This is a list of submitted surnames in which the usage is English; and the gender is unisex; and the name appears on the United States popularity list.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
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.
BucklerEnglish Occupational name for a maker of buckles, derived from Old French bouclier. Could also be a name for someone who used a buckle, a kind of small shield.
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.
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]
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").
BullickEnglish Habitational name from Bulwick, Northampton, or Bolwick Hall, Norfolk, both derived from Old English bula "bull" and wic "village, settlement, farmstead".
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")
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".
BurnellEnglish Derived from an Anglo-Norman personal name composed of a diminutive form of brun "brown", likely originating as a nickname for someone with a brown complexion or brown hair... [more]
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.
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.
BuxEnglish Derived from Old English boc "beech (tree)".
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.
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.
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".
CageEnglish from Middle English, Old French meaning "cage, enclosure". Denoting someone who lived by or was the keeper of a cage, in the sense "lock-up, prison for petty offenders".
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).
CakebreadEnglish From Middle English cakebrede, bread made in flattened cakes, or of the finer and more dainty quality of cake.
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.
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.
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.
CandyEnglish perhaps from Middle English candi "crystallized cane sugar" (via French from Persian qand "sugar") and used as a metonymic occupational name for a sugar merchant... [more]
CaneEnglish From the English word meaning "cane, reed", a nickname for someone tall and thin, or perhaps an occupational name for someone who gathered reeds.
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").
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.
CapelleFrench, English, Dutch, Flemish French topographic name for someone living by a chapel, from a regional variant of chapelle "chapel" (compare Chapell 2), or a habitational name from any of several places named La Capelle... [more]
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.
CarawayEnglish Probably means "spice merchant" (from Middle English carewei "caraway").
CarbonellEnglish From a medieval nickname for a dark-haired or swarthy person, from Anglo-Norman carbonel, literally "little charcoal".
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]
CardenEnglish From the name of a village in Cheshire, England, derived from Old English carr "stone, rock" and worþign "enclosure, estate".
CardenEnglish Derived from Middle English cardoon "wild thistle, artichoke thistle". Could be a nickname for someone who carded wool (which was originally done with thistles), for a person who lived near a thistle patch, or for a prickly and unapproachable person... [more]
CarderEnglish Occupational name for a wool carder or someone who makes carders.
CardinalEnglish, French From the rank of the Catholic Church, derived from Latin cardinalis "pertaining to a door hinge", through the notion of the function of such priests as ‘pivots’ of church life. It was used as a nickname for someone who habitually wore red or acted like a cardinal.
CarmichaelScottish, English From the name of a village in Scotland meaning "fort of Michael", from Welsh caer meaning "fortress" and the given name Michael.
CarradineEnglish, German (Anglicized) Variant spelling of Caradine. This name is borne by members of the Carradine family of actors, notably the American actor John Carradine (1906-1988).
CarrawayEnglish (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... [more]
CarrellEnglish English: 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... [more]
CarrenderEnglish (American) Probably from Scottish kerr meaning "rough, wet ground" combined with ender (possibly related to the end of something). It probably denoted someone who lived between rough, wet ground and normal ground.
CarrierEnglish An occupational name meaning someone who transports goods.
CarringtonEnglish, Scottish English: 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’.... [more]
CarrowEnglish English: 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’... [more]
CarstairsEnglish (British) From the manor or barony of the same name in the parish of Carstairs (= 1170 Casteltarres, 'Castle of Tarres').
CartmanEnglish Originally referred to a man who worked with a cart. A famous bearer is Eric Cartman from the adult cartoon South Park
CartmellEnglish Denoted a person from Cartmel, a village in Cumbria, England (formerly in Lancashire). The place derives its name from the Cartmel Peninsula, which is composed of Old Norse kartr "rocky ground" and melr "sandbank, dune".
CasselEnglish, French, German A 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... [more]
CassellEnglish Either (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")... [more]
CastelFrench, English Topographic name from a derivative of Late Latin castellum "castle" (a diminutive of Latin castrum "fort Roman walled city") or a habitational name from any of several places called Le Castel... [more]
CastonEnglish A 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’.
CaswellEnglish Habitational name from places in Dorset, Northamptonshire, and Somerset named Caswell, from Old English cærse '(water)cress' + well(a) 'spring', 'stream'.
CatchpoleEnglish Meant "bailiff, especially (originally) one who could seize domestic animals in lieu of tax or debt" (from Anglo-Norman cachepol, from cacher "to chase" + pol "chicken").
CaterEnglish Comes from the English word "caterer".
CatesEnglish English patronymic from the Old Norse byname Káti (from káti ‘boy’).
CatonEnglish From the name of a village in Lancashire, England, possibly derived from the Old Norse given name Káti combined with Old English tun "town, yard, enclosure".
CattEnglish Nickname from the animal, Middle English catte "cat". The word is found in similar forms in most European languages from very early times (e.g. Gaelic cath, Slavic kotu). Domestic cats were unknown in Europe in classical times, when weasels fulfilled many of their functions, for example in hunting rodents... [more]
CatterallEnglish Derived from a town in England named "Catterall".
CattermoleEnglish Found mainly in Norfolk and Suffolk. Meaning uncertain; possibly from an east Anglian term meaning “dweller at the dyke”, or from Old French quatre moles “four mills”.
CattonEnglish Habitational name derived from any of several places in England, probably derived from the Old English given name Catta "cat" and tun "town, yard, enclosure"... [more]
CaveNorman, French, English A name of various possible origins. As a Norman French name Cave can mean "bald" from cauf or it can mean "worker in a wine cellar" or "one who dwelt in or near a cave". As an English name Cave refers to a Yorkshire river whose fast current inspired the name meaning "swift".
CavellEnglish Nickname for a bald man, from a diminutive of Anglo-Norman French cauf.
CavendishEnglish Habitational name for a person from the village of Cavendish in Suffolk, from Old English personal name Cāfna and edisc "pasture".
CaverlyEnglish English surname, a variant of the English surname Calverley, itself derived from the Old English calf "calf" and leag "field, clearing".
CavillEnglish Derived from Cavil, a place located in the East Riding of Yorkshire in northern England, named from Old English ca meaning "jackdaw" and feld meaning "open country". It is borne by the British actor Henry Cavill (1983-).
CawoodEnglish Traditional English habitational surname meaning "jackdaw wood" from the Old English ca referring to 'jackdaw' (a member of the crow family), and wudu 'wood'.
CawthorneEnglish Means "person from Cawthorn or Cawthorne", both in Yorkshire ("cold thorn bush").
CayenneFrench, English, Tupi Most likely from the city of Cayenne, French Guiana or from the name of the pepper, also known as Capsicum annuum which comes from the Tupi language, specifically the word kyynha, which meant "capsicum" or "hot pepper".
CaytonEnglish From the name of a village in North Yorkshire, England, derived from the Old English given name Cæga and tun "town, yard, enclosure".
CenaEnglish (American), English Cena is a prominently used English name. It is derived from the word "see", however it rather than referring to the ability to see it, what it actually refers to is the inability to see as the other half of the name ("-na") means "naw" a synonym for "no"... [more]
CestareEnglish (American, Modern) There is a similar name, Sastre, which is the Spanish form of the surname Sarto, meaning "tailor." The name CESTARE is phonetically similar to Sastre and could be a derivative of that name.... [more]
ChaffeyEnglish Possibly, Chaffcombe in Somerset or Chaffhay in Devon
ChaffinEnglish A diminutive that originated from the Old French word chauf, which itself is derived from Latin calvus, both meaning "bald". Originally used as an Anglo-Norman nickname for a bald man.
ChaissonFrench, English Variant of the French surname Chiasson originally denoting someone from the the municipality of Chiasso in Ticino, Switzerland, located along the Swiss/Italian border.... [more]