseItalian Southern Italian : ethnic name from albanese ‘(an) Albanian’, applied to someone from Albania or from one of the Albanian settlements in Abruzzo, Apulia, Campania, and Sicily.
AlcarazSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Manchego municipality.
AldaiaBasque, Spanish From the name of a municipality in Valencia, Spain, probably derived from Arabic الضيعة (ad-day'a) meaning "the village" (compare Aldea).
AleongTrinidadian Creole, Caribbean, Chinese The surname Aleong is likely of Chinese origin, commonly found in Trinidad and Tobago and other parts of the Caribbean. It may be derived from the Chinese surnames Liang (梁), meaning "bridge" or "beam," or Long (龙), meaning "dragon," both of which carry symbolic cultural significance.
AlhambraSpanish Refers to the Alhambra, a palace complex located in Granada, Spain. The name itself is derived from Arabic الْحَمْرَاء (Al-Ḥamrā) meaning "the red one" or, ultimately, from Arabic أَحْمَر (ʾaḥmar) "red".
Al HarbiArabic Originally indicated a person from the Harb tribe derived from Arabic حَرْبيّ (ḥarbiyy) meaning "military, war, army".
AllalaBasque, Spanish Variant spelling of Ayala, in at least one case altered to avoid confusion with an unrelated person of the same name, and apparently to distance the bearer from prejudice against hispanics.
AllelyIrish From Irish Mac Ailghile meaning "descendant of Ailghil".
AllendeBasque, Spanish Means "beyond, yonder; on the other side" in Spanish, though it possibly derives from Basque aihen "vine, shoot" or ale "grain" combined with the collective suffix -di, meaning "pasture, cereal field".
AllgeierGerman The harried officials at Ellis Island began to assign surnames based upon the pronunciation of the name by the immigrant, rather than attempting to ferret out the actual spelling. ... [more]
AllisterScottish The name Allister is derived from the given name Alexander, which in turn was originally derived from the Greek name, which means defender of men. In the late 11th century, Queen Margaret introduced the name, which she had heard in the Hungarian Court where she was raised, into Scotland by naming one of her sons Alexander... [more]
AlmadaPortuguese This indicates familial origin within the eponymous city.
AlmanzaSpanish Originally indicated a person from Almanza, a city in northern Spain. The city's name itself is derived from Arabic المنزل (al-manzil) meaning "the house".
AlmánzarSpanish (Caribbean) Derived from Arabic المنظر (al manẓar) meaning "the view" or "the lookout". This surname is primarily used in the Dominican Republic.
AlmarzaSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 localities: the Castilian municipality of Almarza, Comarca of El Valle or the Riojan municipality of Almarza de Cameros.
AlmásiHungarian Habitational name for someone from any of various places called Almás, derived from Hungarian alma meaning "apple".
AlmasiPersian Derived from Persian الماس (almas) meaning "diamond".
AlmazánSpanish Habitational name demoting someone originally from the municipality of Almazán in Castile and León, Spain. The name itself is derived from Arabic المكان المحصن (al-makān al-ḥiṣn) meaning "the fortified place" or "the stronghold".
AlomarCatalan From the given name Alomar, used especially in the Balearic Islands, itself derived from the Old German name Aldemar. This is borne by the Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Alomar (1968-).