GlissenEnglish, Irish Possible British version of the Irish surname Glasson from the the Gaelic word O’Glasain. Meaning green from the counties of Tipperary.
GlosterEnglish habitational name from the city of Gloucester. The place originally bore the British name Glevum (apparently from a cognate of Welsh gloyw "bright") to which was added the Old English element ceaster "Roman fort or walled city" (from Latin castrum "legionary camp")... [more]
GloucesterEnglish habitational name from the city of Gloucester. The place originally bore the British name Glevum (apparently from a cognate of Welsh gloyw "bright") to which was added the Old English element ceaster "Roman fort or walled city" (from Latin castrum "legionary camp")... [more]
GlowczenskiAmerican This is my surname. My cousin Steve Glowzenski, had the C dropped along the way somewhere, probably the military.
GoberEnglish, French The surname Gober was first found in Warwickshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Norman influence of English history dominated after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed.
GobleEnglish From “Gobble”, meaning “to gorge, to guzzle”
GodilEnglish English: habitational name for someone from Gadshill in Kent, either of two places called Godshill in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, or Godsell Farm in Wiltshire, which were all originally named Godeshyll ‘God's hill’.
GodinEnglish Comes from the Germanic personal name Godin-, a pet form of any of various compound names beginning with god, got ‘god’. Compare Godbold, Goddard, and Godfrey.
GoldsmithEnglish Occupational name for a worker in gold, a compound of Old English gold "gold" and smið "smith". In North America it is very often an English translation of German or Jewish Goldschmidt.
GoldthwaiteEnglish Possibly derived from Guilthwaite in South Yorkshire, which is named from Old Norse gil meaning "ravine" and þveit meaning "clearing". However, the modern surname is associated with Essex, suggesting some other source, now lost.
GoldwynEnglish, Jewish Derived from the Old English given name Goldwine, composed of the elements gold meaning "gold" and win meaning "friend".
GoodallEnglish Habitational name from Gowdall in East Yorkshire, named from Old English golde "marigold" and Old English halh "nook, recess".
GoodallEnglish From Middle English gode "good" and ale "ale, malt liquor", hence a metonymic occupational name for a brewer or an innkeeper.
GoodbarGerman (Anglicized), English Possibly an altered spelling of English Godber, derived from the medieval given name Godebert, or an occupational name for a beer brewer and a nickname for a toper... [more]
GoodenoughEnglish From a medieval nickname probably applied either to someone of average abilities or to an easily satisfied person; also, perhaps from a medieval nickname meaning "good servant".
GoodfellowEnglish Generally explained as a nickname meaning 'good fellow' or 'good companion'.
GoodfriendEnglish Nickname for a reliable friend or neighbor, from Middle English gode meaning "good", and frend meaning "friend". It is an English translation and cognate of German Gutfreund, from Middle High German guot meaning "good" and vriunt meaning "friend".
GoodliffeEnglish Derived from the Middle English feminine given name Godlieve, composed of the Germanic elements god meaning "good" or gud meaning "god", and liub meaning "dear, beloved".
GoodloeEnglish Goodloe traces back to the English Gidlow. The first recorded use of the name is from 1291; Robert de Gidlow was a freeholder in Aspull, Lancanshire, United Kingdom and the name occurs frequently down to the 17th century... [more]
GoodluckEnglish Early Anglo Saxon name from 6-7th century. Derived from Guolac,meaning battle play.
GoodrichEnglish Derived from the Middle English given name Goderiche (itself derived from the Anglo-Saxon given name Godric), composed of Old English god meaning "good" and ric meaning "ruler, mighty, god's ruler, power"... [more]
GoodwillEnglish Nickname for a friendly or amiable person; from Middle English god(e), gud(e)goud(e), meaning "good" and wil(le), meaning "will, volition".
GoodyearEnglish Probably a nickname from Middle English expression gode ‘good’ (Old English gōd) + year, yere ‘year’ commonly used as an intensifier in questions e.g. ‘What the good year?’... [more]
GooseEnglish, Norman Occupational name for a goose-herd (a person who tends to geese) or a medieval nickname for a person who resembled a goose in some way. It could also be a English (of Norman French origins) cognate of Gosse.
GorhamEnglish A name originating from Kent, England believed to come from the elements gara and ham meaning "from a triangular shaped homestead." Compare Gore.
GorringeEnglish Derived from the name of the village of Goring-by-the-Sea in Sussex
GorsuchEnglish Habitational name from the hamlet of Gorsuch, Lancashire, earlier Gosefordsich, derived from Old English gosford meaning "goose ford" and sic meaning "small stream".
GosdenEnglish From the name of a lost place in the village and civil parish of Slaugham in West Sussex, England, derived from Old English gos meaning "goose" and denn meaning "woodland pasture".
GoshawkEnglish Probably referring to a breeder of Eagle-Owls or an eagle-tamer. Shares its name with the Wizarding World author, Miranda Goshawk.
GothamEnglish English: habitational name from Gotham in Nottinghamshire, so named from Old English gat ‘goat’ + ham ‘homestead’ or hamm ‘water meadow’.
GouldingEnglish From the late Old English personal name Golding, which was derived from Golda (or the feminine form Golde) and the patronymic suffix -ing.... [more]
GoulterEnglish (Rare) This very unusual name has long been recorded in England but perhaps surprisingly as a Norman personal name. The first recording in England was as "Galterii" which appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 for London as a French form of the Olde German "Walter" translating as "Mighty Army".
GraffEnglish Metonymic occupational name for a clerk or scribe, from Anglo-Norman French grafe "quill, pen" (a derivative of grafer "to write", Late Latin grafare, from Greek graphein).
GrammerGerman, English Variant of Krämer or a habitational name for someone possibly from German places called Gram or Grammen. It can also be an English occupational name for a scholar or an astrologer, derived from Old French gramaire meaning "grammarian, scholar, astrologer"... [more]
GrandisonEnglish A habitational name from Grandson on Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland.... [more]
GrangeEnglish, French Topographic name for someone who lived by a granary, from Middle English, Old French grange (Latin granica "granary, barn", from granum "grain"). In some cases, the surname has arisen from places named with this word, for example in Dorset and West Yorkshire in England, and in Ardèche and Jura in France... [more]
GrantEnglish, Scottish From a medieval personal name, probably a survival into Middle English of the Old English byname Granta (see Grantham).
GranthamEnglish Habitational name from Grantham in Lincolnshire, of uncertain origin. The final element is Old English hām "homestead"; the first may be Old English grand "gravel" or perhaps a personal name Granta, which probably originated as a byname meaning "snarler"... [more]
GrassEnglish, German Topographic name for someone who owned or lived by a meadow, or a metonymic occupational name for someone who made or sold hay, from Middle English gras, Middle High German gras "grass, pasture, grazing".
GraylingEnglish (British) Uncommon surname of unclear origin; possible medieval locational name, or a derivative of the French surname Grail or the diminutive Graillon.... [more]
GrealishEnglish The name derives from the Old Norman French word "greslet", meaning pitted or scarred, and is itself derived from the very early Germanic word "gresle", or hailstone.
GreasbyEnglish One who came from Greasby, a parish on the Wirral Peninsula, in Cheshire, now Merseyside.
GreayEnglish (Rare) The name Greay originated when a family matriarch changed the name to differentiate between the two families with the same name Grey. There was a wedding between the two families and it was easier if the name was changed.
GreeleyEnglish, Norman English (of Norman origin): nickname for someone with a pock-marked face, from Old Northern French greslé ‘pitted’, ‘scarred’ (from gresle ‘hailstone’, of Germanic origin).
GreenallEnglish From Lincolnshire in England, meaning "green hill".
GreenfeldEnglish Partly Americanized form of the Ashkenazic Jewish ornamental name Grun(e)feld or Grinfeld, a compound of Yiddish grin + German Feld 'field', or of German Grünfeld (see Grunfeld).
GreenhillEnglish The name is derived from a geographic locality, "at the green hill", or rather, more specifically of "Greenhill". The surname could also derive from the liberty on the wapentake of Corringham in Lincolnshire, or a hamlet in the parish of Harrow in Middlesex... [more]
GreenlandEnglish (Germanized) Greenland Name Meaning. English: topographic name for someone who lived near a patch of land left open as communal pasturage, from Middle English grene 'green' + land 'land'. Translated form of German Grönland, a topographic name with the same meaning as 1, from Low German grön 'green' + Land 'land'.
GreenlawEnglish From one of two placenames, located near the Anglo-Scottish border. Named with Old English grēne, 'green' and halw, 'hill, mound'.
GreenleafEnglish From Old English grēne "green" and lēaf "leaf", presumably applied as a nickname, the significance of which is now lost.
GreenleeEnglish habitational name from any of various minor places, for example in Staffordshire, so named from Old English grene ‘green’ + leah ‘woodland clearing’.
GreenwayEnglish Originally given to a person who lived near a grassy path, from Middle English grene "green" and weye "road, path" (cf. Way).... [more]
GrimshawEnglish A habitational surname originating from the hamlet of Grimshaw in Lancashire, derived from Old English elements grīma "mask" and sċeaga "copse". Famous bearers of this surname include , English Victorian-era artist John Atkinson Grimshaw and Irish writer Beatrice Grimshaw, as well as the Grimshaw family in Coronation Street.
GrissomEnglish From a diminutive of Grice, which was originally a nickname for a grey-haired man, derived from Middle English grice, gris meaning "grey" (itself from Old French gris, apparently of Germanic origin).
GrosvenorEnglish English surname of Norman origin meaning ‘the master huntsman’. Derived from Le Grand Veneur, this title was held by Hugh d'Avranches who accompanied William the Conqueror in the Norman invasion of England in 1066.
GryllsEnglish (Rare) There was an old and distinguished family of Grylls of Tavistock (Devon) and Lanreath (Cornwall) in the 17th century; two high sheriffs of the county then bore the name. The manor of Gryils (commonly mispronounced Garles), near the rocks called the Gryils or Garles, from which they probably derive their name, is in the parish of Lesneweth in that county.
GudgeonEnglish from Middle English gojon, gogen, Old French gougon ‘gudgeon’ (the fish) (Latin gobio, genitive gobionis), applied as a nickname or perhaps as a metonymic occupational name for a seller of these fish... [more]
GuersneyEnglish Denoted someone who lived in Guernsey, an island in the Channel Islands, derived from Old Norse Grani and ey "island"... [more]
GuestEnglish Nickname for a stranger or newcomer to a community, from Middle English g(h)est meaning "guest", "visitor" (from Old Norse gestr, absorbing the cognate Old English giest).
GuidryFrench (Cajun), Louisiana Creole Derived from the given name Witeric. This surname is particularly associated with Cajuns in Louisiana, United States, who seem all to be descended from Claude Guédry dit Grivois, who arrived in Acadia before 1671.
GuilderEnglish Occupational name for someone who worked in gold. The derivation is from the Old English pre 7th Century "gyldan" and the Old High German "gold", a refiner, jeweller, or gilder.
GullickEnglish From the Middle English personal name Gullake, a descendant of Old English Gūthlāc, literally "battle-sport".
GulliverEnglish From a medieval nickname for a greedy person (from Old French goulafre "glutton"). Jonathan Swift used it in his satire 'Gulliver's Travels' (1726), about the shipwrecked ship's surgeon Lemuel Gulliver, whose adventures "offer opportunities for a wide-ranging and often savage lampooning of human stupidity and vice."
GundryEnglish From Gondri, Gundric, an Old French personal name introduced to Britain by the Normans, composed of the Germanic elements gund "battle" and rīc "power(ful)".
GunnerEnglish From Old English gunne meaning "cannon, gun" and the agent suffix "-er"
GunneryEnglish The surname Gunnery was first found in Lincolnshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons.
GuppyEnglish English habitational name from a place in Wootton Fitzpaine, Dorset, Gupehegh in Middle English. This is named with the Old English personal name Guppa (a short form of Guðbeorht "battle bright") + (ge)hæg "enclosure"... [more]
GurneyEnglish, French, Norman Originated from the region Normandy in France, is also a biospheric name from Gournay-en-Bray, a commune in France. It is also a fictional character's maiden name, Jacqueline "Jackie" Bouvier from the animated sitcom show, The Simpsons.
GuyEnglish, French From a French form of the Germanic personal name Wido, which is of uncertain origin. This name was popular among the Normans in the forms Wi, Why as well as in the rest of France in the form Guy.
GuyEnglish Occupational name for a guide, Old French gui (a derivative of gui(d)er "to guide", of Germanic origin).
HackneyEnglish, Scottish Habitational name from Hackney in Greater London, named from an Old English personal name Haca (genitive Hacan) combined with ēg "island, dry ground in marshland".
HackneyEnglish, Scottish From Middle English hakenei (Old French haquenée), an ambling horse, especially one considered suitable for women to ride; perhaps therefore a metonymic occupational name for a stablehand... [more]
HaddockEnglish Haddock is a surname of English. It may refer to many people. It may come from the medieval word Ædduc, a diminutive of Æddi, a short form of various compound names including the root ēad, meaning prosperity or fortune... [more]
HaddonEnglish Derived from the Old English word had meaning "heathland" and the Old English suffix -don meaning "hill"; hence, the "heathland hill" or the "heather-covered hill".... [more]
HadfieldEnglish Habitational name from a place so named in Derbyshire named from Old English hæþ "heathland heather" and feld "field" meaning "heath open land".
HadleyEnglish A habitational name from either a place named Hadley, or a place named Hadleigh. The first is named from the Old English personal name Hadda + lēah (means ‘wood’, ‘(woodland) clearing’), and the other three are from Old English hǣð (meaning ‘heathland’, ‘heather') + lēah.
HailesScottish, English Scottish habitational name from Hailes in Lothian, originally in East Lothian, named from the Middle English genitive or plural form of hall ‘hall’. ... [more]
HainEnglish From the Middle English personal name Hein 1. This is derived from the Germanic personal name Hagano, originally a byname meaning "hawthorn"... [more]
HairfieldEnglish Probably a variant of Harefield, a habitational name from a place so named, for example the one Greater London or Harefield in Selling, Kent, which are both apparently named from Old English here ‘army’ + feld ‘open country’.