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.
Charters English
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.
Chatwin English
Old English given name CEATTA combined with Old English (ge)wind "winding ascent".
Chaucer English
Meaning a "worker who makes leggings or breeches". Notable bearer is author Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), most well known for his classic 'The Canterbury Tales'.
Chauncey American
Of uncertain origin. Possibly from Norman French habitation names Chancé or an American adaptation of a German place name of Schanze located on the Upper Rhine. Could also be a short form of Chancellor.
Chavis English (Americanized)
A cognate of the Portuguese surname "Chaves"
Chedder English (American)
this name comes from the name cheddar cheese
Cheeseman English
Occupational name for a maker or seller of cheese.
Cheever English
Means "goatherd", or from a medieval nickname for someone thought to resemble a goat (e.g. in capriciousness) (in either case from Anglo-Norman chivere "goat"). It was borne by American author John Cheever (1912-1982).
Chenery Medieval French, English (British, Anglicized, Modern)
Derived from the Old French "chesne" for oak tree, or "chesnai" for oak grove, from the medieval Latin "casnetum". As a topographical name, Cheyne denoted residence near a conspicuous oak tree, or in an oak forest.
Cherrington English
Habitational Name From Any Of Various Places Called Cherington or Cherrington... [more]
Cherry English
From Middle English chirie, cherye "cherry", hence a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of cherries, or possibly a nickname for someone with rosy cheeks.... [more]
Cherryman English
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]
Cherwin English
It means cherry friend.
Chesbrough English
habitational name from Cheeseburn in Northumberland early recorded as Cheseburgh possibly from Old English cis "gravel" and burh "stronghold"... [more]
Chesney English (?)
Came from France and has been shortened.
Chesterton English
From the name of a parish in Cambridgeshire.
Chestnut English
From Old French castan "chestnut tree" (Latin castanea), a name for someone who lived near a particular chestnut tree, or possibly a nickname for someone with chestnut-coloured hair (see Chastain).
Chestnutt English
"Chestnut." A notable bearer is Charles Waddel Chestnut, a novelist.
Chew English
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’.
Cheyne English
Locational or topographical surname derived from Old French chesne, chesnai "oak tree, oak grove", ultimately derived from medieval Latin casnetum.
Chiasson French, English
French surname originally denoting someone from the the municipality of Chiasso in Ticino, Switzerland, located along the Swiss/Italian border.... [more]
Child English
Nickname from Middle English child meaning "child", "infant".
Childers English
Probably a habitational name from some lost place named Childerhouse, from Old English cildra "child" and hus "house". This may have referred to some form of orphanage.
Childs English
patronymic from Child
Chillingworth English (Rare)
Notable as the surname of Hester Prynne's husband Roger Chillingworth in the 1850 novel 'The Scarlet Letter'
Chilver English (British)
Means "ewe lamb" , (a young female sheep).
Chilvers English
Means "son of Chilver" (probably from the Old English male personal name Cēolfrith, literally "ship-peace").
Chin English
Variant of Chinn.
Chippendale English
Derived from a place called "Chippingdale".
Chipperfield English
Derived from Hertfordshire Village of Chipperfield
Chips English (British)
Chips is a rare English (british) last name which is a nickname of Christopher and Charles
Chishall English
The name comes from when they lived in Chishall, two parishes in the county of Essex.
Chivton English (American)
Portmanteau of Chiovaro and Cranston. First known use in 2023.
Choate English, Dutch
The names of Choate and Chute are believed to have been of common origin and derived from the residence of their first bearers at a place called Chute in Wiltshire, England. Certain historians, however, state that the name of Choate was of Dutch origin and was taken by its first bearers from their residence at a place of that name in the Netherlands.
Chock English
From English Shock or German Schöck
Choice English
Derived from the personal names Josse or Goce, which are derived from the Latin word "gaudere" and is a cognate in origin with the word "joy."
Cholmely English
The Cholmely family lived in the township of Cholmondley in the parish of Malpas in Cheshire.
Cholmondeley English
An aristocratic surname derived from a place name in Cheshire which means "Ceolmund's grove" in Old English.
Choules English (British, Rare)
The surname Choules is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a variant of Scholes, itself "a topographical name for someone who lived in a rough hut or shed", from the Northern Middle English 'scale, schole'... [more]
Christenson English
Anglicized form of Christensen
Christina English, Various
Derived from the name Christina
Christmas English
Either an occupational name for someone who was responsible for arrangement of festivities for Christmas day, or it might a nickname for someone who was born on Christmas.
Chriswell English
Likely originated in England. Creswell seems to be the oldest spelling then gradually giving way to Criswell and Chriswell.
Chubb English
English (mainly West Country): nickname from Middle English chubbe ‘chub’ a common freshwater fish Leuciscus cephalus. The fish is notable for its short fat shape and sluggish habits and the word was used in early Modern English for a lazy spiritless person a rustic or a simpleton... [more]
Churchill English
From English, meaning 'church hill'. Denoted one who lived by both a church and a hill. A famous bearer is Sir Winston Churchill, the famed Prime Minister of Britain during WW2.
Churchyard English
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".
Churlson English
Means “son of Charles”.
Ciccone English
A diminutive of Francesco. A famous bearer is American singer Madonna Ciccone (1958-), better known as simply Madonna.
Cingeswell English
Meaning "Lives at the King's spring"
Cinnamond Scottish, 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.
Cinwell English
Meaning "Lives at the King's spring"
Claeson English
Means "Son of Claes". Possibly an English phonetic elaboration of Clayton, but also a Swedish variant of Claesson.
Clagett English
One who came from a town named "claygate".
Clairmont English
Means "bright hill."
Clare English
From the given name Clare
Clarence English
From the given name Clarence.
Clarks English
Variant of Clark.
Clason English (American)
Americanized spelling of Dutch Claasen.
Clattenburg English (?)
Most likely something to do with a fortress. Meaning currently unknown.
Claver English, Catalan
occupational name from Old French clavier Catalan claver "keeper of the keys doorkeeper" (from Latin clavarius from clavis "key").
Clavero English, Catalan
1 English: occupational name from Old French clavier ‘doorkeeper’ (from Latin clavis ‘key’).... [more]
Claw English
The surname Claw is a very rare English surname.
Clawson English
Means "son of Claus"
Clayberg English
Meaning is unknown, but it most likely means "clay mountain", from surnames Clay "clay" and Berg "mountain".
Claypool English
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".
Clayson English
Patronymic from the personal name Classe, a short form of Nicholas.
Cleave English
From an English topographical name meaning "cliff".
Cleaveland English
Spelling variant of Cleveland.
Cleburne English
Cleburne is a surname of Northern English and Southern Scottish Anglo-Saxon origin.
Cleese Scottish, Irish, English
Variant spelling of McCleese. A famous bearer is English actor and comedian John Cleese (1939-).
Clegg English
From Old Norse kleggi 'haystack'
Clem English, Dutch
From the given name Clem.
Clements English
Means "son of Clement".
Clemmons English
Derived from the Latin first name Clement, Clemmons means "merciful".
Clemo English
From a Cornish form of the personal name Clement.
Clemons English
Means "son of Clement". Variant of Clement.
Clemson English
Means "son of Clem".
Clerk English
Variant spelling of Clark.
Clester English (American)
Probably an Americanized form of Dutch Klooster .
Cleveland English
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]
Clevenger English, Anglo-Saxon
The surname is derived from the Old English word cleofan which means to cleave or split.
Cleverley English
Probably means "person from Cleveley", Lancashire ("woodland clearing by a cliff").
Cleverly English
From a nickname for an intelligent or quick-witted person.
Cliffe English (British)
After the village of Cliffe, Kent in England.
Clift English
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.
Clinger English (American)
Americanized spelling of German Klinger.Possibly a variant of Clinker. an English occupational name for a maker or fixer of bolts and rivets.
Clinker English (British, ?)
Possibly a varient of Clinger.
Clisby English
Surname originating in the village of Cleasby in North Yorkshire's Richmondshire district.
Clive English
English surname meaning "cliff" in Old English, originally belonging to a person who lived near a cliff.
Clooney English, Irish
From Gaelic Ó Cluanaigh meaning "descendant of Cluanach". Cluanach was a given name derived from Irish clauna "deceitful, flattering, rogue".
Clopton English
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".
Clore English (American)
Americanized spelling of German Klor (from a short form of the medieval personal name Hilarius (see Hillary) or Klar).
Clotts English
Found in the United States, most likely either an English spelling of Klutz, meaning "awkward, clumsy," or as a plural form of the English surname Clot, meaning "cloth ."
Cloud English
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).
Clough English (British)
The distinguished surname Clough is of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin. It is derived from the Old English "cloh," meaning "ravine" or "steep-sided valley," and was first used to refer to a "dweller in the hollow."
Clow English
Variant of Clough.
Clue English
Variant of Clough, traditionally found in Devonshire.
Cluff English
Derived from pre 7th century word "cloh" meaning a ravine or steep-sided valley.
Clutterbuck English, Dutch (Anglicized, ?)
English surname of unknown origin, possibly a corrupted form of a Dutch surname derived from Dutch klateren "to clatter" and beek "brook". The original surname may have been brought to England by Flemish weavers whom Edward III brought to England in the 14th century to teach their techniques to the English, or by Huguenots who fled the Netherlands in the 16th century to escape religious persecution... [more]
Cluxton English
Altered form of English Claxton.
Coard English, Northern Irish
Derived from Old French corde "string", a metonymic occupational name for a maker of cord or string, or a nickname for an habitual wearer of decorative ties and ribbons.
Coates English
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.
Coath English
Derived from the Cornish word for smith, goff.
Coatney English
The initial bearer of this surname lived in a little cottage.
Cobalt English
Name given to a person who mined cobalt.
Cobbold English
From the medieval male personal name Cubald (from Old English Cūthbeald, literally "famous-brave").
Cobbs English
Variant of Cobb.
Coberley English
Possibly from a village in England called Coberley
Cocke English
nickname from Middle English cok ‘cock’, ‘male bird or fowl’ (Old English cocc), given for a variety of possible reasons. Applied to a young lad who strutted proudly like a cock, it soon became a generic term for a youth and was attached with hypocoristic force to the short forms of many medieval personal names (e.g. Alcock, Hancock, Hiscock, Mycock)... [more]
Cocker English, German (Anglicized)
Originally a nickname for a bellicose person, from Middle English cock "to fight". Also an anglicized form of Köcher.
Codrington English
Habitational name from Codrington in Gloucestershire.
Coe English
English (Essex and Suffolk): nickname from the jackdaw, Middle English co, Old English ca (see Kay). The jackdaw is noted for its sleek black color, raucous voice, and thievish nature, and any of these attributes could readily have given rise to the nickname.
Coffield English
Derived from the town of Cockfield in Suffolk.
Coggeshall English
Habitational name from Coggeshall in Essex, England, which was derived from Cogg, an Old English personal name, and Old English halh meaning "nook, recess".
Coggill English
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]
Coish Anglo-Saxon, English, English (Australian), English (American)
Derived from Old English cosche and cosshe (c.1490), meaning "small cottage" or "hut". The medieval Coish family held a seat in Cambridgeshire.
Coit Medieval Welsh, French, English
The surname Coit was first found in Carnarvonshire, a former country in Northwest Wales, anciently part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, and currently is divided between the unitary authorities of Gwynedd and Conwy, where they held a family seat... [more]
Cokayne English
Medieval English nickname which meant "idle dreamer" from Cockaigne, the name of an imaginary land of luxury and idleness in medieval myth. The place may derive its name from Old French (pays de) cocaigne "(land of) plenty", ultimately from the Low German word kokenje, a diminutive of koke "cake" (since the houses in Cockaigne are made of cake).
Coker English
Variant of Cocker.
Colbath English
Means "cold".
Colbourn English
English: variant spelling of Colburn .
Colburn English
Habitational name from a place near Catterick in North Yorkshire.
Colden English, Scottish
English: habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire named Colden, from Old English cald ‘cold’ col ‘charcoal’ + denu ‘valley’.... [more]
Coldman English
Probably a variant of Coleman with intrusive 'd'.
Coles English, Scottish, Irish, German (Anglicized), English (American)
English: from a Middle English pet form of Nicholas.... [more]
Coleson English
Means "son of Nicholas".
Coley English
With variant Colley can mean "dark" or "blackbird" or it can be a nickname for Nicholas.
Colfax English
From a medieval nickname for someone with dark or black hair, from Old English cola "charcoal" and feax "hair".
Colgate English
habitational name from Colgates in Kent named with Old English col "charcoal" and gaet "gate" indicating a gate leading into woodland where charcoal was burned... [more]
Collard English, French
English and French: from the personal name Coll + the pejorative suffix -ard.
Collen English
Variant of Colin.
Colley English
With variant Coley, can mean "dark" or "blackbird" or it can be a nickname for Nicholas. Colley was used as a surname for generations of students from the same family taught by a teacher over many years in James Hilton's sentimental novel "Goodbye, Mr... [more]
Collier English
This name is derived from Middle English cole, from Old English col meaning "coal", combined with the agent suffix (i)er, which denotes someone who does/works with something. Thus, the surname was originally used for a burner, gatherer or seller of coal.
Collinsworth English
Variant spelling of Collingsworth, itself a variant of Collingwood.
Collis English
A variant of Collins, itself a patronymic of given names Collin or Colin, both ultimately nicknames for Nicholas.
Collison English
A variant of Collinson, which is a variant of Collins.
Colonel American
From a French word for a military rank of an officer who led a column of regimental soldiers. Could be a nickname for someone with a military bearing or demeanor.
Colston English
Colston means “Coal town settlement.” It is also a variant of Colton.
Coltonson English
Means "Son of Colton".
Colville Scottish, English
Derived from the place Colleville in Normandy, France. With the Scandinavian name Koli and French ville "town, village".
Comeau French, French (Acadian), Louisiana Creole
French: from a Gascon diminutive of Combe.
Comer English
Occupational name for a maker or seller of combs, or to someone who used them to prepare wool or flax for spinning, derived from Middle English combere, an agent derivative of Old English camb meaning "comb"... [more]
Compton English
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".
Conatser English (Anglicized)
A variant of the German last name Konitzer.
Coney English
Means "seller of rabbits", or from a medieval nickname for someone thought to resemble a rabbit (in either case from Middle English cony "rabbit").
Congdon Irish, 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.
Connington English
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.