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.
YablokovRussian From Russian яблоко (yabloko) meaning "apple", used as a nickname for a ruddy person or a gardener who received a plentiful harvest.
YabukiJapanese (Rare) Derived from the Japanese kanji 矢 (ya) meaning "arrow" and 吹 (buki), from 吹き (buki), the joining continuative form of 吹く (fuku) meaning "to blow". It can also derive from 藪 (yabu) meaning "thicket; grove; copse" and 亀 (ki) meaning "tortoise, turtle"... [more]
YabunoJapanese From 薮 (yabu) meaning "thicket, bush, underbrush, grove", combined with 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness"..
YaguchiJapanese From Japanese 矢 (ya) meaning "arrow" and 口 (kuchi) meaning "mouth, opening, entrance".
YahabaJapanese From Japanese 矢幅 (Yahaba) meaning "Yahaba", a former village in the district of Shiwa in the former Japanese province of Rikuchū in parts of present-day Iwate and Akita in Japan.... [more]
YajimaJapanese Derived from Japanese 矢 (ya) meaning "arrow" or 谷 (ya) meaning "valley, lowland, plain" combined with 島 or 嶋 (shima) meaning "island".... [more]
YakumoJapanese (Rare) This surname combines 八 (hachi, ya, ya'.tsu, ya.tsu, you) meaning "eight", 耶 (ja, ya, ka) meaning "question mark" or 家 (ka, ke, ie, uchi, ya) meaning "expert, family, home, house, performer, professional" with 雲 (un, kumo, -gumo) meaning "cloud."... [more]
YamabeJapanese From Japanese 山 (yama) meaning "mountain" and 部 (be) meaning "part, section".
YamabiJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 山 (yama) meaning "mountain" and 火 (bi), the joining form of 火 (hi) meaning "fire". It is a reference to an event when the leader of the Morioka Domain came to the mountains and the residents warmed him up by starting a fire using flint... [more]
YasueJapanese From Japanese 安 (yasu) meaning "inexpensive, rested, peace, quiet" and 江 (e) meaning "bay, inlet".
YasuiJapanese Yasu (安) "Relaxed, Cheap" and I (井) "Well, Mineshaft ".
YasuiJapanese From Japanese 安 (yasu) meaning "calm, peaceful, tranquil" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".
YasuraJapanese Yasu means "cheap, relax, peace" and ra means "good".
YasuraJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 安良 (Yasura) meaning "Yasura", a former village in the former district of Izushi in the former Japanese province of Tajima in parts of present-day Hyōgo, Japan.
YoichiJapanese (Rare) This surname is used as 与市 with 与 (yo, ata.eru, azuka.ru, kumi.suru, tomoni) meaning "bestow, participate in, give, award, impart, provide, cause, gift, godsend" and 市 (shi, ichi) meaning "city, market, town."... [more]
YokobeJapanese From Japanese 横 (yoko) meaning "beside, next to" and 部 (be) meaning "part, section".
YokoiJapanese From Japanese 横 (yoko) meaning "side, beside, next to" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".
YokonoJapanese Yoko means "beside" and no means "field, plain, wilderness".
YokoseJapanese Yoko means "beside next to" and se means "current, ripple".
YonagaJapanese From Japanese 夜長 (yonaga) meaning "a long night".
YonaoJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 与 (yo) or 與 (yo), both meaning "to bestow, to participate, to provide, cause, gift, godsend" or referring to a given name with one of those characters and 猶 (nao) meaning "still".
YonedaJapanese From the Japanese 米 (yone) meaning "rice" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy" or 多 (ta or da) meaning "many."
YousafzaiPashto Alternate transcription of Pashto يوسفزی (see Yusufzai). A notable bearer is Pakistani education activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai (1997-).
YurovskiymRussian, Jewish Alternate transcription of Yurovsky. This was the last name of Yakov Yurovskiy, a notable Bolshevik. He led the execution of the Romanovs.
YushchenkoUkrainian Means "child of Yukhym". Viktor Yushchenko was the Ukrainian president from 2005 to 2010, and a major figure in the Orange Revolution.
ZakhaevRussian Russian surname, likely a derivative of the given name Zakhey combined with the Russian suffix "-ev" ("of"), therefore meaning "of Zakhey."... [more]
ZakuroJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 柘榴 (Zakuro) meaning "Zakuro", an area in the town of Seika in the district of Sōraku in the prefecture of Kyōto in Japan.
ZaldibarBasque From the name of a town and municipality in Biscay, Basque Country, derived from Basque zaldi "horse" and ibar "valley". Alternatively, the first element could instead be zaldu "wood, copse, forest".
ZamoraSpanish Habitational name from Zamora, a city in northwestern Spain, of uncertain etymology. Possibly derived from Berber azemur "wild olive tree".
ZamudioBasque From the name of a town and municipality in Biscay, Basque Country, derived from zama "gorge, ravine" and odi "ravine, channel, tube". Alternatively, the second element could instead be -di "place of, forest of".
ZangievOssetian, Soviet, Russian, Popular Culture The Russified Soviet and Modern Russian form of the Ossetian surname Зæнджиаты Zændžiaty. A famous user of it is wrestler Victor Zangiev, himself the inspiration for Zangief of Street Fighter fame.
ZapataSpanish Occupational surname for a shoemaker, from Spanish zapato meaning "shoe". It can also be considered a habitational name for someone originally from any of the various locations in Spain called Zapata.
ZarafshanPersian Means "spreader of gold" in Persian, from زر (zar) meaning "gold" and افشان (afshan) meaning "spreader, scatterer".
ZarateBasque From the name of a hamlet in Álava province, Spain, possibly derived from Basque zara "thicket".
ZaslavskyRussian, Jewish Name for someone from the city of Iziaslav (or Zaslav) in Ukraine, derived from the given name Iziaslav.
ZatarainBasque From any of several place names in Basque Country, Spain, probably derived from the toponymic suffix -ain and an uncertain first element possibly meaning "thicket, underbrush". Alternatively, could derive from an altered form of Basque talaia "watchtower, lookout, vantage point", which is ultimately from Arabic طليعة (ṭalīʕa) "forefront, vanguard".
ZelmerlöwSwedish (Rare) Rare Swedish surname composed of the name of the family's ancestor SelmaLöf. One bearer is Swedish artist Måns Zelmerlöw (b.1986) who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016.
ZemmosaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 善 (zen) meaning "virtue, goodness", 茂 (mo) meaning "overgrown; luxuriant", and 砂 (sa) meaning "sand", referring to a place with lots of sand.
ZhytaryukUkrainian Means "child of the grain farmer". Derived from Ukrainian "житар (zhytar)", meaning "grain farmer" and the last name suffix -юк (-yuk).
ZildjianArmenian (Anglicized) English form of Armenian Զիլճյան (see Zilčyan). The famous bearer of this name was Avedis Zildjian, founder of the oldest manufacturer of musical instruments in the world, the Avedis Zildjian Company.
ZimbalistJewish Occupational name for a cymbalist or a dulcimer player, particularly the cimbalom, derived from Yiddish tsimbl meaning "dulcimer, cimbalom, cymbal". The American actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (1918-2014) was a famous bearer of this surname.
ZsigmondyHungarian Derived from the given name Zsigmond. The Austrian-born chemist Richard Adolf Zsigmondy (1865-1929), together with German physicist Henry Siedentopf, invented the ultramicroscope... [more]
ZubiagaBasque Means "place of the bridge", from Basque zubi "bridge" and the locative suffix -aga.
ZucchinoItalian Derived from zucchino meaning "zucchini, courgette" (Cucurbita pepo). It is also related to those surnames derived from zucca meaning "pumpkin" and to those derived from zuccone meaning "dumb, stubborn".
ZuccoliItalian Derived from the Italian word zucca meaning "pumpkin", originally referred to someone who used to grow or trade pumpkins.
ZuckerbergJewish Means "sugar mountain" from German zucker meaning "sugar" and Old High German berg meaning "mountain".
ZumpanoItalian Comes from the town Zumpano in the province Cosenza in Calabria, Italy. The meaning is unknown but it possibly comes from a Greek-Calabrese surname.
ZurbanoBasque (Hispanicized) Castilianized form of Basque Zurbao, a toponym of uncertain etymology. Possibly related to zur "wood, timber" or zurbeltz "holm oak, kermes oak".
ZuritaSpanish, Aragonese An Aragonese surname derived from the Stock Bird, a species of bird.
ŻurowskiPolish This indicates familial origin within the Lesser Polish village of Żurowa.
ZurzoloItalian The last name of actor, Lorenzo Zurzolo, who is Niccolo in Baby and Theodore Nott in Harry Potter.
ZvezdochkaRussian, Belarusian Means "little star" or "small star", from Russian "звезда (zvezda)" meaning "star" with the suffix "-очка (-ochka)" meaning "little, small, young". It can also be translated as "starlet". It is a surname in Russia that is also common in Belarus... [more]