CannockEnglish From from the town of Cannock in Staffordshire, England. The surname itself might be derived from Old English cnocc, meaning "hillock."
CantellowEnglish Means "person from Canteleu, Canteloup, etc.", the name of various places in northern France ("song of the wolf").
CanterburyEnglish Habitational name from Canterbury in Kent, named in Old English as Cantwaraburg "fortified town (burgh) of the people (wara) of Kent".
CapelEnglish From the Domesday Book of 1086, from the old French word 'capele' meaning chapel.
CapelleFrench, English, Dutch, Flemish French topographic name for someone living by a chapel, from a regional variant of chapelle "chapel" (compare Chapell 2), or a habitational name from any of several places named La Capelle... [more]
CapshawEnglish Unexplained. Perhaps a habitational name from Cadshaw near Blackburn, Lancashire, although the surname is not found in England.
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.
CardenEnglish From the name of a village in Cheshire, England, derived from Old English carr "stone, rock" and worþign "enclosure, estate".
CardenEnglish Derived from Middle English cardoon "wild thistle, artichoke thistle". Could be a nickname for someone who carded wool (which was originally done with thistles), for a person who lived near a thistle patch, or for a prickly and unapproachable person... [more]
CarharttEnglish, Cornish Habitational name from Carhart in Cornwall, possibly derived from Old English carr "rock, stone". Could also be an Americanized form of German Gerhardt.
CarisbrookEnglish Carisbrooke is a village on the Isle of Wight; the name is thought to mean "Carey's brook". When in 1917 the British royal family changed its name from the "House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha" to the "House of Windsor" and renounced all German titles, the title of Marquess of Carisbrooke was created for the erstwhile German Prince Alexander of Battenberg.
CarmichaelScottish, English From the name of a village in Scotland meaning "fort of Michael", from Welsh caer meaning "fortress" and the given name Michael.
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).
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.
CarringtonEnglish, Scottish English: habitational name from a place in Greater Manchester (formerly in Cheshire) called Carrington, probably named with an unattested Old English personal name Cara + -ing- denoting association + tun ‘settlement’.... [more]
CarrowEnglish English: habitational name from either of two places: Carrow in Norfolk or Carraw in Northumberland. The first is thought to be named from Old English carr ‘rock’ (a Celtic loan word) + hoh ‘spur of a hill’, while the last may be named either from an Old British plural of carr, or from carr + Old English raw ‘row’... [more]
CartmellEnglish Denoted a person from Cartmel, a village in Cumbria, England (formerly in Lancashire). The place derives its name from the Cartmel Peninsula, which is composed of Old Norse kartr "rocky ground" and melr "sandbank, dune".
CasselEnglish, French, German A surname derived from the Latin military term castellum "watchtower, fort". A variant spelling of the word castle. Denoted someone hailing from the commune of Cassel in the Nord départment in northern France or the city of Kassel (spelled Cassel until 1928) in Germany... [more]
CassellEnglish Either (i) "person from Cassel", northern France, or "person from Kassel", Germany ("fort"); or (ii) a different form of Castle ("person who lives by or lives or works in a castle")... [more]
CastelFrench, English Topographic name from a derivative of Late Latin castellum "castle" (a diminutive of Latin castrum "fort Roman walled city") or a habitational name from any of several places called Le Castel... [more]
CastonEnglish A habitational name from a place named Caston, which is from the unattested Old English personal name Catt or the Old Norse personal name Káti + Old English tūn meaning ‘farmstead, settlement’.
CatesbyEnglish Derived from a civil parish with the same name, located in Northamptonshire, England. An infamous bearer was Robert Catesby (1572-1605), the leader of a group of English Catholics who attempted to assassinate King James VI and I in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
CatonEnglish From the name of a village in Lancashire, England, possibly derived from the Old Norse given name Káti combined with Old English tun "town, yard, enclosure".
CatterallEnglish Derived from a town in England named "Catterall".
CattermoleEnglish Found mainly in Norfolk and Suffolk. Meaning uncertain; possibly from an east Anglian term meaning “dweller at the dyke”, or from Old French quatre moles “four mills”.
CattleyEnglish Means "person from Catley", Herefordshire and Lincolnshire ("glade frequented by cats"). It was borne by the British botanical patron William Cattley (1788-1835).
CattonEnglish Habitational name derived from any of several places in England, probably derived from the Old English given name Catta "cat" and tun "town, yard, enclosure"... [more]
CattrallEnglish This surname is of Old Scandinavian origin, is an English locational name from Catterall, near Garstang in Lancashire, which appeared as "Catrehala" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and "Caterhale" in the Book of Fees of 1212... [more]
CaveNorman, French, English A name of various possible origins. As a Norman French name Cave can mean "bald" from cauf or it can mean "worker in a wine cellar" or "one who dwelt in or near a cave". As an English name Cave refers to a Yorkshire river whose fast current inspired the name meaning "swift".
CavendishEnglish Habitational name for a person from the village of Cavendish in Suffolk, from Old English personal name Cāfna and edisc "pasture".
CaverlyEnglish English surname, a variant of the English surname Calverley, itself derived from the Old English calf "calf" and leag "field, clearing".
CavillEnglish Derived from Cavil, a place located in the East Riding of Yorkshire in northern England, named from Old English ca meaning "jackdaw" and feld meaning "open country". It is borne by the British actor Henry Cavill (1983-).
CawoodEnglish Traditional English habitational surname meaning "jackdaw wood" from the Old English ca referring to 'jackdaw' (a member of the crow family), and wudu 'wood'.
CawthorneEnglish Means "person from Cawthorn or Cawthorne", both in Yorkshire ("cold thorn bush").
CayenneFrench, English, Tupi Most likely from the city of Cayenne, French Guiana or from the name of the pepper, also known as Capsicum annuum which comes from the Tupi language, specifically the word kyynha, which meant "capsicum" or "hot pepper".
ChaissonFrench, English Variant of the French surname Chiasson originally denoting someone from the the municipality of Chiasso in Ticino, Switzerland, located along the Swiss/Italian border.... [more]
ChalcraftEnglish Surname of Anglo- Saxon origin. Topographical or locational surname... [more]
CharnockEnglish (Rare) The locational surname originates from two places, Charnock Richard and Heath Charnock, which are both located in Lancashire, England.... [more]
ChartersEnglish Scottish (Kirkcudbrightshire) and northern English, ultimately of Norman origin. This is a habitational name derived from the French town of Chartres, which is named from the Gaulish tribe recorded in Latin sources as the Carnutes.
CherrymanEnglish It is topographical or perhaps occupational and describes a person who lived or worked at a cherry orchard, or who lived by a house known by the sign of the cherry. In the days before house numbering, it was the tradition in almost all western countries to give the house a sign... [more]
ChewEnglish Habitational name from a place in Somerset named Chew Magna, which is named for the river on which it stands, a Celtic name, perhaps cognate with Welsh cyw ‘young animal or bird’, ‘chicken’.
ChiassonFrench, English French surname originally denoting someone from the the municipality of Chiasso in Ticino, Switzerland, located along the Swiss/Italian border.... [more]
ChildersEnglish Probably a habitational name from some lost place named Childerhouse, from Old English cildra "child" and hus "house", possibly referring to an orphanage.
ChildreyEnglish From the name of a village in Oxfordshire, England, derived from either the Old English given name Cilla or the element cille/cwylla "spring, well" combined with riþ "stream".
ChillingworthEnglish (Rare) Notable as the surname of Hester Prynne's husband Roger Chillingworth in the 1850 novel 'The Scarlet Letter'
ChoateEnglish Probably derived from the place name Chute in Wiltshire, England, or from the parish Shute in Devon. Alternatively, it could be from the Dutch surname Van Choate, itself derived from a location in France.
CholmelyEnglish The Cholmely family lived in the township of Cholmondley in the parish of Malpas in Cheshire.
CholmondeleyEnglish An aristocratic surname derived from a place name in Cheshire which means "Ceolmund's grove" in Old English.
ChurchyardEnglish It comes from when the family lived in or near the precincts of a church. Churchyard belongs to the large class of Anglo-Saxon topographic surnames, which were given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as "a hill", "stream", "church", or "type of tree".
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.
ClaxtonEnglish From the names of any of several settlements in England, derived from either the personal name Clacc (from Old Norse Klakkr "bump, hillock") or the Old English word clacc "hill, peak" combined with tun "town, settlement".
ClaybergEnglish Meaning is unknown, but it most likely means "clay mountain", from surnames Clay "clay" and Berg "mountain".
ClaypoolEnglish Derived from Claypole, a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, named from Old English cl?g meaning "clay" and pol meaning "pool".
ClevelandEnglish English regional name from the district around Middlesbrough named Cleveland ‘the land of the cliffs’, from the genitive plural (clifa) of Old English clif ‘bank’, ‘slope’ + land ‘land’... [more]
CleverleyEnglish Probably means "person from Cleveley", Lancashire ("woodland clearing by a cliff").
CliffEnglish habitational name from any of numerous places called Cliff(e), Cle(e)ve, or Clive, from Old English clif "slope, bank, cliff", or a topographic name from the same word... [more]
CliftEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a crevice in rock, derived from Middle English clift meaning "cleft". The American actor Montgomery Clift (1920-1966) was a famous bearer of this name.
CliveEnglish English surname meaning "cliff" in Old English, originally belonging to a person who lived near a cliff.
CloptonEnglish Habitational name from any of various places, for example in Essex, Suffolk, and Warwickshire, named Clopton from Old English clopp(a) meaning "rock", "hill" + tūn meaning "settlement".
CloudEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived near an outcrop or hill, from Old English clud "rock" (only later used to denote vapor formations in the sky).
CluffEnglish Derived from pre 7th century word "cloh" meaning a ravine or steep-sided valley.
ClutterbuckEnglish English surname of unknown origin, possibly a corrupted form of a Dutch surname derived from Dutch klateren "to clatter" and beek "brook", or from klateren and bok "buck, billy goat", or from an older form of kladboek meaning "account book, minute book".
ClydesdaleEnglish, Scottish From the name of a location in Lanarkshire, Scotland, meaning "Clyde’s valley", derived from the name of the river Clyde.
CoatesEnglish Name for a cottager or a person who lived in a humble dwelling, derived from Old English cote meaning "cottage, hut". It could also be used as a habitational name for someone from any of numerous locations with this name.
CoatneyEnglish The initial bearer of this surname lived in a little cottage.
CoggeshallEnglish Habitational name from Coggeshall in Essex, England, which was derived from Cogg, an Old English personal name, and Old English halh meaning "nook, recess".
CoggillEnglish Recorded in several forms as shown below, this is a surname of two possible nationalities and origins. Firstly it may be of Scottish locational origins, from the lands of Cogle in the parish of Watten, in Caithness, or secondly English and also locational from a place called Cogges Hill in the county of Oxfordshire... [more]
ColburnEnglish Habitational name from a place near Catterick in North Yorkshire.
ColcloughEnglish Derived from a place called Cowclough in Whitworth, Lancashire.
ColdenEnglish, Scottish English: habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire named Colden, from Old English cald ‘cold’ col ‘charcoal’ + denu ‘valley’.... [more]
ColgateEnglish habitational name from Colgates in Kent named with Old English col "charcoal" and gæt "gate" indicating a gate leading into woodland where charcoal was burned... [more]
ColvilleScottish, English Derived from the place Colleville in Normandy, France. With the Scandinavian name Koli and French ville "town, village".
ComberbachEnglish Habitational name for a person from the village of Comberbach in Cheshire, from the Old English byname or given name Cumbra "Cumbrian" and bæc "stream, brook".
ComleyEnglish Either a nickname from Middle English cumly, which means “fair,” “beautiful,” and “pleasing,” or a habitational name from Comley in Shropshire named with Old English cumb meaning “valley” + lēah meaning “woodland clearing.”
ComptonEnglish Habitational name from any of the numerous places throughout England (but especially in the south) named Compton, from Old English cumb meaning "short, straight valley" + tūn meaning "enclosure", "settlement".
CongdonIrish, English A variant of Irish "Condon". In English usage: a habitational name from a lost or unidentified place; probably Devon or Cornwall, where the modern surname is most frequent.
ConningtonEnglish This name means "The king's manor, the royal estate," from the Old Scandinavian word "konunger" + the Old English word "tun." It was listed twice in the Domesday Book of 1086, once as Coninctune and secondly as Cunitone.
ConwellEnglish Russell Cornwell Hoban was a children's book writer.
CoppEnglish Derived from Old English copp "top, summit; crown (of the head)", a topographic name for someone who lived at the top of a hill, or perhaps a nickname for someone with an oddly-shaped head.
CorneyEnglish A habitational surname from places in Cumbria and Hertfordshire named Corney, derived from either Old English corn "grain, seed" or a metathesized form of cran "crane (bird)" combined with eg "island, dry land in a marsh"... [more]
CornwellEnglish Habitational name from Cornwell in Oxfordshire, named from Old English corn, a metathesized form of cron, cran ‘crane’ + well(a) ‘spring’, ‘stream’.variant of Cornwall.
CorrieEnglish Habitational name from places in Arran, Dumfries, and elsewhere, named Corrie, from Gaelic coire "cauldron", applied to a circular hanging valley on a mountain.
CortrightEnglish Habitational surname from the Dutch Kortrijk for a person from a place of this name in Flanders. Perhaps also a respelling of English Cartwright.
CosgroveEnglish Habitational name from Cosgrove in Northamptonshire, named with an Old English personal name Cof + Old English graf "grove", "thicket".
CottonEnglish, French English: habitational name from any of numerous places named from Old English cotum (dative plural of cot) ‘at the cottages or huts’ (or sometimes possibly from a Middle English plural, coten)... [more]
CoventryEnglish habitational name from the city of Coventry in the West Midlands, which is probably named with the genitive case of an Old English personal name Cofa (compare Coveney) + Old English treow 'tree'.
CovertEnglish, French The surname is probably topographical, for someone who either lived by a sheltered bay, or more likely an area sheltered by trees. The formation is similar to couvert, meaning a wood or covert, and originally from the Latin "cooperio", to cover... [more]
CowburnEnglish The place-name, in turn, comes from the Old English cocc, meaning "rooster," and burna, meaning "a stream." As such, the surname is classed as a local, or habitational name, derived from a place where the original bearer lived or held land.
CowgillEnglish From the name of a hamlet in West Riding of Yorkshire.
CowherdEnglish Variant of Coward. A famous bearer of the name is American sports media personality Colin Cowherd (1964-).
CowlishawEnglish Derived from either of two minor places named Cowlishaw, in Derbyshire and Lancashire, England.
CrabbEnglish, Scottish From Old English crabba "crab (crustacean)", a nickname for someone with a peculiar gait. Could also be from the sense of "crabapple (tree)", from Middle English crabbe "crabapple, wild apple", hence a topographic name for someone who lived by a crabapple tree, or a nickname for a cantankerous person, with reference to the sourness of the fruit.
CrabtreeEnglish The ancestors of the Crabtree surname lived in the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. It comes from when they lived in the county of Yorkshire. Their name, however, indicates that the original bearer lived near a prominent crabtree.
CravenIrish, English Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Crabháin (County Galway) or Mac Crabháin (Louth, Monaghan) ‘descendant (or ‘son’) of Crabhán’... [more]
CreightonEnglish From Irish 'crioch' meaning "border", and Old English 'tun' meaning "town".
CrenshawEnglish The derivation of this surname is from the Old English pre 7th Century "Crawa", a crow, with "sceaga" a grove, thus "Crowswood". The earliest recording of this placename is in the Lancashire Inquests of 1324 and appears as "Croweshagh".
CroakerEnglish Meant "person from Crèvecoeur", the name of various places in northern France ("heartbreak", an allusion to the poverty of the local soil).
CroftonEnglish Derived from a place name meaning "town with a small enclosed field" in Old English.
CromptonEnglish Derived from the Old English word "Crometun"
CromwellEnglish Habitational name from places in Nottinghamshire and West Yorkshire named Cromwell, from Old English crumb "bent, crooked" and well(a) "spring, stream".
CrooksEnglish Habitational name from Crookes in Sheffield (Yorkshire), named with Old Norse krókr ‘hook, bend’.... [more]
CroomEnglish A habitational surname, describing someone who lived in a place named Croom or Croome.
CrossleyEnglish From the word cross, of Latin origin, and leah "woodland, clearing". Indicated that the bearer lived by a cross in a clearing
CrosthwaiteEnglish Habitational name for someone from any various places named Crosthwaite in Northern England, from Old Norse kross "cross" and þveit "clearing".
CuerdenEnglish Derived from a geographical locality. 'of Cuerden,' a township in the parish of Leyland, Lancashire.
CulchethEnglish Habitational name from a village in Cheshire, England, derived from Welsh cul "narrow" and coed "wood, trees".
CullimoreEnglish (Rare) Apparently a habitational name from an unidentified place. There is a place called Colleymore Farm in Oxfordshire, but it is not clear whether this is the source of the surname, with its many variant spellings
CumberbatchEnglish Variant of Comberbach. A famous bearer of the name is English actor Benedict Cumberbatch (1976-).
CumberlandEnglish Regional name for someone from Cumberland in northwestern England (now part of Cumbria).
CummerEnglish The surname Cummer has origins in both English and Scottish cultures. In English, it's thought to be a topographic name for someone who lived by a bend in a river, derived from the Middle English word "cummer," meaning "bend" or "meander." In Scottish, it could also be a variant of the surname Comer, derived from the Gaelic word "comar," meaning "confluence" or "meeting of waters."
CundallEnglish This is an English surname, deriving from the village so-named in North Yorkshire. The village takes its name from the Cumbric element cumb meaning 'dale' (cognate with Welsh cwm, 'valley') and Old Norse dalr meaning 'valley', forming a compound name meaning 'dale-valley'.
CunliffeEnglish Originally meant "person from Cunliffe", Lancashire ("slope with a crevice" (literally "cunt-cliff")).
CurrieScottish, Irish, English Irish: Habitational name from Currie in Midlothian, first recorded in this form in 1230. It is derived from Gaelic curraigh, dative case of currach ‘wet plain’, ‘marsh’. It is also a habitational name from Corrie in Dumfriesshire (see Corrie).... [more]
CypressEnglish Translation of German Zypress, a topographic name for someone living near a cypress tree or a habitational name for someone living at a house distinguished by the sign of a cypress, Middle High German zipres(se) (from Italian cipressa, Latin cupressus), or possibly of any of various Greek family names derived from kyparissos ‘cypress’, as for example Kyparissis, Kyparissos, Kyparissiadis, etc.
D'abbadieFrench, English, Occitan Means "of the Abbey" from the Occitan abadia. Variants Abadia, Abbadie, Abadie, Abada, and Badia mean "Abbey".
DaintonEnglish Habitational name possibly derived from an older form of Doynton, a village in Gloucestershire, England, meaning "Dydda’s settlement", or perhaps from the hamlet Dainton in Devon meaning "Dodda’s settlement".
DaintryEnglish Means "person from Daventry", Northamptonshire ("Dafa's tree"). The place-name is traditionally pronounced "daintry".
DalbyEnglish, Danish, Norwegian From any of the locations call Dalby from the old Norse elements dalr "valley" and byr "farm, settlement" meaning "valley settlement". Used by one of the catholic martyrs of England Robert Dalby... [more]
DallowayEnglish Meant "person from Dallaway", West Midlands (perhaps from a Norman personal name, "person from (de) Alluyes", northern France). A fictional bearer of the surname is Mrs Dalloway, central figure of the eponymous novel (1925) by Virginia Woolf.
DampierEnglish Habitational name from any of various places in northern France called Dampierre named in honor of St. Peter. The first element Dam- or Don is an Old French title of respect, from Latin dominus meaning “lord,” often prefixed to the names of saints.
DanburyEnglish Habitational name for someone from Danbury in Essex.
DanforthEnglish Probably a habitational name, perhaps from Darnford in Suffolk, Great Durnford in Wiltshire, or Dernford Farm in Sawston, Cambridgeshire, all named from Old English dierne ‘hidden’ + ford ‘ford’.
DangerfieldEnglish Habitational name, with fused preposition d(e), for someone from any of the various places in northern France called Angerville, from the Old Norse personal name Ásgeirr and Old French ville "settlement, village"... [more]
DanversIrish, English For someone from Anvers, which is the French name of a port called Antwerp, located in what is now Belgium.
DardenEnglish A habitation name in Northumberland of uncertain origin.
DarleyEnglish Means "person from Darley", Derbyshire ("glade frequented by deer").
DarlingtonEnglish From Old English Dearthington believed to be the settlement of Deornoth's people (unclear root + ing a family group + ton an enclosed farm or homestead).
DartonEnglish Derived from the location name of Darton, a village on the River Dearne near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, UK.
DaughtryEnglish, Norman English (of Norman origin) habitational name, with fused French preposition d(e), for someone from Hauterive in Orne, France, named from Old French haute rive ‘high bank’ (Latin alta ripa).
DavenportEnglish Habitational name from a town in Cheshire named Davenport, from the Dane river (apparently named with a Celtic cognate of Middle Welsh dafnu "drop, trickle") and Old English port "port, haven, harbour town".
DaveyEnglish, Welsh Derived from the given name David. Alternately, it may be a variant spelling of Welsh Davies or Davis, which could be patronymic forms of David, or corrupted forms of Dyfed, an older Welsh surname and the name of a county in Wales.
DayleyEnglish English surname of Norman origin derived from the Norman preposition de for someone from any of numerous places in Northern France called Ouilly.
DeardenEnglish Meant "person from Dearden", Lancashire ("valley frequented by wild animals"). It was borne by British film director Basil Dearden (original name Basil Dear; 1911-1971).