Swiss
names are used in the country of Switzerland in central Europe.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
ABBRUZZESE ItalianHabitational name for someone originally from Abruzzo, a region in southern Italy.
ABEGG German, German (Swiss)Topographic name for someone who lived near the corner of a mountain, from German
ab meaning "off" and
Egg, dialect form of
Eck(e) meaning "promontory", "corner".
ABOUT FrenchIt is a french surname that comes from the french word 'about', meaning "an extremity of a metallic or wooden element or piece." This surname is notably born by the French novelist Edmond François Valentin About... [
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ABPLANALP German, German (Swiss)Topographic name for someone living high on a mountainside, from German
ab- "below", "off" +
Planalp "high, flat mountain-meadow".
ABREO French, ItalianAbreo or its variant Abreu comes from the French Alfred (alf = Elf; fred = conseil). The meaning is
wise counselor.... [
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ABRUZZESE ItalianRegional name for someone from the Abruzzi, a mountainous region of Italy east of Rome (cf.
ABRUZZO).
ABRUZZO ItalianRegional name for someone from the Abruzzi, a mountainous region of Italy east of Rome (cf.
ABRUZZESE).
ACCOLA RomanshFrom Latin
accola ‘neighbor’, ‘inhabitant’ (from Latin
accolere 'to live near').
Accola also meant 'tenant' or 'farmer' in Medieval Latin, which is likely the definition of the word that this name comes from.
ACH GermanTopographic name for someone who lived by a spring or stream, from Old High German aha meaning "running water".
ACHENBACH GermanHabitational name from places in Hesse and Westphalia named Achenbach, from the obsolete word Ach or Ache (from Middle High German ahe meaning "water", "stream") + Bach meaning "brook".
ACQUAVIVA ItalianFrom an Italian place name meaning "running water, spring", literally "living water".
ACRI ItalianHabitational name from a place in Cosenza province named Acri.
AGASSI Armenian, Persian, ItalianThe surname Agassi most likely evolved from a nickname for someone resembling a mappie, perhaps jokingly referred to as chattering or nagging person. ... [
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AGIRMO Italiantwo hypotheses: either from the Greek
agyrmos meaning "symposium, meeting" which was the name of the first day of the
Misteri Eleusini in Athens.... [
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AGOSTINELLI ItalianThe earliest known instance of this name AGOSTINELLI was St. Aurelius Augustinus, also known as Augustine of Hippo (354-430) the greatest of the Latin church fathers. He was born in Tagaste in Numidia which is modern Tunisia.... [
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AHLBORN GermanFrom the old personal name
Albern, from Germanic
adal meaning "noble" and
boran meaning "born".
ALBANESE ItalianSouthern Italian : ethnic name from albanese ‘(an) Albanian’, applied to someone from Albania or from one of the Albanian settlements in Abruzzo, Apulia, Campania, and Sicily.
ALBER GermanAlber family name was first found in Alsace. The nickname given to someone fair in complexion or blond haired is derived from Latin word Albanus, which means white.
ALBERTI ItalianFrom given name Alberto, the Latin translation of Germanic Albert.
ALBINET FrenchDerived from the medieval French masculine given name
Albinet, which was a diminutive (as the
-et suffix indicates) of the given name
ALBIN.... [
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ALDINGER GermanHabitational name for someone from Aldingen in Württemberg.
ALFANI Italian(or Alfano) three possibilities: from the German word
halfer ("helper"), from a place called Alfano, which is supposed to be from the Arab
al fannan ("wild donkey"), and Alfana is the name of a race (as in type) of Arab horses, so could be someone related to horses.
ALGIERI ItalianAlgieri is classified as a geographical surname. Specifically, it is a nation name, referring to the country of Algeria in northern Africa.
ALIGHIERI ItalianFrom the given name
Alighiero, Italian form of
Aldiger. A famous bearer of this surname is Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), author of the Divine Comedy.
ALLEMAN French (Cajun), Spanish (Canarian), GermanFrom the French and Spanish word for "German". Believed to have originated in the Alsace-Lorraine region. Some holders of the name migrated to the Canary Islands and are part of the larger Isleños population that settled throughout the Americas... [
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ALLEMANN German (Swiss)Allemann (also spelled
ALLEMAN,
ALLEMAND,
Aléman,
Allamont,
Allemagne,
Alemaye,
Alemán, and
Allamán) is a surname that can be found primarily in Switzerland deriving from the Latin surname, Alemannus, which refers to someone of Germanic descent, specifically from the Alamanni tribe... [
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ALLENDORF GermanHabitational name from any of ten or more places called Allendorf.
ALLGEIER GermanThe harried officials at Ellis Island began to assign surnames based upon the pronunciation of the name by the immigrant, rather than attempting to ferret out the actual spelling. ... [
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ALMENDINGER German, German (Swiss)Habitational name for someone from a place called Allmendingen, of which there are two examples in Switzerland, in Bern canton, and one in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
ALPINI Italian(or Alpino) possibly denoting a person from the Alpes.
ALSCHEID GermanProbably originally a locational surname and a place name for a village which no longer exists. Alscheid (Luxembourgish: Alschent) is a village in the commune of Kiischpelt, in northern Luxembourg. As of 2001, the village had a population of 47.... [
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ALT German, JewishFrom German
alt ‘old’, typically applied as a distinguishing epithet to the older of two bearers of the same personal name.
ALTHOFF GermanA surname predominantly found in Westphalia and the Rhineland region of Germany which is derived from German
alt "old" and
Hof (
Hoff in the local dialects) "farmstead; farm; manor".
ALTMEYER GermanStatus name for an older steward, headman, or tenant farmer, as distinguished from a younger one, from Middle High German alt ‘old’ + meier ‘steward’, ‘headman’, ‘tenant farmer’
ALTRINGER GermanHabitational name for someone from a place called Altringen or Aldingen, of which there are two in Württemberg.
ALWARDT GermanFrom the personal name
ADELWARD, composed of the Germanic elements
adal ‘noble’ +
ward ‘keeper’, ‘protector’.
AMBERG German, JewishGerman and possibly Jewish (Ashkenazic) habitational name from any of several settlements called Amberg (literally ‘by the mountain’), including a city in Bavaria. It could also be a topographic name of identical etymology... [
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AMEGLIO ItalianThere are two hypotheses: the first is it derived from the Latin name Amelius which came from Amius, name of Etruscan origin; the other is it derived from Amali, name of a mighty Ostrogothic family, which means "virgin of the forest".
AMES English, GermanEnglish: from the Old French and Middle English personal name
AMYS,
Amice, which is either directly from Latin
amicus ‘friend’, used as a personal name, or via a Late Latin derivative of this,
Amicius.... [
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AMMANN GermanA contraction of Ambetmann, for a court official. If there is a double "M", the origin might be Swiss.
AMMAZZALORSO ItalianFrom the profession of bear hunter, meaning literally "slaughter the bear".
AMMER German, English (Rare)This surname may be derived from Middle High German
amer which means "bunting (as in the bird)." As such, it is used as a nickname for someone with a fine voice or someone who is a flamboyant dresser.... [
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ANACKER GermanNickname for a day laborer, as opposed to someone who owned fields, from Middle High German āne meaning "without" + acker meaning "field".
ANGELO ItalianFrom a popular medieval personal name,
Angelo, Latin
Angelus, from Greek
angelos "messenger, angel" (considered as a messenger sent from God).
ANGELONI ItalianMeans "great angels" in Italian. It derives from Biblical Latin
angelus meaning "angel", ultimately from Ancient Greek
angelos, originally meaning "messenger", changing meaning in the Bible.
ANGRISANI ItalianFrom Angrisano, a habitational name for someone from Angri in Salerno province.
ANOUILH FrenchFrom Catalan
anull, meaning "slow worm". It is originally a nickname given to a spineless and slow person. The French author Jean Anouilh is a famous bearer of this surname.
ANSCHÜTZ GermanOccupational name for someone whose job was to keep a dam or pool filled with water. (Anschützen "to fill up")
ANZALONE ItalianThe surname Anzalone was first found in Bolgna (Latin: Bononia).
APICELLA ItalianSouthern Italian: from a diminutive of apa ‘bee’, probably applied as a nickname for an industrious person, or possibly as a metonymic occupational name for a beekeeper.
APOLLO Italian, SpanishFrom the Greek personal name
Apollo. There are several saints Apollo in the Christian Church, including an Egyptian hermit and monastic leader who died in 395 ad. The personal name derives from the name in classical mythology of the sun god,
Apollo, an ancient Indo-European name, found for example in Hittite as
Apulana "god of the gate" (from
pula "gate", cognate with Greek
pylē), therefore "protector, patron".
AQUILA ItalianHabitational name from L'Aquila in Abruzzo or from any of various smaller places called Aquila.
ARÀBIA Italian, SpanishEthnic name for someone from Arabia or some other Arabic-speaking country or a nickname for someone who had visited or traded with one of these countries.
ARABIE FrenchEthnic name denoting someone from Arabia or an Arabic-speaking person.
ARALDI ItalianMeans “heralds” in Italian. Famous bearers include Italian painters Alessandro Araldi (c. 1460 – c. 1529) and Paolo Araldi (18th century – after 1820).
ARBEITER GermanOccupational name from Middle High German arbeiter ‘laborer’.
ARCHEAMBEAU FrenchThe name Archambeau is derived from the Latin personal name 'Arcambaldus'. In turn the name 'Arcambaldus', is derived from the Germanic word 'Ercan', which means precious in Germanic, and 'bald', meaning bold and daring.... [
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ARENALDI Italian (Rare)Originally found in the Campania, Foggia area. Derived from the medieval name of Germanic origin Arenaldus or Arinaldus
ARGENTO ItalianFrom
argento "silver", perhaps sometimes applied as a nickname for someone with silvery gray hair, but more often a metonymic occupational name for a silversmith.
ARIES English, FrenchThe name means either a person who worked in a fashion of the "Arras" cloth, as in the quotation "one bede Coveringe of Aries" (1562), or someone who was a former inhabitant of Arras in France, or Arras in Yorkshire; the latter being a particularly popular source of the name.
ARIOSTO ItalianFrom the Germanic given name
Ariost, meaning "battle-ready". A famous bearer of this surname is Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533).
ARLINGHAUS GermanPerhaps a habitational name from Oerlinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia.
ARMAND PILON FrenchArmand is the original surname, and it is a French modification from a German surname. The original being Hartmann, that spelled by a francophone becomes Armand.... [
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ARMENIA Italian, Catalan, Spanish, PortugueseEthnic name or regional name for someone from Armenia or who had connections with Armenia. This surname is derived from the feminine form of
Armenio, which is ultimately from Greek Αρμένιος (
Armenios) meaning "Armenian"... [
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AROUET FrenchA famous bearer was French philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778), whose birth name was François-Marie Arouet.
ARQUETTE FrenchFrom arquet meaning "little bow" or "little arch" (diminutive of arche, from Latin arcus). It was originally an occupational name for an archer, but the French word arquet(te) is also found in the sense 'market trader' (originally, perhaps, one with a stall underneath an arch)... [
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ARRIGO ItalianItalian: from the medieval personal name Arrigo, a variant of Enrico.
ASCENCIO Spanish, ItalianFrom the personal name (Latin Ascensius), favored by the early Christians, by whom it was bestowed with reference to the ascension of Christ (Late Latin ascensio).
ASCHER GermanDerived from German
asche meaning "ash" (tanners worked with ash)
ASHEN GermanThe medieval name originated from the German dukedom of Swabia. It denoted that the original bearer of the name probably held land in Swabia. Otherwise it could have been a name given to somebody who was from or born in Swabia.
ASPERGES ItalianIt means "you bless", and it is also the device used by priests to spread holy water over people or places
ASTONI ItalianIt is the surname of the Home and Away family, The Astoni family, consisting of 4 members, Ben, Maggie, Coco and Ziggy.
ASTORE ItalianDerived from Italian
astore meaning "goshawk", which is a bird of prey that was used for hunting in the Middle Ages. The surname had first started out as a nickname: either for a falconer, or for a person who had aquiline features or who was cunning by nature.
ATZERODT English, GermanThis was the surname of George Atzerodt, a conspirator in a plot to kidnap Abraham Lincoln.
AUBERJONOIS FrenchA French last name meaning "armourer". Actor René Murat Auberjonois is a notable bearer.
AUBINE French (Rare)Derived from the medieval French feminine given name
Aubine, which was the French form of
ALBINA. But in other words, you could also say that Aubine was the feminine form of
AUBIN.
AUBINET French (Rare)Derived from the medieval French masculine given name
Aubinet, which was a diminutive (as the
-et suffix indicates) of the given name
AUBIN.... [
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AUBUCHON French (Modern, ?)The Aubuchon name is French, but of uncertain origin. It is probably from the patronymic prefix au + buchon, a dialect term for a woodcutter (Standard French bûcheron).
AUCLAIR FrenchPatronymic from the personal name
CLAIR or the nickname Leclair (‘the cheerful one’): (fils) à Leclair ‘(son) of Leclair’. It has also absorbed cases of Auclerc (from LeClerc).
AUDELIN FrenchVariant of
ODELIN, which is not to be confused with
ODELÍN as it is Spanish while the other one is French, though they could have similar origins in name.
AUDET FrenchSouthern French nickname from Gascon dialect audet "bird", variant of standard Occitan ausèl (modern French oiseau).
AUDINO ItalianDerived from first name 'Alda' which means 'wise and experienced.'
AUERBACH German, JewishTopographical name for someone who lived by a stream (Middle High German
bach) that was near a swamp or marsh (
auer).
AUGELLO ItalianItalian (Campania) dialect variant of
Uccello ‘bird’, hence either a nickname for a diminutive, birdlike person or an occupational name for a fowler. Compare
Auciello.
AUSSENDORF GermanOriginated in Germany. Means "Out of the Village". First used in the year 1135.
AUTRY English, FrenchA habitational name from any of the places in France named Autrey or Autry. French: from the Old French personal name Audry, from Germanic Aldric ‘ancient power’.
AVAMILANO Spanish, ItalianOf Spanish origin, but probably has its roots in Italy due to the word "milano" which means Milan in Italian.
AVENA Spanish, ItalianA traditionally Spanish and Italian occupational surname for a "grain grower or merchant", or the Italian habitation surname for Avena, Calabria. Means "oats". From the Latin
avēna meaning 'oats, wild oats, straw'.
AYOTTE FrenchIt means 'small hedge' or 'small woody plot of land' in Old French.
AZUAJE-FIDALGO Portuguese (Rare), Spanish, ItalianFidalgo from Galician and Portuguese
filho de algo — equivalent to "nobleman", but sometimes literally translated into English as "son of somebody" or "son of some (important family)"—is a traditional title of Portuguese nobility that refers to a member of the titled or untitled nobility... [
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BABEL FrenchEither (i) from the medieval French personal name
Babel, apparently adopted from that of St
Babylas, a 3rd-century Christian patriarch of Antioch, the origins of which are uncertain; or (ii) an invented Jewish name based on German or Polish
Babel "Babylon".
BACKMAN English, Swedish, GermanCombination of Old English
bakke "spine, back" and
man "man". In Swedish, the first element is more likely to be derived from Swedish
backe "hill", and in German the first element can be derived from German
backen "to bake"... [
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BACON English, French, NormanAn occupational surname for someone who sold pork, from Middle English and Old French
bacun or
bacon, meaning 'bacon', which is ultimately of Germanic origin. Can also be derived from the Germanic given names
Baco,
Bacco, or
Bahho, from the root
bag-, meaning 'to fight'... [
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BAER GermanDerived from Old High German
bero "bear".
BAFFA ItalianThe origins of this surname are uncertain, but it may be from Italian
baffo "mustache", with the Latinate feminine suffix probably due to the influence of the word
famiglia "family". Alternatively it may be Albanian in origin, of unexplained meaning.
BAIN Scottish, French, EnglishNickname for a hospitable person from northern Middle English beyn, bayn meaning "welcoming", "friendly".... [
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BAIO ItalianFrom a nickname for someone with light brown or reddish-brown hair or beard, from
baio meaning "bay horse", ultimately derived from Late Latin
badius meaning "red-brown".
BALDACCHINO Maltese, Italian, SicilianOccupational name for an artisan who made the baldachin, also spelled baldaquin, a type of canopy used in cathedrals, from Italian
baldacchino "baldachin". This word is derived from Italian
Baldacca, a doublet of
Bagdad "
Baghdad", the city where the material originally came from.
BALDINGER GermanGerman and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name for someone from a place called Baldingen, either in Württemberg, Germany, or Aargau, Switzerland.
BALLERINI ItalianOccupational name or nickname for a dancer, Italian
ballerino, an agent derivative of
ballare "to dance".
BALLOU Haitian Creole, French (Caribbean), FrenchThe Ballou name comes from that Medieval landscape of northwestern France known as Brittany. The name Ballou was originally derived from the family having lived in Brittany, where this distinguished family was established from ancient times... [
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BALMA ItalianPerhaps a topographic name from the dialect word
balma meaning ‘grotto’, ‘cave’, ‘jutting rock’.
BALSAM GermanOccupational name for a seller of spices and perfumes.
BALSANO German (Austrian), ItalianThe roots of the distinguished surname Balzano lie in Austria. The name derives itself from "Balthasar," the name of one of the three Magi who followed the star to Bethlehem, and was popular as both a first name and a family name during the 18th century.... [
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BANDI ItalianDerived from Late Latin
Bandus itself from the Germanic
band and the Latin
banda, all meaning "sign, emblem, banner". It can also derive from the Italian word
bando meaning "announcement" from the Germanic
bann.
BANDY GermanThis interesting surname of German and Ashkenazic origin is a diminutive of the metonymic occupational name
Band, originally given to someone who made the wooden hoops with which wooden barrels were fastened together, deriving from the Germanic
band meaning "hoop", "band"... [
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BARBE FrenchNickname for someone with a beard, Old French
barbe (Latin barba).
BARBE GermanFrom Middle High German
barbe, the name of a species of fish resembling the carp; hence by metonymy an occupational name for a fisherman or fish dealer, or possibly a nickname for someone thought to resemble the fish in some way.
BARBEAU FrenchDerived from
barbeau meaning "barbel", a type of fish, hence a metonymic occupational name for a fisherman, or a nickname for a man with a sparse beard, the fish being distinguished by beardlike growths on either side of its mouth... [
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BARBERA ItalianDerogatory nickname from barbera ‘barber’s wife’, a term also used to denote a prostitute or dishonest woman. Catalan (Barberà): habitational name from a place in Tarragona province, named with Late Latin Barbarianum ‘place of Barbarius’, a derivative of Barbarus (see Barbaro)... [
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BARIL FrenchDuring the middle ages, when people were named after their given job, Baril was what winemakers and brewers were named. Baril simply means "Barrel" or "Keg"
BARNO Italian, Ukrainian, French, Ancient Aramaic, RussianThe surname Barno was first found in the north of Italy, especially in Tuscany. The name occasionally appears in the south, usually in forms which end in "o," but the northern forms ending in "i" are much more common... [
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BARON English, FrenchFrom a title of nobility derived from Old French
baron of uncertain origin and meaning, possibly from Frankish
barō meaning "servant, man, warrior". It was used as a nickname for someone who worked for a baron or for a peasant with ideas above their station.
BARREAU FrenchPossibly a variant of
Barreur, an agent derivative of barrer ‘to bar’, ‘to close or block off’, hence possibly an occupational name for a jailer or doorkeeper.
BARRIERE FrenchOccupational name for a gatekeeper, from Old French
barier.
BARRINEAU FrenchThe history of the Barrineau family goes back to the Medieval landscape of northern France, to that coastal region known as Normandy. Barrineau is a habitation name, derived from the place name Barrault, in Normandy.... [
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BARTEK Polish, Czech, Slovak, GermanPolish, Czech, Slovak, and eastern German: from a pet form of a vernacular form of the personal name Bartolomaeus (Czech Bartoloměj, Polish Bartłomiej, German Bartolomäus)
BARTOLOTTA ItalianBartolotta was the name taken by the followers of Saint Bartholomew. Bartholomew was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus. He is credited as bringing Christianity to Armenia in the 1st century.
BARWICK English, GermanEnglish: habitational name from any of various places called Barwick, for example in Norfolk, Somerset, and West Yorkshire, from Old English
bere ‘barley’ +
wic ‘outlying farm’, i.e. a granary lying some distance away from the main village.... [
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BASCÖURT FrenchThe Bascourt or Bascur surname is from France, from that place dates the beginning of the surname, however the French of previous centuries had no records of that surname. ... [
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