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]
CastelFrench 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]
CaylusFrench Of debated origin and meaning; theories include a Southern French corruption of Latin castellum "castle, fort, citadel, fortress, stronghold".
CeriseFrench, Italian Italian habitational name from La Cerise or Torrent-La Cerise placenames in Valle d'Aosta from French cerise "cherry"; and French occupational name from cerise "cherry" (from Latin cerasus) applied as a metonymic occupational name for someone who grew or sold cherries.
ChabotFrench From chabot ‘bull-head’, a species of fish with a large head, hence a nickname for someone with a big head and a small body.
ChallonerFrench, Welsh Derived from a town in France of the same name. This family derive their origin from Macloy Crum, of the line of chiefs in Wales, who resided several years in Challoner.
ChamanaraPersian Occupational name for a gardener, derived from Persian چمن (chaman) meaning "lawn, meadow" and آرا (ara) meaning "arrange, decorate".
ChampagneFrench regional name for someone from Champagne, named in Latin as Campania (from campus "plain", "flat land"). This is also the name of various villages in France, and in some cases the family name may derive from one of these.
ChamplainFrench Name given to those who live in or around fields. Known barrer of the name is Samuel de Champlain who founded Quebec, Canada and after whom the lake is named.
ChapelFrench Occupational name for a maker of cloaks or a nickname for a person who wore a distinctive cloak, from a diminutive of Old French chape meaning "cape, cloak".
ChapinFrench, Spanish From a reduced form of French eschapin or Spanish chapín, a term for a light (woman's) shoe; perhaps a nickname for someone who habitually wore this type of footwear or possibly a metonymic occupational name for a shoemaker.
ChâtelainFrench from châtelain "lord (of the manor)" Old French chastelain (from Latin castellanus a derivative of castellum "castle") applied either as a status name for the governor or constable of a castle or as an ironic nickname.
ChopinFrench French and English: nickname for a heavy drinker, from Old French chopine, a large liquid measure (from Middle Low German schopen "ladle"). The derived Old French verb chopiner has the sense 'to tipple’, ‘to drink to excess’... [more]
ChoquetteFrench Altered spelling of French Choquet, a Picard form of Old French soquet, which was the term for a tax on wines and foodstuffs, hence a metonymic occupational name for a collector of such taxes.
ClavelFrench Metonymic occupational name for a nail maker, ultimately from Latin clavellus "nail", but in some cases possibly from the same word in the sense "smallpox, rash". A fictional bearer is Miss Clavel, a nun and teacher in Ludwig Bemelmans's 'Madeline' series of children's books (introduced in 1939).
CochetFrench Either from cochet a diminutive of coq "rooster" used as a nickname for a vain conceited or womanizing individual. Or possibly also a habitational name from (Le) Cochet the name of several places in various parts of France.
ColombFrench from Old French colomb "pigeon" (from Latin columbus) applied as a metonymic occupational name for a keeper of pigeons or doves... [more]
CombèsFrench Either a topographic name from combe "narrow valley ravine" (see Combe ) or a habitational name from any of various places in southern France for example in Hérault named Combes.
CommanderAnglo-Saxon, French From Middle English comander, comandor and comandour and also from Old French comandeor, all meaning "commander", "leader" or "ruler". The first recorded use of the name is through a family seat held in Somerset.
CondomFrench Regional name for someone who lives in a French province named "Condom".
CorbinEnglish, French Derived from French corbeau meaning "raven," originally denoting a person who had dark hair.
CordayFrench Either from the French word corde meaning "cord/rope/string", or from the Latin word cor meaning "heart." This was the surname of Charlotte Corday, the assassin who killed Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat during the French revolution.
CorderFrench (Anglicized, Archaic), English (American) Linked to both English, French and Spanish origin. Cordier, Cordero, Corder- one who makes cord. Can refer to both the act of making cords (rope), cores of fire wood, or actual location names.... [more]
CottonEnglish, French English: habitational name from any of numerous places named from Old English cotum (dative plural of cot) ‘at the cottages or huts’ (or sometimes possibly from a Middle English plural, coten)... [more]
CouricFrench Originally a nickname given to a short person, derived from Middle Breton corr, korr meaning "dwarf, midget". A well-known bearer of this surname is the American journalist, television host and author Katie Couric (1957-).
CourvilleFrench Derived from either of two communes in the departments of Marne and Eure-et-Loir in France. It is named with Latin curba villa, denoting a settlement in the curve of a road.
CousinEnglish, French Nickname derived from Middle English cousin and Old French cosin, cusin meaning "cousin".
CovertEnglish, French The surname is probably topographical, for someone who either lived by a sheltered bay, or more likely an area sheltered by trees. The formation is similar to couvert, meaning a wood or covert, and originally from the Latin "cooperio", to cover... [more]
CwynarPolish Polonized form of the German surname Zwirner, an occupational name for a yarn or twine maker, from an agent derivative of Middle High German zwirn ‘twine’, ‘yarn’
CzerwonkaPolish Derived from Polish czerwony meaning "red", probably a nickname for a person who had red hair or a ruddy complexion, or for someone who frequently wore the colour red.
DamianFrench, Spanish, Italian, Czech, Slovak, Polish From the medieval personal name Damian, Greek Damianos (from damazein "to subdue"). St. Damian was an early Christian saint martyred in Cilicia in ad 303 under the emperor Domitian, together with his brother Cosmas... [more]
D'aoustFrench D'Aoust, denotes someone from Aoust(e) in France. Aouste is situated in the Ardennes department (Champagne-Ardenne region) in the north-east of France at 29 km from Charleville-Mézières, the department capital... [more]
DarskiPolish Last name of Adam "Nergal" Darski of the blackened death metal band Behemoth.
D'artagnanFrench, Literature Surname given to a person from Artagnan, France. It is also used by Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan, the captain of the Musketeers from the novel, "The Three Musketeers".
DauteriveFrench Originally denoted a person hailing from any of the various places in France called Hauterive. This surname is no longer found in France. A famous fictional bearer is the character Bill Dauterive from the American animated series King of the Hill, starting 1997.
DavariPersian Derived from Persian داور (davar) meaning "judge, arbiter".
DelageFrench From the dialect word age "hedge" for someone who lived by a hedge or from the various places in France called L'Age.
DelalandeFrench French surname, pronounced /dølalɑ̃də/, which means "from the moor", "from the heath". Famous bearer Michel-Richard Delalande (1657-1726), French baroque composer and organist nicknamed "the Latin Lully", changed its spelling in "de Lalande" in order to give it aristocratic looks.
DemskiPolish Refers to a dweller at, or near, an oak tree.
DemskyPolish, Jewish Derived from Polish dab and demb meaning "oak", which is either a habitational name from a place with the same name or an ornamental name with reference to the tree and its qualities of strength and durability.
DepardieuFrench Means "of by God", derived from French pardieu meaning "by God", originally a nickname for someone who blasphemously uttered the name of God. It could also indicate a person who came from various places in France called Part-Dieu or Pardieu, for example the Lyon-Part-Dieu Business District in the city of Lyon... [more]
DeschanelFrench Derived from French eschamel meaning "stepladder" or des chanels meaning "from the channels, from the little jugs". An occupational nickname for a trader, it supposedly originated in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France... [more]
DeschenesFrench "Chenes" is French for "oak tree". In French, "Des" means more than one. "Des"+ "Chenes"= Deschenes meaning "Many oak trees."
DesmaraisFrench Habitational name for someone from any of various places named with Old French mareis, maresc ‘marsh’, as for example Les Marets, in Seine-et-Marne, Centre, Nord, and Picardy.
DesnoyersFrench (Quebec) Means "of the walnut trees", from French word "noyer", meaning walnut. "Des noyers" literally translates to "the walnuts".
Des RochesFrench Either a topographic name for someone living among rocks or a habitational name from any of several places named with this word, meaning "from the rocks" in French.
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.'
DevoreFrench French: variant of De Var, a habitational name for someone from a place named Var, for example in Charente. Respelling of French Devors, a habitational name, with the preposition de, for someone from Vors in Aveyron.
DieulafoyFrench From Old French Dieu la foy meaning "God the faith". Famous bearers were the married couple of French archeologists Marcel Dieulafoy (1844-1920) and Jane Dieulafoy (1951-1916). A medical condition of the stomach causing gastric bleeding called "Dieulafoy's lesion" was named after Dr... [more]
DisharoonFrench (Americanized) Americanized form of an unidentified French name, possibly de Charente. This name was established in MD by the end of the 17th century.
DragonFrench, 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]
DragooAmerican, French (Huguenot) Americanized form of Dragaud, a French (Huguenot) surname derived from the Germanic given name Dragwald, itself derived from the elements drag- meaning "to carry" and wald "power, rule".
DrażbaPolish Polish occupational name from dražba "auction".
Du AiméFrench The Duaime surname comes from an Old French word "hamel," which meant "homestead." It was likely first used as a name to describe someone who lived at a farm on the outskirts of a main town, or for someone that lived in a small village.
DubuissonFrench A topographic name for someone who lived in an area of scrub land or by a prominent clump of bushes, derived from Old French buisson meaning "small tree, bush, scrub".
DuclosFrench du 'from the' from Old French clos 'enclosure' (see Clos ) or a habitational name for someone from Le Clos the name of several places in various parts of France so it means "from the enclosure"
du PlessisAfrikaans, French Creole, French (Cajun), French (Huguenot) French topographic name for someone who lived by a quickset fence, Old French pleis (from Latin plexum past participle of plectere ‘plait’, ‘weave’), with fused preposition and definite article du ‘from the’... [more]
DuvillardFrench French surname, pronounced /dyvilaʁ/, whose bearers mainly live in Haute-Savoie. It means "from Le Villard", a village in the Rhône-Alpes region, whose name comes from the Latin 'villare' which means 'hamlet'... [more]
DybalaPolish nickname from dybac, meaning 'to lurk' or 'to watch for somebody'.
DziałoPolish Derived from Polish działo "cannon" or "gun" as an occupational name metonymically. It can also be a nickname from Polish działać "to work", "to do", "to influence", etc.
DziubaPolish, Russian, Ukrainian Derived from Polish dziub or Ukrainian dzyuba. It is a nickname for a person with pock-marks on his or her face.
EngelbertGerman, 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.
FafardFrench Possibly derived from the french 'fard' meaning 'made-up' or 'make-up'. This is in a theatrical sense and does not imply lying. Very possibly a derivation form a theatrical occupation