DardenEnglish A habitation name in Northumberland of uncertain origin.
DareEnglish This interesting surname has two possible derivations. Firstly, it may derive from the Olde English pre-7th Century personal name "Deora", Middle English "Dere", which is in part a short form of various compound names with the first element "deor", dear, and in part a byname meaning "Beloved"... [more]
DarkEnglish Nickname for someone with dark hair or a dark complexion, from Middle English darke, Old English deorc "dark". In England, the surname is most frequent in the West Country.
DarleyEnglish Means "person from Darley", Derbyshire ("glade frequented by deer").
DarlingLiterature, English, Scottish English and Scottish: from Middle English derling, Old English deorling ‘darling’, ‘beloved one’, a derivative of deor ‘dear’, ‘beloved’ (see Dear)... [more]
DarlingtonEnglish From Old English Dearthington believed to be the settlement of Deornoth's people (unclear root + ing a family group + ton an enclosed farm or homestead).
DaughtryEnglish, Norman English (of Norman origin) habitational name, with fused French preposition d(e), for someone from Hauterive in Orne, France, named from Old French haute rive ‘high bank’ (Latin alta ripa).
DavenportEnglish Habitational name from a place in Cheshire named Davenport, from the Dane river (apparently named with a Celtic cognate of Middle Welsh dafnu "to drop, to trickle") and Old English port "market town".
DaveyEnglish, Welsh Derived from the given name David. Alternately, it may be a variant spelling of Welsh Davies or Davis, which could be patronymic forms of David, or corrupted forms of Dyfed, an older Welsh surname and the name of a county in Wales.
DayleyEnglish English surname of Norman origin derived from the Norman preposition de for someone from any of numerous places in Northern France called Ouilly.
DearbornEnglish The surname Dearborn was first found in Surrey where the family trace their lineage back to Abernon listed in the Domesday Book having sprung from the fief of that name in Normandy. ... [more]
DeardenEnglish Meant "person from Dearden", Lancashire ("valley frequented by wild animals"). It was borne by British film director Basil Dearden (original name Basil Dear; 1911-1971).
DearthEnglish From a medieval nickname apparently based on Middle English derth "famine".
DearyEnglish Nickname for a noisy or troublesome person, from Anglo-French de(s)rei ‘noise’, ‘trouble’, ‘turbulence’ (from Old French desroi). topographic for someone who lived by a deer enclosure, from Old English deor ‘deer’ + (ge)hæg ‘enclosure’.
De AthEnglish Probably a deliberate respelling of Death (i), intended to distance the name from its original signification.
DebleEnglish This surname is of French derivation and was introduced to Britain by the Normans. It has two possible derivations, the first from the Roman (Latin) 'debil-is', which means literally "poorly" or "weak", and may have been a metonymic for a doctor or healer, whilst the second possible origin is a nickname derivation from the old French 'Theodore' to Tibald and Tibble or Dibble, Deble.
De ClareEnglish, Anglo-Norman From the town of Clare in Suffolk, which was the centre-point of lands given to Richard fitz Gilbert after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066... [more]
DeeEnglish, Scottish From the name of any of various rivers in England and Scotland named Dee, itself derived from Celtic dewos meaning "god, deity".
DelevingneFrench, English Means "of the vine" in French. It is the surname of Poppy Delevingne and Cara Delevingne, both English actresses and models; it is also the surname of French-born photojournalist Lionel Delevingne
DempsterManx, English, Scottish The name for a judge or arbiter of minor disputes, from Old English dem(e)stre, a derivative of the verb demian ‘to judge or pronounce judgement’. Although this was originally a feminine form of the masculine demere, by the Middle English period the suffix -stre had lost its feminine force, and the term was used of both sexes... [more]
DenhamEnglish From the name of various places in England, most of which meant "farm in the valley" (from Old English denu "valley" + ham "homestead"). Notable bearers of the surname included John Denham (1615-1669), an English poet; British Labour politician John Denham (1953-); and British actor Maurice Denham (1909-2002).
DenningtonEnglish Habitational name from a place in Suffolk, recorded in Domesday Book as Dingifetuna, from the Old English female personal name Denegifu (composed of the elements Dene meaning "Dane" + gifu meaning "gift") + Old English tūn meaning "enclosure", "settlement".
DerricottEnglish Habitational name, possibly a variant of Darracott, from Darracott in Devon. However, the present-day concentration of the form Derricott in the West Midlands and Shropshire suggests that this may be a distinct name, from a different source, now lost.
DerryIrish, English English variant of Deary, or alternatively a nickname for a merchant or tradesman, from Anglo-French darree ‘pennyworth’, from Old French denree... [more]
DevallFrench, English Devall (also DeVall) is a surname of Norman origin with both English and French ties.Its meaning is derived from French the town of Deville, Ardennes. It was first recorded in England in the Domesday Book.In France, the surname is derived from 'de Val' meaning 'of the valley.'
DevonEnglish Regional name for someone from the county of Devon. In origin, this is from an ancient British tribal name, Latin Dumnonii, perhaps meaning "worshipers of the god Dumnonos".
DevoyEnglish Anglicized form of Gaelic surname Ó Dubhuidhe ‘descendant of Dubhuidhe’, a name probably derived from dubh "dark, black" and buidhe "sallow".
DiamondEnglish English variant of Dayman (see Day). Forms with the excrescent d are not found before the 17th century; they are at least in part the result of folk etymology.
DickensheetsEnglish (American) Americanized spelling of German Dickenscheid, a habitational name from a place named Dickenschied in the Hunsrück region. The place name is from Middle High German dicke ‘thicket’, ‘woods’ + -scheid (often schied) ‘border area’ (i.e. ridge, watershed), ‘settler’s piece of cleared (wood)land’.
DickerEnglish Either an occupational name for a digger of ditches or a builder of dikes, or a topographic name for someone who lived by a ditch or dike, derived from Middle English dike or dik meaning "dyke.
DickermanEnglish, German, Jewish Possibly derived from Middle High German dic(ke) "strong, thick" and Mann "man, male, husband".
DickersonEnglish English (mainly East Anglia): patronymic from a pet form of Dick
DigbyEnglish Derived from the name of an English town, itself derived from a combination of Old English dic "dyke, ditch" and Old Norse byr "farm, town".
DiggoryEnglish Possibly an anglicized form of Degaré, which might come from the French word egare. It might mean "the lost one".
DobellEnglish (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.
DobyEnglish 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).
DockEnglish, Scottish Possibly a variant of Duke or Duck. Alternatively, could be derived from a place name such as Doxey.
DockerEnglish Docker is a locational surname from Docker, Westmoreland and Docker, Lancashire. May also refer to the occupation of dockers.
DoeEnglish 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.
DoleEnglish, 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]
DoolittleEnglish 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.
DorchesterEnglish Derived from either the village in Oxfordshire, or the county town of Dorset, England (both of which have the same name). Both are named with a Celtic name, respectively Dorcic and Durnovaria combined with Old English ceaster meaning "Roman fort, walled city".
DorlandEnglish A variant of Darling. It was a name for a person who was greatly loved by his friends and family. The surname was originally derived from the word deorling, which meant "darling".
DormanEnglish 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.
DotsonEnglish Patronymic of the Middle English name Dodde. Originally derived from the Germanic root dodd meaning "something rounded", used to denote a short, rotund man.
DoubledayEnglish Possibly from the nickname or byname do(u)bel meaning "the twin", or a combination of the given name Dobbel (a pet form of Robert) and Middle English day(e) meaning "servant".
DoughtyEnglish 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 dohtigdyhtig meaning "valiant" or "strong"... [more]
DovelEnglish A English name that originated from the french surname Duval in 1725 in England, the Dovels are historically farmers and are mostly found in the USA.