Browse Submitted Surnames

This is a list of submitted surnames in which the usage is American; and the source is Location.
usage
source
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Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Bink English
Topographic name for someone living by a bink, a northern dialect term for a flat raised bank of earth or a shelf of flat stone suitable for sitting on. The word is a northern form of modern English bench.
Binks English
Variant of Bink.
Birch English, German, Danish, Swedish (Rare)
From Middle High German birche, Old English birce, Old Danish birk, all meaning "birch". This was likely a topographic name for someone living by a birch tree or a birch forest... [more]
Birchall English
Probably a habitational name from Birchill in Derbyshire or Birchills in Staffordshire, both named in Old English with birce "birch" + hyll "hill".
Birchfield English
Variant of English BURCHFIELD or an anglicized form of German BIRKENFELD.
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.
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]
Bittaker English
Possibly an altered spelling of Whitaker. An infamous bearer was the American serial killer and rapist Lawrence Bittaker (1940-2019).
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]
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".
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").
Blaire Scottish, English
Variant spelling of Blair.
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).
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'.
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).
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]
Bloodsworth English
Variant spelling of Bloodworth.
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.
Bock German, Upper German, Jewish, English
Altered spelling of German Böck (see Boeck) or Bach 1.... [more]
Bodily English
Possibly a variant form of Baddeley.
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.
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.
Bolen English
Variant of BULLEN.
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."
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]
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.
Boothby English
From the name of a parish in Lincolnshire, England.
Boothe English
Variant of Booth
Boothroyd English
Habitational name for a person from the village named Boothroyd in Yorkshire, from Middle English both "hut, stall" and royd "cleared land" (derived from Old English rod).
Borecki English
Habitational name for someone from a place called Borek or Borki, from bór "pine forest".
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]
Bostock English
From the name of a village in Cheshire, England, meaning "Bota’s place", derived from the Old English given name Bota combined with stoc "place, dwelling".
Boston English
Habitational name from the town Boston in Lincolnshire, England. The name means "Botwulf’s stone".... [more]
Bostwick English
Altered form of Bostock, the second element probably influenced by Old English wic "village, town".
Bottom English
Topographic name for someone who lived at the bottom of a valley, derived from Middle English botme "dell, valley".
Bottum English
Variant spelling of Bottom.
Boulton English
Means "district" characterized by bends from the Old English words boga and land.
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]
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.
Boycott English
It indicates familial origin from any location called Boycott, ultimately derived from either from an Old English name, or from an occupation, both derived from the Old English word boia meaning "boy, servant" and cot meaning "cottage, small house".
Boykins English (American)
Americanized form of Dutch Boeijkens: patronymic from the personal name Boye with the diminutive element -ken and genitive -s. Compare the English cognate Boykin and North German Boyken.... [more]
Boyne English, Irish, Scottish
English: variant of Boon.... [more]
Boynton English
Variant of Boyton, from a place in Lancashire, England.
Boys English
From the Old French word bois, which means "wood," indicates that the original bearer lived near a wooded area, such as a forest.
Bradfield English
habitational name from any of the places in Berkshire Devon Essex Suffolk South Yorkshire and elsewhere named Bradfield from Old English brad "broad" and feld "open country" meaning "wide field".
Bradham English
Means "broad home". From brad "broad", and ham "home"
Bradstreet English
Topographic name for someone who lived by a Roman road, derived from Old English brad "broad" and strǣt "paved highway, street" (ultimately derived from Latin strata)... [more]
Braham English
From the name of a town called Braham, probably derived from Old English brom meaning "broom (a type of plant)" and ham meaning "home, settlement" or hamm meaning "river meadow".
Braid Scottish, English
From the Braid Hills.
Brailey English
Habitational name for a person from Brayley Barton in Devon, which is derived from the name of the Bray river (a back formation from High Bray which is from Celtic bre meaning "hill" or Old English brǣg "brow") combined with Old English leah "woodland, clearing".
Braithwaite English
Habitational name for a person from any of the various places named Braithwaite in Cumbria and Yorkshire, from Old Norse breiðr "broad" + þveit "clearing, pasture".
Bramah English
From a place called either Bramall, or Bramhall formerly Bromale. From old english brom "broom" and halh, "nook, recess"
Bramble English
This surname is taken from the word which refers to a common blackberry (British) or any of several closely related thorny plants in the Rubus genus (US). It also refers to any thorny shrub. The word is derived from Old English bræmbel with a euphonic -b- inserted from the earlier bræmel or brémel, which is then derived from Proto-Germanic *bræmaz meaning "thorny bush."
Branner Danish, German, English
Danish variant of BRANDER and German variant of BRANTNER.
Brasse English
Likely derived from the name of the village of Brace in Shropshire, England. The name of the village likely came from the Old English word braec, which was used for small forests and thickets, or the later Old English word braec, which was used for ground broken up for cultivation.
Braybrooke English
From the name of the Northamptonshire village of Braybrooke, meaning "the broad brook."
Brayson English
Patronymic form of the surname Bray.
Brayton English
Derived from the Old Norse name breithr meaning "broad", or the Old Norse personal name Breithi, combined with the Old English suffix tun meaning "town, farmstead".
Brearley English
Variation of Brierley possibly originating in Yorkshire, England. A well-known bearer is former English cricketer Mike Brearley.
Breath English, Scottish
From the La Bret family in Daveham. The Scottish variant is Braid.
Breathe English
English variant of Breath. It comes from the La Bret family in Daveham.
Breed English
Habitational name from any of various minor places, for example Brede in Sussex, named with Old English brǣdu "breadth, broad place" (a derivative of brād "broad").
Brenton English
habitational name primarily from Brenton near Exminster possibly named in Old English as Bryningtun "settlement (Old English tun) associated with Bryni" (a personal name from Old English bryne "fire flame") or "Bryni's town".
Breon English (American)
Americanized form of French Brion.
Brereton English
From the name of locations in Cheshire and Staffordshire, England. The name is derived from Old English brér "briar" + tún "enclosure, farmstead".
Bretton English, French
habitational name from any of the places called from Bretton in Derbyshire and Yorkshire, both of which mean "settlement of the Britons", from Old English brettas "Briton" and tun "enclosure, settlement"... [more]
Brewton English
Variant spelling of the habitational name Bruton, from a place in Somerset, so named with a Celtic river name meaning 'brisk' + Old English tun 'farmstead'.
Brick Irish (Anglicized), English, German, Jewish
Irish Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Bruic "descendant of Broc", i.e. "badger" (sometimes so translated) or Ó Bric "descendant of Breac", a personal name meaning "freckled"... [more]
Bride Irish (Anglicized), Scottish (Anglicized), English
Shortened form of MacBride, ultimately from the given name Brighid. It could also be a habitational name derived from any of several places called St Brides, or from the River Bride in Ireland, both also derived from Brighid.
Bridgeford English
Meaning "bridge ford".
Bridgford English
Meaning "bridge ford".
Bridgwater English
Variant spelling of Bridgewater.
Brier English
Derived from Old English brer "briar, bramble", a topographic name for someone who lived near a briar patch, or a nickname for a prickly, irritable person.
Brindle English
From the name of a town in Lancashire, England, derived from Old English burna "stream, spring, brook" and hyll "hill".
Brindley English
Habitational name from a place in England so named. From Old English berned "burnt" and leah "woodland clearing".
Brinsley English
From a place meaning "brun's clearing" or "brown clearing" with the elements brun "brown" and leah "meadow, clearing".
Brinton English
English locational surname, taken from the town of the same name in Norfolk. The name means "settlement belonging to Brun" - the personal name coming from the Old English word for "fire, flame".
Briscoe English
From any of the various places of this name or similar, derived from Old Norse bretar "Briton, Welsh" or birki "birch" and skógr "forest, wood".
Brissenden English
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)".
Britnell English
Habitational name from a place called Brinton in Norfolk, England. See Brinton.
Broadhead English
From Old English brad "wide, broad" and heafod "head", a topographic name for someone who lived by a broad headland.
Brogden English
From the name of a place in West Yorkshire meaning "valley brook", from Old English broc "brook" and denu "valley".
Brogdon English
Variant of Brogden The valley of the brook a rural place now in Lancanshire, England.
Bromley English
Habitational name from any of the many places so called in England. Most of them derived from Old English brom "broom" and leah "woodland clearing".
Bromwell English
Habitational name from Broomwell in Herefordshire named in Old English with brom ‘broom’ + wella ‘spring’, ‘stream’.
Brookhaven English (American)
Habitational name from multiple settlements called Brookhaven.
Brookhouse English
Means 'house by the brook'.
Brookman English, American
English: variant of Brook. ... [more]
Brooksby English
Means "farm by a brook". From Old English broc "brook, small stream" and Old Norse býr "farm, settlement"
Broomfield English
From a place name meaning "gorse field", from Old English brom "gorse" and feld "field, open country".
Brough English
Habitational name derived from any place called Brough, named with Old English burh "fortress" (compare English and Irish Burke).
Brougham English
From the parish of Brougham in Westmoreland, derived from Old English burg "stronghold" + ham "piece of land".
Broughton English
Habitational name from any of the many places so called in England. The first name element is derived from Old English broc "brook", burh "fortress", or beorg "castle". The second element is derived from Old English tun "settlement, dwelling".
Brownlee Scottish, Scottish Gaelic, Northern Irish, English
"Brown field" in Old English.
Brownley English, Scottish
Variant spelling of "Brownlee". Brown field in Old English.
Brubaker American
American form of Brubacher
Brucker English
Variant spelling of Brooker.
Bruckman German, English
German (Bruckmann): variant of Bruck, with the addition of the suffix -mann ‘man’. ... [more]
Brugger German, American
South German variant or Americanized spelling of North German Brügger (see Bruegger). habitational name for someone from any of various (southern) places called Bruck or Brugg in Bavaria and Austria.
Brumby English
English habitational name from a place in Lincolnshire named Brumby, from the Old Norse personal name Brúni or from Old Norse brunnr "well" + býr "farmstead, village".
Brunswick English, German
English habitational name from the city in Saxony now known in German as Braunschweig. ... [more]
Brunton English (Rare)
From Old English burna meaning "stream" and tun, settlement; hence, "settlement by a stream".
Bryer English
Variant spelling of Brier, or perhaps sometimes an Americanized form of German Breuer.
Buckingham English
Habitational name from the former county seat of the county of Buckinghamshire, Old English Buccingahamm "water meadow (Old English hamm) of the people of (-inga-) Bucc(a)".
Buckland English
Habitational name from any of the many places in southern England (including nine in Devon) named Buckland, from Old English bōc "book" and land "land", i.e. land held by right of a written charter, as opposed to folcland, land held by right of custom.
Bucknell English
From locations in Oxfordshire and Shropshire, England.
Buckson English
Either a patronymic from Buck, or possibly an altered form of Buxton.
Buglass English
Possibly from the Booklawes region near Melrose, Roxburgshire, originally spelt "Buke-Lawes" (lit. "buck/stag" combined with "low ground"); otherwise from the Gaelic words buidhe - "yellow" and glas - "green".
Bulkeley English
From the place name of Bulkeley in Cheshire, related to Buckley 1.
Bullick English
Habitational name from Bulwick, Northampton, or Bolwick Hall, Norfolk, both derived from Old English bula "bull" and wic "village, settlement, farmstead".
Bulstrode English
Locational surname referring to the medieval village of Bulstrode in Berkshire. ... [more]
Burbage English
Habitational name from any of several places in England, derived from Old English burg "fortress, citadel" and bæc "stream, brook".
Burbidge English
Variant form of Burbage.
Burbridge English
English: perhaps a variant of Burbage, altered by folk etymology, or possibly a habitational name from a lost place so named.
Burch English
Variant of Birch.
Burchell English
An English surname derived from the village of Birkehill (also known as Biekel or Birtle). It means "birch hill".
Burdis English
A habitational name for Bordeaux, France.
Burgen English
Habitational name for someone from Burgundy, France.
Burger English, German, Dutch
Status name for a freeman of a borough. From Middle English burg, Middle High German burc and Middle Dutch burch "fortified town". Also a German habitational name for someone from a place called Burg.
Burghersh English
The surname of the burghersh family. Several people had it, Including Bartholomew Burghersh the Elder and Younger, and Henry Burghersh. They also married into the Badlesmere bloodline. It seems to have descended from the village of Burghersh, now known as Burwash
Burk English, Irish
Variant of Burke
Burkins English
English variant of Birkin, Burkin, a habitational name from the parish of Birkin in West Yorkshire, so named with Old English bircen ‘birch grove’, a derivative of birce (see Birch).
Burley English
English habitation name from the elements burg meaning "stronghold or fortified settlement" and leah meaning "field or clearing".
Burlingame English
means "Burling's homestead".
Burlington English
Habitational name from Bridlington in East Yorkshire, from Old English Bretlintun meaning Berhtel's town.
Burn English
Variant of Burns 1.
Burnell English
Derived from an Anglo-Norman personal name composed of a diminutive form of brun "brown", likely originating as a nickname for someone with a brown complexion or brown hair... [more]
Burney English, Irish
Form of the French place name of 'Bernay' or adapted from the personal name Bjorn, ultimately meaning "bear".
Burnley English
English (Lancashire and Yorkshire): habitational name from Burnley in Lancashire, so named with the Old English river name Brun (from brun ‘brown’ or burna ‘stream’) + leah ‘woodland clearing’... [more]
Burr English, Scottish, German
Nickname for a person who is difficult to shake off, derived from Middle English burr meaning "bur" (a seedhead that sticks to clothing). It could also be a derivation from Old English bur meaning "small dwelling, building", or a German topographic name derived from burre meaning "mound, hill"... [more]
Burridge English
Derived from an English place name, derived from Old English burg "fortress, fortification, castle" and Old English hrycg, Old Norse hryggr "ridge" or from the name Burgric.
Burris English
Variant of English Burrows or German BÖRRIES.
Burrow English
Used to describe someone who lives in a burrow, which makes this surname’s meaning “he whom lives in a burrow.”
Burtis English
Variant of Burdis.
Burtsell English (American)
Habitational name from Burshill in East Yorkshire, so named with Old English bryst ‘landslip’, ‘rough ground’ + hyll ‘hill’.
Busbee English
Variant of Busby.
Busby English
Habitational name from a place in North Yorkshire, recorded in Domesday Book as Buschebi, from Old Norse buskr "bush, shrub" or an Old Norse personal name Buski and býr "homestead, village", or from some other place so called.
Busfield English
This is a locational surname and originates from the hamlet of 'Bousfield', eight miles from the town of Appleby in Cumberland. This hamlet was controlled by Norse Vikings for several centuries until the Norman invasion of 1066... [more]
Butterfield English
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’.
Bux English
Derived from Old English boc "beech (tree)".
Buxton English
1. A habitational name for someone from Buxton in Derbyshire, from the Middle English Buchestanes or Bucstones (meaning "bowing stones"), from Old English būgan meaning "to bow" and stanes, meaning "stones".... [more]
Byam English
Probably means "person from Bytham", Lincolnshire ("homestead in a valley bottom"). Glen Byam Shaw (1904-1986) was a British theatre director.
Byers Scottish, English
Scottish and northern English topographic name for someone who lived by a cattleshed, Middle English byre, or a habitational name with the same meaning, from any of several places named with Old English b¯re, for example Byers Green in County Durham or Byres near Edinburgh.
Byfield English
Either a habitational name from a place named Byfield, or a topographic name for someone who lived near a field.
Byre English
Probably derived from Old English bȳre "farm, barn".
Byron English
An English place name, earlier Byram, from byre, meaning "farm" and the suffix -ham meaning "homestead". Famously borne by the aristocratic poet, Lord Byron.
Bywater English
The surname Bywater came from the Anglo-Saxon origin and means ’dweller by the water‘
Cadbury English
Habitational name for a person from any of the two places of Cadbury in Devon or Somerset, from Old English personal name Cada, a variant of Ceadda, and burg "fortification"... [more]
Cage English
from Middle English, Old French meaning "cage, enclosure". Denoting someone who lived by or was the keeper of a cage, in the sense "lock-up, prison for petty offenders".
Cain English
Habitational name from the city of Caen in France, or a variant form of Cane.
Calderwood English
From the lordship of Calderwood in Lanarkshire, Scotland
Calfee English (American)
Possibly an altered form of Irish Calvey or English Caulfield.
Callander Scottish, English, Swedish (Rare)
Habitational name from various places so named in Scotland. ... [more]
Calloway English
Derived from the place name Caillouet-Orgeville, from Norman caillou "pebble". Alternately, a variant of Galloway.
Camden English
From a place name perhaps derived from Old English camp meaning "enclosure" and denu meaning "valley".
Camm English
English (of Norman origin): habitational name for someone from Caen in Normandy, France.English: habitational name from Cam in Gloucestershire, named for the Cam river, a Celtic river name meaning ‘crooked’, ‘winding’.Scottish and Welsh: possibly a nickname from Gaelic and Welsh cam ‘bent’, ‘crooked’, ‘cross-eyed’.Americanized spelling of German Kamm.
Camrose English (Rare), Welsh (Rare)
From the village of Camrose in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The surname itself is derived from Welsh cam meaning "crooked, bent", and rhos meaning "moor, heath."
Canning English, Irish (Anglicized), Scottish
Habitational name from a place so named in England. From the Old English byname Cana and -ingas meaning "people of".... [more]
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