AshfordEnglish Derived from Ashford, which is the name of several places in England. All but one of these derive the second element of their name from Old English ford meaning "ford" - for the one in North Devon, it is derived from Old English worō or worth meaning "enclosure".... [more]
AshlandEnglish This surname is derived from Old English æsc & land and it means "ash tree land."
AshmanEnglish, Anglo-Saxon From Middle English Asheman, a byname meaning "pirate, seaman". It can also be made up of English ash referring to the "ash tree", and man. In that case, it could refer to someone who lived by ash trees... [more]
AshmoreEnglish English locational name, from either "Aisemare", (from Old English pre 7th Century "aesc" meaning ash plus "mere" a lake; hence "lake where ash-trees grow), or from any of several minor places composed of the Old English elements "aesc" ash plus "mor" a marsh or fen.
AsonEnglish The name Ason comes from Aythe where Aythe filius Thome received a charter of the lands of Fornochtis in Strathearn from Robert the Steward (later known as Robert II) around 1360. The next of the line was called Johem ayson iuuene... [more]
AsquithEnglish Habitational name from a village in North Yorkshire named Askwith, from Old Norse askr ‘ash tree’ + vi{dh}r ‘wood’
AsselbroughEnglish pronouncec assel brudd the origin of the name id unknown but the family were first fiund in heworth .george asselbrough married sarah keatlie in heworth.they had george b1752-1833 alston,srag 17154c nicholas 1757 - 1813 felling pit disaster.peter 1760 james 1762,... [more]
AstleyEnglish Derived from an English surname and place name meaning "eastern woodland clearing" in Old English. A famous bearer of the surname is British singer, songwriter, and radio personality Rick Astley (1966-pres.).
AthertonEnglish Habitational name from a place near Manchester named Atherton, from the Old English personal name Æ{dh}elhere + Old English tūn meaning "settlement".
AtleeEnglish English: topographic name for someone whose dwelling was ‘by the clearing or meadow’, Middle English atte lee. The word lea or lee (Old English leah) originally meant ‘wood’, thence ‘clearing in a wood’, and, by the Middle English period, ‘grassy meadow’.
AttenboroughEnglish Habitational name for a person from the village of Attenborough in Nottinghamshire, England, derived from the Old English given name Adda and burh meaning "fortified place". A famous bearer of this name was the English actor and filmmaker Richard Attenborough (1923-2014)... [more]
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").
AutryEnglish, French A habitational name from any of the places in France named Autrey or Autry. French: from the Old French personal name Audry, from Germanic Aldric ‘ancient power’.
AxfordEnglish Derived from Axford, which is the name of two villages in England (one is located in the county of Hampshire, the other in Wiltshire). Both villages derive their name from Old English æsc(e) "ash tree(s)" and Old English ford "ford", which gives their name the meaning of "ford by the ash trees" or "a ford with ash trees"... [more]
AydenEnglish, Scottish From a Scottish surname which was derived from Gaelic caol meaning "narrows, channel, strait".
AykroydEnglish Variant of Ackroyd. A famous bearer is Canadian actor and comedian Dan Aykroyd (1952-).
AylenEnglish Either derived from the given name Alan or from the Old English word ætheling which were princes eligible to be king. The word ætheling was sometimes used as a given name
AylerEnglish occupational name from Old French aillier ‘garlic seller’, from ail ‘garlic’ (from Latin allium).... [more]
AylesworthEnglish It was first found in Warwickshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Kineton.... [more]
AyliffEnglish From the medieval female personal name Ayleve (from Old English Æthelgifu, literally "noble gift"), or from the Old Norse nickname Eilífr, literally "ever-life".
BabingtonEnglish Habitational name for someone from Babington in Somerset or Great or Little Bavington in Northumberland, named with the Old English personal name Babba + the connective particle -ing- meaning "associated with", "named after" + tūn meaning "settlement".
BacchusEnglish (i) Variant of Backus (meaning "one who lives in or works in a bakery", from Old English bǣchūs "bakehouse, bakery"), the spelling influenced by Bacchus (name of the Greek and Roman god of wine).... [more]
BackmanEnglish, Swedish, German Combination of Old English bakke "spine, back" and man "man". In Swedish, the first element is more likely to be derived from Swedish backe "hill", and in German the first element can be derived from German backen "to bake"... [more]
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]
BaddeleyEnglish From place names in both Suffolk and Staffordshire derived from an Old English personal name, 'Badda,' possibly meaning "battle" and lee or leah for a "woodland clearing," therefore meaning someone from "Badda's woodland clearing."
BadeEnglish From the Old English personal name Bada which possibly a short form of various names with the first element being the Old English beadu "battle"... [more]
BadrinetteEnglish Apparently an extremely rare name of French origin, but isn't used as a first name in France. It might come from the rather uncommon French surname Bardinette, which apparently is a variant spelling of the surname Bardinet... [more]
BagnallEnglish From a place in England, derived from the Old English name "Badeca", a short form of any name beginning from beadu "battle", and halh "nook, recess".
BainScottish, French, English Nickname for a hospitable person from northern Middle English beyn, bayn meaning "welcoming", "friendly".... [more]
BainbridgeEnglish from Bainbridge in North Yorkshire, named for the Bain river on which it stands (which is named with Old Norse beinn ‘straight’) + bridge.
BainebridgeEnglish, Irish Bridge over the Bain, An English town named for its place on the river Bain, now used as a surname. Lives near the bridge over the white water... [more]
BairnsfatherEnglish From a medieval nickname in Scotland and northern England for the (alleged) father of an illegitimate child (from northern Middle English bairnes "child's" + father). This surname was borne by British cartoonist and author Bruce Bairnsfather (1888-1959).
BakeEnglish Probably an occupational name for a baker.
BalcomEnglish Altered spelling of English Balcombe, a habitational name from Balcombe in West Sussex, which is named with Old English bealu "evil, calamity" (or the Old English personal name Bealda) combined with cumb "valley".
BaldockEnglish (Rare) Means "person from Baldock", Hertfordshire ("Baghdad": in the Middle Ages the lords of the manor were the Knights Templar, whose headquarters were in Jerusalem, and they named the town Baldac, the Old French name for Baghdad).
BaldyEnglish Possibly derived from an Old English feminine given name, *Bealdgýð, composed of the elements beald "bold" and guð "battle", first recorded c.1170 as Baldith, and in other cases from the Old Norse byname or given name Baldi.
BaleEnglish Variant of Bail. This is the surname of Welsh footballer Gareth Bale.
BalenEnglish English surname, perhaps of Cornish British origin, from belen, meaning "mill."
BallardEnglish English and Scottish: derogatory nickname from a derivative of bald ‘bald-headed’ (see also Bald).
BallasterEnglish Meant "person who makes or is armed with a crossbow" (from a derivative of Middle English baleste "crossbow", from Old French).
BalstonEnglish From the name of a place meaning "Beald's valley" from Old English denu meaning valley.
BaltimoreEnglish (American) From the name of the American city of Baltimore, and an anglicisation of Irish Gaelic Baile an Tí Mhóir meaning "town of the big house".
BamboroughEnglish Bamborough name origin from early Northumberland early times other name know from the Bamborough is bamburgh as in bamburgh castle, ... [more]
BankstonEnglish Derived from the old English world "Banke" usually given to a family who lived near a hill or a slope.
BanksyEnglish, Popular Culture This is pseudonyms Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter. Banksy's real name might be Robin Gunningham. How Banksy got his pseudonym is unknown... [more]
BarchardEnglish The name is derived from when the family resided in Cheshire, where they held a family seat near Birkenhead at the estuary of the River Birket. It is from the name of the river that their name is derived.
BarcroftEnglish English habitational name from for example Barcroft in Haworth, West Yorkshire, so named with Old English bere (barley) and croft (smallholding).
BardellEnglish Originally meant "person from Bardwell", Suffolk ("Bearda's spring"). A fictional bearer of the surname is Mrs Bardell, Mr Pickwick's widowed landlady in Charles Dickens's 'Pickwick Papers' (1837), who misconstrues an innocent remark about having a companion as a marriage proposal, which leads to her suing Pickwick for breach of promise.
BardenEnglish English: habitational name from places in North and West Yorkshire named Barden, from Old English bere ‘barley’ (or the derived adjective beren) + denu ‘valley’.
BarefootEnglish English: nickname for someone who was in the habit of going about his business unshod, from Old English bær ‘bare’, ‘naked’ + fot ‘foot’. It may have referred to a peasant unable to afford even the simplest type of footwear, or to someone who went barefoot as a religious penance.In some instances, probably a translation of German Barfuss, the northern form Barfoth, or the Danish cognate Barfo(e)d.
BarhamEnglish English: habitational name from any of the various places so called. Most, for example those in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, are named with Old English beorg ‘hill’ + ham ‘homestead’. The one in Kent, however, is from an unattested Old English byname Biora, Beora (a derivative of bera ‘bear’) + ham.
BarkerEnglish SURNAME Town cryer, or someone who shouts out notices
BarkisEnglish Meant "person who works in a tannery" (from Middle English barkhous "tannery" - bark was used in the tanning process). A fictional bearer is Barkis, a carrier in Charles Dickens's 'David Copperfield' (1849) who sends a message via David to Clara Peggotty that "Barkis is willin'" (i.e. to marry her).
BarkusEnglish Probably a reduced form of Barkhouse, a topographic name for someone who lived by a tannery, Middle English barkhous, or an occupational name for someone who worked in one.
BarkwayEnglish Derived from the locality of Barkway 'Birch Road'.
BarkworthEnglish Location based surname from Barkwith in Lincolnshire, England.
BarnabyEnglish Either (i) means "person from Barnaby", Yorkshire ("Beornwald's settlement"); or (ii) from the medieval male personal name Barnaby, the English form of Barnabas, a biblical name ultimately from Aramaic Barnabia "son of Nabia".
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.
BarringtonEnglish, Irish English: habitational name from any of several places called Barrington. The one in Gloucestershire is named with the Old English personal name Beorn + -ing- denoting association + tun ‘settlement’... [more]
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]
BarrowmanEnglish A man employed in wheeling a barrow; specifically, in coal-mining, one who conveys the coal in a wheelbarrow from the point where it is mined to the trolleyway or tramway on which it is carried to the place where it is raised to the surface.
BarsbyEnglish Derived from the Old Norse word barn, which occured as a byname and meant "child", and Old Norse býr "farm, settlement"
BartholomewEnglish From a medieval personal name, Latin Bart(h)olomaeus, from the Aramaic patronymic bar-Talmay "son of Talmay", meaning "having many furrows", i.e. rich in land. This was an extremely popular personal name in Christian Europe, with innumerable vernacular derivatives... [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."
BartleyEnglish, American 1. English: habitational name from Bartley in Hampshire, or from Bartley Green in the West Midlands, both of which are named with Old English be(o)rc ‘birch’ + leah ‘woodland clearing’; compare Barclay... [more]
BartmanEnglish Last name Bartman is very rare but I believe it’s a English last name .Possibly variant of the last name BAUMAN
BarwickEnglish, German English: habitational name from any of various places called Barwick, for example in Norfolk, Somerset, and West Yorkshire, from Old English bere ‘barley’ + wic ‘outlying farm’, i.e. a granary lying some distance away from the main village.... [more]
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.
BateyEnglish (?) Originates from mostly northern England. Is the presumed given name to fishers. (With it meaning "Small fishing boat" in old English.)
BathgateScottish, English From the town of Bathgate, west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The town's name derives from Cumbric *beith, meaning 'boar' (Welsh baedd) and *gaith. meaning 'wood' (Welsh coed).
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]
BaxEnglish Possibly a short form of Baxter, or maybe from the Anglo-Saxon word box, referring to the box tree.
BaxendaleEnglish Habitational name, probably an altered form of Baxenden, a place near Accrington, which is named with an unattested Old English word bæcstān meaning "bakestone" (a flat stone on which bread was baked) + denu meaning "valley"... [more]
BayEnglish, French, Dutch Derived from Middle English and Old French bay, bai and Middle Dutch bay, all meaning "reddish brown". It was originally a nickname for someone with a hair color similar to that.
BayerstoweEnglish From a locational name from Bairstow in West Yorkshire, probably so-called from the Old English elements beger "berry" and stow place.
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.
BaylorEnglish Possibly derived from the legal term bailor "one who delivers goods". It could also be a respelling of German name Beiler, an occupational name for an inspector of measures or a maker of measuring sticks... [more]
BeaberEnglish (American) Americanized spelling of German Bieber or Biber, from Middle High German biber ‘beaver’, hence a nickname for someone thought to resemble the animal in some way, a topographic name for someone who lived in a place frequented by beavers or by a field named with this word, or a habitational name from any of various place names in Hesse containing this element.
BeachEnglish Name for someone living near a beach, stream, or beech tree.
BeakleyEnglish The surname Beakley is a nickname for a person with a prominent nose. Looking back further, we find the name Beakley was originally from the Old English word beke or the Old French word bec, each of which referred to the beak of a bird.
BeamEnglish From Old English beam "beam" or "post". It could be a topographic name from someone living near a post or tree, or it could be a metonymic occupational name for a weaver.... [more]
BearEnglish From the Middle English nickname Bere meaning "bear" (Old English bera, which is also found as a byname), or possibly from a personal name derived from a short form of the various Germanic compound names with this first element... [more]
BeardEnglish (American) Nickname for a bearded man (Middle English, Old English beard). To be clean-shaven was the norm in non-Jewish communities in northwestern Europe from the 12th to the 16th century, the crucial period for surname formation... [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]
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".
BeaufoyFrench (Anglicized, Rare), English (Rare) Anglicized form of Beaufay. Known bearers of this surname include the English astronomer and physicist Mark Beaufoy (1764-1827) and the British screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (b... [more]
BeauvoirEnglish From the surname of Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), a French feminist and philosopher.