Browse Submitted Surnames

This is a list of submitted surnames in which the usage is English or American.
usage
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Burroughs English
Topographic name for someone who lived by a hill or tumulus, Old English "beorg", a cognate of Old High German berg "hill", ‘mountain’ (see Berg). This name has become confused with derivatives of Old English burh ‘fort’ (see Burke)... [more]
Burrow English
Used to describe someone who lives in a burrow, which makes this surname’s meaning “he whom lives in a burrow.”
Burrows English
Variant of Burroughs. A name for someone who lived by a hill or tumulus, also may be a further derivation from Old English bur "bower" and hus "house".
Burt English
From the given name, which is a short form of Burton.
Burtram English (American)
American form of the German surname Bertram.
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]
Bushe English
Variant of Bush.
Bussard English (Australian)
Variant of Bosshart
Busse German, English
German: variant of Buss. ... [more]
Butter English, German
1. English: nickname for someone with some fancied resemblance to a bittern, perhaps in the booming quality of the voice, from Middle English, Old French butor ‘bittern’ (a word of obscure etymology)... [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’.
Butterfly English
From the insect Butterfly this Surname is borne by Star Butterfly from Star Vs. the forces of evil.
Butterworth English (British)
From places called Butterworth in England. Derived Old English butere ‘butter’ + worð ‘enclosure’.
Buttery English (British)
The baker in Old English.
Buttram English (American, Rare), English (British, Rare)
Possibly derived from the German cognate Bertram, from the Germanic elements beraht (meaning "bright"), and hrabn (meaning "raven")... [more]
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.
Bycraft English (American, Rare, ?)
Found mostly in the American Great Lakes region and Canada, likely a singular extended family. Likely of 6th century English descent, though there are very few English natives who bear the name. Name either refers to the occupation running some sort of mill machine, the original holder living near a croft (enclosed pasture or tillage) or implies "craftiness" of its original holder.
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.
Byrum English
Variant of Byron.
Bythesea English (British)
Habitational name for someone who lived near the sea, this name is nearly extinct in England today.
Bythewood English (British)
A nearly extinct habitational surname for one who lived near, by or around a wooded (forested) area.
Bywater English
The surname Bywater came from the Anglo-Saxon origin and means ’dweller by the water‘
Cabell Catalan, English, German
As a Catalan name, a nickname for "bald" from the Spanish word cabello. The English name, found primarily in Norfolk and Devon, is occupational for a "maker or seller of nautical rope" that comes from a Norman French word... [more]
Cable English
English: metonymic occupational name for a maker of rope, especially the type of stout rope used in maritime applications, from Anglo-Norman French cable ‘cable’ (Late Latin capulum ‘halter’, of Arabic origin, but associated by folk etymology with Latin capere ‘to seize’).... [more]
Cabucos English
Decended from Old English meaning "leader."
Cadbury English
Derived from Norman French
Caesar Ancient Roman, English
An Ancient Roman political title that indicated a military leader. A famous bearer was Julius Caesar, Roman general, dictator, and politician. In modern times, the surname is used to refer to an individual with a tyrannical attitude, which references the connotative meaning of the word "caesar", meaning "a dictator".
Cain English
Most likely from the given name Cain.
Caine French, English
Originally from a French derogatory nickname for someone with a bad temper.
Cake English
From the Middle English cake denoting a flat loaf made from fine flour (Old Norse kaka), hence a metonymic occupational name for a baker who specialized in fancy breads. It was first attested as a surname in the 13th century (Norfolk, Northamptonshire).
Cal English
Possibly from the given name Cal.
Calaway English
Variant spelling of Callaway.
Calderwood English
From the lordship of Calderwood in Lanarkshire, Scotland
Caleb American
Caleb norwood
Callander Scottish, English, Swedish (Rare)
Habitational name from various places so named in Scotland. ... [more]
Callen English (Rare)
From the forename Callen
Callender English
Occupational name for a person who finished freshly woven cloth by passing it between heavy rollers to compress the weave. From Old Franch calandrier, calandreur.
Calloway English
Derived from the place name Caillouet-Orgeville, from Norman caillou "pebble". Alternately, a variant of Galloway.
Calwell English
I guess a differently spelled form of Caldwell. I don't know.... [more]
Cambre English (American)
Americanization of Kamper.
Camden English
From a place name perhaps derived from Old English camp meaning "enclosure" and denu meaning "valley".
Camerons English
A form of the last name Cameron
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.
Camoys English
From a medieval nickname for someone with a snub nose (from Old French camus "snub nose").
Camp English
Cognate of Kemp.
Camper English
Respelling of German Kamper or Kämpfer (see Kampfer). The surname Camper is recorded in England, in the London and Essex area, in the 19th century; its origin is uncertain, but it may have been taken there from continental Europe.
Camping English
The English form of Campana, means bells.
Canada French, English
It derives from the Middle English "cane", a development of the Old French "cane", meaning cane, reed.
Candlin English
Derived from the medieval English, male first name Gandelyn, of unknown meaning.
Candy English
Unexplained.There was a family of this name in Roussillon, France, descended from a partisan of James II named Kennedy, who was exiled in France in the 17th century. The family died out in France in 1868, but may have had an American branch.
Candy English
perhaps from Middle English candi "crystallized cane sugar" (via French from Persian qand "sugar") and used as a metonymic occupational name for a sugar merchant... [more]
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]
Cant English
Means "singer in a chantry chapel", or from a medieval nickname for someone who was continually singing (in either case from Old Northern French cant "song").
Cantellow English
Means "person from Canteleu, Canteloup, etc.", the name of various places in northern France ("song of the wolf").
Canterbury English
Habitational name from Canterbury in Kent, named in Old English as Cantwaraburg "fortified town (burgh) of the people (wara) of Kent".
Cantwell Irish, English
A surname used in the South of England.... [more]
Cape French, English (British)
French and English: metonymic occupational name for a maker of capes and cloaks, or perhaps a nickname for someone who habitually wore a cloak or cape, from Middle English and Old Norman French cape ‘cape’, ‘cloak’, ‘hooded cloak’ (in French also ‘hood’ or ‘hat’), from Late Latin cappa, capa, probably a derivative of caput ‘head’ (see Capp)... [more]
Capel English
From the Domesday Book of 1086, from the old French word 'capele' meaning chapel.
Caplin English
Means "singer in a chantry chapel" (from Old Northern French capelain, a variant of standard Old French chapelain (cf. Chaplin)).
Capshaw English
Unexplained. Perhaps a habitational name from Cadshaw near Blackburn, Lancashire, although the surname is not found in England.
Capulet English
This is the last name of Juliet from William Shakepeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet.
Caradine English, 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.
Caraway English
Probably means "spice merchant" (from Middle English carewei "caraway").
Carbonell English
From a medieval nickname for a dark-haired or swarthy person, from Anglo-Norman carbonel, literally "little charcoal".
Card English
English: metonymic occupational name for someone who carded wool (i.e. disentangled it), preparatory to spinning, from Middle English, Old French card(e) ‘carder’, an implement used for this purpose... [more]
Cardinal English, French
from Middle English, Old French cardinal "cardinal", a church dignitary (Latin cardinalis, originally an adjective meaning "crucial")... [more]
Cardinale Italian, Italian (Tuscan), French, English
Italian cognate of Cardinal, as well as an English and French variant. A known bearer is the Italian actress Claudia Cardinale (1938-).
Cardwell English
From the traditionally British surname, which is a variant of the British surname Caldwell, a from the Old English cald "cold" and well(a) "spring, stream".
Care English
Occupational name for a locksmith, Middle English keyere, kayer, an agent derivative of keye.
Cargill Scottish, English
Habitational name from a place so named in Scotland.
Carisbrook English
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.
Carleton English
English: variant spelling of Carlton.
Carling English (American)
Americanized form of German Garling or Gerling.
Carls English
From the given name Carl.
Carmack English
Anyone with information about this last name please edit.
Carmical Scottish, English
Variant spelling of Carmichael.
Carmichael Scottish, English
From the name of a village in Scotland meaning "fort of Michael", from Welsh caer meaning "fortress" and the given name Michael.
Carmine Italian (Rare), English (Rare)
Derived from the given name Carmine, which in turn was derived from the color of a vivid form of red.
Carnell English
A crossbowman or archer who protected castles and fortresses.
Carner German, English
Americanized spelling of German Karner or Körner (see Koerner).... [more]
Caroso English (American)
Surname of Panther Caroso from the Star Fox 64 series.
Carpus English (Rare, ?)
Possibly from the given name Carpus.
Carradine English, 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).
Carraway English (British)
The name Carraway belongs to the early history of Britain, and its origins lie with the Anglo-Saxons. It is a product of one having lived on a road near a field or piece of land that was triangular in shape... [more]
Carrell English
English: from Old French carrel, ‘pillow’, ‘bolster’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of these. In some cases perhaps an altered spelling of Irish Carroll... [more]
Carrender English (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.
Carrier English
An occupational name meaning someone who transports goods.
Carrington English, 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]
Carrow English
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]
Carstairs English (British)
From the manor or barony of the same name in the parish of Carstairs (= 1170 Casteltarres, 'Castle of Tarres').
Carsten English
Could mean son of Carsten.... [more]
Cartmell English
Denoted a person from Cartmel, a village in Cumbria, England (formerly in Lancashire). It is the site of a famous priory, inland from Cartmel Sands. The place name is derived from Old Norse kartr meaning "rocky ground" and melr meaning "sandbank".
Carveth English
From the village of Carveth, from Cornish Karvergh meaning "fort of horses".
Cary African American
This surname is a variant of the surname Carey.
Casley English
Derived from Old English C(e)atta, a personal name meaning "cat" and leah "woodland, clearing"."
Casperson English
Means "Son of Casper".
Cassel English, 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]
Cassell English
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]
Caston English
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’.
Caswell English
Habitational name from places in Dorset, Northamptonshire, and Somerset named Caswell, from Old English cærse '(water)cress' + well(a) 'spring', 'stream'.
Catchpole English
Meant "bailiff, especially (originally) one who could seize domestic animals in lieu of tax or debt" (from Anglo-Norman cachepol, from cacher "to chase" + pol "chicken").
Cater English
Comes from the English word "caterer".
Cates English
English patronymic from the Old Norse byname Káti (from káti ‘boy’).
Catesby English
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.
Catlett American (South)
There are several towns in the American South named Catlett.
Catt English
Variant of Cat.
Catt English
Nickname from the animal, Middle English catte "cat". The word is found in similar forms in most European languages from very early times (e.g. Gaelic cath, Slavic kotu). Domestic cats were unknown in Europe in classical times, when weasels fulfilled many of their functions, for example in hunting rodents... [more]
Catterall English
Derived from a town in England named "Catterall".
Cattermole English
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”.
Cattley English
Means "person from Catley", Herefordshire and Lincolnshire ("glade frequented by cats"). It was borne by the British botanical patron William Cattley (1788-1835).
Cattrall English
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]
Cave Norman, 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".
Cavell English
Nickname for a bald man, from a diminutive of Anglo-Norman French cauf.
Caverly English
English surname, a variant of the English surname Calverley, itself derived from the Old English calf "calf" and leag "field, clearing".
Cavil English
Variant of Cavill
Cavill English
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-).
Cawood English
Traditional English habitational surname meaning "jackdaw wood" from the Old English ca referring to 'jackdaw' (a member of the crow family), and wudu 'wood'.
Cawthorne English
Means "person from Cawthorn or Cawthorne", both in Yorkshire ("cold thorn bush").
Caylor English
Anglicized form of Kaylor.
Cayson English
Variant of Cason.
Cazaly English (Australian)
The meaning of this surname is unknown. This is a very important name in Australian Football culture, as it was the surname of a very prestigious Australian rules football player, Roy Cazaly. Mike Brady, from The Two Man Band, published a song called "Up There Cazaly", which is played every year at the AFL grand finals, thus making this surname is well-known by Australian Football fans.
Ceasar African American, German (Americanized)
Possibly derived from the given name Ceasar (a variant of Caesar), or an Americanized form of German Zieser.
Cena English (American), English
Cena is a prominently used English name. It is derived from the word "see", however it rather than referring to the ability to see it, what it actually refers to is the inability to see as the other half of the name ("-na") means "naw" a synonym for "no"... [more]
Cephas English
Transferred use of the given name Cephas.
Cephus English
Possibly a variation of Cephas
Cestare English (American, Modern)
There is a similar name, Sastre, which is the Spanish form of the surname Sarto, meaning "tailor." The name CESTARE is phonetically similar to Sastre and could be a derivative of that name.... [more]
Chadburn English (Rare)
Form the wildcat brook
Chadrick English
Possibly a variant of Chadwick.
Chaffey English
Possibly, Chaffcombe in Somerset or Chaffhay in Devon
Chaffin English
A diminutive that originated from the Old French word chauf, which itself is derived from Latin calvus, both meaning "bald". Originally used as an Anglo-Norman nickname for a bald man.
Chaisson French, 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]
Chalaire American (South, Rare, ?)
Chalaire is a very rare surname, few people in the United States have the family name and might be raised in the United States. Around 99 people have been found who wears Chalaire as their family name... [more]
Chalcraft English
Surname of Anglo- Saxon origin. Topographical or locational surname... [more]
Chalk English
English: from Old English cealc 'chalk', applied as a topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of chalk soil, or as a habitational name from any of the various places named with this word, as for example Chalk in Kent or Chalke in Wiltshire.
Challenger English
Probably from a medieval nickname for a touchy or quarrelsome person (from a derivative of Middle English chalangen "to challenge"). A fictional bearer is Professor George Challenger, irascible scientist and explorer, leader of the expedition to Amazonia in Arthur Conan Doyle's 'The Lost World' (1912).
Chambo English (Canadian)
Suspected to be of French origin. Specifically, a derivative of Archambault.
Champion English, French
Derived from the Middle English and Old French words campion, champiun and champion all meaning "athlete" such as a wrestler or boxer; also "warrior hired to do battle in single combat on behalf of others" (from Late Latin campio genitive campionis a derivative of campus "plain field of battle")... [more]
Champlin Belgian, English
Means Champion, was a family name in Belgium, a status and influence that was envied by the princes of the region.... [more]
Chantry English
Means "singer in a chantry chapel" or "one who lives by a chantry chapel". A chantry was a type of chapel, one endowed for the singing of Masses for the soul of the founder (from Old French chanterie, from chanter "to sing").
Chappell English
Name for someone who lived near a chapel, derived from Old French chapele meaning "chapel".
Charleson English
Patronymic from the personal name Charles.
Charleston English
Means "son of Charles."
Charlesworth English
Derived from a village and civil parish with the same name near Glossop, Derbyshire, England.
Charlotte French, English
From the feminine given name Charlotte.
Charlton English, Caribbean
Location last name from any of the numerous places called Charlton, from Old English Ceorlatun meaning "settlement of the peasants"... [more]
Charmian English, French
from the given name Charmian
Charnes American
History and origin unknown.
Charnock English (Rare)
The locational surname originates from two places, Charnock Richard and Heath Charnock, which are both located in Lancashire, England.... [more]