KingsburyEnglish Habitational surname derived from several places in England with the same name, for example in northwest London (formerly Middlesex), Somerset, and Warwickshire. These are mostly named in Old English as cyninges burh meaning "the king’s stronghold", but the last mentioned is cynesburh meaning "stronghold of Cyne" (cyne is a short form of any of various compound names with cyne- meaning "royal" as the first element).
KingsfordEnglish English habitational name from any of various places named Kingsford, for example in Essex, Devon, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire. The name ostensibly means ‘the king’s ford’, but the one in Worcestershire is named as Ceningaford ‘ford of Cena’s people’.
KinslowEnglish habitational name from Kingslow in Worfield (Shropshire). The placename means "king's tumulus" from Old English cyning "king" (genitive cyninges) and hlaw "tumulus burial mound hill".
KiplinEnglish A locational surname that takes its name from the hamlet of Kiplin in the English county of North Yorkshire. In turn, the hamlet is said to derive its name from Old English Cyppelingas, which means "the people of Cyppel", as it consists of the Old English personal name Cyppel with the Old English word ingas meaning "people".
KippsEnglish From Middle English Kipp, perhaps a byname for a fat man, from an unattested Old English form Cyppe, which according to Reaney is from the Germanic root kupp 'to swell'.
KirklandEnglish, Scottish Derived from the Scottish 'kirk', meaning church, and land. This name denoted one who lived near or tended to the land belonging to or surrounding a church. A famous /fictional/ bearer is Arthur Kirkland, a main character in the highly popular anime/webmanga Axis Powers Hetalia... [more]
KirkmanEnglish A name originally found in both Scotland and England. From Kirk- meaning "church" and -man for someone who lived near or worked at a church.
KitchenerEnglish Variant spelling of Kitchen. A notable bearer was the Anglo-Irish senior British Army officer and colonial administrator Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850-1916).
KitchenhamEnglish Occupational surname for a person who was in charge of the kitchen in a royal or noble house, or a monastery. From the Anglo Saxon cycene (German: Küche Dutch: kjøkken Latin: cocina Italian: cucina)
KitcherEnglish (British) This name derives from the Old English word "Cyta", and describes 'the cat' or perhaps more specifically a wild cat. This name may also refer to someone who worked in a Kitchen.
KitchingEnglish The surname is thought to have originally been an occupational name for a cook, deriving from the Old English word cycen.
KiteEnglish From the name of the bird of prey, derived from Middle English kete "kite, bittern".
KiteEnglish Habitational name derived from Old English cyte "cottage, hut".
KitleyEnglish Derived from a place name in Devonshire, England, and was first recorded in the form of Kitelhey in 1305.... [more]
KitzmillerEnglish (American) Americanized form of German Kitzmüller, literally ‘kid miller’ ( see Kitz + Muller ), a nickname for a miller who kept goats; alternatively, the first element may be from a personal name formed with the Germanic element Gid-, cognate with Old English gidd ‘song’.
KixEnglish (Rare) Location name from one of two rivers in West Yorkshire called Kex.
KleberGerman, English (American) Derived from German kleben "to bind, to stick", hence an occupational name for someone who applied clay daub or whitewash on buildings.
KnappEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a hillock, Middle English "nappe, Old English cnæpp, or habitational name from any of the several minor places named with the word, in particular Knapp in Hampshire and Knepp in Sussex.
KnatchbullEnglish A nickname from Old English knatch "to strike" + bull "bull", indicating strength.
KnightonEnglish English surname which was derived from a place name composed of the Old English elements cnihta meaning "servant, retainer" (genitive plural of cniht) and tun "enclosure, settlement".
KnipeEnglish Habitational name derived from Old Norse gnípa "steep rock, cliff, overhang".
KnockEnglish Topographic name for someone living by a hill, from Middle English knocke "hill" (Old English cnoc).
KnollEnglish, German, Jewish English and German topographic name for someone living near a hilltop or mountain peak, from Middle English knolle ‘hilltop’, ‘hillock’ (Old English cnoll), Middle High German knol ‘peak’... [more]
KnopflerEnglish, German Derived from Knopf (German for "button"), this surname was originally given to button makers or button sellers. A famous bearer of this surname is English musician Mark Knopfler (1949-).
LailEnglish (American) Americanized form of German Lehl or Loehl. In either case, the name is a spelling variant of Lehle or Löhle, pet forms of the personal name Leonhardt.
LaithenEnglish English habitational name from any of various places so called, for example in Lancashire (near Blackpool) and in North Yorkshire. The former was named in Old English as ‘settlement by the watercourse’, from Old English lad ‘watercourse’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’; the latter as ‘leek enclosure’ or ‘herb garden’, from leac ‘leek’ + tun... [more]
LaityEnglish Nickname for a trustworthy person, from Old French léauté ‘loyalty’ (Latin legalitas, a derivative of legalis ‘legal’, ‘by law’).
LakeEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a stream, Old English lacu, or a habitational name from a place named with this word, for example in Wiltshire and Devon. Modern English lake (Middle English lake) is only distantly related, if at all; it comes via Old French from Latin lacus... [more]
LammasEnglish Lammas is a surname from the village Lamarsh in Essex, England.
LammersEnglish Habitational name from either Lamas in Norfolk or Lamarsh in Essex, derived from Old English lām "loam, clay" combined with ersc "plowed field" or mersc "marsh".
LamshedEnglish Surname common in Australia & the UK. A variation of Lambshead which was originally a mis-spelling of Lambside which was the area from which the family originated in Pommyland. Other variations include Lambshed, Lamshead, Lammyside and Lamesta... [more]
LancashireEnglish Shire of Lancaster; One who came from Lancashire, a county in the North of England.
LancasterEnglish From the name of a city in northwestern England derived from Middle English Loncastre, itself from Lon referring to an ancient Roman fort on the River Lune combined with Old English ceaster meaning "city, town".
LandEnglish, German Topographic name from Old English land, Middle High German lant, "land, territory". This had more specialized senses in the Middle Ages, being used to denote the countryside as opposed to a town or an estate.
LangfieldEnglish Habitational name for someone originally from any of the various locations in England named Langfield, from Old English lang meaning "long" and feld meaning "field".
LanghorneEnglish From Middle English lang "long" and horn "horn". Can be a habitational name from a place named with the elements, with horn used in the sense of a promontory or extending piece of land... [more]
LangtryEnglish From the Old English ‘lang’, meaning long, and ‘treow’, meaning tree. The name of several settlements across England.
LangwadeEnglish From an English village Langmead, in the county of Devon. It was used to refer to those individuals who lived at the lang-mead, which literally means "the long meadow".
LanierFrench, English Occupational name designating one who worked in the wool trade (see Lane 2), derived from Old French lanier (ultimately from laine) meaning "wool", or for a keeper of donkeys, from Old French asnier literally "donkey keeper, donkey driver"... [more]
LansingEnglish Derived from the name of Lancing, a place in West Sussex, which was composed of the Old English personal name Wlanc and -ingas meaning "family of" or "followers of".
LapishEnglish (British) Derives from the surname Lapage, referring to a "law-page", that is, someone who worked as a servant.
LaplanderEnglish A surname referring to someone who had immigrated from Lapland, northern Scandinavia.
LapsleyScottish, English, Medieval English Combination of Old English læppa ”end of a parish” and leah ”woodland clearing”. Another meaning could be possible.
LaramieEnglish From the French la ramée "the small wood, the arbour".
LargeFrench, English Originally a nickname derived from Middle English and Old French large "generous".
LarkEnglish From the name of the bird, a nickname for a singer or a cheerful person, or perhaps someone who caught and sold larks. Alternatively, could be a shortened form of the personal name Larkin.
LarterEnglish Uncertain etymology. Possibly a variant of the French Habitational surname Latour. Other theories connect it to Old Teutonic lahtro "place where animals bear young", or to Old English lyrt "liar, deceiver; crooked", though the latter is unlikely.
LasterEnglish Occupational name for a shoemaker, or for someone who made lasts, a wooden tool in the shape of a foot used for stretching and shaping leather when making boots.
LatimerEnglish English occupational name for a clerk who could translate documents to and from Latin and/or other languages, from Anglo-Norman French latinier, latim(m)ier.
LaughtonEnglish Habitational name from any of the numerous places in England so called. Most of them, as for example those in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (near Gainsborough), Sussex, and West Yorkshire, are named with Old English leac ‘leek’ + tun ‘enclosure’... [more]
LaunderEnglish From English launder, itself from French lavandier both meaning "washerman".
LavenderEnglish, Dutch Occupational name for a washerman or launderer, Old French, Middle Dutch lavendier (Late Latin lavandarius, an agent derivative of lavanda "washing", "things to be washed"). The term was applied especially to a worker in the wool industry who washed the raw wool or rinsed the cloth after fulling... [more]
LaverEnglish Occupational name for a washer, from French laveur (see Lavers). Also the name of a parish in Essex, England.
LaverickEnglish Derived from Old English lāferce meaning "lark", making it a cognate of Lark.
LaversEnglish English (chiefly Devon and Cornwall): Medieval English and occupational, from pre-10th century Old French "lavandier". Introduced by the Normans after 1066, originally described a worker in the wool industry, and was a metonymic or nickname for a person employed to wash raw wool or rinse the cloth after fulling... [more]
LawfordEnglish From any of several places in England called Lawford, derived from the personal name Lealla (cognate with Old High German Lallo), and ford "ford, river crossing".
LawtonEnglish Habitational name, common in Lancashire and Yorkshire, from Buglawton or Church Lawton in Cheshire, or Lawton in Herefordshire, named in Old English as ‘settlement on or near a hill’, or ‘settlement by a burial mound’, from hlaw ‘hill’, ‘burial mound’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’... [more]
LaybournEnglish Habitational name from Leyburn in North Yorkshire, High Leybourne in Godalming in Surrey, or Leybourne in Kent. The North Yorkshire name may derive from Old English hlēg “shelter” and burna “spring, stream”... [more]
LaycockEnglish The name comes from a small village in England called "Laycock" and has something to do with "the place of the birds."... [more]
LearEnglish Means (i) "person from Leire", Leicestershire ("place on the river Leire", a river-name that may also be the ancestor of Leicestershire); or (ii) "person from Lear", any of several variously spelled places in northern France with a name based on Germanic lār "clearing"... [more]
LearnEnglish (American) The surname Learn is traced to an 18th-century settler and his family who lived in what is now Tannersville, Pa. It is an Anglicized version of the Germanic "Loehrner," which name the settler and his family also used.
LeatherEnglish, Scottish A metonymic occupational name for a leatherworker or seller of leather goods, and derived from Middle English and Old English lether meaning "leather".
LeavisEnglish Possibly from the Gallo-Roman name Laevius meaning "left", related to Levy.
LeckeyScottish, English, Irish Originally Scottish, but also found in England, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Possibly derives from the barony of Leckie (meaning "place of flagstones", from Gaelic leac, "flagstone") in Stirlingshire.
LedgerEnglish From the given name Leodegar or Legier. Alternatively, could be an occupational name for a stonemason, ultimately derived from Old English lecgan "to put, place, lay (down)".
LeedsEnglish From the city of Leeds in Yorkshire. The name was first attested in the form Loidis in AD 731. In the Domesday Book of 1086, it is recorded as 'Ledes'. This name is thought to have ultimately been derived from an earlier Celtic name... [more]