Behind the Name: South African Submitted Surnames

Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.

BEKKERAfrikaans
bekker is a regional form of Dutch bakker which means Baker

BUYSAfrikaans (Modern)
South Africa, Pretoria

CILLIËRSAfrikaans
Brought to South Africa by settlers of French decent some time in the past 300 years. Sometimes also a given name for boys.

COBBLEDICKSouth African, English

COETZEEAfrikaans

DE BEERAfrikaans
De Beer is a Dutch and Afrikaans surname, meaning "the bear"

DE BRUYNAfrikaans
"Bruyn" is an archaic spelling of "bruin", meaning "brown"

DE KOCKAfrikaans
Means "The Cook"

DLAMINISouth African, Swazi

DUBENdebele, Zulu
It means Zebra. It is usually a surname instead of a person's name used by Zimbabwean Ndebele people and South African Zulu people.... [more]

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]

ENGELBRECHTAfrikaans
The name Engelbrecht has multiple translations, including "Angle Glorious" and "Bright Angel".

FOURIEAfrikaans
Originates from French Huguenot settlers

KHUMALOZulu, Ndebele, South African
Zulu and Ndebele clan name meaning "descendant of the fish tribe".

KOTZEAfrikaans

KUMALOZulu, Ndebele, South African
Variant of Khumalo.

LOUWAfrikaans
Louw is a surname that has pre 7th century Germanic origins. It is a Dutch/Flemish variant on the word Lowe, meaning Lion.

LUTERSouth African

MAHARAJSouth African, Indian, Trinidadian Creole, Fijian
Means "great king, great ruler", from Sanskrit महा (mahā) meaning "great, large, big" combined with राज (rāja) meaning "king, sovereign". It is also found among Indian communities abroad.

MALANAfrikaans

MAREEAfrikaans, French, English

MOPANTOKOBOGOZulu
From Zulu meaning "big man".

NAIDOOSouth African, Southern African
In 2014, this was the most common surname in South Africa.

NKOSISouth African

NTSIMANGOAfrican, South African

OLWAGENAfrikaans

OOSTHUIZENSouth African
Came from a village in the Dutch province of North Holland.

RAJKOOMARMauritian Creole, South African
Variant of Rajkumar used by Mauritian and South African Indians.

RAMPERSADTrinidadian Creole, South African, Mauritian Creole
Trinidadian surname of Indian Hindu origin; from Sanskrit राम (rāma) meaning "pleasing, pleasant, charming" combined with प्रसाद (prasāda) meaning "clearness, brightness, purity".

SEMENYASouth African

SINCADUSouth African (Rare)
Mzimkhulu, Bhaca

SNYMANAfrikaans
Afrikaans version of the German surname Schneider, which is German for tailor.

THERONSouth African, Occitan
South African surname of Occitan origin derived from any of the various locations named Théron or Thérond. The name itself is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tur- or Latin torus/thorus meaning "height, elevation"... [more]

VAN DEN BERGDutch, Afrikaans, Flemish
Meaning "from the mountain".

VAN DER MERWEDutch, South African
While the name is currently very common in South Africa, it originates in Holland, literally meaning "From the Merwe". The first van der Merwes hail from the Merwede river. The name went to South Africa with the Dutch settlers in 1652.

VAN LINGENAfrikaans

VAN NIEKERKAfrikaans, Southern African
Topographic name for any of the various locations named Nieuwerkerk in The Netherlands or Nieuwerkerken in Belgium. The name itself means "of the new church" from Dutch van meaning "of" combined with nieuw meaning "new" and kerk meaning "church".

VAN ROOYENAfrikaans
van Rooyen related to van Rooijen, is an Afrikaans and Dutch toponymic surname. May be rooted from the Rhine area of the Netherlands, possibly having meant "from Rhine" originally. Now a fairly common surname through out South Africa after being brought to Southern Africa by Dutch settlers over the past 300 years, often with variations on spelling but said in the same or a similar way.

VAN WYKAfrikaans

VAN ZYLAfrikaans

VERWEYDutch, Afrikaans, South African
Contracted form of van der Weij meaning "from the meadow".

WEPENERSouth African, German
South African, German decent/history

YOSTAmerican, Dutch, Afrikaans
Americanized spelling of Dutch surname Joost or German surname Jost

	Usage
	Initial letter
	Source
	Meaning	the meaning is anything from the name's write-up that is surrounded by "double quotes" separate search terms with spaces search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes this field understands simple boolean logic force a term to be included by preceding it with a + sign force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a - sign
	Description	ignore name meanings the description is the meaning and history write-up for the name separate search terms with spaces search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes example: "lord of the rings" will match names from the novel 'The Lord of the Rings' this field understands simple boolean logic force a term to be included by preceding it with a + sign force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a - sign example: +greek +(legend myth) -zeus will match Greek names of myths or legends not about Zeus ignore name meanings: keywords from the name meanings are ignored
	Length
	Pattern	the pattern will be compared to the name * is a wildcard that will match zero or more letters example: oo will match names which contain oo _ is a wildcard that will match exactly one letter example: __z will match names which have two letters and then a z
	Popularity
	Namesake
	User list	enter a behindthename.com username to search that user's public personal name lists to limit your search to a specific list, put the name of the list in brackets after the username
	Options