English Submitted Surnames

English names are used in English-speaking countries. See also about English names.
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Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
DOBELL English (Australian)
Sir William. 1899–1970, Australian portrait and landscape painter. Awarded the Archibald prize (1943) for his famous painting of Joshua Smith which resulted in a heated clash between the conservatives and the moderns and led to a lawsuit.
DOBSON English, Scottish
Patronymic from the personal name Dobbe. This is also established in Ireland, notably County Leitrim.
DOBY English
From a diminutive of the given name Dob or Dobbe, itself a medieval diminutive of Robert (one of several rhyming nicknames of Robert in which the initial letter was altered; compare Hobbs).
DOCKER English
Docker is a locational surname from Docker, Westmoreland and Docker, Lancashire. May also refer to the occupation of dockers.
DODDS English
From dod, meaning "something rounded" in German.
DODGE English
Possibly a nickname from Middle English dogge "dog" (Old English docga, dogga).
DODGEN English
From a pet form of Dogge (see Dodge).
DODGSON English
Patronymic form of Dodge.
DODSON English (British)
Means "son of Dodd" (see DUDDA).
DOE English
An English nickname for a gentle person from the word for a female deer. Originally a female first name transferred to use as a surname. Well known in American law as a hypothetical surname for a person unnamed in legal proceedings, as in Jane Doe or John Doe.
DOGG English
From the word dog this is the stage surname of American rapper Snoop Dogg born Calvin Broadus Jr. (b. 1971)
DOLE English, Irish (Anglicized)
English: from Middle English dole ‘portion of land’ (Old English dal ‘share’, ‘portion’). The term could denote land within the common field, a boundary mark, or a unit of area; so the name may be of topographic origin or a status name... [more]
DOLL South German, German, English
South German: nickname from Middle High German tol, dol ‘foolish’, ‘mad’; also ‘strong’, ‘handsome’.... [more]
DOLLANGANGER English
The name of the family in the Dollanganger series by V.C. Andrews.
DOLLAR Scottish, English (American)
Scottish: habitational name from Dollar in Clackmannanshire.... [more]
DOLPHIN English, Irish
Derived from the Old Norse personal name Dólgfinnr.
DOME English
Occupational name from the Old English root doma, dema ‘judge’, ‘arbiter’. Compare Dempster.
DONSON English
Means "son of Don
DOOLITTLE English
From a medieval nickname applied to a lazy man (from Middle English do "do" + little "little"). It was borne by the American poet Hilda Doolittle (1886-1961). A fictional bearer is Eliza Doolittle, the flower seller in Bernard Shaw's 'Pygmalion' (1913); and a variant spelling was borne by Dr Dolittle, the physician who had the ability to talk to animals, in the series of books written by Hugh Lofting from 1920.
DORMAN English
From the Old English personal name Deormann, composed of Old English deor (see Dear) + mann 'man'. This surname became established in Ireland in the 17th century; sometimes it is found as a variant of Dornan.
DORN German, German (Austrian), Dutch, Flemish, English
Means "thorn" in German.
DOSSAT English, Scottish
Possibly from French origins (used predominantly in Louisiana in the United States).
DOSSETT English
Recorded in several forms including Dowsett, Dosset, and Dossit, this is an English surname. ... [more]
DOUGHTY English
Doughty. This interesting surname of English origin is a nickname for a powerful or brave man, especially a champion jouster, deriving from the Middle English "doughty", Olde English pre 7th Century dohtig dyhtig meaning "valiant" or "strong"... [more]
DOW Scottish, Irish, English, Dutch (Anglicized), German (Anglicized)
Scottish (also found in Ireland): reduced form of McDow. This surname is borne by a sept of the Buchanans.... [more]
DOWNARD English
Downard comes from England as a diminutive of Downhead in Somerset and Donhead in Wiltshire.
DOWNS English
This surname is derived from the Old English element dun meaning "hill, mountain, moor." This denotes someone who lives in a down (in other words, a ridge of chalk hills or elevated rolling grassland).
DOWRICK English
This name is found fairy widely in Cornwall, England.
DOWSON English
Either a patronymic surname derived from the given name Dow, a medieval variant of Daw (which was a diminutive of David), or else a metronymic form of the medieval feminine name Dowce, literally "sweet, pleasant", from Old French dolz, dous (cf... [more]
DRAGON French, English
Nickname or occupational name for someone who carried a standard in battle or else in a pageant or procession, from Middle English, Old French dragon "snake, monster" (Latin draco, genitive draconis, from Greek drakōn, ultimately from derkesthai "to flash")... [more]
DRAKEFORD English
The first element of this locational surname is probably derived from the personal name Draca or Draki (see Drake), while the second element is derived from Old English ford meaning "ford"... [more]
DRANSFIELD English
Means "Drains the fields".
DRAY English
From Middle English dregh, probably as a nickname from any of its several senses: "lasting", "patient", "slow", "tedious", "doughty". Alternatively, in some cases, the name may derive from Old English drýge "dry, withered", also applied as a nickname.
DRAYDEN English
It means man whore straight up man whore and a dick.
DRAYTON English
I had a maternal grandfather with the surname Drayton who came from Shrewsbury, Shropshire but cannot find any reference.
DRING English
Means "young man" (from Old Norse drengr).
DRIVER English
Occupational name for a driver of horses or oxen attached to a cart or plow, or of loose cattle, from a Middle English agent derivative of Old English drīfan ‘to drive’.
DRUMMER English
Locational name from a place called Drummer, near Chadderton in Lancashire. The meaning is possibly from the pre 7th century Olde English 'drum' meaning "a ridge".
DRURY English, French, Irish
Originally a Norman French nickname, derived from druerie "love, friendship" (itself a derivative of dru "lover, favourite, friend" - originally an adjective, apparently from a Gaulish word meaning "strong, vigourous, lively", but influenced by the sense of the Old High German element trut, drut "dear, beloved").... [more]
DRYDEN English
Possibly from an English place name meaning "dry valley" from the Old English elements drȳġe "dry" and denu "valley". A notable bearer was the English poet, literary critic, translator and playwright John Dryden (1631-1700).
DRYER English
From an agent derivative of Old English dr̄gean "to dry"; possibly an occupational name for a drier of cloth. In the Middle Ages, after cloth had been dyed and fulled, it was stretched out in tenterfields to dry.
DUCHESNE French, English
Variant of Duchêne. From the old French chesne meaning "oak", denoted a person who lived near an oak tree or an oak forest.
DUCK English, Irish
English from Middle English doke, hence a nickname for someone with some fancied resemblance to a duck or a metonymic occupational name for someone who kept ducks or for a wild fowler. ... [more]
DUCKWORTH English
Habitational name from Duckworth Fold, in the borough of Bury, Lancashire, which is named from Old English fuce "duck" and wor{dh} "enclosure".
DUDDRIDGE English
It is locational from a "lost" medieval village probably called Doderige, since that is the spelling in the first name recording (see below). It is estimated that some three thousand villages and hamlets have disappeared from the maps of Britain over the past thousand years... [more]
DUFFIELD English
The meaning is dove field or open country. It's origin is the Yorkshire area named after a few places there.... [more]
DUGGAN Scottish, Irish, English
Scottish and Irish variant spelling of Dugan. ... [more]
DUMBLEDORE English (?), Literature, Popular Culture
This is the surname of Albus Dumbledore, a major character in the Harry Potter-universe created by English author J. K. Rowling.
DUMMITT English
Habitational name from Dumart-en-Ponthieu in Somme, France.
DUNFORD English
Derived either from Dunford Bridge in Yorkshire (named after the River Don and the English word “Ford”), or from Dunford House in Yorkshire (named after “Dunn’s Ford”). One known bearer is US General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
DUNNE Irish, English, Scottish
This surname means dark and was likely given to those with a dark complexion or with dark hair.
DURDEN English
A different form of Dearden. A fictional bearer is Tyler Durden, a character from Chuck Palahniuk's 'Fight Club' (1996) and its subsequent film adaptation (1999).
DURHAM English
Denotes a person from either the town of Durham, or elsewhere in County Durham, in England. Durham is derived from the Old English element dun, meaning "hill," and the Old Norse holmr, meaning "island."
DURWARD English, Scottish (?)
Means "guardian of the door, door-keeper" (cf. Durward). A fictional bearer of the surname is Quentin Durward, eponymous hero of the novel (1823) by Sir Walter Scott.
DUTTON English
habitational name from any of the places called Dutton, especially those in Cheshire and Lancashire. The first of these is named from Old English dun ‘hill’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’; the second is from Old English personal name Dudd + Old English tun.
DUXBURY English
Habitational name from a place in Lancashire, recorded in the early 13th century as D(e)ukesbiri, from the genitive case of the Old English personal name Deowuc or Duc(c) (both of uncertain origin) + Old English burh ‘fort’ (see Burke).
DYE English, Welsh
English: from a pet form of the personal name Dennis. In Britain the surname is most common in Norfolk, but frequent also in Yorkshire. Welsh is also suggested, but 1881 and UK both show this as an East Anglian name - very few in Wales.
DYLAN English
From the given name Dylan.
EADE English (British, ?)
Originally derived from the Old English Eadwig, which meant "prosperity / fortune in war." Surname found mainly in Scotland and northern England. Americanized spelling of Norwegian Eide. Also see the similar given names: Adam, Edwy, Eda, and Edith.
EAGLE English
Nickname for a lordly, impressive, or sharp-eyed man, from Middle English egle "eagle" (from Old French aigle, from Latin aquila).
EAGLEBURGER English (American)
Americanized form of German Adelberger, a habitational name for someone from a place called Adelberg near Stuttgart.
EALEY English
Variant of ELY.
EAMES English
Probably from the possessive case of the Middle English word eam ‘uncle’, denoting a retainer in the household of the uncle of some important local person. Possibly also a variant of Ames.
EARENFIGHT English
appears in early American history in Pennsylvania and New Jerssey. Jacob Earenfight fought in the Battle of Princeton in the American Revolutionary War.
EARHART English (American)
Americanized spelling of German Ehrhardt.
EARLY Irish, English, American, German
Irish: translation of Gaelic Ó Mocháin (see Mohan; Gaelic moch means ‘early’ or ‘timely’), or of some other similar surname, for example Ó Mochóir, a shortened form of Ó Mochéirghe, Ó Maoil-Mhochéirghe, from a personal name meaning ‘early rising’.... [more]
EARNSHAW English
Means "person from Earnshaw", Lancashire ("Earn's nook of land" - Earn from an Old English personal name meaning literally "eagle"). In fiction this surname is borne by Catherine Earnshaw, her brother Hindley and her nephew Hareton, characters in Emily Brontë's 'Wuthering Heights' (1847).
EAST English
This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "east", east, and is topographical for someone who lived in the eastern part of a town or settlement, or outside it to the east... [more]
EASTBURN English
Habitational name from either of two places, one in Humberside and one in West Yorkshire, so named from Old English ēast, ēasten "east" and burna "stream".
EASTERBROOK English
Topographic name for someone who lived by a brook to the east of a main settlement, from Middle English easter meaning "eastern" + brook meaning "stream".
EASTLEY English
A Saxon village called East Leah has been recorded to have existed since 932 AD. (Leah is an ancient Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'a clearing in a forest'). There is additional evidence of this settlement in a survey from the time which details land in North Stoneham being granted by King Æthelstan to his military aid, Alfred in 932 AD... [more]
EATHERTON English
Probably a variant spelling of Atherton.
EBEN English
Meaning unknown. It could be from the given name Eden, from the place name Eden, meaning "Place Of Pleasure".
EBENEEZER English
Obtained from the given name Ebenezer
ECHELBARGER English (American)
Americanized spelling of German Eichelberger.
ECKLAND English (Rare), Norwegian (Anglicized, Rare, Expatriate), Swedish (Anglicized, Expatriate)
Possibly a variant of Ecklund. It might also be an anglicization of the rare Swedish surname Ekland or of a Norwegian name derived from several farmsteads named with eik "oak" and land "land".
ECKLUND English
English spelling of Swedish EKLUND.
EDGE English
Topographic name, especially in Lancashire and the West Midlands, for someone who lived on or by a hillside or ridge, from Old English ecg "edge".
EDGELL English
Probably derived from the Old English given name Ecgwulf.
EDGELY English
A surname of Anglo-Saxon origin, and a place name taken from either a village in Cheshire or one in Shropshire. The name means “park by the wood” in Old English.
EDGERLY English
Habitational name from any of numerous minor places named Edgerley, Edgerely, or Hedgerley.
EDGERTON English
From a place name meaning either "settlement of Ecghere" or "settlement of Ecgheard" (see Ekkehard).
EDMEADES English
Meant "son of Edmede", from a medieval nickname for a self-effacing person (literally "humble", from Old English ēadmēde "easy mind").
EDMISON English, Scottish
Patronymic surname meaning “Son of Edmund!”.
EDMUNDS English, Welsh
Patronymic from the personal name Edmund (see Edmond).
EDMUNDSON English
Means "son of Edmund".
EDSON English
Patronymic or metronymic from Eade.
EFRON English
Meaning unknown. This surname is famously used by actor Zac Efron.
EGGLESTON English
Habitational name from a place in County Durham so called, or from Egglestone in North Yorkshire, both named in Old English as Egleston, probably from the Old English personal name Ecgel (unattested) + tūn ‘settlement’, ‘farmstead’.
ELAM English
English habitational name for someone from a place called Elham, in Kent, or a lost place of this name in Crayford, Kent. The first is derived from Old English el ‘eel’ + ham ‘homestead’ or hamm ‘enclosure hemmed in by water’... [more]
ELDEN English
Variant of Eldon.
ELDON English
Habitation name from the Old English personal name Ella- and -don from dun meaning "hill."
ELESTIAL English (British, Modern, Rare)
First used as a surname in September 2000, first appearing on a birth certificate in July 2009. Meaning "protected by angels"; the origin is an adopted surname from a type of quartz crystal, often referred to as a new millennium crystal... [more]
ELIAS Greek, Catalan, Portuguese, English, Welsh, German, Dutch, Jewish
Derived from the medieval given name Elias. Compare Ellis.
ELKINS English
Patronymic of Elkin.
ELLENDER English
English variant of Allender.
ELLENS English
Metronymic from Ellen (1).
ELLINGHAM English
Habitational name from places so named in Hampshire, Northumbria, and Norfolk. The first of these is named from Old English Edlingaham ‘homestead (Old English ham) of the people of Edla’, a personal name derived from a short form of the various compound names with a first element ead ‘prosperity’, ‘fortune’; the others may have the same origin or incorporate the personal name Ella (see Ellington).
ELLINGTON English
English habitational name from places in Cambridgeshire, Kent, Northumbria, and North Yorkshire; most are so named from Old English Ellingtun ‘settlement (Old English tun) associated with Ella’, a short form of the various compound names with a first element ælf ‘elf’, but the one in Kent has its first element from the Old English byname Ealda meaning ‘old’.
ELMORE English
An English habitational name from Elmore in Gloucestershire, named from Old English elm ‘elm’ + ofer ‘river bank’ or ofer ‘ridge’.
ELPHEE English
Derived from the Old English given name Ælfwig.
ELRIC English, Anime
From the medieval English givin name Elric. Notable bearers were the Fullmetal Alchemist characters Edward and Alphonse Elric, as well as their mother, Trisha Elric.
ELSEGOOD English (British), English (Australian)
Derived from an Old English given name, possibly *Ælfgod or *Æðelgod, in which the second element is god "god". (Another source gives the meaning "temple-god", presumably from ealh and god.)... [more]
ELTRINGHAM English (British)
Meaning homestead
ELWELL English
Means "person from Elwell", Dorset (probably "spring from which omens can be read").
ELWOOD English
It's either from a place name in Gloucestershire, England called Ellwood that is derived from Old English ellern "elder tree" and wudu "wood", or a form of the Old English personal name Ælfweald, composed of the elements ælf "elf" and weald "rule".
EMBRY English, Scottish
ember, smoldering fire
EMERY English, French, Norman
English and French from a Germanic personal name, Emaurri, composed of the elements amja ‘busy’, ‘industrious’ + ric ‘power’. The name was introduced into England from France by the Normans... [more]
EMMER English
Derived from a nickname for EMERSON
EMMERLY English
From the given name Amalric.
EMORY English, Irish
English variant spelling of Emery.
EMSLEY English
A name that came from a family that lived in Yorkshire, where they derived the family name from Helmsley. Probably of Old English origin Helm and ley or leah, which means "a clearing in the woods."
ENFIELD English
Place in England. Like Uxbridge.
ENGELBERT German, English, French
From a Germanic personal name composed of engel (see Engel) + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’. The widespread popularity of the name in France during the Middle Ages was largely a result of the fact that it had been borne by a son-in-law of Charlemagne; in the Rhineland it was more often given in memory of a bishop of Cologne (1216–25) of this name, who was martyred.
ENGLUND Swedish, English
Combination of Swedish äng "meadow" and lund "grove".
ENSIGN English
From the military rank.
ERLAND English
Derived from the Swedish given name Erland.
ESTES Welsh, Spanish, English
a popular surname derived from the House of Este. It is also said to derive from Old English and have the meaning "of the East." As a surname, it has been traced to southern England in the region of Kent, as early as the mid-16th century.
ETCHEBERRY Basque, English
From Basque etxe (house) and berri (new).
ETHERINGTON English (British)
An Old English surname from Kent, the village of Etherington, which derives from the Old English "Ethel"red' ing (meaning people of, coming from) and "ton" a town/village.
EUBANKS English
Topographic name for someone who lived by a bank of yew trees, from Old English iw "yew" and bank "bank".
EVE English
Possibly from the given name Eve.
EVEREST English
Surname of Norman origin, introduced into England after the Conquest of 1066, and is a locational name from "Evreux" in Eure, Normandy. The place is so called from having apparently been the capital of the "Eburovices", a Gaulish tribe.
EVERSON English
Patronymic from the personal name Ever. See also Evers.
EVERTON English
Habitational name from any of various places, in Bedfordshire, Merseyside, and Nottinghamshire, so named from Old English eofor ‘wild boar’ + tun ‘settlement’.
EVESHAM English
Derived from the Old English homme or ham and Eof, the name of a swineherd in the service of Egwin, third bishop of Worcester.
EWELL English
Habitation name from the town of Ewell in Surrey or from Temple Ewell or Ewell Manor, both in Kent or Ewell Minnis near Dover. Originally from Old English Aewill meaning "river source" or "spring".
EYRE English
Derived from Middle English eyer, eir "heir", originally denoting a man who was designated to inherit or had already inherited the main property in a particular locality. The surname was borne by the heroine of Charlotte Brontë's 'Jane Eyre' (1847).
FACKRELL English
It means woodcutter
FAILOR English (American)
Americanized spelling of German Failer or Fehler, variants of Feiler.
FAIR English, Irish
English: nickname meaning ‘handsome’, ‘beautiful’, ‘fair’, from Middle English fair, fayr, Old English fæger. The word was also occasionally used as a personal name in Middle English, applied to both men and women.... [more]
FAIRBROTHER English
From a medieval nickname probably meaning either "better-looking of two brothers" or "brother of a good-looking person", or perhaps in some cases "father's brother".
FAIREY English
Either (i) meant "person from Fairy Farm or Fairyhall", both in Essex (Fairy perhaps "pigsty"); or (ii) from a medieval nickname meaning "beautiful eye". This was borne by Fairey Aviation, a British aircraft company, producer of the biplane fighter-bomber Fairey Swordfish... [more]
FAIRFAX English
From a medieval nickname for someone with beautiful hair, from Old English fæger "fair" and feax "hair". It was borne by the English general Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Baron Fairfax of Cameron (1612-1671), commander of the Parliamentary army during the Civil War... [more]
FAIRWEATHER English, Scottish
Nickname for a person with a sunny temperament.
FALKE English
Variant of Falk
FALKNER English
Variant spelling of Faulkner.
FALLOW English, Jewish
English: topographic name for someone who lived by a patch of fallow land, Middle English falwe (Old English f(e)alg). This word was used to denote both land left uncultivated for a time to recover its fertility and land recently brought into cultivation.... [more]
FANCOURT English
Derived from the English surname Fancourt, which originated in the county of Bedfordshire in England.
FANE English
From a medieval nickname for a well-disposed person (from Old English fægen "glad, willing"), or from a medieval Welsh nickname for a slim person (Welsh fain). This is the family name of the earls of Westmorland.
FANSHAWE English
Meant "person from Featherstonehaugh", Northumberland (now known simply as "Featherstone") ("nook of land by the four-stones", four-stones referring to a prehistoric stone structure known technically as a "tetralith")... [more]
FANTHORPE English
Fan means "From France" and Thorpe is a Middle English word meaning "Small Village, Hamlet"
FARADAY English
From an English surname meaning "servant of Fair", Fair being derived from Old English fæger used as a personal name.
FARAND English (Canadian), French (Quebec)
Derived from the given name FARIMOND or from the French word ferrer meaning "to be clad in iron" or "to shoe a horse".
FARMAN English
(i) from an Old Norse personal name denoting literally a seafarer or travelling trader, brought into English via French; (ii) "itinerant trader, pedlar", from Middle English fareman "traveller"
FARRAR English (British)
Northern English: occupational name for a smith or worker in iron, from Middle English and Old French farrour, ferour, from medieval Latin ferrator, an agent derivative of ferrare ‘to shoe horses’, from ferrum ‘iron’, in medieval Latin ‘horseshoe’... [more]
FARRIMOND English
From Faramund, a Norman personal name of Germanic origin.
FARROW English
Northern English: hyper-corrected form of FARRAR, occupational name for a smith or worker in iron. The original -ar or -er ending of this name came to be regarded as an error, and was changed to -ow.
FARTHING English
(i) "someone who lives on a 'farthing' of land" (i.e. a quarter of a larger area); (ii) from a medieval nickname based on farthing "1/4 penny", perhaps applied to someone who paid a farthing in rent; (iii) from the Old Norse male personal name Farthegn, literally "voyaging warrior"
FASTOLF English
From the Old Norse male personal name Fastúlfr, literally "strong wolf". It was borne by Sir John Fastolf (1380-1459), an English soldier whose name was adapted by Shakespeare as "Falstaff".
FAUCETT English
Locational surname from various British places: Fawcett in Cumberland, Facit in Lancashire, Forcett in North Yorkshire, or Fa’side Castle in East Lothian, Scotland. The linguistic origins of the name arise variously from, in Cumberland and Lancashire, "multi-coloured hillside" in 7th century Old English fag or fah, "brightly coloured, variegated, flowery" with side, "slope"; in North Yorkshire from Old English ford, "ford", and sete, "house, settlement"; or, reputedly, in East Lothian, "fox on a hillside"... [more]
FAWKES English
From the Norman personal name Faulques or Fauques, which was derived from a Germanic nickname meaning literally "falcon". A famous bearer of the surname was Guy Fawkes (1570-1606), the English Catholic conspirator... [more]
FAYE French, English
Refers to one who came from Fay or Faye (meaning "beech tree") in France.
FAYRE English
Variation of Fair.
FAZAKERLEY English
Means "person from Fazakerley", Liverpool ("glade by the borderland").
FEATHERSTONHAUGH English
Indicates a person lived in or near Featherstonhaugh in Northumberland, England. From Old English feðere "feather", stān "stone", and healh "corner."
FELKER English
The surname Felker was a patronymic surname, created from a form of the medieval personal name Philip. It was also a habitational name from a place name in Oxfordshire. Forms of the name such as de Filking(es) are found in this region from the 12th and 13th centuries.
FELL English
From Middle English fell ”high ground”, ultimately derived from Old Norse fjall, describing one who lived on a mountain.
FELL English, German, Jewish
Metonymic occupational name for a furrier, from Middle English fell, Middle High German vel, or German Fell or Yiddish fel, all of which mean "skin, hide, pelt". Yiddish fel refers to untanned hide, in contrast to pelts "tanned hide" (see Pilcher).
FELLER English, German, Jewish
Occupational name for a furrier, from an agent derivative of Middle English fell, Middle Low German, Middle High German vel, or German Fell or Yiddish fel "hide, pelt". See also Fell.
FELLOWS English
English: patronymic from Fellow, from Middle English felagh, felaw late Old English feolaga ‘partner’, ‘shareholder’ (Old Norse félagi, from fé ‘fee’, ‘money’ + legja to lay down)... [more]
FELTON English
A habitation name composed of the elements feld-, meaning "field or pasture" and -tun, meaning "settlement."
FENIMORE English
From a medieval nickname meaning literally "fine love" (from Old French fin amour).
FENLEY English
This surname may be:... [more]
FENNER English
A surname of either Old French origin, allegedly meaning “huntsman”, or else more probably referring to those who were brought over from the Low Countries to assist in draining the “fens” or wetlands of England and Ireland – a process which lasted from the 9th to the 18th centuries.
FENNING English
Topographic name for a fen dweller, from a derivative of Old English fenn (see Fenn).
FENWAY English
Meaning, "through the fens," itself meaning, "through the marsh."
FENWICK English
Means "person from Fenwick", Northumberland, Strathclyde and Yorkshire ("dairy farm in fenland"). The name is pronounced as "Fennick". It belongs to a chain of department stores, founded in Newcastle in 1882 by John Fenwick (1846-1905).
FERRAND French, English
This French surname can be derived from a given name (thus making it a patronymic surname) as well as from a nickname (thus making it a descriptive surname). In the case of a patronymic surname, the surname is derived from the medieval French masculine given name Ferrand, which was a variant form of the name Fernand, itself a contraction of Ferdinand.... [more]
FETT English
Nickname from Old French fait, Middle English fet meaning "suitable", "comely".
FEVEREL English
From a Middle English form of February, probably used as a nickname either for someone born in that month or for someone with a suitably frosty demeanor. In fiction, this surname was borne by the central character of George Meredith's novel 'The Ordeal of Richard Feverel' (1859).
FEY German, English, French, Danish
English: variant of Fay. ... [more]
FFELAN English
Anglisized version of the Gaelic Ó Faoláin meaning "descendent of Faolán", a given name meaning "wolf".
FIANDER English (British)
The Fiander surname may have it's origins in Normandy, France (possibly from the old-French "Vyandre"), but is an English (British) surname from the Dorset county region. The Fiander name can also be found in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, Canada the origins of which can be traced back to the mid-1700's in the village of Milton Abbas, Dorsetshire.
FIELD English, Scottish, Irish, Jewish (Anglicized)
English: topographic name for someone who lived on land which had been cleared of forest, but not brought into cultivation, from Old English feld ‘pasture’, ‘open country’, as opposed on the one hand to æcer ‘cultivated soil’, ‘enclosed land’ (see Acker) and on the other to weald ‘wooded land’, ‘forest’ (see Wald)... [more]
FIELDER English
Southern English from Middle English felder ‘dweller by the open country’.
FIELDHOUSE English
Topographic name for someone who lived in a house in open pasture land. Reaney draws attention to the form de Felhouse (Staffordshire 1332), and suggests that this may have become Fellows.
FIELDING English
Topographic name from an Old English felding ‘dweller in open country’.
FIELDMAN English
This surname most likely means, "Field Man", if it's not derived from the English words themselves.
FIFIELD English
Local. Has the same signification as Manorfield. Lands held in fee or fief, for which the individual pays service or owes rent.
FIGGIS English
From a medieval nickname for a trustworthy person (from the Anglo-Norman form of Old French fichais "loyal").
FILKINS English
Means either (i) "person from Filkins", Oxfordshire ("settlement of Filica's people"); or "son of Filkin", a medieval personal name meaning literally "little Phil", from Philip.
FILLERY English
From a medieval nickname derived from Anglo-Norman fitz le rei "son of the king" (see also Fitzroy), probably applied mainly (and ironically) to an illegitimate person or to someone who put on quasi-royal airs.
FINCH English
English: nickname from Middle English finch ‘finch’ (Old English finc). In the Middle Ages this bird had a reputation for stupidity. It may perhaps also in part represent a metonymic occupational name for someone who caught finches and sold them as songsters or for the cooking pot... [more]
FINCK English, German
From the German word for "finch" a type of bird
FINE English (?)
English nickname for a clever or elegant man, from Old French fin ‘fine’, ‘delicate’, ‘skilled’, ‘cunning’ (originally a noun from Latin finis ‘end’, ‘extremity’, ‘boundary’, later used also as an adjective in the sense ‘ultimate’, ‘excellent’).
FINGER English, German, Jewish
Probably applied as a nickname for a man who had some peculiarity of the fingers, such as possessing a supernumerary one or having lost one or more of them through injury, or for someone who was small in stature or considered insignificant... [more]
FINK German, Slovene, English, Jewish
Nickname for a lively or cheerful person, Jewish ornamental name derived from the Germanic word for "finch", and German translation of Slovene Šinkovec which is from šcinkovec or šcinkavec meaning "finch".
FIRMAN English, French
From a medieval personal name meaning "firm, resolute, strong man." Borne by early saints and bishops. First name variants Firman and Firmin. Expressed in Latin as Firminus.
FIRTH English, Scottish, Welsh
English and Scottish: topographic name from Old English (ge)fyrhþe ‘woodland’ or ‘scrubland on the edge of a forest’.... [more]
FISK English (British)
English (East Anglia): metonymic occupational name for a fisherman or fish seller, or a nickname for someone supposedly resembling a fish in some way, from Old Norse fiskr ‘fish’ (cognate with Old English fisc).
FISKE English, Norwegian
From the traditionally Norwegian habitational surname, from the Old Norse fiskr "fish" and vin "meadow". In England and Denmark it was a surname denoting someone who was a "fisherman" or earned their living from selling fish.
FITZHUGH English
English (Northamptonshire): Anglo-Norman French patronymic (see Fitzgerald) from the personal name Hugh.