LailEnglish (American) Americanized form of German Lehl or Loehl. In either case, the name is a spelling variant of Lehle or Löhle, pet forms of the personal name Leonhardt.
LaithenEnglish English habitational name from any of various places so called, for example in Lancashire (near Blackpool) and in North Yorkshire. The former was named in Old English as ‘settlement by the watercourse’, from Old English lad ‘watercourse’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’; the latter as ‘leek enclosure’ or ‘herb garden’, from leac ‘leek’ + tun... [more]
LaityEnglish Nickname for a trustworthy person, from Old French léauté ‘loyalty’ (Latin legalitas, a derivative of legalis ‘legal’, ‘by law’).
LakeEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a stream, Old English lacu, or a habitational name from a place named with this word, for example in Wiltshire and Devon. Modern English lake (Middle English lake) is only distantly related, if at all; it comes via Old French from Latin lacus... [more]
LamshedEnglish Surname common in Australia & the UK. A variation of Lambshead which was originally a mis-spelling of Lambside which was the area from which the family originated in Pommyland. Other variations include Lambshed, Lamshead, Lammyside and Lamesta... [more]
LancashireEnglish Shire of Lancaster; One who came from Lancashire, a county in the North of England.
LancasterEnglish From the name of a city in northwestern England derived from Middle English Loncastre, itself from Lon referring to an ancient Roman fort on the River Lune combined with Old English ceaster meaning "city, town".
LanceEnglish From the Germanic personal name Lanzo, originally a short form of various compound names with the first element land ‘land’, ‘territory’ (for example, Lambert), but later used as an independent name... [more]
LandEnglish, German Topographic name from Old English land, Middle High German lant, "land, territory". This had more specialized senses in the Middle Ages, being used to denote the countryside as opposed to a town or an estate.
LangfieldEnglish Habitational name for someone originally from any of the various locations in England named Langfield, from Old English lang meaning "long" and feld meaning "field".
LanghornEnglish, Danish, Dutch Northern English: probably a habitational name from a minor place in Soulby, Cumbria, called Longthorn, from Old English lang ‘long’ + horn ‘projecting headland’, or a topographic name with the same meaning.... [more]
LangtryEnglish From the Old English ‘lang’, meaning long, and ‘treow’, meaning tree. The name of several settlements across England.
LangwadeEnglish From an English village Langmead, in the county of Devon. It was used to refer to those individuals who lived at the lang-mead, which literally means "the long meadow".
LanierFrench, English Occupational name designating one who worked in the wool trade (see Lane 2), derived from Old French lanier (ultimately from laine) meaning "wool", or for a keeper of donkeys, from Old French asnier literally "donkey keeper, donkey driver"... [more]
LansingEnglish Derived from the name of Lancing, a place in West Sussex, which was composed of the Old English personal name Wlanc and -ingas meaning "family of" or "followers of".
LaplanderEnglish A surname referring to someone who had immigrated from Lapland, northern Scandinavia.
LapsleyScottish, English, Medieval English Combination of Old English læppa ”end of a parish” and leah ”woodland clearing”. Another meaning could be possible.
LaramieEnglish From the French la ramée "the small wood, the arbour".
LarterEnglish From the old Teutonic word 'lahtro' which is to do with a place that animals bear their young. This was modifed in several dialects to be 'lahtre', 'lattr', 'lauchter' and 'lawchter'. ... [more]
LatimerEnglish English occupational name for a clerk who could translate documents to and from Latin and/or other languages, from Anglo-Norman French latinier, latim(m)ier.
LaughtonEnglish Habitational name from any of the numerous places in England so called. Most of them, as for example those in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (near Gainsborough), Sussex, and West Yorkshire, are named with Old English leac ‘leek’ + tun ‘enclosure’... [more]
LavenderEnglish, Dutch Occupational name for a washerman or launderer, Old French, Middle Dutch lavendier (Late Latin lavandarius, an agent derivative of lavanda ‘washing’, ‘things to be washed’)... [more]
LaverEnglish Occupational name for a washer, from French laveur (see Lavers). Also the name of a parish in Essex, England.
LaverickEnglish Derived from Old English lāferce meaning "lark", making it a cognate of Lark.
LaversEnglish English (chiefly Devon and Cornwall): Medieval English and occupational, from pre-10th century Old French "lavandier". Introduced by the Normans after 1066, originally described a worker in the wool industry, and was a metonymic or nickname for a person employed to wash raw wool or rinse the cloth after fulling... [more]
LawtonEnglish Habitational name, common in Lancashire and Yorkshire, from Buglawton or Church Lawton in Cheshire, or Lawton in Herefordshire, named in Old English as ‘settlement on or near a hill’, or ‘settlement by a burial mound’, from hlaw ‘hill’, ‘burial mound’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’... [more]
LearEnglish Means (i) "person from Leire", Leicestershire ("place on the river Leire", a river-name that may also be the ancestor of Leicestershire); or (ii) "person from Lear", any of several variously spelled places in northern France with a name based on Germanic lār "clearing"... [more]
LearnEnglish (American) The surname Learn is traced to an 18th-century settler and his family who lived in what is now Tannersville, Pa. It is an Anglicized version of the Germanic "Loehrner," which name the settler and his family also used.
LeatherEnglish, Scottish A metonymic occupational name for a leatherworker or seller of leather goods, and derived from Middle English and Old English lether meaning "leather".
LeckeyScottish, English, Irish Originally Scottish, but also found in England, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Possibly derives from the barony of Leckie (meaning "place of flagstones", from Gaelic leac, "flagstone") in Stirlingshire.
LedgerEnglish, Norman, French, Dutch English: from a Norman personal name, Leodegar, Old French Legier, of Germanic origin, composed of the elements liut ‘people’, ‘tribe’ + gar, ger ‘spear’... [more]
LeedsEnglish From the city of Leeds in Yorkshire. The name was first attested in the form Loidis in AD 731. In the Domesday Book of 1086, it is recorded as 'Ledes'. This name is thought to have ultimately been derived from an earlier Celtic name... [more]
LeemingEnglish Habitational name from either of two places, in West Yorkshire near Keighley and in North Yorkshire near Northallerton. Both are named with a river name, derived from the Old English word lēoma "gleam, sparkle".
LeithEnglish From the name of a Scottish town (now a district of Edinburgh), which is derived from Gaelic lìte "wet, damp". It is also the name of the river that flows though Edinburgh.
LelandEnglish derived from the Old English elements leah "wood, clearing, meadow" or læge "fallow" and land "land, area"... [more]
LemonAfrican American This surname is a Middle English personal name Lefman, Old English Leofman, composed of the elements leof ‘dear’, ‘beloved’, and mann ‘man’, person. This surname came to be used as a nickname for a lover or sweetheart, from Middle English Lemman.
LentonEnglish Habitational name from Lenton in Nottinghamshire, which is named from the river on which it stands, the Leen (see Leen) + Old English tun 'settlement', 'enclosure'.
LevantEnglish Derived from the Italian word levante, meaning "rising" and the French word levant, meaning "to rise". The term entered the English language in 1497 and was used to describe the "Mediterranean lands east of Italy" by referring to the rising of the sun in the east... [more]
LeverFrench, English Nickname for a fleet-footed or timid person, from Old French levre ‘hare’ (Latin lepus, genitive leporis). It may also have been a metonymic occupational name for a hunter of hares... [more]
LeverettEnglish Diminutive of Lever, from the Middle English personal name Lefred, Old English Lēofrǣd, composed of the elements leof ‘dear’, ‘beloved’ + red ‘counsel’.
LeverichEnglish The surname Leverich was first found in West Yorkshire at Liversedge, a township that dates back to the Domesday Book where it was listed as Livresec, a manor belonging to Radulf, a vassal of Ilbert de Lacy... [more]
LeverockAnglo-Saxon, English It goes back those Anglo-Saxon tribes that once ruled over Britain. Such a name was given to a person who was given the nickname Laverock, which was the Old English word that described a person who was a good singer or someone who had a cheery personality.
LevertonEnglish This surname combines the Old English personal female name Leofwaru or the Old English word læfer meaning "rush, reed" with another Old English word tún meaning "enclosure, field, farm, dwelling." The etymology with the female name addition fits in with the town of the same name in Berkshire while the etymology with the word addition fits in with the one in Lincolnshire.
LickfoldEnglish Derives from a hamlet in West Sussex, England. All known holders, worldwide, of this rare surname can be traced back to Lickfolds who lived within 20 miles of Lickfold in the 16th century.
LiddellEnglish From the Liddel river, which takes its name from Okd English hl̄de “loud” + dæl “valley”.
LiddiardEnglish From Celtic place names in England meaning "gray hill".
LiddingtonEnglish, Scottish (Rare) This surname is derived from a geographical locality. "of Liddington", a parish in Rutland, near Uppingham; a parish in Wiltshire, near Swindon.
LightEnglish Nickname for a happy, cheerful person, from Middle English lyght, Old English lēoht "light (not dark), bright, cheerful".
LightfootEnglish English (chiefly northern England, especially Liverpool): nickname for a messenger or for a fast runner, from Middle English lyght ‘light’, ‘nimble’, ‘quick’ (Old English lioht) + fote ‘foot’.
LighthallEnglish A habitational name from a place called Lightollars in Lancashire, so named from Old English leoht ‘light-colored’ + alor ‘alder’. The surname, however, is not found in current English sources.
LillyEnglish Derived from Lilly, a pet name for Elizabeth. It was also used as a nickname for someone with fair skin or hair, and is derived from Old English lilie meaning "lily (the flower)"... [more]