BroderickIrish, Welsh, English Surname 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"... [more]
BrokerEnglish Name given to someone who worked as a broker, an agent for the sale and purchase of goods and services. Further research revealed that the name is derived from the Anglo-French word brocour, which has the same meaning as the English word broker
BromleyEnglish Habitational name from any of the many places so called in England. Most of them derived from Old English brom "broom" and leah "woodland clearing".
BroughEnglish Habitational name derived from any place called Brough, named with Old English burh "fortress" (compare English and Irish Burke).
BroughamEnglish From the parish of Brougham in Westmoreland, derived from Old English burg "stronghold" + ham "piece of land".
BroughtonEnglish Habitational 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".
BrumbyEnglish English 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".
BuckinghamEnglish Habitational 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)".
BucklandEnglish Habitational 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.
BuckmanEnglish Occupational 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.
BucknellEnglish From locations in Oxfordshire and Shropshire, England.
BuddEnglish Originated from the Old English personal name Budda, from the word budda, which means "beetle" or "to swell." Specifically of Celtic Welsh origin.
BudgeEnglish Nickname 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... [more]
BuelterGerman, English Middle 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.
BuffettFrench (Anglicized), English Americanised form or a variant of French Buffet, or probably an English variant of Bufford. Famous bearers of this name include the Americans Warren Buffett (1930-), a businessman, investor and philanthropist, and Jimmy Buffett (1946-), a musician.
BuggEnglish From 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").
BuglassEnglish Possibly 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".
BumpusEnglish (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")
BurbageEnglish English: habitational name from places in Wiltshire, Derbyshire, and Leicestershire, so named with Old English burh ‘fort’ + bæc ‘hill’, ‘ridge’ (dative bece).
BurbridgeEnglish English: perhaps a variant of Burbage, altered by folk etymology, or possibly a habitational name from a lost place so named.
BurgerEnglish, German, Dutch Status 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.
BurkettEnglish English: from an Old English personal name, Burgheard, composed of the elements burh, burg ‘fort’ (see Burke) + heard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’... [more]
BurkinsEnglish English 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).
BurlEnglish Old 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".
BurnleyEnglish English (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’... [more]
BurrEnglish, Scottish, German Nickname for a person who is difficult to shake off, derived from Middle English burr meaning "bur" (a seedhead that sticks to clothing). It could also be a derivation from Old English bur meaning "small dwelling, building", or a German topographic name derived from burre meaning "mound, hill"... [more]
BurridgeEnglish Derived from an English place name, derived from Old English burg "fortress, fortification, castle" and Old English hrycg, Old Norse hryggr "ridge" or from the name Burgric.
BurroughsEnglish Topographic 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)... [more]
BurrowEnglish Used to describe someone who lives in a burrow, which makes this surname’s meaning “he whom lives in a burrow.”
BurrowsEnglish Variant 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".
BurtsellEnglish (American) Habitational name from Burshill in East Yorkshire, so named with Old English bryst ‘landslip’, ‘rough ground’ + hyll ‘hill’.
BusbyEnglish Habitational 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.
BusfieldEnglish This 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... [more]
ButterEnglish, German 1. 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)... [more]
ButterfieldEnglish Topographic 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’.
ButterflyEnglish From the insect Butterfly this Surname is borne by Star Butterfly from Star Vs. the forces of evil.
BuxtonEnglish 1. 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".... [more]
ByamEnglish Probably means "person from Bytham", Lincolnshire ("homestead in a valley bottom"). Glen Byam Shaw (1904-1986) was a British theatre director.
BycraftEnglish (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.
ByersScottish, English Scottish 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.
ByfieldEnglish Either a habitational name from a place named Byfield, or a topographic name for someone who lived near a field.
ByronEnglish An English place name, earlier Byram, from byre, meaning "farm" and the suffix -ham meaning "homestead". Famously borne by the aristocratic poet, Lord Byron.
BytheseaEnglish (British) Habitational name for someone who lived near the sea, this name is nearly extinct in England today.
BythewoodEnglish (British) A nearly extinct habitational surname for one who lived near, by or around a wooded (forested) area.
BywaterEnglish The surname Bywater came from the Anglo-Saxon origin and means ’dweller by the water‘
CabellCatalan, English, German As 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... [more]
CableEnglish English: 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’).... [more]
CaesarAncient Roman, English An 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".
CakeEnglish From 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).
CallenderEnglish Occupational name for a person who finished freshly woven cloth by passing it between heavy rollers to compress the weave. From Old Franch calandrier, calandreur.
CammEnglish English (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.
CamoysEnglish From a medieval nickname for someone with a snub nose (from Old French camus "snub nose").
CamperEnglish Respelling 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.
CanadaFrench, English It derives from the Middle English "cane", a development of the Old French "cane", meaning cane, reed.
CandlinEnglish Derived from the medieval English, male first name Gandelyn, of unknown meaning.
CandyEnglish Unexplained.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.
CantEnglish Means "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").
CantellowEnglish Means "person from Canteleu, Canteloup, etc.", the name of various places in northern France ("song of the wolf").
CanterburyEnglish Habitational name from Canterbury in Kent, named in Old English as Cantwaraburg "fortified town (burgh) of the people (wara) of Kent".
CapeFrench, English (British) French and English: metonymic occupational name for a maker of capes and cloaks, or perhaps a nickname for someone who habitually wore a cloak or cape, from Middle English and Old Norman French cape ‘cape’, ‘cloak’, ‘hooded cloak’ (in French also ‘hood’ or ‘hat’), from Late Latin cappa, capa, probably a derivative of caput ‘head’ (see Capp)... [more]
CapelEnglish From the Domesday Book of 1086, from the old French word 'capele' meaning chapel.
CaradineEnglish, German (Anglicized) Americanized form of German Gardein, itself a Germanized spelling of French Jardin. It could also denote someone from the village and civil parish of Carden in Cheshire, England.
CardEnglish English: 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... [more]
CardinalEnglish, French, Dutch, Spanish English, French, Spanish, and Dutch: from Middle English, Old French cardinal "cardinal", a church dignitary (Latin cardinalis, originally an adjective meaning "crucial")... [more]
CardwellEnglish From 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".
CareEnglish Occupational name for a locksmith, Middle English keyere, kayer, an agent derivative of keye.
CarisbrookEnglish Carisbrooke 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.