English Submitted Surnames

English names are used in English-speaking countries. See also about English names.
usage
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Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
TWINE English
Metonymic occupational name for a maker of string or thread, and derived from Old English twin meaning "thread, string".
TWINER English
Occupational name for a maker of thread or twine; an agent derivative of Old English twinen meaning "to twine".
TWYFORD English
English habitational name from any of the numerous places named Twyford, for example in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Derbyshire, Hampshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Middlesex, and Norfolk, from Old English twi- ‘double’ + ford ‘ford’.
TYLSON English, German (Anglicized)
English: variant of DYSON (see surname DYE). ... [more]
TYREE Scottish, English
A name that evolved among the descendants of the people of the kingdom of Dalriada in ancient Scotland.
UMBLE English
Variant of HUMBLE.
UNION English, Irish
A bearer: Gabrielle Union, an actress.
UNTHANK English
From a place name meaning "squatter's holding" from Old English unthanc (literally "without consent").
UNWIN English
From the Old English male personal name Hūnwine, literally "bearcub-friend" (later confused with Old English unwine "enemy"). Bearers include British publisher Sir Stanley Unwin (1885-1968) and "Professor" Stanley Unwin (1911-2002), South African-born British purveyor of comical nonsense language.
UPHAM English
"enclosure surrounded by water"
UPSHAW English
Probably a habitational name from a lost or unidentified place named with Old English upp meaning "up(per)" and sc(e)aga meaning "copse", or a topographic name with the same meaning.
UPSHUR English
Most probably an altered spelling of English Upshire, a habitational name from Upshire in Essex, named with Old English upp "up" and scir "district". Alternatively, it may be a variant of UPSHAW.
UPTAIN English
Derived from Upton, but meaning "always prepared"
URBAN English, French, German, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Hungarian, Jewish
From a medieval personal name (Latin Urbanus meaning "city dweller", a derivative of urbs meaning "town", "city").
URIE Scottish, English, Irish
From the Scottish Fetteresso parish, Kincardineshire. May mean someone who is brave and loud.
USELTON English
Perhaps a variant of Osselton, a habitational name from a lost or unidentified place, probably in northeastern England, where this name is most common.
UXBRIDGE English
Place in England. Like Enfield.
VADEN English, Swedish
Apparently of English origin, but of unexplained etymology. ... [more]
VALE English
Topographic name for someone who lived in a valley, Middle English vale (Old French val, from Latin vallis). The surname is now also common in Ireland, where it has been Gaelicized as de Bhál.
VALEN English, Scottish
English and Scottish: from a medieval personal name, Latin VALENTINUS, a derivative of VALENS (see also VALENTE), which was never common in England, but is occasionally found from the end of the 12th century, probably as the result of French influence... [more]
VALENTINS English, Portuguese
Derived from the given name VALENTIN.
VALIANT English, Scottish, Irish
Derived from Old French vaillant meaning "heroic, courageous".
VALLANCE English
Means "person from Valence", southeastern France (probably "place of the brave").
VALLEY English
Topographic name for someone who lived in a valley, Middle English valeye.
VALMONT English, French
Means "Hill of the vale"
VAMPYR English (American)
A gothic surname.
VANDAL English (Rare)
A English word meaning "someone who willfully destroys or defaces property",and a member of ancient Germanic tribes.
VANLOW English (Rare)
Possibly an Anglicized form of VAN LOOK.
VARDY English
Variant of VERITY. A name given to actors who played the part in the medieval travelling theatres.
VARNELL English
Variant of Farnell. This form originated in southwestern England, where the change from F to V arose from the voicing of F that was characteristic of this area in Middle English.
VASS English
Status name denoting a serf, Middle English, Old French vass(e), from Late Latin vassus, of Celtic origin. Compare Welsh gwas "boy", Gaelic foss "servant".
VASSAR French, English
Name indicating the status of "a vassal or serf" in feudal society.
VASSIE French, English
Meaning "playful or merry" for a cheerful person.
VEEVERS English
Means "dealer in foodstuffs" (from Old French vivres "victuals").
VENTRIS English
Probably from a medieval nickname for a bold or slightly reckless person (from a reduced form of Middle English aventurous "venturesome"). It was borne by British architect and scholar Michael Ventris (1922-1956), decipherer of the Mycenaean Greek Linear B script.
VERAL English
Meaning:stubborn,aggressive,mathamatician smart
VERDIER French, Norman, English
Occupational name for a forester. Derived from Old French verdier (from Late Latin viridarius, a derivative of viridis "green"). Also an occupational name for someone working in a garden or orchard, or a topographic name for someone living near one... [more]
VERNE French, English
As a French surname refers to someone who lived where alder trees grew. While the English version can mean someone who lived where ferns grew, Verne can also mean a seller of ferns which in medieval times were used in bedding, as floor coverings and as animal feed.
VERNEY English, French
The surname Verney was first found in Buckinghamshire, England, when they arrived from Vernai, a parish in the arrondissement of Bayeux in Normandy.
VERRALL English
An uncommon Anglo-Saxon surname.
VERRILL English
This is an uncommon Anglo-Saxon surname.
VICARY English (British)
There are a number of theories as to the origins of the name, Spanish sailors shipwrecked after the Armada and French Huguenots fleeing the Revolution are two of the more romantic ones. It is more likely to have come as someone associated with the church - the vicar, who carried out the pastoral duties on behalf of the absentee holder of a benefice... [more]
VICKERS English
Means "son of the vicar". It could also be the name of someone working as a servant of a vicar.
VICTORSON English
Means “son of VICTOR”.
VIDLER English
Either (i) from a medieval nickname based on Anglo-Norman vis de leu, literally "wolf-face"; or (ii) "violinist, fiddle player" (cf. FIEDLER).
VIEIRA English (Anglicized)
A surname of British origin mainly from Ireland and Scotland but Anglicised into and english name when many Vieira's immigrated to England.
VINCE English
From a short form of the personal name VINCENT.
VINETTE English
Derived from French vignette "sprig".
VINING English (British)
Habitational name for someone from a place called Fyning in Rogate in Sussex.
VINSON English
This surname means "son of Vincent."
VINT English, Scottish
Either an English habitational name from places so named, or a Scottish variant of Wint.
VIOLET English
Derived from the given name VIOLET
VIRTUE English
Used as a name for someone who had played the part of Virtue in a medieval mystery play, or as a nickname for someone noted for their virtuousness or (sarcastically) for someone who parades their supposed moral superiority.
VIRTUOSO English (American), Spanish, Italian
This Italian surname could possibly be connected to those whose ancestors were involved in playing a musical instrument or somehow connected to the musical instrument industry.
VISE English
Topographic name for someone who lived by a boundary, Old French devise.
VIVEASH English
English surname of uncertain origin. May be Anglo-Norman from French vivace meaning "lively, vigorous", however its pronunciation has led to its connection to various places in southern England called Five Ash Trees.
VIVIAN English, Various
Derived from the given name VIVIAN.
VIVIS English (Rare)
Found in the 1891, 1901 & 1911 British census, other Ancestry.co.uk records & FreeBMD. Could derive from Vivas from Spanish Catalan
VOIT English
A famous bearer of This surname is ANGELINA Jolie 's father and actor John Voit.
VOKY English
Variant of Vokey.
VOX English
Variant of FOX
WACKERMAN English (American), German
From the Americanized spelling of German Wackermann, a variant of WACKER, with the addition of Middle High German man, meaning ‘man’.
WADDINGTON English
Habitational name from any of various places called Waddington. One near Clitheroe in Lancashire and another in Lincolnshire (Wadintune in Domesday Book) were originally named in Old English as the "settlement" (Old English tūn) associated with Wada.
WADSWORTH English
Location name from Yorkshire meaning "Wæddi's enclosure or settlement" with Wæddi being an old English personal name of unknown meaning plus the location element -worth. Notable bearer is HENRY Wadsworth LONGFELLOW (1807-1882) for whom the middle name was his mother's maiden name.
WAINWRIGHT English
Occupational name indicating one who made horse-drawn wagons.
WAIT English
Variant spelling of WAITE.
WAITE English
Occupational name for a watchman, Anglo-Norman French waite (cf. WACHTER).
WAITS English
Patronymic form of WAITE.
WAITT English
Variant spelling of WAITE.
WAKE English, Scottish
From the Old Norse byname Vakr meaning "wakeful", "vigilant" (from vaka meaning "to remain awake"), or perhaps from a cognate Old English Waca (attested in place names such as Wakeford, Wakeham, and Wakeley).
WAKEHAM English, Cornish
A locational surname for someone who lived in one of three places called Wakeham in various parts of England, including Cornwall and/or Devon.
WAKELEY English
Habitational name from Wakeley in Hertfordshire, named from the Old English byname WACA, meaning ‘watchful’ (see Wake) + Old English leah ‘woodland clearing’.
WAKELIN English
From the Anglo-Norman male personal name Walquelin, literally "little Walho", a Germanic nickname meaning literally "foreigner".
WAKELY English
Damp meadow
WALD German, English
Topographic name for someone who lived in or near a forest (Old High German wald, northern Middle English wald).
WALDRIP English, Scottish
The name is derived from the Old Norman warderobe, a name given to an official of the wardrobe, and was most likely first borne by someone who held this distinguished
WALDRON Medieval German, Old Norman, Scottish Gaelic, English (British)
Derived from the German compound wala-hran, literally "wall raven", but originally meaning "strong bird". Also derived from the Gaelic wealdærn, meaning "forest dwelling", thought to be derived from the Sussex village of Waldron... [more]
WALES English (Modern), Scottish
English and Scottish patronymic from Wale.
WALKINGTON English
Habitational name from a place in East Yorkshire named Walkington, from an unattested Old English personal name Walca + -ing- denoting association with + tūn.
WALLAS English, Scottish
A variant of WALLACE. The name originates from Scotland and its meaning is "foreigner" or "from the south", taken to mean someone from Wales or England.
WALLIAMS English
Very rare form of WILLIAMS.... [more]
WALLWORK English (British)
Anglo-Saxon name originating from Lancashire, first recorded in Worsley in 1278. May originate from the Old Warke area in Worsley, shown as "Le Wallwerke" in old documents. The surname Walworth may be related.
WALMER English
Habitational name from Walmer in Kent, so named from Old English wala (plural of walh "Briton") + mere "pool", or from Walmore Common in Gloucestershire.
WALSHINGHAM English
From the Anglo-Saxon words ham, meaning "house".
WALWYN English
Either (i) from the Old English personal name Wealdwine, literally "power-friend"; or (ii) perhaps from the medieval personal name Walwain, the Anglo-Norman form of Old French Gauvain (cf... [more]
WANLESS English
From a medieval nickname for an ineffectual person (from Middle English wanles "hopeless, luckless").
WANNELL English
English surname which was derived from a medieval nickname, from Middle English wann "wan, pale" (see WANN) and a diminutive suffix.... [more]
WARDEN English
Occupational name for a watchman or guard, from Old French wardein meaning "protector, guard". It was also used as a habbitational name for someone from any of the various locations in England named Warden... [more]
WARDER English
Weard ora. Place name in Wilshire. Became Wardour ( see castle & village). Became Warder.
WARTON English
"From the poplar-tree farm"
WASHBURN English
Northern English topographic name for someone living on the banks of the Washburn river in West Yorkshire, so named from the Old English personal name Walc + Old English burna ‘stream’... [more]
WASTIE English
Derived from “gehaeg” meaning “hedge” in Old English which was later changed to Weysthagh then Wastie
WATERFORD English (Rare)
From a place name derived from the Old Norse words veðra, 'ram' (Swedish vädur, 'ram', See Wetherby) and fjord, 'fjord'.
WATERSON English
It is a patronymic of the male given name Water or Walter.
WATNEY English
Probably means "person from Watney", an unidentified place in England (the second syllable means "island, area of dry land in a marsh"; cf. RODNEY, WHITNEY)... [more]
WAVERLY English
Meaning, "from Waverley (Surrey)" or "from the brushwood meadow." From either waever meaning "brushwood" or waefre meaning "flickering, unstable, restless, wandering" combined with leah meaning "meadow, clearing."
WAYCASTER English
The surname Waycaster is German in origin. It means "roll-eater," and was likely derived from a derisive nickname on a baker.
WAYNEWRIGHT English
Variant spelling of WAINWRIGHT.
WEAKLY English
Variant spelling of WEEKLEY.
WEAPONSWORTH English
Means maker of weapons
WEARE English (British)
Derived from the Old English wer, meaning a "weir, dam, fishing-trap". This was used as an occupational surname for fishermen. Originated in Devon, England.... [more]
WEATHERFORD English
Topographic name or a habitational name from a lost or unidentified place.
WEBBE English (Rare)
Variant of "Webb", meaning weaver.
WEDMORE English (British)
Habitational name from Wedmore in Somerset, recorded in the 9th century as Wethmor, possibly meaning ‘marsh (Old English mor) used for hunting (w?the)’.
WEDON English
Variant of WEEDON
WEEDON English
From places called WEEDON
WEEKLEY English
Originally meant "person from Weekley", Northamptonshire ("wood or clearing by a Romano-British settlement"). British philologist Ernest Weekley (1865-1954) bore this surname.
WEINSTOCK English, German, Hebrew
This surname of WEINSTOCK is the English variant of the German surname WENSTOCK, an occupational name for a producer or seller of wine, derived originally from the Old German WEIN. The name was also adopted by Ashkenazic Jews, largely recollecting the prominence of wine in the Jewish Scriptures and its used in Jewish ceremonies... [more]
WEIR Scottish, English
Topographic name for someone who lived by a dam or weir on a river.
WELBORN English
Habitational name from Welborne in Norfolk, Welbourn in Lincolnshire, or Welburn in North Yorkshire, all named with Old English wella ‘spring’ + burna ‘stream’.
WELBURN English
English surname meaning "From the Spring brook"
WELBY English (British, Rare)
Lincolnshire family name
WELD English
Meant "one who lives in or near a forest (or in a deforested upland area)", from Middle English wold "forest" or "cleared upland". A famous bearer is American actress Tuesday Weld (1943-).
WELFORD English
English surname meaning "Lives by the spring by the ford"
WELL English
Topographic name for someone who lived near a spring or stream, Middle English well(e) (Old English well(a)).
WELLAND English (British, Rare)
From the name of the place, derived from Old English wig - war and landa - territory, land.
WELLBORN English
Related to Wellburn
WELLBORNE English
Related to Wellborn
WELLER English, German
Either from the Olde English term for a person who extracted salt from seawater, or from the English and German "well(e)," meaning "someone who lived by a spring or stream."... [more]
WELLES English
Variant of WELLS.
WELLINGTON English
Habitational name from any of the three places named Wellington, in Herefordshire, Shropshire, and Somerset. All are most probably named with an unattested Old English personal name WEOLA + -ing- (implying association with) + tun ‘settlement’.
WELLMAN English
From German Welle meaning "wave" and man, meaning "man", referring to someone who lived by a stream.
WELSH Scottish, English
Ethnic name for someone from Wales or a speaker of the Welsh language. Compare WALSH and WALLACE.
WELTON English
Habitational name from any of various places named Welton, for example in Cumbria, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, and East Yorkshire, from Old English well(a) ‘spring’, ‘stream’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’.
WENN English
Surname from Norfolk, England
WENTWORTH English
Habitational name from places in Cambridgeshire and South Yorkshire called Wentworth, probably from the Old English byname WINTRA meaning ‘winter’ + Old English worð ‘enclosure’... [more]
WESSON English
Variant of WESTON.
WESTBAY English (Rare)
It literally means "West Bay".
WESTBURY English
English British surname originating as a place name. There are several Westbury villages, parishes and even Manors across England that have given the name Westbury to people who take up residence in or come from those places... [more]
WESTDYKE English
Name given to someone who lived on the west side of a dyke.
WESTEN English, Scottish
Habitational name from any of numerous places named Weston, from Old English west 'west' + tun 'enclosure', 'settlement'. English: variant of Whetstone.
WESTERLY English
The name is originated from a term meaning 'winds from the West'. The name could be given to someone who is born in the west.
WESTERMAN English
Topographical surname for someone who lived west of a settlement or someone who had moved to the west, from Old English westerne meaning "western" and mann meaning "man, person".
WESTGATE English
Topographic name for someone who lived near a west gate in a city, or a habitual surname for someone from Westgate. It is derived from Middle English west meaning "west" and gate "gate" (or "street" in northern and eastern areas; from Old Norse gata).
WESTLAKE English (Canadian)
Combined of West and Lake.
WESTMEIR English
Not avaliable.
WESTON English
Combination of Old English west "west" and tun "settlement, enclosure".
WESTROP English (British)
Viking name local to Somerset and several counties in the North East of England. Approximate meaning "place to the west of the village with the church".
WESTWOOD English, Scottish
Habitational name from any of numerous places named Westwood, from Old English west "west" and wudu "wood".
WETON English
Variant of WEETON
WEY English
Variant of WAY.
WHARTON English
Derived from an Olde English pre 7th Century river name Woefer.
WHATELY English
Old English location or occupational surname meaning "from the wheat meadow".
WHEELDON English
Habitational name from a place in Derbyshire named Wheeldon, from Old English hweol ‘wheel’ (referring perhaps to a rounded shape) + dun ‘hill’, or from Whielden in Buckinghamshire, which is named with hweol + denu ‘valley’.
WHEELWRIGHT English (British)
Middle English "maker of wheels"
WHINERAY English
Means "person from Whinneray", Cumbria, or "person who lives in a nook of land growing with gorse" (in either case from Old Norse hvin "whin, gorse" + vrá "nook of land"). It was borne by New Zealand rugby player Sir Wilson Whineray (1935-2012).
WHIPPLE English
English surname of uncertain meaning. It might be a shortened form of “whippletree”; an early name for the dogwood. It may also be a variation of Whipp – an early surname for someone who carried out judicial punishments.
WHISMAN English
Variation of Wisman or Wiseman.
WHISTLER English
An English occupational surname, meaning "one who whistles."
WHITBY English
English surname which was from either of two place names, that of a port in North Yorkshire (which comes from the Old Norse elements hvítr "white" (or Hvíti, a byname derived from it) combined with býr "farm") or a place in Cheshire (from Old English hwit "white" (i.e., "stone-built") and burh "fortress").
WHITCOMB English (British)
means wide valley
WHITEHEAD English, Scottish
Nickname for someone with fair or prematurely white hair, from Middle English whit "white" and heved "head".
WHITEHOUSE English
the origin of this surname started in England where people were called Whitehouse when they painted their houses white.
WHITEMAN English
From a nickname (see WHITE).
WHITFIELD English
It is locational from any or all of the places called Whitfield in the counties of Derbyshire, Kent, Northamptonshire and Northumberland, or from the villages called Whitefield in Lancashire, the Isle of Wight and Gloucestershire.
WHITGIFT English
Means "person from Whitgift", Yorkshire ("Hvítr's dowry"). This surname was borne by Anglican churchman John Whitgift (?1530-1604), archbishop of Canterbury 1583-1604 (in addition, Whitgift School is an independent day school for boys in South Croydon, founded in 1595 by John Whitgift; and Whitgift Centre is a complex of shops and offices in the middle of Croydon, Greater London, on a site previously occupied by Whitgift School).
WHITLAM English
From a medieval nickname for a mild-mannered person (from Middle English whit "white" + lam "lamb"). This surname is borne by Australian Labour politician Gough Whitlam (1916-), prime minister 1972-75.
WHITLEY English
This surname is derived from a place name composed of Old English elements hwit meaning "white" and leah meaning "clearing, grove."
WHITLOCK English
Nickname for someone with white or fair hair, from Middle English whit ‘white’ + lock ‘tress’, ‘curl’. Compare SHERLOCK. ... [more]
WHITLOW English
white hill” place name from east side of country in lower Northumbria perhaps? Or perhaps next lower shire.
WHITMAN English
From Middle English whit ‘white’ + man ‘man’, either a nickname with the same sense as WHITE, or else an occupational name for a servant of a bearer of the nickname WHITE.... [more]
WHITMARSH English
English habitational name from Whitemarsh, a place in the parish of Sedgehill, Wiltshire, named from Old English hwit ‘white’ (i.e. ‘phosphorescent’) + mersc ‘marsh’. Compare WHITMORE.
WHITSIDE English (Rare, ?)
Possibly a variant of Whiteside.
WHITTINGTON English
From a place name, meaning "Hwita’s settlement".
WHITTLESEY English
A habitational surname for someone from Whittlesey, an ancient market town in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire in England. The town's name is derived from an unattested Old English personal name Wittel (or Witil), an occupational name given to a moneyer, and the Old English eg, meaning "island", also used to describe a piece of firm land in a fen... [more]
WHYBROW English
From the medieval female personal name Wyburgh, literally "war-fortress". (Cf. Germanic cognate WIGBURG.)
WICK English, German
English: topographic name for someone who lived in an outlying settlement dependent on a larger village, Old English wic (Latin vicus), or a habitational name from a place named with this word, of which there are examples in Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Worcestershire... [more]
WICKERSHAM English
A habitational surname that originates from a lost medieval site or village of Norse origins.... [more]
WICKSEY English
Two separate surnames, joined together to form Wicksey, when the Vikings invaded England. The name means "Dairy Farmer on the Marsh".
WIDGER English
From the Old English male personal name Wihtgār, literally "elf-spear".
WIFLIN English (Rare)
Possibly derived from the elements wefa and land.
WIGGIN English
Either (i) from the Germanic male personal name Wīgant, literally "warrior", introduced into England by the Normans; or (ii) from the Breton male personal name Wiucon, literally "worthy-noble", introduced into England by the Normans.
WIGGINS English
Patronymic from the personal name Wiggin.
WIGGS English (British)
The surname Wiggs was first found in Leicestershire where they held a family seat from very ancient times, at Lennerlyde. This interesting name has two possible origins. The first being a metonymic occupational name for a maker of wedge-shaped bread, from the Medieval English "Wigge" meaning "wedge-shaped"... [more]
WIGHT Scottish, English
Nickname from Middle English wiht, wight "nimble, strong".
WIGHTMAN English
"Wight" in Anglo-saxon could refer to a "soul," a "being," or to "courage." It is similar to the different meanings of the words "spirit" and "spirited." ... [more]
WILBERFORCE English
Means "person from Wilberfoss", Yorkshire ("WILBURH's ditch"). This is borne by Wilberforce University, a university in Xenia, Ohio, USA, founded in 1856 and named in honour of the British philanthropist and anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce (1759-1833)... [more]
WILBRAHAM English
Denoted a person hailing from Wilbraham in Cambridgeshire, England. The place name itself means "WILBURG's homestead or estate" in Old English, Wilburg or Wilburga allegedly referring to a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon princess who was given the lands later called Wilbraham by her father, King Penda of Mercia.
WILBURN English
A habitation name of uncertain origin found in the East Midlands. Speculation includes the possibility of the meaning "well" and "burn, borne" therefore meaning one who lived near a well or spring by a waterway crossing.
WILCOXSON English
Patronymic form of WILCOX which is derived from a diminutive of the given name WILLIAM
WILD Medieval English, English, German, Jewish
English: from Middle English wild ‘wild’, ‘uncontrolled’ (Old English wilde), hence a nickname for a man of violent and undisciplined character, or a topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of overgrown uncultivated land.... [more]
WILDBLOOD English
From a medieval nickname for a rakish or hot-headed person.
WILDIN English
The former placename is composed of the Olde English pre 7th Century words "wilg", willow, and "denu", a valley; while the latter place in Worcestershire is derived from the Olde English personal name "Winela", plus the Olde English "dun", a hill or mountain.
WILDRICK English
From German Wildreich, a medieval personal name, from Old High German wildi "wild".
WILDSMITH English
Probably means "maker of wheels, wheelwright".
WILES English
Occupational name for a trapper or hunter, from Middle English wile "trap, snare". It could also be a nickname for a devious person.
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