Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
BOWDEN EnglishHabitational name from any of several places called Bowden or Bowdon, most of them in England. From Old English
boga "bow" and
dun "hill", or from Old English personal names
BUGA or
BUCGE combined with
dun.... [
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BOWDLER Flemish, EnglishOriginally de Boelare it evolved to Bowdler or Bowdle after Baldwin de Boelare came to England in 1105 & was given a lordship over Montgomery, Wales.
BOWE Medieval English, English, Irish (Anglicized)There are three possible sources of this surname, the first being that it is a metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of bows, a vital trade in medieval times before the invention of gunpowder, and a derivative of the Old English pre 7th Century 'boga', bow, from 'bugan' to bend... [
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BOWKER EnglishA surname of French origin, from the occupational term for 'butcher' (boucher). Some theories have it that it derives from OE 'bocer', meaning a scribe, but the former is more likely and is more widely affirmed.
BOWSER EnglishNickname from the Norman term of address beu sire ‘fine sir’, given either to a fine gentleman or to someone who made frequent use of this term of address.
BOWYER EnglishEnglish: occupational name for a maker or seller of bows (see
Bow), as opposed to an archer. Compare
BOWMAN.
BRADSHAW EnglishHabitational name from any of the places called Bradshaw, for example in Lancashire and West Yorkshire, from Old English
brad "broad" +
sceaga "thicket".
BRAGG English, WelshFrom a nickname for a cheerful or lively person, derived from Middle English
bragge meaning "lively, cheerful, active", also "brave, proud, arrogant".
BRAITHWAITE EnglishNorthern English habitational name from any of the places in Cumbria and Yorkshire named Braithwaite, from Old Norse
breiðr "broad" +
þveit "clearing".
BRALEY English (American)A New England variant spelling of Brailey. French: from a diminutive of Brael, from Old French braiel, a belt knotted at the waist to hold up breeches; presumably an occupational name for a maker of such belts... [
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BRAMAH EnglishFrom a place called either
Bramall, or
Bramhall formerly
Bromale. From old english
brom "broom" and
halh, "nook, recess"
BRAMBLE EnglishThis surname is taken from the word which refers to a common blackberry (British) or any of several closely related thorny plants in the Rubus genus (US). It also refers to any thorny shrub. The word is derived from Old English
bræmbel with a euphonic
-b- inserted from the earlier
bræmel or
brémel, which is then derived from Proto-Germanic
*bræmaz meaning "thorny bush."
BRANSBY English (British)English locational name from the village of Bransby in Lincolnshire. The place name is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Branzbi' and later (1115) as 'Brandesby'. These recordings showing that the derivation is from the Old Norse personal name
Brandr meaning "sword" and
byr, the whole meaning being "Brand's village" or "homestead"... [
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BRATHWAITE EnglishPlace-name derived from the
Old Norse words for a "broad clearing".
BRAUNERSHRITHER German, Dutch, EnglishThis name mean Leather (Tanned) Knight, or a fighter of leather armor, or in Dutch, Leather writer, one who branded print on leather
BRAYBROOKE EnglishFrom the name of the Northamptonshire village of Braybrooke, meaning "the broad brook."
BRAYTON EnglishDerived from the Old Norse name breithr meaning "broad", or the Old Norse personal name Breithi, combined with the Old English suffix
tun meaning "town, farmstead".
BREAKSPEAR EnglishFrom a medieval nickname for someone who had achieved notable success in jousts or in battle. Nicholas Breakspear (?1100-1159) was the original name of Pope Hadrian IV, the only English pope.
BREED EnglishHabitational name from any of various minor places, for example Brede in Sussex, named with Old English
brǣdu "breadth, broad place" (a derivative of
brād "broad").
BREEDLOVE EnglishProbably from a medieval nickname for a likable or popular person (from Middle English
breden "to produce" +
love). This surname is borne by Craig Breedlove (1937-), US land-speed record holder.
BRESSER EnglishThe surname is derived from the old English word brasian, meaning to make out of brass. This would indicate that the original bearer of the name was a brass founder by trade. The name is also derived from the old English Broesian which means to cast in brass and is the occupational name for a worker in brass.
BRETON French, EnglishFrench and English: ethnic name for a Breton, from Old French
bret (oblique case
breton) (see
BRETT).
BREWTON EnglishVariant spelling of the habitational name Bruton, from a place in Somerset, so named with a Celtic river name meaning 'brisk' + Old English tun 'farmstead'.
BREYETTE English (American)Of uncertain origin and meaning. First found in the United States around 1880. Self-taught artist Michael Breyette is a bearer of this surname
BRIERLEY EnglishOriginally derived from place names meaning "briar clearing", from a combination of Old English
brær (meanin "briar") and
leah.
BRIGGS English, FlemishThis surname is a variant of the more common name
BRIDGES, which, contrary to appearances, has two possible origins, one the perhaps obvious English topographical or occupational one, and the other locational, from Belgium... [
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BRIGHT EnglishFrom a Middle English nickname or personal name, meaning "bright, fair, pretty", from Old English
beorht "bright, shining".
BRINDLEY EnglishHabitational name from a place in England so named. From Old English
berned "burnt" and
leah "woodland clearing".
BRINSLEY EnglishFrom a place meaning "brun's clearing" or "brown clearing" with the elements
Brun
"brown" and
leah
"meadow, clearing".
BRINTON EnglishEnglish locational surname, taken from the town of the same name in Norfolk. The name means "settlement belonging to Brun" - the personal name coming from the
Old English word for "fire, flame".
BROADHEAD English1 English (Yorkshire): topographic name for someone who lived by a broad headland, i.e. a spur of a mountain, from Middle English brode ‘broad’ + heved ‘head’.... [
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BRODERICK Irish, Welsh, EnglishSurname which comes from two distinct sources. As a Welsh surname it is derived from
ap Rhydderch meaning "son of
RHYDDERCH". As an Irish surname it is an Anglicized form of
Ó Bruadair meaning "descendent of Bruadar"... [
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BROGDEN EnglishFrom the name of a place in West Yorkshire meaning "valley brook", from Old English
broc "brook" and
denu "valley".
BROMLEY EnglishHabitational name from any of the many places so called in England. Most of them derived from Old English
brom "broom" and
leah "woodland clearing".
BROOMBY EnglishA surname well represented in Cheshire, and Nottinghamshire.
BROOMFIELD EnglishFrom a place name meaning "gorse field", from Old English
brom "gorse" and
feld "field, open country".
BROUGHTON EnglishHabitational name from any of the many places so called in England. The first name element is derived from Old English
broc "brook",
burh "fortress", or
beorg "castle". The second element is derived from Old English
tun "settlement, dwelling".
BRUMBY EnglishEnglish habitational name from a place in Lincolnshire named Brumby, from the Old Norse personal name
BRÚNI or from Old Norse
brunnr "well" +
býr "farmstead, village".
BRUNEY EnglishFirst found in Languedoc, France, possibly meaning "brown."
BRUNTON English (Rare)From Old English
burna meaning "stream" and
tun, settlement; hence, "settlement by a stream".
BUCKINGHAM EnglishHabitational name from the former county seat of the county of Buckinghamshire, Old English
Buccingahamm "water meadow (Old English
hamm) of the people of (
-inga-)
Bucc(a)".
BUCKLAND EnglishHabitational name from any of the many places in southern England (including nine in Devon) named Buckland, from Old English
bōc "book" and
land "land", i.e. land held by right of a written charter, as opposed to
folcland, land held by right of custom.
BUCKMAN EnglishOccupational name for a goatherd (Middle English
bukkeman) or scholar (Old English
bucman "book man"). It could also be a shortened form of
BUCKINGHAM or a variant of
BUCKNAM.
BUDD EnglishOriginated from the Old English personal name Budda, from the word
budda, which means "beetle" or "to swell." Specifically of Celtic Welsh origin.
BUDGE EnglishNickname from Norman French
buge "mouth" (Late Latin
bucca), applied either to someone with a large or misshapen mouth or to someone who made excessive use of his mouth, i.e. a garrulous, indiscreet, or gluttonous person... [
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BUELTER German, EnglishMiddle European variant of Butler, also meaning "a vat or large trough used to contain wine." The name originated in southern Germany in the mid-seventeenth century.
BUGG EnglishFrom the Old Norse nickname
Buggi, literally "fat man", or from a medieval nickname for an eccentric or strangely behaved person (from Middle English
bugge "bogeyman, scarecrow").
BUGLASS EnglishPossibly from the Booklawes region near Melrose, Roxburgshire, originally spelt "Buke-Lawes" (lit. "buck/stag" combined with "low ground"); otherwise from the Gaelic words
buidhe - "yellow" and
glas - "green".
BULLIVANT EnglishFrom a medieval nickname for a "good chap" or amiable companion (from Old French
bon enfant, literally "good child").
BULSTRODE EnglishLocational surname referring to the medieval village of Bulstrode in Berkshire. ... [
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BUMPUS English(i) from a medieval nickname for a vigorous walker (from Old French
bon "good" +
pas "pace"); (ii) perhaps "person who lives by a place through which travel is easy" (from Old French
bon "good" +
pas "passage")
BUNCH EnglishEnglish: nickname for a hunchback, from Middle English bunche ‘hump’, ‘swelling’ (of unknown origin).
BUNDY English (American)This surname is most recognizable in North America as belonging to the serial killer named Ted Bundy who committed his crimes in the 1970s.
BURBAGE EnglishEnglish: habitational name from places in Wiltshire, Derbyshire, and Leicestershire, so named with Old English burh ‘fort’ + bæc ‘hill’, ‘ridge’ (dative bece).
BURBRIDGE EnglishEnglish: perhaps a variant of Burbage, altered by folk etymology, or possibly a habitational name from a lost place so named.
BURCHELL EnglishAn English surname derived from the village of Birkehill (also known as Biekel or Birtle). It means "birch hill".
BURGER English, German, DutchStatus name for a freeman of a borough. From Middle English
burg, Middle High German
burc and Middle Dutch
burch "fortified town". Also a German habitational name for someone from a place called Burg.
BURGESS English, ScottishDerived from the Middle English word
burge(i)s or the Old French
burgeis which both meant "inhabitant and (usually) freeman of a fortified town" (compare
BURKE).
BURKETT EnglishEnglish: from an Old English personal name,
BURGHEARD, composed of the elements burh, burg ‘fort’ (see
BURKE) + heard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’... [
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BURKINS EnglishEnglish variant of
BIRKIN,
Burkin, a habitational name from the parish of Birkin in West Yorkshire, so named with Old English
bircen ‘birch grove’, a derivative of
birce (see
BIRCH).
BURL EnglishOld English occupational name originally meaning "cup bearer" or "butler" for one who dispensed wine and had charge of the cellar. Eventually the name came to mean the chief servant of a royal or noble household and was replaced by the French language inspired named 'Butler,' akin to the world "bottler".
BURLEY EnglishEnglish habitation name from the elements
burh meaning "stronghold or fortified settlement" and
leah meaning "field or clearing".
BURLINGTON EnglishHabitational name from Bridlington in East Yorkshire, from Old English
Bretlintun meaning
BERHTEL's town.
BURNETT EnglishScottish and English: descriptive nickname from Old French burnete, a diminutive of brun "brown" (see
BROWN).
BURNEY English, IrishForm of the French place name of 'Bernay' or adapted from the personal name
BJORN, ultimately meaning "bear".
BURNLEY EnglishEnglish (Lancashire and Yorkshire): habitational name from Burnley in Lancashire, so named with the Old English river name Brun (from brun ‘brown’ or burna ‘stream’) + leah ‘woodland clearing’... [
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BURROUGHS EnglishTopographic 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)... [
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BURROW EnglishUsed to describe someone who lives in a burrow, which makes this surname’s meaning “he whom lives in a burrow.”
BURROWS EnglishVariant 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".
BUSBY EnglishHabitational 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 EnglishThis 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... [
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BUTTER English, German1. 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)... [
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BUTTERFIELD EnglishTopographic 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 EnglishFrom the insect Butterfly this Surname is borne by Star Butterfly from Star Vs. the forces of evil.
BUXTON English1. 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".... [
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BYAM EnglishProbably 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, EnglishScottish 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 EnglishEither a habitational name from a place named Byfield, or a topographic name for someone who lived near a field.
BYRE EnglishProbably derived from Old English
bȳre "farm, barn".
BYRON EnglishAn English place name, earlier Byram, from
byre, meaning "farm" and the suffix
-ham meaning "homestead". Famously borne by the aristocratic poet, Lord Byron.
BYTHESEA English (British)Habitational name for someone who lived near the sea, this name is nearly extinct in England today.
BYWATER EnglishThe surname Bywater came from the Anglo-Saxon origin and means ’dweller by the water‘
CABELL Catalan, English, GermanAs 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... [
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CABLE EnglishEnglish: 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’).... [
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CAESAR Ancient Roman, EnglishAn 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".
CAINE French, EnglishOriginally from a French derogatory nickname for someone with a bad temper.
CAKE EnglishFrom 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).
CALLENDER EnglishOccupational name for a person who finished freshly woven cloth by passing it between heavy rollers to compress the weave. From Old Franch
calandrier,
calandreur.
CAMM EnglishEnglish (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 EnglishFrom a medieval nickname for someone with a snub nose (from Old French
camus "snub nose").
CAMPER EnglishRespelling 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.
CANADA French, EnglishIt derives from the Middle English "cane", a development of the Old French "cane", meaning cane, reed.
CANDLIN EnglishDerived from the medieval English, male first name Gandelyn, of unknown meaning.
CANDY EnglishUnexplained.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.
CANT EnglishMeans "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 EnglishMeans "person from Canteleu, Canteloup, etc.", the name of various places in northern France ("song of the wolf").
CANTERBURY EnglishHabitational name from Canterbury in Kent, named in Old English as
Cantwaraburg "fortified town (
burgh) of the people (
wara) of Kent".
CAPEL EnglishFrom the Domesday Book of 1086, from the old French word 'capele' meaning chapel.
CAPLIN EnglishMeans "singer in a chantry chapel" (from Old Northern French
capelain, a variant of standard Old French
chapelain (cf.
CHAPLIN)).
CAPSHAW EnglishUnexplained. Perhaps a habitational name from Cadshaw near Blackburn, Lancashire, although the surname is not found in England.
CAPULET EnglishThis is the last name of Juliet from William Shakepeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet.
CARAWAY EnglishProbably means "spice merchant" (from Middle English
carewei "caraway").
CARBONELL EnglishFrom a medieval nickname for a dark-haired or swarthy person, from Anglo-Norman
carbonel, literally "little charcoal".
CARD EnglishEnglish: 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... [
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CARDWELL EnglishFrom 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 EnglishOccupational name for a locksmith, Middle English keyere, kayer, an agent derivative of keye.
CARISBROOK EnglishCarisbrooke 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.
CARLESS EnglishThis surname of English origin is found chiefly in the Western Midlands. It is a nickname for a carefree person, derived from Old English
caru meaning
care plus
leas, meaning "free from" or "without", hence "free from care".
CARMACK EnglishAnyone with information about this last name please edit.
CARNELL EnglishA crossbowman or archer who protected castles and fortresses.
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... [
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CARRELL EnglishEnglish: 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... [
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CARRINGTON English, ScottishEnglish: 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’.... [
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CARROW EnglishEnglish: 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’... [
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CARSTAIRS English (British)From the manor or barony of the same name in the parish of Carstairs (= 1170 Casteltarres, 'Castle of Tarres').
CASE EnglishFrom Anglo-Norman French
cas(s)e "case, container" (from Latin
capsa), hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of boxes or chests.
CASSEL English, French, GermanA 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... [
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CASSELL EnglishEither (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")... [
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CASTON EnglishA 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’.