KiffEnglish the origin of the name KIFF could have come from a variation of KITH as in "kith and kin". The O.E.D. definition of the word KITH is that of a native land, familiar place or home so "kith and kin" meant your home and your relations... [more]
TolivarAsturian (Modern, Rare), English (Rare) Variant of Tolliver. Apparently, this name may have originated in Candamo, Asturias, in the 18th (or earlier) century. The "var" last syllable may be related to "fer," and the meaning may be related to iron, e.g. iron miner, iron refiner, etc... [more]
AlsopEnglish Habitational name, now chiefly found in the Midlands, for a person from Alsop-en-le-Dale, a chapelry in the parish of Ashborne, Derbyshire. The place name itself meant "Ælle's valley" from the genitive of the Old English personal name Ælle and Old English hōp meaning "enclosed valley" (compare Hope).
CartmellEnglish Denoted a person from Cartmel, a village in Cumbria, England (formerly in Lancashire). It is the site of a famous priory, inland from Cartmel Sands. The place name is derived from Old Norse kartr meaning "rocky ground" and melr meaning "sandbank".
HardleyEnglish The name comes from when a family lived in the village of Hartley which was in several English counties including Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Kent, Lancashire, York and Northumberland. This place-name was originally derived from the Old English words hart which means a stag and lea which means a wood or clearing.
BloomfieldEnglish This interesting surname is of early medieval English origin, and is a locational name from either of the two places thus called in England, one in Staffordshire, and the other in Somerset, or it may be a dialectal variant of Blonville (-sur-Mer) in Calvados, Normandy, and hence a Norman habitation name... [more]
CorlissEnglish Derived from Old English carleas "free from anxiety; unconcerned", cognate to Old Norse kærulauss. This was a nickname given to a carefree person.
SibleyEnglish (British) From the Anglo-Saxons influence in England. Said to be derived from the ancient Sibbelee, a woman’s Christian name, and has been traced through Sibilla, Sybbly, and finally Sibley. Sibilla was the name of a Greek princess who uttered the ancient oracles, and is represented on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel... [more]
WhippleEnglish English surname of uncertain meaning. It might be a shortened form of “whippletree”; an early name for the dogwood. It may also be a variation of Whipp – an early surname for someone who carried out judicial punishments.
SambourneEnglish From the name of a hamlet in Warwickshire, England.
ScotfordEnglish Derived from Scotforth, the name of a village near Lancaster (in Lancashire) in England. The village's name means "ford of the Scot(s)" and is derived from Old English Scott "Scot" combined with Old English ford "ford".
WhitlamEnglish From a medieval nickname for a mild-mannered person (from Middle English whit "white" + lam "lamb"). This surname is borne by Australian Labour politician Gough Whitlam (1916-), prime minister 1972-75.
BarhamEnglish English: habitational name from any of the various places so called. Most, for example those in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, are named with Old English beorg ‘hill’ + ham ‘homestead’. The one in Kent, however, is from an unattested Old English byname Biora, Beora (a derivative of bera ‘bear’) + ham.
MotleyEnglish This surname may come from a nickname for someone wearing parti-coloured clothes (from Anglo-French motteley, which may come from Old English mot meaning "speck").
GullickEnglish From the Middle English personal name Gullake, a descendant of Old English Gūthlāc, literally "battle-sport".
WishEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a water meadow or marsh, Middle English wyshe (Old English wisc). Americanized spelling of Wisch.
HamEnglish, German, Scottish, Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon meaning the home stead, many places in England. One who came from Hamm in North-Rhine Westphalia, or one who came from Ham in Caithness Scotland's most northerly county. In Scotland this surname devires from the Norse word "Hami", meaning homestead.
WightmanEnglish "Wight" in Anglo-saxon could refer to a "soul," a "being," or to "courage." It is similar to the different meanings of the words "spirit" and "spirited." ... [more]
WaxGerman, Jewish, English German and Jewish variant and English cognitive of Wachs, from Middle English wax "wax" (from Old English weax).
SouthwickEnglish An English/Scottish locational name from a variety of places, including, Southwick in Northamptonshire, England, and Southwick in Gloucestershire, Sussex, Durham, Hampshire. ... [more]
LongleyEnglish Geographic name referring to multiple places by the same name in Yorkshire, England. The name comes from the word "long" plus Old English leáh "meadow".
GoodliffeEnglish Derived from the Middle English feminine given name Godlieve, composed of the Germanic elements god meaning "good" or gud meaning "god", and liub meaning "dear, beloved".
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]
DowellEnglish, Scottish, Irish Derived from the Gaelic name Dubhgall, composed of the elements dubh meaning "black" and gall, "stranger". This was used as a byname for Scandinavians, in particular to distinguish the dark-haired Danes from fair-haired Norwegians.
DyeEnglish, 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.
FirthEnglish, Scottish, Welsh English and Scottish: topographic name from Old English (ge)fyrhþe ‘woodland’ or ‘scrubland on the edge of a forest’.... [more]
FrémontFrench (Americanized), English (American) Fremont is a French surname meaning Free Mountain. People include John Frémont a US Explorer and Politician who fought in the Mexican-American War to free California and many places named after him, Including Fremont, California, and Fremont Nebraska.
FleuryFrench, English Either a habitational name from Fleury the name of several places in various parts of France which get their names from the Gallo-Roman personal name Florus (from Latin florus "blooming flowering") and the locative suffix -acum or from the given name Fleury.
CorbinEnglish, French Derived from French corbeau meaning "raven," originally denoting a person who had dark hair.
PoseyEnglish, French Derived from the Greek word "desposyni." The Desposyni is a term referring to a group of people that are allegedly direct blood relatives to Jesus. They are mentioned in Mark 3:21 and Mark 3:31. American actress Parker Posey is a famous bearer.
KippsEnglish From Middle English Kipp, perhaps a byname for a fat man, from an unattested Old English form Cyppe, which according to Reaney is from the Germanic root kupp 'to swell'.
SpoonEnglish Apparently a metonymic occupational name either for a maker of roofing shingles or spoons, from Old English spon "chip, splinter" (see also Spooner).
EveleighEnglish From an unknown location, possibly from the village of Everleigh in Wiltshire, England (see Everleigh).
DornGerman, English German cognate and English variant of Thorn from Middle High German dorn "thorn" (from ancient Germanic thurnaz).
WeekleyEnglish Originally meant "person from Weekley", Northamptonshire ("wood or clearing by a Romano-British settlement"). British philologist Ernest Weekley (1865-1954) bore this surname.
LangwadeEnglish From an English village Langmead, in the county of Devon. It was used to refer to those individuals who lived at the lang-mead, which literally means "the long meadow".
CurrerEnglish It was a name given to someone who was a messenger or person who "dresses tanned leather". In the former case, the surname Currer is derived from the Old French words corëor or courreour, which means "courier".
AyliffEnglish From the medieval female personal name Ayleve (from Old English Æthelgifu, literally "noble gift"), or from the Old Norse nickname Eilífr, literally "ever-life".
WolfendenEnglish derived from the place called Wolfenden in the parish of Newchurch-in-Rossendale, Lancashire. The placename means "Wulfhelm's valley", or "the valley of Wulfhelm" derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name Wulfhelm, composed of the elements wulf "wolf" and helm "helmet, protection" and denu "valley".
JacksEnglish Possibly derived as a diminutive of the given name Jack. A famous bearer is Canadian singer-songwriter Terry Jacks, best known for his 1974 single 'Seasons in the Sun.'
SnapeEnglish (British), Scottish An old, now rare surname, with various origins in Suffolk and Yorkshire in England and Lanarkshire in Scotland, derived from Middle English snaipen, “to injure; to nip (of sleet or snow); to criticize, rebuke, revile”, from Old Norse sneypa, “to disgrace, to dishonor, to outrage”... [more]
BillingslyEnglish Habitational name from a place in Shropshire named Billingsley, from Old English Billingesleah, probably 'clearing (Old English leah) near a sword-shaped hill'
StarbuckEnglish After Starbeck village in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. A famous bearer of this name was the fictional character, Starbuck, the first mate of the Pequod in Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick.
FriendEnglish Nickname for a companionable person, from Middle English frend "friend" (Old English freond). In the Middle Ages the term was also used to denote a relative or kinsman, and the surname may also have been acquired by someone who belonged to the family of someone who was a more important figure in the community
CorrieEnglish Habitational name from places in Arran, Dumfries, and elsewhere, named Corrie, from Gaelic coire "cauldron", applied to a circular hanging valley on a mountain.
RennEnglish (British) The surname Renn was first found in Durham where they held a family seat from early times, and were originally descended from Ralph de Raines who was granted lands by William, Duke of Albany in that shire... [more]
JeffreyEnglish From a Norman personal name that appears in Middle English as Geffrey and in Old French as Je(u)froi. Some authorities regard this as no more than a palatalized form of Godfrey, but early forms such as Galfridus and Gaufridus point to a first element from Germanic gala "to sing" or gawi "region, territory"... [more]
FrewinEnglish From the Middle English personal name Frewine, literally "noble or generous friend".
MallettEnglish possible origins Malet a medieval diminutive of "Mal(le) being a pet form of and name Mary, could also be of Norman origin from the Old French personal name Malhard
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]
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.
MeadesEnglish The name Meades is a plural variation of the name Meade, Mead, Mede, etc., the spelling being rather arbitrary and phonetic in the middle ages (even among the very few scribes, clerics and high-born persons who were literate) and without due consideration of standarized form, hence the various spellings of the name today... [more]
MadeleyEnglish English: habitational name from places so named in Shropshire and Staffordshire, named in Old English with the personal name Mada + leah ‘woodland clearing’.
StormEnglish, Low German, Dutch, Scandinavian Nickname for a man of blustery temperament, from Middle English, Middle Low German, storm, Old Norse stormr "storm".
DurdenEnglish 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).
WoodbridgeEnglish Originated in old England and likely linked to the town of Woodbridge in Suffolk, East Anglia, United Kingdom. Well known Woodbridge's include the Australian Tennis player Todd Woodbridge. There was a famous lineage of six English John Woodbridge's in the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries, all Church ministers... [more]
CasleyEnglish Derived from Old English C(e)atta, a personal name meaning "cat" and leah "woodland, clearing"."
GoldfarbEnglish, German, Jewish Goldfarb is a Jewish occupational name that was originally derived from the Old German word gold.
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.
BethanyEnglish Possibly a topographic name derived from the Old English plant name betonice meaning "betony". The form of the name has been altered by folk association with the New Testament place name.
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).
AthertonEnglish Habitational name from a place near Manchester named Atherton, from the Old English personal name Æðelhere + Old English tun meaning "settlement".
MycroftEnglish From Old English ġemȳþ "mouth (of a river)" + croft meaning "enclosed field", originally denoting somebody who lives at the mouth of a river.... [more]
EyreEnglish Truelove the "Eyr" or "Heyr" was granted land in Derby as a reward for his services at the 1066 Battle of Hastings, together with a coat of arms featuring "a human leg in armour couped at the thigh quarterly argent and sable spurred", in reference to the sacrifice of his limb... [more]