BrandenburgGerman (East Prussian, Rare) From a state in eastern Germany, formerly known as Prussia, containing the capital city of Berlin. Ancient. Associated with the Margravate (Dukedom) of Brandenburg, the seat of power in the Holy Roman Empire... [more]
BrandybuckLiterature Brandybuck is the surname of Meriadoc, a young Hobbit in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings." Possibly derived from the Brandywine River, which in turn is derived from Sindarin Baranduin, "Brown River"... [more]
BrissendenEnglish Derived from either of two places in Kent, England called Brissenden (one near Frittenden and the other near Tenterden), both named with the Old English given name Breosa (a byname derived from bresa meaning "gadfly") and Old English denn meaning "woodland pasture (for swine)".
BrizuelaSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the Castilian municipality of Merindad de Valdeporres.
BroderickIrish, Welsh, English Surname which comes from two distinct sources. As a Welsh surname it is derived from ap Rhydderch meaning "son of Rhydderch". As an Irish surname it is an Anglicized form of Ó Bruadair meaning "descendent of Bruadar"... [more]
BruggemanDutch, Flemish Means "bridgeman" in Dutch, an occupational name for someone who operated, guarded, or otherwise worked on a bridge. It could also denote someone who lived near a bridge, or who came from the Flemish city of Bruges, which also derives from Old Dutch brugga "bridge".
BugayongPangasinan From Pangasinan bugayong meaning referring to a type of flowering plant (genus Abrus). It was perhaps used as an occupational name for someone who practiced folk medicine with this plant.
BuhagiarMaltese Means "father of rocks" from Maltese bu meaning "father" and ħaġar meaning "stones, rocks".
BuitenhuisDutch Means "outside the house", derived from Dutch buiten meaning "outside, out of, in the country" and huis meaning "house".
BuitragoSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 eponymous municipalities: the Castilian one in El Campo de Gómara or the Manchego municipality of Buitrago del Lozoya in Sierra Norte, Comunidad de Madrid.
BukhariArabic, Urdu Indicated a person from the city of Bukhara in present-day Uzbekistan, itself possibly derived from Sogdian βuxārak meaning "place of good fortune".
BulataoPangasinan Hispanicized from Pangasinan bulataw meaning "lead astray, deceive".
BulgariaItalian, Spanish Originally an ethnic name or regional name for someone from Bulgaria or a nickname for someone who had visited or traded with Bulgaria, which is named after the Turkic tribe of the Bulgars, itself possibly from a Turkic root meaning "mixed".
BunraksaThai From Thai บุญ (bun) meaning "merit" and รักษา (raksa) meaning "keep, maintain, preserve".
BurdonskymRussian Burdonsky is Aleksandr Burdonsky's, Iosif Stalin's grandson (son of Vasiliy Stalin), last name. He took his wife's name to avoid negative connotation.
BurlacuRomanian Probably means "bachelor" in Romanian, this is one of the most common surnames in Romania.
BurzyńskiPolish Habitational name for someone from any of various locations called Burzyn, derived from Polish burza meaning "storm, tempest".
BuscemiSicilian Name for someone originally from the town of Buscemi in Sicily, derived from the Arabic toponym قلعة أبي شامة (qal'at 'abi shama) meaning "castle of the man with the mole" or "castle of (the family of) Abi Shama".
BushidaJapanese Bushi means "warrior, samurai" and da is a form of ta meaning "rice paddy, wilderness, field".
ButeraItalian Means “vineyard” or “grapevine” in Italian.
ButsuenJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 仏 (butsu) meaning "Buddha, Buddhism" and 園 (en) meaning "garden; park", referring to a Buddhist-style garden.
ButterfieldEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a pasture for cattle or at a dairy farm, or a habitational name from a place named Butterfield (for example in West Yorkshire), from Old English butere ‘butter’ + feld ‘open country’.
ButtiġieġMaltese From Maltese bu t-tiġieġ literally meaning "father of chickens", referring to a poulterer or someone who owned chickens.
CadafalchCatalan Derived from Catalan cadafal meaning "burial mound" or "platform, stage", ultimately from Latin catafalicum meaning "scaffold, wooden siege tower, catafalque". A famous bearer was the Catalan architect and politician Josep Puig i Cadafalch (1867-1956).
CalderaSpanish Derived from Spanish caldera meaning "basin, crater, hollow", ultimately from Latin caldarium or caldaria both meaning "hot bath, cooking pot". The word also denotes a depression in volcanoes, and it is commonly used as an element for surnames denoting streams or mountains.
CalimlimFilipino, Pangasinan, Tagalog Topographic name denoting someone who lived in a shaded area, derived from the word limlim meaning "shade, impending darkness".
ÇalışkanTurkish Means "hard-working, diligent, assiduous" in Turkish.
CámaraSpanish Occupational name for a courtier or servant who could access the private quarters of a king or noble, from Spanish cámara meaning "room, chamber".
CaminoSpanish Derived from the Spanish word for "path", or "walkway". This could have been used to denote a person who lived near a path, or one who built paths for a living.
CampagnaItalian Name for someone originally from any of various locations named Campagna, all derived from Latin Campania, itself from campus meaning "field".
CandelaSpanish, Italian, Sicilian, Catalan Either an occupational name for a chandler (a candle maker or candle seller) or a nickname for a tall thin person, derived from candela meaning "candle" (from Latin candela).
CandemirTurkish Means "iron soul" from Turkish can meaning "soul, spirit" and demir meaning "iron".
CapecchiItalian Probably from Old Italian capecchio, either denoting a type of cheap batting and, by extension, upholsterers, who worked with it, or as a nickname for a person with bristly hair or beard.... [more]
CaponeItalian Augmentative of Italian capo meaning "head", used as a nickname for a big-headed or arrogant person.
CapoteItalian (Tuscan) Capote is a name for person who was the chief of the head from the Italian personal name Capo.
CaputoItalian Derived from Latin caput meaning "head", used as a nickname for a big-headed or stubborn person.
CaradineEnglish, German (Anglicized) Americanized form of German Gardein, itself a Germanized spelling of French Jardin. It could also denote someone from the village and civil parish of Carden in Cheshire, England.
CarandangFilipino, Tagalog Occupational name for someone who dried things using fire, derived from Tagalog dangdang meaning "heating, toasting, drying through exposure to fire or glowing coals".
CarbajalSpanish, Judeo-Spanish Probably a habitational name denoting someone originally from any of the multiple locations called Carbajal in León, Asturias, or Zamora in Spain. Alternatively, it may be of pre-Roman origin from the word carbalio meaning "oak", denoting someone who either lived near an oak tree or who was like an oak tree in some way.... [more]
CarcelénSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Manchego municipality.
CarducciItalian From Riccarduccio, an affectionate form of the given name Riccardo. A famous bearer of this surname is Italian poet Giosuè Carducci (1835-1907), winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1906.
CarmichaelScottish, English From the name of a village in Scotland meaning "fort of Michael", from Welsh caer meaning "fortress" and the given name Michael.
CarmiggeltDutch Dutch cognate of Carmichael. This was the surname of the Dutch writer, journalist and poet Simon Carmiggelt (1913-1987).
CarneiroPortuguese, Galician Means "ram" in Portuguese and Galician, either used as an occupational name for a shepherd or a habitational name for someone from any of various places called Carneiro.
CarradineEnglish, German (Anglicized) Variant spelling of Caradine. This name is borne by members of the Carradine family of actors, notably the American actor John Carradine (1906-1988).
CarrawayEnglish (British) The name Carraway belongs to the early history of Britain, and its origins lie with the Anglo-Saxons. It is a product of one having lived on a road near a field or piece of land that was triangular in shape... [more]
CarrenderEnglish (American) Probably from Scottish kerr meaning "rough, wet ground" combined with ender (possibly related to the end of something). It probably denoted someone who lived between rough, wet ground and normal ground.
CartierFrench, Norman Original Norman French form of Carter. A notable bearer was Breton-French explorer Jacques Cartier (1491-1557), who is known for discovering the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
CarucciItalian Derived from Medieval Latin names Carutius or Caruccius or from the Italian term caruccio composed by caro meaning "dear" with the endearment suffix -uccio.
CattanoSicilian (Rare) Meaning "captain," this name began as a nickname in the Medieval Ages, probably for someone who actually was a ship's captain, or perhaps for someone who acted in some way like a captain.
CedergrenSwedish Combination of Swedish ceder "cedar" and gren "branch".
CederqvistSwedish Combination of Swedish ceder "cedar" and kvist "twig, branch".
CelsiusSwedish (Archaic), History Latinized form of Högen "the mound" (Latin: celsus), the name of a vicarage in Ovanåker parish, Sweden. Celsius is a unit of measurement for temperature named for Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701–1744).
CembrolaItalian My family is from St. Angelo, de Oliva, Naples, Italy
CenturiónSpanish Originally a nickname derived from Spanish centurión (ultimately from Late Latin centum) literally meaning "centurion". Historically, a centurion is a military officer who commanded one hundred men in an Ancient Roman army during the classical period.
CerezoSpanish (European) Surname, in general, of toponymic origin, frequent and distributed throughout Spain, from the noun -cerezo-, "fruit tree whose fruit is the cherry". The surname was derived from nicknames or through the many toponyms in Cerezo existing in Spain, names of populations such as Cerezo (Cáceres), Cerezo de Mohernando (Guadalajara), etc., whose name was taken by some individuals for be native from one of them, as was the custom in the Middle Ages.There were, therefore, different houses of the surname Cerezo unrelated to each other, the Castilian and Extremaduran being very old, whose branches passed to La Rioja, Andalusia, Valencia and Murcia.
ChabanaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 茶 (cha) meaning "tea" and 花 (bana), the joining form of 花 (hana) meaning "flower".
ChabataJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 茶 (cha) meaning "tea" and 幡 (bata), the joining form of 幡 (hata), a clipping of 八幡 (Yahata), the name of a Shintō shrine in possibly Hiroshima, Japan.
ChaiyasingThai From Thai ไชย (chai) meaning "victory" and สิงห์ (sing) meaning "lion".
ChakirisGreek Alternate transcription of Greek Τσακίρης (see Tsakiris). The American actor and dancer George Chakiris (1932-), who is best known for portraying the character Bernardo Vasquez in the movie West Side Story (1961), is a famous bearer of this name.
ChalametFrench Nickname for someone who played the reed or an occupational name for seller of torches, from a regional form of Old French chalemel meaning "reed" or "blowtorch". A notable bearer is American actor Timothée Chalamet (1995-).
ChaleunsoukLao From Lao ຈະເລີນ (chaleun) meaning "flourish, prosper, much, many" and ສຸກ (souk) meaning "happiness, pleasure, joy".
ChiakiJapanese (Rare) Depending on the kanji used can mean different things. Chi means "thousand" or "wisdom" and aki means "bright", "autumn", "sparkle", "crystal ball" or "shining". This is the last name of Naomi Chiaki, a Japanese singer... [more]
ChibanaJapanese 千 (Chi) means "one thousand" and 花 (bana) is a variation of hana, meaning "blossom, flower".... [more]
ChiclanaSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 eponymous Andalusian municipalities: Chiclana de la Frontera or Chiclana de Segura.
ChigusaJapanese This surname is used as 千種, 千草 or 千艸 with 千 (sen, chi) meaning "thousand", 種 (shu, -gusa, tane) meaning "class, kind, seed, species, variety", 草 (sou, kusa, kusa-, -gusa) meaning "draft, grass, herbs, pasture, weeds, write" and 艸 (sou, kusa) meaning "grass, plants."... [more]
ChiharaJapanese From Japanese 茅 (chi) meaning "thatch" or 千 (chi) meaning "thousand" combined with 原 (hara) meaning "field, plain". A notable bearer of this surname is Minori Chihara (茅原 実里), a Japanese voice-actress who is best known for voicing Yuki Nagato from the Haruhi Suzumiya series and Aya Natsume from Tenjō Tenge.
ChikanoJapanese Chika means "near" and no means "field, rice paddy".
ChimotoJapanese Chi can mean "thousand" or "ground, soil" and moto means "source, origin, root".
ChindavongLao From Lao ຈິນດາ (chinda) meaning "imagination, meditation, reflection" and ວົງ (vong) meaning "lineage, family".
ChiovaroSicilian Unknown meaning. Brought over to the United States from Sicilian immigrants, where the pronunciation changed from KEE-o-vah-row to SHIV-ahr-ow.
ChiricoItalian Surname of Italian surrealist artist, Giorgio de Chirico
ChisakaJapanese Chi means "thousand" and saka means "slope, hill".
ChisakiJapanese Chi can mean "thousand" or "pond", and saki means "cape, promontory, peninsula".
ChisugaJapanese Chi means "thousand" and suga means "sedge".
ChiuraJapanese (Rare) This surname is used as 千浦, 地浦 or 知浦 with 千 (sen, chi) meaning "thousand," 地 (ji, chi) meaning "earth, ground", 知 (chi, shi.raseru, shi.ru) meaning "know, wisdom" and 浦 (ho, ura) meaning "bay, beach, creek, gulf, inlet, seacoast."... [more]
ChronowskiPolish This indicates familial origin within either of 5 Lesser Polish villages: Chronów-Kolonia Dolna, Chronów-Kolonia Górna, Chronówek, Chronów in Gmina Orońsko, or Chronów in Gmina Nowy Wiśnicz.
ChrzanowskiPolish Originally denoted someone who came from a place called Chrzanów or Chrzanowo, both derived from Polish chrzan meaning "horseraddish".
ChughtaiUrdu From the name of 13th-century Mongol ruler Chagatai Khan, borne by his present-day descendants in South Asia.
ChugunovRussian From Russian чугун (chugun) meaning "cast iron".
ChuibekovSlavic (Rare) The name Chuibekov means "son of Chuib". It originates from Eastern Europe/Russia, and is very rare today. It is most prevalent in Central Asia, especially Kyrgyzstan, where the majority of the population is descended from early Siberians, and first found in Mongolia... [more]
ChulanontThai From Thai จุลา (chula) of unknown meaning and นนท์ (non) meaning "fun; joy".
ChuzhakovRussian Derived from Russian чужак (chuzhak) meaning "stranger".
CialiehaBelarusian Derived from цялега (cialieha) meaning "cart, telega".
CinnamondScottish, Irish, English Possibly originates from Scottish place name Kininmonth. Probably introduced to Northern Ireland by Scottish settlers where it remains in Ulster. Another origin is the French place name Saint Amand originated from French Huguenots settling in Ireland.
ClemenceauFrench Derived from the French given name Clément. A notable bearer was the French prime minister Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929), who successfully lead France through the end of World War I.
CojuangcoFilipino From Hokkien 許寰哥 (Khó͘ Hoân-ko), which was the nickname of Co Yu Hwan (許玉寰), a Chinese migrant who arrived in the Philippines in the 19th century. This is the name of a prominent political and business family in the Philippines.
CollierEnglish This name is derived from Middle English cole, from Old English col meaning "coal", combined with the agent suffix (i)er, which denotes someone who does/works with something. Thus, the surname was originally used for a burner, gatherer or seller of coal.
CombeferreLiterature (?) Combeferre is the surname of one of the strong, persuasive members of the ABC in Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables. Meaning is unknown.
CorderoSpanish Means "lamb" in Spanish, either used as an occupational name for a shepherd or a religious name referring to Jesus as the Lamb of God.
CórdobaSpanish Indicates someone who was originally from the city of Córdoba (Cordova) in Andalusia, Spain. The name itself is derived from Phonecian Qʾrtuba meaning "Juba’s city", itself from Phonecian qʾrt meaning "city" and juba referring to King Juba I of Numidia.
CoronelSpanish, Portuguese Means "colonel" in Spanish and Portuguese, used as an occupational name for someone in command of a regiment.
CorralesSpanish Habitational name for someone originally from any of the various locations named Corrales in Spain, from Spanish corral meaning "coral, enclosure".
CorriganEnglish Traditionally an Irish surname meaning "spear". From the Irish Gaelic corragán which is a double diminutive of corr 'pointed'.
CossigaItalian, Sardinian Sardinian translation of the place name Corsica. A famous bearer of the name is Francesco Cossiga (1928-2010), Italian politician who served as Prime Minister (1979-1980) and as President (1985-1992).
CostelloIrish Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Oisdealbhaigh meaning "son of Oisdealbhach". The given name Oisdealbhach is derived from Irish os meaning "deer, fawn" and dealbhach meaning "resembling, shapely".
CourfeyracLiterature Courfeyrac is the surname that Victor Hugo used for Marius' closest friend in the friend of the ABC. Meaning is unknown.