BareillesFrench, Occitan Derived from the place name Bareilles, a village in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitania region of France. A famous bearer is the American musician and actress Sara Bareilles (1979-).
BlasiusGerman, French From the Latin personal name Blasius. This was a Roman family name, originating as a byname for someone with some defect, either of speech or gait, from Latin blaesus "stammering, lisping", itself from Ancient Greek βλαισός (blaisos) "bent, crooked; bow-legged".
BoisFrench, French (Quebec) Derived from French bois "wood, forest", this name used to denote someone who lived near a forest.
BontempsFrench Derived from Old French bon temps meaning "good time". One popular bearer of the name is the American poet and novelist Arna Wendell Bontemps (1902-1973).
BrasFrench, Dutch From Old French and Middle Dutch bras "arm". This was probably a descriptive nickname for someone with some peculiarity of the arm, but the word was also used as a measure of length, and may also have denoted a surveyor.
BrunsFrench Bruns was first found in Poitou where this noble family held a family seat since ancient times. The Bruns surname derives from the French word "brun," meaning "brown"; possibly a nickname for someone who habitually dressed in the color brown.
CabanissFrench Variant spelling of Cabanis, a habitational name from any of various places in Gard named Cabanis, from Late Latin capannis ‘at the huts’, ablative plural of capanna 'hut'... [more]
CasavantesFrench, Spanish, Basque Topographic name composed of casa "house" + avant "ahead of forward" + the suffix -es, denoting one who lived in the house located at the beginning of a village. This surname has died out in France.
CaylusFrench Of debated origin and meaning; theories include a Southern French corruption of Latin castellum "castle, fort, citadel, fortress, stronghold".
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.
CourcellesFrench The name of several places in France, Belgium and Canada. In Middle French the word courcelle was used to describe a "small court" or a "small garden". The word is derived from the medieval Gallo-Romance and Gallo-Italian word corticella, which was formed from the Latin word cohors, meaning "court" or "enclosure", and the diminutive –icella.... [more]
DagenaisFrench (Quebec) Denotes a person originally from the prefecture of Agen in southwestern France.
DalmasFrench Surname Dalmas was first found in Limousin. Literally means "of the sea."
DamasFrench French form of Damascus. Famous bearer Léon-Gontran Damas (1912-1978) was a French poet and politican from French Guiana, cofounder of the Négritude Mouvement and author of the collection "Black Label".
DebloisFrench French surname meaning "From Blois", a town in Mid-Western France. The origins of the surname started back in the 1600s when a man named Grégoire Guérard traveled to Flanders (Now Belgium) and immigrated to New France (Now Canada) in 1658... [more]
DebsFrench From the given name Debus, a variant of Thebs or Thebus, which was an altered short form of Mattheus. This was borne by American union leader Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926).
DecazesFrench The surname Decazes was first found in Gascony (French: Gascogne), an area of southwest France bordering Spain, that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution, where the family held a family seat in ancient times.... [more]
DesangesFrench (Rare) Means "from the angels", possibly connected to the French title of the Virgin Mary Notre Dame des Anges, meaning "Our Lady of the Angels". Bearers of this surname include Louis William Desanges (1822-1905), an English artist of French descent, and French historian Jehan Desanges (1929-).
DesaulniersFrench (Quebec) Topographic name denoting a property distinguished by a grove of alder trees, derived from Old French au(l)ne meaning "alder".
DeslauriersFrench (Quebec) A topographic name for someone living among laurels, a combination of the fused preposition and plural definite article des ‘from the’ + the plural of Old French lorier ‘laurel’.
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.
DesmoinesFrench (Archaic), French (American) An archaic French surname that begins in the US. It denotes a person who lived in places named Des Moines. From French meaning "from the monks" or "of the monks".
DesmoulinsFrench A French surname meaning “of the windmills.” A famous bearer of this surname is Camille Desmoulins, a journalist and politician during the French Revolution who was guillotined.
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.
DigginsNorman Diggins came to England in the 11th century wave of migration that was set off by the Norman Conquest of 1066; from the Norman baptismal name which means the son of Diccon, a diminution of the parent name, Richard.
DucasFrench Habitational name, with fused preposition and definite article du meaning “from the,” for someone from any of various minor places called with cas, an Old Occitan variant of Old French chas meaning “house.”
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"
DumarsFrench Habitational name, with fused preposition and definite article du meaning “from the,” denoting someone from any of several places called Mars. This surname is very rare in France. Alternatively, it could be an altered form of some similar French surname, possibly Demars.
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]
GainesEnglish, Norman, Welsh English (of Norman origin): nickname for a crafty or ingenious person, from a reduced form of Old French engaine ‘ingenuity’, ‘trickery’ (Latin ingenium ‘native wit’). The word was also used in a concrete sense of a stratagem or device, particularly a trap.... [more]
HermèsFrench Either a topographic name for someone who lived in a deserted spot or on a patch of waste land from Occitan erm "desert waste" (from Greek erēmia) and the topographic suffix -ès, or from the given name Hermès.
IlesEnglish (British), French English (mainly Somerset and Gloucestershire): topographic name from Anglo-Norman French isle ‘island’ (Latin insula) or a habitational name from a place in England or northern France named with this element.
LannesFrench From the French word landes meaning “heathlands” or “moorlands.” This was the surname of one of Napoleon’s marshals.
LardinoisFrench Originally denoted a person from the Ardennes, a forest-covered region situated in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. A notable bearer of this name was the Dutch politician and diplomat Pierre Lardinois (1924-1987).
LascellesFrench French location name from Lacelle in Orne, northern France and referring to "small rooms or cells inhabited by monks".
LefilsFrench, Haitian Creole Derived from French le "the" and fils "son". This was originally a nickname to distinguish a son from his father with the same given name.
LefrançoisFrench From the given name François. It may also mean "the Frenchman", probably used to denote someone who came from the region of Île de France in France.
LemassFrench, Irish Meaning uncertain. It may be derived from Old French maistre meaning "master", ultimately from Latin magister (see Masterson). Another theory holds that it comes from Irish Gaelic Laighmheasa, a given name meaning "dispatch"... [more]
LimogesFrench From the city and various places in France of the same name called Limoges.
MajorsNorman Based on the Norman given name Mauger. The name indicates one who is the son of Maugier, an Old French personal name, which is derived from the Old Germanic name Malger, which means council spear.
MalpassEnglish, Scottish, French Habitational name from any of various places named Malpas, because of the difficulty of the terrain, from Old French mal pas "bad passage" (Latin malus passus). It is a common French minor place name, and places in Cheshire, Cornwall, Gwent, and elsewhere in England were given this name by Norman settlers... [more]
MarquisFrench, English for someone who behaved like a marquis or an occupational name for a servant in the household of a marquis, from Old Northern French marquis... [more]
NostradamusHistory, French (Latinized) Latinized form of de Nostredame. This surname was borne by the French physician and writer Michel de Nostredame (1503-1566), famous for his collection of prophecies Les Prophéties (1555) allegedly predicting the apocalypse and danger from the Arab world.
OrleansFrench From Orléans, a city in France sieged by the English in 1429. Orléans is derived from Aurelianum, meaning "of Aurelius" in Latin.
ParadisFrench From a learned variant of Old French pareis "Paradise" (from Greek paradeisos). As a toponym this was applied to verdant places and it is quite common as a place name in Nord and Normandy; the surname therefore can be a topographic or habitational name.
RégisFrench Occupational name for a local dignitary, from a derivative of Old French régir "to rule or manage".
ReissGerman, Jewish, French (Huguenot) German: variant of Reis or from any of several Germanic personal names composed with ric ‘power(ful)’. Also from the French Huguenot forename Ris, rendered as Reis and Reiss.... [more]
RheimsFrench From the city of Reims in France, also known as Rheims in English.
RuelasFrench A last name common in Mexico which is believed to have derived from the French word ruelle (or Portuguese word ruela) meaning lane or alley.
St-gelaisFrench (Quebec) From the French place name Saint-Gelais which was allegedly named for a 5th-century bishop of Poitiers. The name Gelais is a variant of Gélase.
ValoisFrench topographic name for someone who lived in a valley, or a habitational name from any of the various places called Vallois, or regional name from the district in northern France so called, which was once an independent duchy... [more]