AriesEnglish, French The name means either a person who worked in a fashion of the "Arras" cloth, as in the quotation "one bede Coveringe of Aries" (1562), or someone who was a former inhabitant of Arras in France, or Arras in Yorkshire; the latter being a particularly popular source of the name.
AriqEnglish (American) This name means a men with many gifts. The first person with the name spelled as this was an gangbanger from Covington, Kentucky. He died in 1998.
ArisenEnglish (Modern) From a Dutch surname that means "son of Aris 2". In The Netherlands, this name is never used as a first name, since Dutch law strictly prohibits the use of surnames as first names... [more]
ArlenAmerican Of uncertain origin. Possibly a form of the German name Erlen or a Gaelic name meaning "pledge" or "oath".
ArlingtonEnglish Location name that refers to a settlement associated with a personal name reduced to Arl- plus the Anglo-Saxon patronymic element -ing- then the element -ton denoting a "settlement"... [more]
ArlottEnglish From a medieval nickname for a ne'er-do-well (from Middle English harlot or arlot "vagabond, base fellow"; "prostitute" is a 15th-century development). This surname was borne by Jack Arlott (1914-1991), a British journalist, poet and cricket commentator.
ArnGerman (Swiss), English, Swedish Swedish: from a short form of any of the many Norse names of which arn ‘eagle’ is the first element, for example Arnbjorn, Arnfinn, or Arnsten.... [more]
ArneEnglish, Norwegian, Swedish, German English (northern) Swedish and German: From the (medieval) personal name Arne a short form of Arnold or in Scandinavia any of the many other Norse names of which arn ‘eagle’ is the first element for example Arnbjörn Arnfinn and Arnsten.... [more]
ArrowsmithEnglish Given to someone who made arrows from the Old English elements arwe "arrow" and smiþ "smith".
ArscottEnglish From the the words ars, of unexplained origin, and cot "cottage, small house"
ArtellEnglish (American) Artell is a name that was brought to England by the ancestors of the Artell family when they emigrated following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The name Artell comes from the Dutch surname Van Arkel. The name Van Arkel may spring from the Anglo-Saxon form of Hercules, which is Ercol.
ArtertonEnglish Variant of Atherton. A famous bearer is the English actress Gemma Arterton (1986-).
ArtisEnglish English: regional name for someone from the French province of Artois, from Anglo-Norman French Arteis (from Latin Atrebates, the name of the local Gaulish tribe). This surname is popular in North Carolina and Virginia, of the US.
ArundelEnglish English surname which comes from two distinct sources. Either it was derived from a place name meaning "horehound valley" in Old English (from harhune "horehound (a plant)" and dell "valley"), or it was from Old French arondel, diminutive of arond "swallow", which was originally a Norman nickname given to someone resembling a swallow.
AsburyEnglish English location name with the elements as- meaning "east" or "ash tree" and -bury meaning "fortified settlement."
AscotEnglish Surname originating from the village of Arscott in Devon, meaning "eastern cottage" in Saxon. It can also be used to refer to Ascot in Berkshire, where the Royal Ascot race meeting is held each year.
AseltonAmerican Asel being a variant of Asil meaning ""noble"" and ton meaning ""town"".
AshbeEnglish Derived from one of the several places in England called Ashby.
AshbrookEnglish Derived from Ampney St Mary, a small village and civil parish locally known as "Ashbrook", in Gloucestershire, England (recorded in the Domesday Book as Estbroce). It is named with Old English est meaning "east, eastern" and broc meaning "brook, stream".
AshbyEnglish English: habitational name from any of the numerous places in northern and eastern England called Ashby, from Old Norse askr ‘ash’ or the Old Norse personal name Aski + býr ‘farm’.
AshcroftEnglish English (chiefly Lancashire) topographic name from Middle English asche ‘ash tree’ + croft ‘enclosure’, or a habitational name from a minor place named with these elements.
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 Derived from Anglo-Saxon Æscmann, a byname meaning "pirate, seaman", composed of æsc "(boat or spear made of) ash tree" and man "person, man"... [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]
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.).
AstridgeEnglish Perhaps a habitational surname from one or more places called Ashridge.
AthertonEnglish Habitational name from a place near Manchester named Atherton, from the Old English personal name Æðelhere + Old English tun 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]
AudenEnglish This surname is derived from the Germanic given name Aldwin, of which the Old English equivalent is Ealdwine... [more]
AudishEnglish (British) Audish was first found in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire in the south of England, people who had the surname 'Audish' were wealthy landowners, thus held in high esteem.
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’.
AventEnglish From a shortened form of the Anglo-Norman personal name or nickname Avenant or Avaunt, derived from Old French avenant meaning "beautiful, agreeable, fitting".
AverneFrench, English Possibly from the French place name Auvergne. In some cases, might be derived from Middle English at ther vern, meaning "at the fern".
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]
AyerEnglish From the Middle English given name Aier, a form of Germanic Agihari, possibly derived from agaz "fear" and hari "army".
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]
BackhouseEnglish (British), English (Australian) Denoted someone who worked in a bakery, from Old English bæchūs meaning "bakehouse, bakery", a word composed of Old English *bæc "something baked" and hus "house".
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]
BaglinFrench, English English (of Norman origin) and French: from the Old French personal name Baguelin, Baglin, a diminutive of ancient Germanic Bago (Baco). Compare Bagg , Bacon.
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).
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.
BaleEnglish Name for someone who lived by the outer wall of a castle.
BalenEnglish English surname, perhaps of Cornish British origin, from belen, meaning "mill."
BalkwillEnglish Possibly derived from the name of a lost settlement in Devon, composed of Old English balca "balk, beam; ridge, bank" and wella "spring, stream". Alternatively, can be a variant form of Bakewell.
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]
BantamEnglish (African), South African Possibly a variant of Bentham. In an alternate interpretation, it could also be from the word "bantam" which denotes someone who's small but mighty.
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’.
BardwellEnglish From the name of a town in Suffolk, derived from Old English "Bearda’s spring", or a combination of breord "rim, edge, brim" and wella "well, spring, stream".
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.
BargyEnglish Possibly derived from the name of a barony in County Wexford, Ireland, itself derived from the Celtic tribe Uí Bairrche.
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).