American Submitted Surnames

American names are used in the United States. See also about American names.
usage
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Birdwhistle English (Rare)
derived from whistling like a bird or the sound of the birds were sold.
Birket English
It's a locational surname taken from the village of Birket Houses in Lancashire.
Birkin English
The surname "Birkin" comes from a village in Yorkshire of the same name, first recorded as "Byrcene" in the Yorkshire charters of 1030, and as "Berchine" and "Berchinge" in the Domesday Book. The first known person with the surname "Birkin" was Jon de Birkin, a baron who lived in the late-11th century.
Birks English
Northern English variant of Birch.
Birmingham English
Indicates familial origin from Birmingham, England
Birne English, German, Jewish
Means "pear" in German, making it the German equivalent of Perry 1, perhaps originally referring to a person who harvested or sold pears... [more]
Birney English
Scottish: habitational name from a place in Morayshire, recorded in the 13th century as Brennach, probably from Gaelic braonach 'damp place'.
Bisbee English
Named after the city of Bisbee which is in Arizona.... [more]
Bish English
Comes from the old English word bis meaning "dingy" or "murky". Was given to someone who dressed in drab or murky colors.
Bitencourt Brazilian, Portuguese (Brazilian), French (Rare), English
BITENCOURT, derives from Bittencourt, Bettencourt and Bethencourt; They are originally place-names in Northern France. The place-name element -court (courtyard, courtyard of a farm, farm) is typical of the French provinces, where the Frankish settlements formed an important part of the local population... [more]
Bittaker English
Possibly an altered spelling of Whitaker. An infamous bearer was the American serial killer and rapist Lawrence Bittaker (1940-2019).
Bitterman English, German
Name given to a person who was bitter.
Bizzell English
a corn merchant; one who made vessels designed to hold or measure out a bushel.
Bjorklund English (American)
Anglicized form of Swedish Björklund or Norwegian Bjørklund.
Blackberry English
English surname of unexplained origin, probably from the name of a lost or unidentified place.
Blacke English
Variant of Black.
Blackerby English, Irish, Scottish
English surname of unexplained origin, probably from the name of a lost or unidentified place.
Blackford English
Derived from the words blæc "black" or blac "pale, shining, white" and ford "river crossing"
Blackley English
The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon Blæcleah which meant "dark wood" or "dark clearing".
Blackmore English
BLACKMORE, an English name, has two possible beginnings: ... [more]
Blacks English
Variant of Black.
Blacksmith English
Occupational name for a blacksmith, a smith who work with iron. The name is rare in England and mostly found in North America, suggesting that it's a translation of a non-English name meaning "blacksmith" (see Kowalski, Raudsepp and Lefèvre for example).
Blackstock English
English and southern Scottish: topographic name from Middle English blak(e) ‘black’, ‘dark’ + stok ‘stump’, ‘stock’.
Blackwell English
From an English place name derived from Old English blæc meaning "black" and wille meaning "well, spring, water hole".
Blade English
Metonymic occupational name for a cutler, from Middle English blade "cutting edge, sword".
Blagden English
Derived from any of several places across England called Blagden, Blackden, or Blagdon, which can varyingly derive from Old English blæc dun ("black hill") or blæc denu ("black valley").
Blain Scottish (Anglicized), Scottish Gaelic, English
Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Bláán, a shortened form of MACBLAIN, or a variant of Blin... [more]
Blaire Scottish, English
Variant spelling of Blair.
Blakelock English
A nickname derived from blæc "black" and locc "lock of hair".
Blakeway English
Literally means "black way", thus referring to a black road near which the original bearer must have lived. A famous bearer of this surname was Jacob Blakeway (b. 1583-?), the biological father of Mayflower passenger Richard More (1614-1696).
Blamey English
From blaidh-mez, the wolf's meadow; or pleu-mez, the parish meadow.
Blanchflower English
From a medieval nickname applied probably to an effeminate man (from Old French blanche flour "white flower"). This surname was borne by Northern Irish footballer Danny Blanchflower (1926-1993).
Bland English
Bland is a habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire called Bland, the origin of which is uncertain. Possibly it is from Old English (ge)bland ‘storm’, ‘commotion’ (from blandan ‘to blend or mingle’), with reference to its exposed situation... [more]
Blandford English
Habitational name from Blandford Forum and other places called Blandford in Dorset (Blaneford in Domesday Book), probably named in Old English with bl?ge 'gudgeon' (genitive plural blægna) + ford 'ford'.
Blanke German, English, Dutch
Nickname for someone with a fair complexion. From Old High German blanc meaning "white".
Blankenbaker English (American)
From German blanken meaning "bare, blank" with English "baker".
Blankenship English
Variant of Blenkinsop, a surname derived from a place in Northumberland called Blenkinsopp. The place name possibly derives from Cumbric blaen "top" and kein "back, ridge", i.e. "top of the ridge", combined with Old English hōp "valley" (compare Hope).
Blaxton English
There are two possible origins for this surname; one- from the name of the village in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster (part of South Yorkshire, England) on the border of Lincolnshire, or two- from the Old English personal name Blaecstan, meaning "black stone"
Blaylock English
The surname of James P. Blaylock (1950-), an early steampunk author. His surname may mean "black lock" from Middle English blakelok, originally referring to a person with dark hair.
Blaze English
Variant of Blaise.
Bledsoe English
Comes from a place in Gloucestershire called Bledisloe, comes from an Old English personal name Blið.
Blennerhassett English
The Blennerhassett surname comes from someone having lived in Cumberland, on the Borderlands between Scotland and England. ... [more]
Blessed English
From a medieval nickname for a fortunate person. This surname is borne by British actor Brian Blessed (1936-).
Blessing German, English
Either a German patronymic from a variant of the personal name Blasius or a nickname for a bald person from Middle High German blas "bald bare"... [more]
Blewett English
From a medieval nickname for a blue-eyed person or one who habitually wore blue clothing (from Middle English bleuet "cornflower" or bluet "blue cloth").
Bligh English
Variant of Blythe.
Blight English
comes from blithe
Blind English, German, Dutch, Yiddish
A descriptive byname for a blind person.
Blissett English
A different form of Blessed. A bearer of this surname is Luther Blissett (1958-), a Jamaican-born English footballer ("Luther Blissett" has been used since 1994 as a cover name for activists engaging in anti-cultural establishment polemics and spoofs on the internet and elsewhere).
Blizzard English
A different form (influenced by blizzard "heavy snowstorm") of Blissett.
Blogg English
The name is most likely Anglo-Saxon or early medieval English in origin. ... [more]
Blood English
Evidently from Old English blod ‘blood’, but with what significance is not clear. In Middle English the word was in use as a metonymic occupational term for a physician, i.e. one who lets blood, and also as an affectionate term of address for a blood relative.
Blood English
Derived from the Old English byname Blīþa (meaning "happy, blithe").
Bloodgood English (American), Dutch (Americanized)
Anglicized form of Dutch Bloetgoet, an altered form of Goetbloet.
Bloodsworth English
Variant spelling of Bloodworth.
Bloom English
Metonymic occupational name for an iron worker, from Middle English blome ‘ingot (of iron)’.
Bloomfield English
This interesting surname is of early medieval English origin, and is a locational name from either of the two places thus called in England, one in Staffordshire, and the other in Somerset, or it may be a dialectal variant of Blonville (-sur-Mer) in Calvados, Normandy, and hence a Norman habitation name... [more]
Blough English
Anglo-Saxon form of German “Blauch.” The name means “one who plays a horn.”
Blount English
Variant of Blunt.
Blow English
From a medieval nickname for someone with a pale complexion (from Middle English blowe "pale"). This surname was borne by English composer John Blow (1649-1708) and British fashion editor Isabella Blow (original name Isabella Delves Broughton; 1958-2007); additionally, "Joe Blow" is a name used colloquially (in US, Canadian and Australian English) as representative of the ordinary uncomplicated unsophisticated man, the average man in the street (of which the equivalent in British English is "Joe Bloggs").
Blueberry English
English surname of unexplained origin, probably from the name of a lost or unidentified place.
Bluford English, American (South)
Possibly an English habitational name from a lost or unidentified place. The name occurs in records of the 19th century but is now very rare if not extinct in the British Isles. In the U.S. it is found chiefly in TX and TN.
Blume German, English
Could be from the Jewish surname Blum of from Swedish Blom. It could also be from the English word bloom.
Blunden English
From Middle English blund "blond".
Blunt English
Nickname for a person with fair hair or a light complexion from Old French blunt meaning "blond". It was also used as a nickname for a stupid person from Middle English blunt or blont meaning "dull".
Blyth English
Variant of Blythe
Boatfield English
Occupational name for a person who worked on the deck of a ship.
Bobber English
From the ancient Anglo-Saxon name Baber, a town in the county of Suffolk. A famous bearer of the last name is actor, director, animator, voice actor, and musician Troy Bobber.
Bobbitt English
Possibly derived from the Middle English personal name Bobbe.
Bobe English
Derived from the nickname Boebel
Bock German, Upper German, Jewish, English
Altered spelling of German Böck (see Boeck) or Bach 1.... [more]
Bode German, Dutch, English, Danish
Means "messenger, deliverer, herald; prophet, omen", ultimately from Old Germanic budą. This can be an occupational name, or a patronymic derived from a given name containing the element (see Bothe).
Boden English
Possibly a variant of Baldwin.
Bodily English
Possibly a variant form of Baddeley.
Bodin French, English
Derived from Old French personal name Bodin or a variant spelling of Baudouin.
Bodkin English
From the medieval male personal name Bowdekyn, a pet-form of Baldwin.
Boebert English (American)
A notable bearer of this surname is Lauren Opal Boebert (Born on December 15, 1986) who is an American (U.S.A.) politician, businesswoman, and gun rights activist, serving as the U.S. Representative for Colorado’s 3rd congressional district since 2021... [more]
Boeing English (Anglicized)
Anglicized form of German Böing. This was the surname of American industrialist William Boeing (1881-1956) who founded The Boeing Company, a manufacturer of airplanes.
Boekhout English
Probably a habitational name from the village Boekhoute in northern Belgium, close to the border to The Netherlands.
Bogs English
A name given to someone that lives near a bog or swamp. More comonly spelled as Boggs.
Bohart English (Rare)
Meaning unknown.
Boise English (American), Scottish
Variant of Boyce. In some cases, it is possibly also a variant of Boyes.
Boland English
Variant of Bowland and Bolland.
Bold German, English
English: nickname from Middle English bold ‘courageous’, ‘daring’ (Old English b(e)ald, cognate with Old High German bald). In some cases it may derive from an Old English personal name (see Bald)... [more]
Bolding English, German
Patronymic from Bold as a personal name.
Bole English
Anglicized form of O'Boyle
Bolen English
Variant of BULLEN.
Boleyn English
Franciscanized form of Bullens, a Dutch surname meaning "son of Baldo" (meaning "strong").
Boliver Welsh, English
Derived from Welsh ap Oliver meaning "son of Oliver".
Bolland French, German, English
From the Ancient Germanic name Bolland. Alternatively it derive from the place name Bowland from the Old English boga meaning "bow" and land meaning "land".
Bollard English, Irish
According to MacLysaght, this surname of Dutch origin which was taken to Ireland early in the 18th century.
Bolling English, German
nickname for someone with close-cropped hair or a large head, Middle English bolling 'pollard', or for a heavy drinker, from Middle English bolling 'excessive drinking'. German (Bölling): from a personal name Baldwin
Bolt English
From Middle English bolt meaning "bolt", "bar" (Old English bolt meaning "arrow"). In part this may have originated as a nickname or byname for a short but powerfully built person, in part as a metonymic occupational name for a maker of bolts... [more]
Bomengen English (American), Norwegian (Rare)
Name created from during immigration from Norway to the United States in either the late 19th or early 20th century meaning, "The farm with the big gate."
Bonaparte Italian (Rare), French (Rare), Judeo-Italian (Rare), American (Rare), Caribbean (Rare)
Variant and French form of Buonaparte. This is also a Jewish surname. A notable bearer was Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1820), who ruled as Emperor of France from 1804 through 1814 and again briefly in 1815, who was of Italian (Tuscan) ancestry... [more]
Bonde English
Variant of Bond.
Bonds English
Variant of Bond.
Bonecutter English
Likely from someone who's job was to work with deceased people.
Bones English
Derives from bon, "good" in Old French.
Booke American
American variant of the German name Buche meaning "beech" in reference to the beech tree. Notable bearer is the actor Sorrell Booke (1930-1994).
Bookwalter English (American)
German: variant of Buchwalder, a habitational name for someone from any of various places called Buchwald or Buchwalde in Saxony and Pomerania, meaning 'beech forest'. The surname Buchwalter is very rare in Germany.... [more]
Bool English
This surname derives from the Old English pre 7th Century bula, or the Medieval English bulle, bolle, meaning "bull", and was given as a nickname to one with great physical strength.
Boorman English
This surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and may be either a topographical name for someone who lived in a particularly noteworthy or conspicuous cottage, from the Old English bur "bower, cottage, inner room" with mann "man", or a locational name from any of the various places called Bower(s) in Somerset and Essex, which appear variously as Bur, Bure and Bura in the Domesday Book of 1086.
Boot English
Metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of boots, ultimately from Old French bote "boot, high-sided leather shoe".
Boothby English
From the name of a parish in Lincolnshire, England.
Boothe English
Variant of Booth
Boothroyd English
Possibly from the Old English booth meaning "hut, shack" and royd meaning "clearing (in the woods)".
Boots English
Variant of Boot.
Booty English
Means butt. Usually big and round.There are also two of them.
Borchert German, English
Variant of Borchardt (see Burkhard).
Borders English
Americanization of surname Bader. Forefathers who were Hessian soldiers during the American revolution.
Borecki English
Habitational name for someone from a place called Borek or Borki, from bór "pine forest".
Borman Dutch, Low German, English
Dutch and North German: variant of Bormann. ... [more]
Born German, English
A topographical name indicating someone who lived near a stream, from the Old English "burna, burne". Alternatively, it could be contemporarily derived from the modern English word "born". Possible variants include Bourne, Burns 1 and Boren.
Borne English
Variant spelling of Bourne.
Boronda American (Hispanic), Basque
Boronda is a Californio surname that is also of Basque origin. Boronda is the name of a place in Salinas California named after Jose Eusebio Boronda where he made his house out of Adobe. Today, It is a California national Historic landmark in Boronda road in Salinas.
Bosch American
The surname Bosch originates from the Old Norse word "buski," meaning "bush," or "woods” thus it is classed at a toponymic surname and was most likely used by a man who lived near a prominent bush... [more]
Bosley English
English habitation surname derived from the Old English personal name Bosa and the Old English leah "clearing, field". It's also possibly a variant of the French surname Beausoleil meaning "beautiful sun" from the French beau 'beautiful, fair' and soleil 'sun'... [more]
Boss English
From an originally French term meaning "hunchback".
Boston English
Habitational name from the town Boston in Lincolnshire, England. The name means "Botwulf’s stone".... [more]
Bostwick English
From an English surname which was from a lost or unidentified place name. The second element is clearly Old English wic "outlying (dairy) farm".
Boteler English
Variant of Butler, from Old French bouteillier “bottler”.
Botting English, Dutch
Patronymic form of Bott, an Old English personal name of unknown origin, or of Baldwin.
Bottom English
Topographic name for someone who lived at the bottom of a valley, derived from Middle English botme "dell, valley".
Bottomley English
English (Yorkshire and Lancashire): habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire named Bottomley, from Old English botm ‘broad valley’ + lēah ‘woodland clearing’.
Bottum English
Variant spelling of Bottom.
Boulton English
Means "district" characterized by bends from the Old English words boga and land.
Bounds English
Variant of Bond.
Bourn English
Variant of Bourne.
Bow English, Scottish
Habitational name from any of various minor places called with Old English boga, meaning "bow, arch, bend".
Bowden English
Habitational name from any of several places called Bowden or Bowdon, most of them in England. From Old English boga "bow" and dun "hill", or from Old English personal names Buga or Bucge combined with dun.... [more]
Bowdler English
From Dutch de Boelare meaning "from Boelare", the name of a town in the Netherlands. Alternatively, it could derive from English buddler, an occupational name for someone who washes crushed ore.
Bowe Medieval English, English, Irish (Anglicized)
There are three possible sources of this surname, the first being that it is a metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of bows, a vital trade in medieval times before the invention of gunpowder, and a derivative of the Old English boga "bow", from bugan "to bend"... [more]
Bowell English
Of Norman origin; habitational name from Bouelles, Seine-Maritime, France, which is from Old Norman French "boelle" meaning "enclosure, dwelling".
Bower English, Scottish
Scottish: occupational name for a bow maker, Older Scots bowar, equivalent to English Bowyer. ... [more]
Bowerman English, English (American)
1. English: occupational name for a house servant who attended his master in his private quarters (see Bower). ... [more]
Bowersock English
Likely an Americanized spelling of Bauersack.
Bowker English
A surname of French origin, from the occupational term for 'butcher' (boucher). Some theories have it that it derives from OE 'bocer', meaning a scribe, but the former is more likely and is more widely affirmed.
Bowland English
From any variety of places in England with this name. These places are likely from with Old English boga ‘bow’ (in the sense of a bend in a river) and land ‘land’.
Bowles English
Variant of Bowell with post-medieval excrescent -s.
Bowlly English
Variant of Bowley