1000 Most Common Last Names in Haiti

French: from the personal name Jean, French form of John. English: variant of Jayne.

from the French personal name Pierre (see Peter). from Old French pierre ‘stone’, ‘rock’ (Latin petra), a topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of stony soil or by a large outcrop of rock, or a metonymic occupational name for a quarryman or stonemason.

English, German, French, and Jewish: from the personal name, Hebrew Yosef ‘may He (God) add (another son)’. In medieval Europe this name was borne frequently but not exclusively by Jews; the usual medieval English vernacular form is represented by Jessup. In the Book of Genesis, Joseph is the favorite son of Jacob, who is sold into slavery by his brothers but rises to become a leading minister in Egypt (Genesis 37–50). In the New Testament Joseph is the husband of the Virgin Mary, which accounts for the popularity of the given name among Christians.

French: from the personal name Louis, derived from a Germanic personal name (the name of the founder of the Frankish dynasty) composed of the elements hlod ‘fame’ + wig ‘war’. This is recorded in Latin chronicles as Ludovicus (see Ludwig), and Chlodovechus, which became Old French Clovis, Clouis, Louis, a name borne by many French kings.

French, Welsh, and English: from the French form of the Germanic personal name Carl ‘man’ (which was Latinized as Carolus). In France the personal name was popular from an early date, due to the fame of the Emperor Charlemagne (?742–814; Latin name Carolus Magnus, i.e. Charles the Great). The Old French form Charles was briefly introduced to England by the Normans, but was rare during the main period of surname formation. It was introduced more successfully to Scotland in the 16th century by the Stuarts, who had strong ties with France, and was brought by them to England in the 17th century. Its frequency as a Welsh surname is attributable to the late date of Welsh surname formation. Old English Ceorl ‘peasant’ is also found as a byname, but the resulting Middle English form, Charl, with a patronymic in -s, if it existed at all, would have been absorbed by the French form introduced by the Normans. Compare Carl. English variants pronounced with initial k- for the most part reflect the cognate Old Norse personal name Karl, Karli. Swedish: ornamental form of a Frenchified form of the Old Norse personal name Karl.

French (François): from the personal name François, originally an ethnic name meaning ‘Frenchman’, (see Francis).

English, French, German, and Dutch: from the personal name Paul (Latin Paulus ‘small’), which has always been popular in Christendom. It was the name adopted by the Pharisee Saul of Tarsus after his conversion to Christianity on the road to Damascus in about ad 34. He was a most energetic missionary to the Gentiles in the Roman Empire, and played a very significant role in establishing Christianity as a major world religion. The name was borne also by numerous other early saints. The American surname has absorbed cognates from other European languages, for example Greek Pavlis and its many derivatives. It is also occasionally borne by Jews; the reasons for this are not clear. Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Phóil ‘son of Paul’. Compare McFall. Catalan (Paül): habitational name from any of several places named Paül. Spanish: topographic name from paúl ‘marsh’, ‘lagoon’. Spanish: Castilianized form of Basque Padul, a habitational name from a town of this name in Araba province.

French, German, and Dutch: from the personal name Michel (see Michael). Basque: variant from the personal name Mitxel, equivalent of Michael. Polish: from a variant of the personal name Michal (see Michael). Greek: shortened form of any of various patronymic derivatives of Michael, for example Michelakis, Michelakakis, or Michelakos.

French: from the personal name Étienne, French vernacular form of Latin Stephanus (see Steven).

French and German: from the personal name Augustin, from Latin Augustinus (see Austin).

English and French: nickname for a particularly pious individual, from Middle English, Old French saint, seint ‘holy’ (Latin sanctus ‘blameless’, ‘holy’). The vocabulary word was occasionally used in the Middle Ages as a personal name, especially on the Continent, and this may have given rise to some instances of the surname.

English and French: nickname for someone who had some special connection with the Christmas season, such as owing the particular feudal duty of providing a yule-log to the lord of the manor, or having given a memorable performance as the Lord of Misrule. The name is from Middle English, Old French no(u)el ‘Christmas’ (Latin natalis (dies) ‘birthday’). It was also used as a given name for someone born during the Christmas period.

French (Chéry): from a word meaning ‘darling’, perhaps used ironically. It is also the name of several places, deriving from the Latin Cariacus ‘land belonging to Carius’.

French: from the personal name Antoine, French equivalent of Anthony.

French: from a nickname or personal name composed of the elements tous ‘all’ (plural) + saints ‘saints’. The name was given to someone who was born on All Saints’ Day (1 November), or chosen as an invocation of the protection of all the saints of the calendar.

French: from the personal name Alexis, ultimately from Greek alexios ‘helping’, ‘defending’. The personal name owed its popularity in the Middle Ages to St. Alexi(u)s, about whom many legends grew up. The historical St. Alexis is said to have lived in the 4th–5th centuries in Edessa (an early center of Christianity in Syria). His cult was also popular in the Eastern Church, which accounts for the frequency of the Russian personal name Aleks(e)i. In North America this surname has probably absorbed Russian and other cognates, mentioned in Hanks and Hodges (1988).

French (Désir): from the personal name Désir, a development of Latin Desiderius.

French: from the personal name Auguste, the French vernacular form of Augustus.

Southern French: nickname from Old Occitan cadet, ‘small dog’, or perhaps from Gascon capdet, a term designating the youngest member of a family (however, this term is not recorded in French until the 15th century).

French: from the personal name, a compound of Jean (see John) and Baptiste. This saint’s name was especially frequent as a secondary surname in French Canada.

French: nickname for a belligerent person or for a valiant soldier, from Old French guerre ‘war’ (of Germanic origin). This is a French Canadian secondary surname, which has also been used independently since 1717.

French and Portuguese: from the personal name Alexandre (see Alexander).

French: variant of George. This name is also common in Germany, taken there by the Huguenots.

French: nickname for an aggressive person or occupational name for a soldier, from Old French guerrier ‘warrior’.

French (Moïse) and Jewish: from the personal name Moise (see Moses). Italian (also Moisé): from a variant of the personal name Mosè, Italian equivalent of Moses.

French: from the Old French personal name Germain. This was popular in France, where it had been borne by a 5th-century saint, bishop of Auxerre. It derives from Latin Germanus ‘brother’, ‘cousin’ (originally an adjective meaning ‘of the same stock’, from Latin germen ‘bud’, ‘shoot’). In the Romance languages, especially Italian, the popularity of the equivalent personal name has been enhanced by association with the meaning ‘brother (in God)’, and in Spanish the cognate surname is derived from the vocabulary word meaning ‘brother’ rather than from a personal name. The feminine form, Germaine, which occurs as a place name in Aisne, Marne, and Haute-Marne, is associated with a late 16th-century saint from Provençal, the daughter of a poor farmer, who was canonized in 1867. English: variant of German.

French: from a medieval personal name (Latin Victor meaning ‘conqueror’, an agent derivative of vincere ‘to win’). Early Christians often bore this name in reference to Christ’s victory over sin and death, and there are a large number of saints so called. Some of the principal ones, who contributed to the popularity of the personal name in the Middle Ages, are a 2nd-century pope, a 3rd-century Mauritanian martyr, and a 5th-century bishop of Cologne.

French and English: from the Old French personal name Jacques, the usual French form of Latin Jacobus (see Jacob). The English surname is either a late introduction from France or a Frenchification of Jakes. In English this surname is traditionally pronounced as two syllables, jay-kwez.

French: from a personal name (Latin Julius). The name was borne in the Middle Ages in honor of various minor Christian saints. English: patronymic or metronymic from a short form of Julian.

French: from the personal name, a compound of Jean (French form of John) + Louis.

Spanish (Félix), Portuguese, English, German, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from a medieval personal name (Latin Felix, genitive Felicis, meaning ‘lucky’, ‘fortunate’). This was a relatively common Roman family name, said to have been first adopted as a nickname by Sulla. It was very popular among early Christians and was borne by a large number of early saints.

French and English: from a medieval personal name, derived from the distinguishing epithet of St. John the Baptist, who baptized people, including Jesus Christ, in the river Jordan (Mark 1:9), and was later beheaded by Herod. The name is from Latin Baptista (Greek baptistes, a derivative of the verb baptizein ‘to dip in liquid’, ‘to baptize’).

French: from the personal name Marcel(l)in, from the Latin name Marcellinus, a double derivative of Marcus (see Mark) borne by several early saints, including a pope who died in the persecutions instigated by Diocletian. Galician (Marcelín): habitational name from Marcelín, a village in Galicia, northern Spain.

French, Catalan, and English (mainly Leicestershire): from Old French or Catalan petit ‘small’, hence a nickname for a small person (or an ironic nickname for a big man), or for the younger of two bearers of the same personal name. This name was common among Catalan Jews. It is also established in Ireland.

French: apparently from elements meaning ‘St. Louis’, but perhaps an altered form of a habitational name from Luisant in Eure-et-Loir.

French (René): from a personal name (Latin Renatus ‘reborn’) borne by a 4th-century saint, and popular in France throughout the Middle Ages because of its transparent reference to Christian spiritual rebirth.

English, Scottish, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Jewish: from the Hebrew personal name Gavriel ‘God has given me strength’. This was borne by an archangel in the Bible (Daniel 8:16 and 9:21), who in the New Testament announced the impending birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:26–38). It has been a comparatively popular personal name in all parts of Europe, among both Christians and Jews, during the Middle Ages and since. Compare Michael and Raphael. It was the name of a famous patriarch and archbishop of Serbia (died 1659). In Russia it was the official Christian name of St. Vsevolod (died 1138). In the U.S. this name has absorbed cognate names from other European languages, for example the Greek patronymics Gabrielis, Gabrielatos, Gabrielidis, Gabrielakos, Gabrieloglou.

English, French, German, Dutch, Danish, and South Indian: from the medieval personal name, of Biblical origin, from Aramaic t’om’a, a byname meaning ‘twin’. It was borne by one of the disciples of Christ, best known for his scepticism about Christ’s resurrection (John 20:24–29). The th- spelling is organic, the initial letter of the name in the Greek New Testament being a theta. The English pronunciation as t rather than th- is the result of French influence from an early date. In Britain the surname is widely distributed throughout the country, but especially common in Wales and Cornwall. The Ukrainian form is Choma. It is found as a personal name among Christians in India, and in the U.S. is used as a family name among families from southern India.

French: from the personal name, French form of Julian. English: variant spelling of Julian.

French: from a vernacular form of the Latin personal name Laurentius (see Lawrence).

English, French, Dutch, Polish, Czech, and Slovenian: from a Germanic personal name (see Bernhard). The popularity of the personal name was greatly increased by virtue of its having been borne by St. Bernard of Clairvaux (c.1090–1153), founder and abbot of the Cistercian monastery at Clairvaux. Americanized form of German Bernhard or any of the other cognates in European languages; for forms see Hanks and Hodges 1988.

French: from the personal name Edouard, French equivalent of Edward.

French (André): from the personal name André, French vernacular form of Andreas, also found as a Huguenot name in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. German: shortened form of Andreae. Swedish: shortened form of Andree.

French: from a compound personal name consisting of Pierre (see Peter) + Louis (see Lewis). According to Morlet, such compounds are found mainly in eastern France.

Spanish (Nicolás), French, Dutch, Greek, etc: from the personal name Nicolas, the usual spelling of Greek Nikolaos in many languages (see Nicholas). English (common in Wales): variant spelling of Nicholas.

English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish (Simón), Czech and Slovak (Šimon), Slovenian, Hungarian, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the personal name, Hebrew Shim‘on, which is probably derived from the verb sham‘a ‘to hearken’. In the Vulgate and in many vernacular versions of the Old Testament, this is usually rendered Simeon. In the Greek New Testament, however, the name occurs as Simon, as a result of assimilation to the pre-existing Greek byname Simon (from simos ‘snub-nosed’). Both Simon and Simeon were in use as personal names in western Europe from the Middle Ages onward. In Christendom the former was always more popular, at least in part because of its associations with the apostle Simon Peter, the brother of Andrew. In Britain there was also confusion from an early date with Anglo-Scandinavian forms of Sigmund (see Siegmund), a name whose popularity was reinforced at the Conquest by the Norman form Simund.

French: distinguishing epithet meaning ‘young’.

French (Célestin): from the personal name Célestin, a pet form of Céleste (see Celeste).

French: from the personal name Calixte (see Calixto).

French: from the personal name Philippe (see Philip).

French: from the personal name, a compound of Jean (French form of John) + Pierre (French form of Peter).

French: from the personal name Mathieu, vernacular derivative of Latin Mathias or Matthaeus (see Matthew).

French: nickname from a phrase meaning literally ‘my desire’.

French: from the personal name Guillaume, French form of William.

French: variant spelling of Hypolite.

English and Scottish: patronymic from the medieval personal name Nel or Neal, Anglo-Scandinavian forms of the Gaelic name Niall (see Neill). This was adopted by the Scandinavians in the form Njal and was introduced into northern England and East Anglia by them, rather than being taken directly from Gaelic. Americanized spelling of the like-sounding Scandinavian names Nilsen, Nielsen, and Nilsson.

French: northern equivalent of Duval.

French and Catalan: descriptive nickname for a man with white or fair hair or a pale complexion, from Old French, Catalan blanc ‘white’. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German blank ‘bright’, ‘shiny’.

English and French: from the Norman personal name Raimund, composed of the Germanic elements ragin ‘advice’, ‘counsel’ + mund ‘protection’. Americanized spelling of German Raimund, a cognate of 1.

French: from the personal name Janvier ‘January’ (see January 1).

French (Eugène): from the personal name Eugène (Latin Eugenius, from Greek Eugenios meaning ‘well-born’, ‘noble’). This was borne by a 3rd-century bishop and martyr, who gave the personal name some currency during the Middle Ages. In some cases it may also represent an Americanized form of a Greek patronymic family name of this origin, for example Eugeniadis or Eugenidis.

French: from the personal name, French form of Hillary 1.

French: variant spelling of Basil.

French, Spanish (Denís), and Portuguese: from the personal name Denis (Spanish Denís), variant of Dennis. Ukrainian: from the personal name Denys (see Dennis).

French (Fils-Aimé): nickname for a favorite son, from fils ‘son’ + aimé ‘loved’, ‘beloved’.

Jewish, German, Dutch, Danish, French, Spanish (Salomón), and Polish: the usual spelling in these languages of Solomon and a variant in others.

English and French: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements haim, heim ‘home’ + ric ‘power’, ‘ruler’, introduced to England by the Normans in the form Henri. During the Middle Ages this name became enormously popular in England and was borne by eight kings. Continental forms of the personal name were equally popular throughout Europe (German Heinrich, French Henri, Italian Enrico and Arrigo, Czech Jindrich, etc.). As an American family name, the English form Henry has absorbed patronymics and many other derivatives of this ancient name in continental European languages. (For forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988.) In the period in which the majority of English surnames were formed, a common English vernacular form of the name was Harry, hence the surnames Harris (southern) and Harrison (northern). Official documents of the period normally used the Latinized form Henricus. In medieval times, English Henry absorbed an originally distinct Old English personal name that had hagan ‘hawthorn’. Compare Hain 2 as its first element, and there has also been confusion with Amery. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hInnéirghe ‘descendant of Innéirghe’, a byname based on éirghe ‘arising’. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Éinrí or Mac Einri, patronymics from the personal names Éinrí, Einri, Irish forms of Henry. It is also found as a variant of McEnery. Jewish (American): Americanized form of various like-sounding Ashkenazic Jewish names.

Perhaps an altered spelling of French Gentil (compare Italian Gentile).

French (Jérôme) and English: from the medieval personal name Jérôme (French), Jerome (English), from Greek Hieronymos (see Hieronymus). This achieved some popularity in France and elsewhere, being bestowed in honor of St Jerome (?347–420), creator of the Vulgate, the standard Latin version of the Bible. English (of Norman origin): from a personal name, Gerram, composed of the Germanic elements gar, ger ‘spear’ + hraban ‘raven’.

French: from the Germanic personal name Leobin, a pet form of any of the compound names formed with leub, liup, liob ‘dear’, ‘beloved’ as the first element. St. Leobin was a bishop of Chartres in the 6th century (whence the name’s popularity in the Middle Ages), and several places were named Saint-Lubin after him, as for example in Eure, Eure-et-Loir, and Loir-et-Cher. Jewish (from Belarus): habitational name for someone from Lyubin and Lyubny, now in Belarus. Jewish (from Belarus): metronymic from the Yiddish personal name Lube, from eastern Slavic ‘love’.

French (Sévère): from the personal name Sévère, Latin Severus, meaning ‘harsh, austere’. Severus was the name of several Roman Emperors, including Alexander Severus (died 235), born in Syria, who was noted for his virtuous and studious character and his tolerance towards Christians. The personal name enjoyed some popularity among early Christians.

Probably a respelling of French Cassius, from the Latin personal name, which was particularly popular in France during the Renaissance.

English and French: nickname for a gambler or for someone considered fortunate or well favored, from Middle English, Old French fortune ‘chance’, ‘luck’. In some cases it may derive from the rare medieval personal name Fortune (Latin Fortunius). French (Fortuné): from the personal name Fortuné, a vernacular form of the Late Latin personal name Fortunatus meaning ‘prosperous’, ‘happy’. Scottish: habitational name from a place in Lothian, probably so named from Old English for ‘hog’, ‘pig’ + tun ‘settlement’, ‘enclosure’; John de Fortun was servant to the abbot of Kelso c. 1200.

French: from the personal name Innocent, from Latin Innocentius, from innocens ‘harmless’, ‘non-violent’.

French and Dutch: from the personal name Casimir, a name of Slavic origin meaning ‘destroyer of peace’. Compare Polish Kazmierczak.

French: from a personal name, Latin Maturinus (a derivative of Maturus ‘timely’), borne by a 3rd-century saint who was responsible for spreading the gospel in the district of Sens.

French: unexplained.

Latinized form of Marcello or Marcel.

French: from the Old French personal name Seluein (Latin Silvanus, a derivative of silva ‘wood’), bestowed in honor of various minor early Christian saints.

Jewish, French, English, and German: from the Hebrew personal name Refael composed of the elements rafa ‘to heal’ + el ‘God’. This is the name of one of the archangels, but for some reason it was less popular among Christians in the Middle Ages, except perhaps in Italy, than those of the archangels Michael and Gabriel.

French and English: from the medieval personal name Blaise, a vernacular form of Latin Blasius.

French: ornamental surname borne by servants or soldiers in feudal France, from Old French flor ‘flower’ + the definite article la. Perhaps the most common of the distinguishing names in French Canada, it is associated as a secondary surname with some sixty family names and has been used independently since 1705.

Probably of French origin: unexplained. Perhaps a respelling of Linder, an Alsace name of German origin. In North America, this name is found mainly in LA.

French and Portuguese (César); from the personal name César, French and Portuguese equivalent of Caesar (see Cesare). Slovenian and Croatian (northern Croatia): from cesar ‘emperor’, nickname for a person who behaved in an imperious manner or for an administrative official in the service of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Jewish, Welsh, Scottish, English, French, Portuguese, German, Czech, Slovak (Dávid) and Slovenian: from the Hebrew personal name David ‘beloved’, which has been perennially popular among Jews, in honor of the Biblical king of this name, the greatest of the early kings of Israel. His prominence, and the vivid narrative of his life contained in the First Book of Samuel, led to adoption of the name in various parts of Europe, notably Britain, among Christians in the Middle Ages. The popularity of this as a personal name was increased in Britain, firstly by virtue of its being the name of the patron saint of Wales (about whom very little is known: he was probably a 6th-century monk and bishop) and secondly because it was borne by two kings of Scotland (David I, reigning 1124–53, and David II, 1329–71). Its popularity in Russia is largely due to the fact that this was the ecclesiastical name adopted by St. Gleb (died 1015), one of two sons of Prince Vladimir of Kiev who were martyred for their Christian zeal.

English and French: from a medieval personal name (Latin Vincentius, a derivative of vincens, genitive vincentis, present participle of vincere ‘to conquer’). The name was borne by a 3rd-century Spanish martyr widely venerated in the Middle Ages and by a 5th-century monk and writer of Lérins, as well as various other early saints. In eastern Europe the name became popular in honor of Wincenty Kadlubek (died 1223), a bishop of Kraków and an early chronicler. Irish: the English surname has been established in the south of Ireland since the 17th century, and has also been adopted as an English equivalent of Gaelic Mac Dhuibhinse ‘son of the dark man of the island’.

French, Catalan, and Spanish: nickname from civil, from Latin civilis ‘civil’, ‘of or pertaining to a citizen’, by extension ‘cultivated’, ‘educated’. However, in Spanish the term also meant ‘wicked’ or ‘rude’ and the nickname may have come from either of these senses. Catalan: topographic name from Old French sevil ‘fence’, ‘enclosure’.

French (Compère): apparently from compère (from compater) in the sense ‘godfather’, or a respelling of the southern name Compayre, of the same derivation.

French (Rémy) and Swiss German: from a medieval personal name which represents a falling together of two distinct Latin names: Remigius (a derivative of remex, genitive remigis, ‘rower, oarsman’), and Remedius (from remedium ‘cure’, ‘remedy’). The former name was borne by a 6th-century bishop of Rheims; the latter was borne by various minor saints of the 8th to 10th centuries.

French (Bart(h)élemy): from the personal name Bart(h)élemy, French form of Bartholomew. It is found chiefly in New England.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German side, German Seide ‘silk’ (from Late Latin seta, originally denoting animal hair), hence a metonymic occupational name for a manufacturer or seller of silk.

Of French origin: unexplained.

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Bennet,' i.e. Benedict, from the nick. Benn; it has nothing to do with Benjamin. Benn is a familiar surname wherever the Benedictine monks had a convent. Furness Abbey, founded in the 12th century, has made Benn and Benson (which see) a common surname in Furness and south Cumberland.

French: from a personal name derived from Latin Lucianus (from Lucius).

French (Benoît): from the personal name Benoit, French form of Benedict.

French and English: from a medieval personal name (Latin Constans, genitive Constantis, meaning ‘steadfast’, ‘faithful’, present participle of the verb constare ‘stand fast’, ‘be consistent’). This was borne by an 8th-century Irish martyr. This surname has also absorbed some cases of surnames based on Constantius, a derivative of Constans, borne by a 2nd-century martyr, bishop of Perugia. Compare Constantine. English: perhaps also a nickname from Old French constant ‘steadfast’, ‘faithful’.

French (Fénelon): habitational name from Fénelon in the Dordogne, which is of uncertain origin. Irish: variant spelling of Fenlon 1.

French: nickname meaning ‘love’.

French: variant of Dustin.

English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian (Dániel), Romanian, and Jewish: from the Hebrew personal name Daniel ‘God is my judge’, borne by a major prophet in the Bible. The major factor influencing the popularity of the personal name (and hence the frequency of the surname) was undoubtedly the dramatic story in the Book of Daniel, recounting the prophet’s steadfast adherence to his religious faith in spite of pressure and persecution from the Mesopotamian kings in whose court he served: Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar (at whose feast Daniel interpreted the mysterious message of doom that appeared on the wall, being thrown to the lions for his pains). The name was also borne by a 2nd-century Christian martyr and by a 9th-century hermit, the legend of whose life was popular among Christians during the Middle Ages; these had a minor additional influence on the adoption of the Christian name. Among Orthodox Christians in Eastern Europe the name was also popular as being that of a 4th-century Persian martyr, who was venerated in the Orthodox Church. Irish: reduced form of McDaniel, which is actually a variant of McDonnell, from the Gaelic form of Irish Donal (equivalent to Scottish Donald), erroneously associated with the Biblical personal name Daniel. See also O’Donnell.

Jewish, English, Welsh, French, etc.: from the Biblical Hebrew personal name yishaq ‘he laughs’. This was the name of the son of Abraham (Genesis 21:3) by his wife Sarah. The traditional explanation of the name is that Abraham and Sarah laughed with joy at the birth of a son to them in their old age, but a more plausible explanation is that the name originally meant ‘may God laugh’, i.e. ‘smile on him’. Like Abraham, this name has always been immensely popular among Jews, but was also widely used in medieval Europe among Christians. Hence it is the surname of many gentile families as well as Jews. In England and Wales it was one of the Old Testament names that were particularly popular among Nonconformists in the 17th–19th centuries, which accounts for its frequency as a Welsh surname. (Welsh surnames were generally formed much later than English ones.) In eastern Europe the personal name in its various vernacular forms was popular in Orthodox (Russian, Ukrainian, and Bulgarian), Catholic (Polish), and Protestant (Czech) Churches. It was borne by a 5th-century father of the Armenian Church and by a Spanish saint martyred by the Moorish rulers of Cordoba in ad 851 on account of his polemics against Islam. In this spelling, the American family name has also absorbed cognates from other European languages, e.g. German Isaak, Dutch Izaac, etc. (for the forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988). It is found as a personal name among Christians in India, and in the U.S. is used as a family name among families from southern India.

Scottish, English, and French: from the Middle English personal name Edmund (Old English Eadmund), composed of the elements ead ‘prosperity’, ‘fortune’ + mund ‘protection’. In medieval England and France the name was often bestowed in honor of the East Anglian King St. Edmund the Martyr (died 869), who was killed by pagan Danish invaders, and about whom many legends grew up.

French (Léger) and English: from the Germanic personal name Leodegar (see Ledger). French: nickname from léger ‘light’, ‘superficial’. English: see Letcher. Dutch (also de Leger): occupational name from Middle Dutch legger, ligger ‘bailiff’, ‘tax collector’.

French: from the personal name Gustave, of Scandinavian origin (see Gustafson).

French (Dieudonné): from the medieval personal name Dieudonné ‘God-given’, a vernacular form of Deodonatus.

French, Spanish, Italian, and English: from a vernacular form of the Latin personal name Vitalis (see Vitale). The English surname may derive, at least in part, as a nickname from the Middle English word vital in the sense ‘full of vitality’.

French: from the Late Latin personal name Darius, Greek Dareios, which was borne by various kings of ancient Persia, including Darius I (522–486 bc). The ancient Persian form of the name was Darayavahush, meaning ‘possessor’, from daraya(miy) ‘possess’, ‘maintain’ + vahu ‘good’, ‘well’. This became accepted as a Christian name in medieval Europe in honor of a saint martyred at Nicaea at an uncertain date.

French: nickname from Old French prophete, Middle High German prophet ‘prophet’, ‘soothsayer’, ‘wise man’.

German and French: from a Spanish (Visigothic) personal name composed of the elements farð ‘journey’, ‘expedition’ (or a metathesized form of frið ‘peace’) + nanð ‘daring’, ‘brave’. The surname is of comparatively recent origin in German-speaking countries and in France, for the personal name was not introduced from Spain until the late 15th century. It was brought to Austria by the Habsburg dynasty, among whom it was a hereditary name, and from Austria it spread to France. The Iberian cognates are of more ancient origin and more frequently found today, since the name was much favored in the royal house of Castile. It owes its popularity in large part to King Ferdinand III of Castile and León (1198–1252), who recaptured large areas of Spain from the Moors and was later canonized.

French: from Faustin, a pet form of the personal name Faust.

English, French, German, and Dutch: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements ric ‘power(ful)’ + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’.

French: topographic name for someone who lived in an area where jasmine grew, jasmin, from Arabic yasmin. Possibly in some cases Spanish: from the female personal name Jasmín, which, like 1 above, is from the name of the plant.

German, French, and English: from the Hebrew personal name Yoyakim ‘God has granted (a son)’, which occurs in the Bible (Nehemiah 12:10) and was also borne, according to medieval legend, by the father of the Virgin Mary.

French (Émile)and Dutch: from the personal name (French Émile, Dutch Emile), from Latin Aemilius (see Emilio).

French: topographic name for someone living among rose bushes, from the fused preposition and definite article des ‘from the’ + the plural of Old French rosier ‘rose bush’. This was sometimes confused with Desrochers, even in French language documents.

Variant spelling (mainly French and South Indian) of Emanuel, which was used in the Middle Ages by Christians as an alternative name for Christ. The name was also borne by a 3rd-century martyr. Among Christians in India it is used as a given name, and in the U.S. it has come to be used as a last name among families from southern India.

French (Théodore) and English: from the personal name Théodore (Greek Theodoros, a compound of theos ‘God’ + doron ‘gift’), which was relatively popular in the Middle Ages because of its auspicious meaning. There was considerable confusion with the Germanic personal name Theodoric (see Terry). As an American family name, it has also absorbed various other European cognates, e.g. Greek Theodorakis, Theodoropoulos.

French: possibly a back formation from Old French geline ‘hen’. Jewish (from Belarus and Ukraine): variant of Gelles.

English: from the Middle English personal name Alvred, Old English Ælfr?d ‘elf counsel’. This owed its popularity as a personal name in England chiefly to the fame of the West Saxon king Alfred the Great (849–899), who defeated the Danes, keeping them out of Wessex, and whose court was a great center of learning and culture.

French and English: from the personal name Pascal, Latin Paschalis, a derivative of pascha ‘Easter’, via Greek and Aramaic from Hebrew pesach ‘Passover’. Compare Italian Pasquale. possibly also an Americanized form of Greek Paskhales, which has the same origin as 1.

French: variant of Elias.

French, English, Slovenian, etc.: from a medieval personal name, Latin Justinus, a derivative of Justus (see Just). This name was borne by various early saints, including a 3rd-century Parisian martyr and the first archbishop of Tarbes.

French: from a reduced form of the personal name Nicolas (see Nicholas).

French (Frédéric): from the personal name, French form of Friederich.

French (Gédéon) and Hungarian: from the French, Hungarian, or some other form of the personal name Gideon.

French: from fils ‘son’, used to identify the younger of two bearers of the same personal name in a family.

French: habitational name from any of the various places named Clermont, from Old French clair, cler ‘bright’, ‘clear’ + mont ‘hill’, i.e. a hill that could be seen a long way off.

French: nickname from Old French bon homme ‘good man’.

Scandinavian and English: from the personal name Oscar, which is of Gaelic origin, composed of the elements os ‘deer’ + cara ‘friend’. The personal name owes its popularity in Scandinavia and elsewhere to the Ossian poems of James MacPherson (1760), which enjoyed a great vogue in the latter part of the 18th century.

Spanish (León): habitational name from León, a city in northwestern Spain, named with Latin legio, genitive legionis ‘legion’, a division of the Roman army. In Roman times the city was the garrison of the 7th Legion, known as the Legio Gemina. The city’s name became reduced from Legion(em) to Leon(em), and in this form developed an unetymological association with the word for ‘lion’, Spanish león. Spanish: from the personal name León, from Greek leon ‘lion’ (see Lyon 2). Leon is also found as a Greek family name. Spanish: nickname for a fierce or brave warrior, from león ‘lion’. French (Léon) and English: variant of Lyon.

Italian (Sicily): from the medieval personal name Dolce, meaning ‘sweet’, ‘pleasant’, from Latin dulcis.

French and Catalan: from the personal name Marc (see Mark 1).

Scottish and northern Irish: habitational name from any of several places called Lundie, for example one near Doune in Perthshire. Irish: according to MacLysaght, from Norman de la Lounde, a name recorded in medieval documents in counties Tipperary and Kilkenny.

French (also English): variant of Roman.

French, English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish: from the Old French personal name Maurice, Latin Mauritius (see Morris).

French: from the personal name Ambroise, French equivalent of Ambrose.

Jewish: from the Hebrew male personal name Yisrael ‘Fighter of God’. In the Bible this is a byname bestowed on Jacob after he had wrestled with the angel at the ford of Jabbok (Genesis 32:24–8). name adopted by Jews with reference to the ancient Kingdom of Israel, destroyed by the Assyrians in 721 bc, or to the concept of Jewish nationhood, or, in modern times, to the state of Israel. Comparatively recent adoption of the Biblical name in Britain among Nonconformists, especially in Wales. altered form of Ezell.

French (Maître): occupational name for one who was the head of a craft or trade guild, from Old French maistre ‘master’ (Latin magister).

French: from the personal name Dominique, a vernacular form of Late Latin Dominicus (see Dominick).

French (Napoléon) and Spanish (Napoleón): from a Corsican personal name (see Napoleone). It was made famous by the French Emperor Napoleon (1769–1821), and in some cases may have been adopted as a surname in his honor.

From the Hebrew personal name Avraham, borne by a Biblical patriarch revered by Jews as the founding father of the Jewish people (Genesis 11–25), and by Muslims as founder of all the Semitic peoples, both Hebrew and Arab (compare Ibrahim). The name is explained in Genesis 17:5 as being derived from Hebrew av hamon goyim ‘father of a multitude of nations’. It was widely used as a personal name among Christians as well as Jews in the Middle Ages in diverse cultures from northern Europe to southern India. It is also found as a given name among Christians in India, and in the U.S. has come to be used as a family name among families from Kerala. Irish: English name adopted as an equivalent of Gaelic Mac an Bhreitheamhan ‘son of the judge’. See McBroom.

French: variant of Oliver.

French: from the personal name Camille, derived from the Latin name Camillus, which denoted a youth of noble birth who helped the priest with sacrifices.

French: from the personal name, a borrowing of Spanish Alfonso, in a Classicized spelling.

French: from the personal name Luc, a vernacular form of Lucas. French: topographic name from Latin lucus ‘wood’, or a habitational name from places in Aveyron and Lozère named with this word. Vietnamese: unexplained.

French: variant spelling of Giles. German: from the personal name Gilius, from Aegilius, a Late Latin variant of Aegidius (see Giles 1).

from the medieval personal name Fleuri (Latin Florius, a derivative of the Roman family name Florus, from flos ‘flower’, genitive floris). This name was borne by a 3rd-century saint martyred in Nicomedia under the emperor Decius. There seems to have been some confusion with a Germanic personal name composed of the elements hlod ‘fame’ + ric ‘power’. habitational name from any of the various places in northern France which get their names from the Gallo-Roman personal name Florus (see above) + the locative suffix -acum. nickname from Old French fluri ‘flowered’, ‘variegated’ (a derivative of flur Flower). This could have denoted someone who dressed in an extravagant mixture of colors or perhaps one who had a blotchy complexion.

French: from a reduced pet form of the personal name Nicolas (see Nicholas). English: variant spelling of Collin.

French: from a medieval personal name (Latin Claudius, a Roman family name derived from claudus ‘lame’) which was popular as a result of having been borne by a 7th-century saint, bishop of Besançon.

English, French, German, Dutch, Hungarian (Róbert), etc: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements hrod ‘renown’ + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’. This is found occasionally in England before the Conquest, but in the main it was introduced into England by the Normans and quickly became popular among all classes of society. The surname is also occasionally borne by Jews, as an Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames.

French: from the personal name, a compound of Jean (see John) and Charles.

French: habitational name from any of the places in Normandy called La Mare, from Old Northern French mare ‘pool’, ‘pond’ (Old Norse marr).

English and French (Léonard): from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements leo ‘lion’ (a late addition to the vocabulary of Germanic name elements, taken from Latin) + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’, which was taken to England by the Normans. A saint of this name, who is supposed to have lived in the 6th century, but about whom nothing is known except for a largely fictional life dating from half a millennium later, was popular throughout Europe in the early Middle Ages and was regarded as the patron of peasants and horses. Irish (Fermanagh): adopted as an English equivalent of Gaelic Mac Giolla Fhionáin or of Langan. Americanized form of Italian Leonardo or cognate forms in other European languages.

French: from the personal name Narcisse, French form of Naricissus (see Narciso).

French: habitational name from a place so named in Haute-Marne or from Vaucourt in Meurthe-et-Moselle.

French, English, and Scottish: from a personal name of Celtic origin (Latinized as Bri(c)tius, Bric(c)ius, or Brixius), which was borne by a 5th-century saint who succeeded St. Martin as bishop of Tours. Consequently, it became a popular given name in France and Germany in the early Middle Ages. It was imported to England and Scotland by the Normans. Welsh: Anglicized form of the patronymic ap Rhys ‘son of Rhys’ (see Reese).

French: habitational name from any of various places named Murat, in Allier, Cantal, Corrèze, Puy-de-Dôme, and Tarn.

French (Régis): occupational name for a local dignitary, from a derivative of Old French régir ‘to rule or manage’. French (Régis) and English: from Latin regis, genitive case of rex ‘king’, perhaps an occupational name for someone employed in the royal household, or a patronymic from a nickname. Italian: from Re, probably from an ablative form. German: habitational name from a place so named in Saxony.

French: from the personal name Adrien, French form of Latin (H)adrianus (see Adrian).

Northern Irish: reduced form of Scottish McLean. English: perhaps a variant spelling of Lane. Finnish: ornamental name from laine ‘wave’. This is one of the most common names among those that were derived from words denoting natural features when hereditary surnames were adopted in Finland in the beginning of the 20th century. This name is found chiefly in southern Finland. French: metonymic occupational name for a worker or dealer in wool, from Old French la(i)ne ‘wool’ (Latin lana).

French: from fortune + the definite article la, a nickname for a lucky individual (see Fortune).

French: nickname for an important or rich man, a borrowing of English my lord.

Bruno, from the latin "prunum"—prunes, or prune tree.This surname should not be associated with the Germanic "brun" - dark complexion - but with "brunna, prunja" - breast plate, cuirass.

French: from a derivative of More 4 or 5.

English, French, North German, Danish, Catalan, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, etc.: from the personal name Albert, composed of the Germanic elements adal ‘noble’ + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’. The standard German form is Albrecht. This, in its various forms, was one of the most popular of all European male personal names in the Middle Ages. It was borne by various churchmen, notably St. Albert of Prague, a Bohemian prince who died a martyr in 997 attempting to convert the Prussians to Christianity; also St. Albert the Great (?1193–1280), an Aristotelian theologian and tutor of Thomas Aquinas. It was also the name of princes and military leaders, such as Albert the Bear (1100–70), Margrave of Brandenburg. In more recent times it has been adopted as a Jewish family name.

French: topographic name from rosier ‘rosebush’.

English and French: variant of Bertram.

French: from the personal name Maglorius, of Gallic origin. The name was borne by a 6th century bishop of Dol.

French: from a short form of the personal name Émilien (Latin Aemilianus).

French: topographic name for someone who lived at a place where wild roses grew; or a habitational name from a town house bearing the sign of a rose. It may also have been a nickname for a man with a ‘rosy’ complexion, as well as a nickname of a soldier. In Canada it is a frequent secondary surname, which has also been used independently since 1704, and often translated as Rose in English.

French (Aimé): from the personal name Aimé ‘beloved’ (Latin Amatus).

Origin unidentified.

French (Grégoire): from the personal name Grégoire, French form of Gregory.

French: variant of Brun (‘brown’), with the definite article le. This is a name associated with the Huguenots in the U.S.

French: from avril ‘April’ (Latin aprilis) (see April).

French (Chérubin): nickname from Old French chérubin ‘cherub’, from ecclesiastical Latin cherubin.

Of uncertain origin and derivation; the name is recorded in France, Italy, and Catalonia (Figaró, alongside its variant Figueró), and is possibly related to French figuier, Italian fico, or Catalan figuera ‘fig tree’.

French (Ménard): variant of Maynard.

French (Honoré): from a medieval personal name (Latin Honoratus ‘honored’). The name was borne by a 5th-century bishop of Arles and a 6th-century bishop of Amiens, both of whom became popular minor saints and contributed to the frequency of the name in the Middle Ages. The surname was taken to Denmark by French Huguenots who migrated there in the 17th century.

French: variant of Gaspar.

French: habitational name, with the preposition d(e) ‘from’, from either of two places named Orval: in Cher and Manche.

Southern French: variant of Chevalier (meaning ‘knight’, ‘rider’).

French: from the Norman personal name Gervase, of disputed etymology. The name was borne by a certain St. Gervasius, around whom a cult grew up following the discovery of his remains in Milan in 386.

English and French: nickname for a lighthearted or cheerful person, from Middle English, Old French gai. In Middle English the term could also mean ‘wanton’, ‘lascivious’ and this sense may lie behind the surname in some instances. English (of Norman origin): habitational name from places in Normandy called Gaye, from an early proprietor bearing a Germanic personal name cognate with Wade. probably from the Catalan personal name Gai (Latin Gaius), or in some cases a nickname from Catalan gay ‘cheerful’. Variant of German Gau. North German: from a Frisian personal name Gay.

French: from a medieval personal name (Latin Delphinus, from delphis ‘dolphin’). This name was borne by a 4th-century saint who was bishop of Bordeaux, and from the early 12th century it was in use as a hereditary personal name in the family of the counts of Albon, so that it soon came to be used as a title and led to their territory (capital Grenoble) being known as the Dauphiné. When it became part of the Kingdom of France in 1349, the title of dauphin thereafter denoted the heir-apparent to the throne, and it is possible that in some cases this is the origin of the surname, either denoting a member of the Dauphin’s household or applied as a nickname in the sense of ‘prince’.

French: variant spelling of Basil.

Variant of French Dominique.

French, northeastern Italian, Spanish (Valentín), German, Swedish, Danish, and Jewish (western Ashkenazic): from the Latin personal name Valentinus (see Valentine). The Jewish surname is an adoption of the Christian personal name.

Dutch and French: from the personal name Prosper (Latin Prosper(us), from prosper(us) ‘prosperous’, ‘fortunate’), a name borne by three 5th-century saints.

French: unexplained. English: unexplained. Possibly a respelling of Menter, an unexplained name of German origin.

English: variant spelling of Rich. French: nickname for a rich man or perhaps an ironical name for a pauper, from Old French riche ‘rich’.

French: perhaps a shortened form of Montmorency, a habitational name from a place so named in Val-d’Oise; or an altered spelling of Morancé, a habitational name from Morencé in Rhône, named in Latin as Maurentiacum, from the personal name Maurentius + suffix -acum.

English: variant spelling of Joslin.

French: nickname from Old French amis, ami ‘friend’, with the definite article l’. Compare Lamey 2.

French: from a pet form of the personal name Charles.

French: topographic name for someone who lived by an oak tree, from Old French casse ‘oak (tree)’ (Late Latin cassanos, a word of Celtic origin), with the fused preposition and article du ‘from the’. This is found in England as a Huguenot name.

French: variant of the personal name Lazar.

French: variant of Blanc 1 (‘white’, ‘blond’, ‘pale’), with the definite article le.

French: topographic name from Old French du val ‘from the valley’ (from Latin vallis). English: variant of Duvall 1.

English and French: variant of Jordan.

English and French: occupational name for a trader, from Old French mercier (see Mercer).

English and French: nickname from Middle English, Old French prince (Latin princeps), presumably denoting someone who behaved in a regal manner or who had won the title in some contest of skill. Translation of German and Ashkenazic Jewish Prinz or of a word meaning ‘prince’ in some other language.

English and Dutch: from the Germanic byname mentioned at Ernst. However, Reaney cites medieval evidence for Norman spellings such as Ernais, and derives it from a Germanic personal name Arn(e)gis, possibly composed of the elements arn ‘eagle’ + gisil ‘pledge’, ‘hostage’, ‘noble youth’ (see Giesel). The name may have been altered by folk etymology to coincide with the word meaning ‘combat’. Compare Harness. Dutch: variant of Ernst.

Most probably an altered form of French Buteux, a nickname for someone who was in the habit of pushing or hitting, also an occupational name for someone whose job was to unload goods or cargo, from Old French bouteor. alternatively it could be an altered form of Butaud, from the personal name Botwald, composed of the Germanic elements bod(o) ‘messenger’ + waldan ‘ruler’. This name is found chiefly in New England.

French: occupational name for a moneychanger, from Old French cange ‘exchange’. This is recorded as a Huguenot name.

French: from the personal name, a compound of Jean (see John) + Jacques.

Predominantly French variant of Baltazar.

French: from the personal name Christophe, French form of Christopher.

French: from a variant of the personal name Michel (see Michael).

English, French, and Dutch: from the Latin personal name Clemens meaning ‘merciful’ (genitive Clementis). This achieved popularity firstly through having been borne by an early saint who was a disciple of St. Paul, and later because it was selected as a symbolic name by a number of early popes. There has also been some confusion with the personal name Clemence (Latin Clementia, meaning ‘mercy’, an abstract noun derived from the adjective; in part a masculine name from Latin Clementius, a later derivative of Clemens). As an American family name, Clement has absorbed cognates in other continental European languages. (For forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988.)

Vietnamese: unexplained.

Altered spelling of German Bayer or Beyer. German: habitational name for someone from Boye (near Celle-Hannover). English: variant of Bowyer. Danish: habitational name from a place so named. The surname is also found in Norway and Sweden, probably from the same source.

Spanish, Portuguese, French (José): from the personal name José, equivalent to Joseph. English: variant of Joyce.

Swedish: name adopted by a notable Swedish family in honor of their founder Palme Lyder (died 1630), a merchant who came to Ystad in Sweden from the Netherlands or Germany around 1607.

French (Gérome, Gérôme): variant spelling of Gérôme (see Jerome).

French (Lefèvre): occupational name for an ironworker or smith, Old French fevre. One of the most common names in France from an early date, this was taken to Britain and Ireland by the Normans, by the French to Canada, and by the Huguenots (with the variant form Lefebre) to colonial America and elsewhere. In Canada, there were so many bearers of this name that many nicknames and epithets (secondary surnames or ‘dit’ names) were employed to distinguish between one family and another. Thus, for example, the Lefevre called Descoteaux became Hill by translation, and the Lefevre called Boulanger became Baker. Since fevre ‘smith’ had ceded as a general vocabulary word to forgeron in French, the meaning of the name was no longer understood; in some cases it was reconstructed as Lafeve (Latin faba) and translated as Bean.

French: topographic name for someone who lived near a cross set up by the roadside or in the marketplace, from French la croix ‘the cross’ (Latin crux, crucis). In some cases the surname may have denoted one who carried the cross in church processions. Compare the English equivalent, Cross. It is a very frequent French Canadian secondary surname, perhaps for a person who swore by the cross, and has also been used independently since 1670.

English: see Fern. French: topographic name for someone who lived near a grove of alders, French verne, a word of Gaulish origin.

French and English: nickname from Old French grand, grant ‘tall’, ‘large’ (occasionally used to denote seniority rather than size), with the French definite article le. It was taken to the U.S. also as Huguenot name.

French: from the personal name Arman(d) or Harman(d), which is of Germanic origin, composed of the elements hardi ‘bold’, ‘hardy’ + man ‘man’, with excrescent -d. This surname is also found in Germany as a Huguenot name.

French (Rivière): topographic name for someone who lived by the bank of a river or shore of a lake, from Old French rivière ‘river’, ‘shore’, or a habitational name from any of various places named (Le) Rivière, for example in Indre-et-Loire and Pas-de-Calais.

English: topographic name for someone who lived near a notable crag or outcrop, from Middle English rokke ‘rock’ (see Roach), or a habitational name from a place named with this word, as for example Rock in Northumberland. English: variant of Roke (see Rokes 1). English: metonymic occupational name for a spinner or a maker of distaffs, from Middle English rok ‘distaff’ (from Old Norse rokkr or Middle Dutch rocke or an unattested Old English cognate). German: from a short form of the personal name Rocco (see Roche 3). German: metonymic occupational name for a tailor, from Middle High German rok, roc ‘skirt’, ‘gown’. German (Röck): variant of Roche 3.

English, Scottish, Irish, French, Dutch, German, Czech, Slovak, Spanish (Martín), Italian (Venice), etc.: from a personal name (Latin Martinus, a derivative of Mars, genitive Martis, the Roman god of fertility and war, whose name may derive ultimately from a root mar ‘gleam’). This was borne by a famous 4th-century saint, Martin of Tours, and consequently became extremely popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. As a North American surname, this form has absorbed many cognates from other European forms. English: habitational name from any of several places so called, principally in Hampshire, Lincolnshire, and Worcestershire, named in Old English as ‘settlement by a lake’ (from mere or mær ‘pool’, ‘lake’ + tun ‘settlement’) or as ‘settlement by a boundary’ (from (ge)mære ‘boundary’ + tun ‘settlement’). The place name has been charged from Marton under the influence of the personal name Martin.

French: from douceur ‘sweetness’, presumably denoting a person of sweet disposition. It has been used independently as a surname since 1724.

diminutive of Rabe. from a Germanic personal name formed with rad, rat ‘advice’, ‘counsel’. see Roubal.

French (mainly Poitou), and French Canadian: topographic name for someone who lived by a nursery or plantation (often one planted with vines), from French plant ‘(nursery) plantation (of trees, bushes)’; or a habitational name from places in Loire and Vienne called La Plante.

From the Biblical personal name Adam, which was borne, according to Genesis, by the first man. It is the generic Hebrew term for ‘man’, probably from Hebrew adama ‘earth’. Compare the classical Greek legend that Zeus fashioned the first human beings from earth. It was very popular as a personal name among non-Jews throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, and the surname is found in one form or another in most of the countries of Europe. Jews, however, have never used this personal name, except in recent times under Polish and English influence. Among Scottish and Irish bearers it is sometimes a reduced form of McAdam.

French: from the personal name Jacquet, a pet form of Jacques.

English: from a pet form of David. English: from the Middle English personal name Day(e) or Dey(e), Old English Dæi, apparently from Old English dæg ‘day’, perhaps a short form of Old English personal names such as Dægberht and Dægmund. Reaney, however, points to the Middle English word day(e), dey(e) ‘dairy maid’, ‘(female) servant’ (from Old English d?ge, cognate with Old Norse deigja ‘female servant’, ultimately from a root meaning ‘to knead’, and related to the word for dough), which he says came to be used for a servant of either sex. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Deaghaidh (see O’Dea). Scottish: from an Anglicized form of the Gaelic personal name Daìdh, a colloquial form of David. Welsh: from Dai, a pet form of the personal name Dafydd, Welsh form of David.

French: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements wald ‘rule’ + hari, heri ‘army’ (see Walter). This name is also found in Switzerland and may have been brought to the U.S. from there.

French (Gué): topographic name for someone who lived near a ford, from Old French wad ‘ford’, ‘crossing place’.

Scottish, English, Welsh, French, German, Dutch, Hungarian (Sámson), and Jewish: from the Biblical name Samson (Hebrew Shimshon, a diminutive of shemesh ‘sun’). Among Christians it was sometimes chosen as a personal name or nickname with reference to the great strength of the Biblical hero (Judges 13–16). In Wales another association was with the 6th-century Welsh bishop Samson, who traveled to Brittany, where he died and was greatly venerated. His name, which is probably an altered form of an unknown Celtic original, was popularized in England by Breton followers of William the Conqueror, and to some extent independently from Wales.

German: possibly from Dorten, a metronymic from the female personal name Dorothea (see Dorothy). Dutch: habitational name from a reduced form of Dordrecht.

Portuguese and Galician: from a variant or shortened form of de Deus ‘from or with God’, an element of various Christian personal names element (compare Dios).

French: probably an altered form of Lafontaine.

French: variant of Lafont.

French: nickname for a lucky or fortunate person, from Old French adventure ‘fate’, ‘destiny’ (Latin adventura).

English, French, Dutch, and German: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements land ‘land’, ‘territory’ + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’. In England, the native Old English form Landbeorht was replaced by Lambert, the Continental form of the name that was taken to England by the Normans from France. The name gained wider currency in Britain in the Middle Ages with the immigration of weavers from Flanders, among whom St. Lambert or Lamprecht, bishop of Maastricht in around 700, was a popular cult figure. In Italy the name was popularized in the Middle Ages as a result of the fame of Lambert I and II, Dukes of Spoleto and Holy Roman Emperors.

French (Leveillé, L’Eveillé, Léveillé): nickname from French l’éveillé ‘the awake’, ‘the alert’. One VT Civil War soldier so named used the translation ‘Wideawake’ for his surname.

Spanish (Bolívar): Castilianized form of Basque Bolibar, a habitational name from any of several places named Bolibar, for example in Biscay province, from Basque bolu ‘mill’ (Latin molinum) + ibar ‘meadow’, ‘riverbank’.

French: variant of Henry 1.

French and English: from the French medieval personal name Blancard, Blanchard, from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements blank ‘white’, ‘shining’ + hard ‘strong’, ‘brave’.

French: topographic name for someone who lived in an area of scrub land or by a prominent clump of bushes, from Old French buisson ‘bush’, ‘scrub’.

French: from the Old French oblique case of a Germanic personal name, originally probably a byname from gasti ‘stranger’, ‘guest’, ‘host’. Compare Guest. The surname is also found in England and Ireland, where it is probably a Huguenot importation.

nickname for a reckless person, from Middle English, Old French baiard, baiart ‘foolhardy’ (the name—a derivative of baie ‘reddish brown’—of the magnificent but reckless horse given to Renaud by Charlemagne, according to medieval romances). metonymic occupational name for a carrier, from Middle English, Old French baiard, baiart ‘hand barrow’, ‘open cart’.

French (Hérard): from a Germanic personal name composed of heri ‘army’ + hard ‘strong’, ‘hardy’.

French: from Old French racine ‘root’; a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of root vegetables, or a nickname for a tenacious and stubborn man. It is frequently found translated as Root.

Southern French: topographic name, with fused preposition and definite article du, for someone who lived in an isolated dwelling in the country rather than in a village, from Occitan mas ‘farmstead’, from Late Latin mansum, mansus.

French: variant of Reynard.

Catalan and Occitan: topographic name from vernet ‘plantation or forest of alders’. Catalan: habitational name from any of the places named Vernet, especially a town in El Conflent district, in northern Catalonia.

Italian and French: from the personal name Achille, based on the classical Greek name Akhilleus (see Achilles). Variant of Achilles.

Portuguese and Catalan: from the personal name Xavier, Portuguese and Catalan forms of Basque Xabier (see Javier).

Vietnamese: unexplained. Variant spelling of German Thamm, from a short form of the personal name Thankmar, from Germanic þank ‘thought’ + mari ‘famous’.

Irish (Munster): reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Adhastair, formerly Mac Girr an Adhastair, a patronymic from a byname meaning ‘short man of the halter’. Humanistic Dutch and German name from a classical Greek personal name, borne by a king of Pylos who was one of the Greek leaders in the Trojan war, noted for his age and wisdom. In Homer’s Odyssey, the aged Nestor gives wise advice to Odysseus’ son Telemachos. According to Debrabandere, in Dutch this was a nickname sometimes given to the oldest person in a group.

French: habitational name from a place so named in Oise, or alternatively from any of numerous minor places throughout France named Beauvoir or Beauvir ‘lovely view’.

Spanish: of uncertain derivation; possibly from lima ‘file’. Portuguese: topographic name for someone living on the banks of the river of this name (of pre-Roman origin, probably akin to a Celtic element lemos, limos ‘elm’).

French: variant spelling of Jolly.

French: topographic name for someone who lived in an area of scrub, from Old French broce ‘brushwood’, ‘scrub’ (Late Latin bruscia). Occasionally it may be a metonymic occupational name for a brush maker, from the same word used in the transferred sense ‘brush’.

English: occupational name for a worker in metal, from Middle English smith (Old English smið, probably a derivative of smitan ‘to strike, hammer’). Metal-working was one of the earliest occupations for which specialist skills were required, and its importance ensured that this term and its equivalents were perhaps the most widespread of all occupational surnames in Europe. Medieval smiths were important not only in making horseshoes, plowshares, and other domestic articles, but above all for their skill in forging swords, other weapons, and armor. This is the most frequent of all American surnames; it has also absorbed, by assimilation and translation, cognates and equivalents from many other languages (for forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988).

French: topographic name for someone who lived in an area characterized by streams, from the fused preposition and plural definite article des ‘from the’ + ruisseaux, plural of ruisseau ‘stream’.

French: topographic name for someone ‘from the bridge’, French pont (see Pont), with fused preposition and definite article du ‘from the’.

Dutch and North German: from a short form of the personal name Matheus or Matthäus (see Matthew).

French: regional name for someone from the Touraine region.

English (chiefly Lancashire) and French (Gérard): from the personal name Gerard, Gérard, introduced to Britain from France by the Normans; it is composed of the Germanic elements gar, ger ‘spear’, ‘lance’ + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’.

French: patronymic from the personal name Jean, French equivalent of John.

Scottish: Anglicized form of the Gaelic personal name Eachann (earlier Eachdonn, already confused with Norse Haakon), composed of the elements each ‘horse’ + donn ‘brown’. English: found in Yorkshire and Scotland, where it may derive directly from the medieval personal name. According to medieval legend, Britain derived its name from being founded by Brutus, a Trojan exile, and Hector was occasionally chosen as a personal name, as it was the name of the Trojan king’s eldest son. The classical Greek name, Hektor, is probably an agent derivative of Greek ekhein ‘to hold back’, ‘hold in check’, hence ‘protector of the city’. German, French, and Dutch: from the personal name (see 2 above). In medieval Germany, this was a fairly popular personal name among the nobility, derived from classical literature. It is a comparatively rare surname in France.

Respelling of French Desrosiers.

Catalan and Portuguese (Càlix): unexplained; it seems to refer to Portuguese cálice, Catalan càliç ‘communion cup’; or in Catalan it could perhaps be from calitx denoting a throwing game, with the same etymology.

French (Dufrêne): variant spelling of Dufresne.

Jewish (Ashkenazic): metronymic from the Yiddish female name Adl (from a Germanic root meaning ‘noble’) + German Sohn ‘son’.

Italian: from the Germanic personal name Tata, Tada. Indian (Gujarat and Bombay city): Parsi name, probably from Gujarati tat ‘father’ (Sanskrit tata). Albanian and Greek (Tatas): nickname from Albanian tatë ‘father’, ‘daddy’. Turkish and Greek: nickname for a stammerer, from Turkish and Arabic ta’ta’ ‘stammer’. Polish: nickname from Polish tata ‘papa’, ‘daddy’.

Jewish, English, German, Portuguese, French, Dutch, and southern Indian: derivative, via Latin Jacobus, from the Hebrew personal name ya‘aqobh (Yaakov). In the Bible, this is the name of the younger twin brother of Esau (Genesis 25:26), who took advantage of the latter’s hunger and impetuousness to persuade him to part with his birthright ‘for a mess of potage’. The name is traditionally interpreted as coming from Hebrew akev ‘heel’, and Jacob is said to have been born holding on to Esau’s heel. In English Jacob and James are now regarded as quite distinct names, but they are of identical origin (see James), and in most European languages the two names are not distinguished. It is used as a given name among Christians in India, and in the U.S. has come to be used as a surname among families from southern India.

Scottish, English, North German, French, and Catalan: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements hrod ‘renown’ +gar, ger ‘spear’, ‘lance’, which was introduced into England by the Normans in the form Rog(i)er. The cognate Old Norse Hróðgeirr was a reinforcing influence in Normandy. Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Ruaidhrí (see Rorie).

French: from oiseau ‘bird’, with the definite article l(e) (see Loisel).

French: topographic name for someone who lived by a fortified stronghold, Old French motte, a word of Gaulish origin denoting a hillock or mound (see Moat), with the definite article la. The surname is also a habitational name from any of several places named with this word.

English: variant of Marsh. French: habitational name from places so named in Ardèche, Ardennes, Gard, Loire, Nièvre, and Meurthe-et-Moselle, from the Latin personal name Marcius, used adjectivally. French: from the personal name Meard, Mard, Mart, vernacular forms of the saint’s name Médard. Morlet notes that there are a number of places called Saint-Mars, formerly recorded in Latin as Sanctus Medardus. French: from the name of the month, mars ‘ March’, denoting seed sown in March, and hence a metonymic name for an arable grower. French (De Mars): habitational name from Mars in the Ardennes. Dutch: from a short form of the personal name Marsilius.

French: variant spelling of Losier.

French: from Old French rey, roy ‘king’ (from Latin rex, genitive regis), with the definite article le. It may have been an occupational name for someone in the service of the king, or a nickname for someone who behaved in a regal fashion or who had earned the title in some contest of skill or by presiding over festivities. The name is associated with Huguenots in British America, having been brought by them to MA from La Rochelle.

English: variant spelling of Royle. Americanized form of German Reul or Reule. Possibly also an Americanized form of Spanish and Portuguese Real.

Scottish: Anglicized form of the Gaelic personal name Bláán, a diminutive of blá ‘yellow’. This was the name of an early Celtic saint. Scottish: shortened form of MacBlain. Scottish and northern English: nickname for a person suffering from boils, from Middle English blain ‘blister’, ‘pustule’. Variant of Blin, a reduced form of French Belin. Possibly also a reduced form of Abelin, a pet form of Abel.

French: habitational name given to someone from France, at the time when the name only applied to those lands belonging to the French king (excluding many areas of what is now France), or from the Île de France, a region centered on Paris. It was a surname given to soldiers in the feudal period. In French Canada it is a secondary surname, which has also been used alone since 1714. .

French: from the medieval personal name Bonettus, a diminutive of Latin bonus ‘good’. French: occasionally, a Gascon variant of Bonneau. English and French: metonymic occupational name for a milliner, or a nickname for a wearer of unusual headgear, from Middle English bonet, Old French bon(n)et ‘bonnet’, ‘hat’. This word is found in medieval Latin as abonnis, but is of unknown origin. In Germany the name was borne by Waldensians, of French origin.

French and Greek: from the personal name Philemon, Greek Philemon, which was borne by an apostle and several martyrs.

French: nickname for a cheerful person, from Old French joli ‘joyful’, ‘cheerful’ + cuer ‘heart’. This was a frequent secondary surname in French Canada, and was often Americanized as Hart.

This surname is derived from an official title. or nick, 'a baron,' or a man who put on an air of dignity such as might become a baron. Middle English baron and barun.Osbert le Barun, Close Roll, 2 Edward I.Richard le Baron, Devon, 1273.

Northern English and Scottish: variant spelling of Moreland. Dutch: topographic name for someone living in an area of peat. Norwegian: habitational name from any of numerous farmsteads so called. The name has different origins according to its location; in all cases, the second element is from Old Norse land ‘land’.

Southern Italian: nickname for a fierce or brave warrior, from Latin leo ‘lion’. Italian: from a short form of the personal name Pantaleo. Jewish: from the personal name Leo (from Latin leo ‘lion’), borrowed from Christians as an equivalent of Hebrew Yehuda (see Leib 3). English: from the Old French personal name Leon ‘lion’ (see Lyon 2). Spanish: variant or derivative of the personal name Leon. Dutch: from Latin leo ‘lion’, applied either a nickname for a strong or fearless man or a habitational name for someone living at a house distinguished by the sign of a lion; or alternatively from a personal name of the same derivation. German and Hungarian (Leó): Latinized form of Löwe (see Loewe).

French: from Filibert, a Germanic personal name composed of the elements filu ‘very’ + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’, which was borne by a 7th-century saint, abbot of Jumièges. The spelling has been influenced by personal names of Greek origin containing the element phil- ‘love’, e.g. Philip.

Southern French: patronymic from the personal name Joan, Occitan form of Latin Johannes (see John).

French: variant of Molina 2. French (Moliné): occupational name for a miller, a variant of molinier, an agent derivative of Old French molin ‘mill’. Catalan (Moliné): variant of the occupational name moliner ‘miller’.

from the personal name Colo, a short form of Nicolo (see Nicholas). (Colò) nickname from medieval Greek kolos ‘lame’, classical Greek kylos.

French: 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.

English (of Norman origin), French, and North German: from Giselbert, a Norman personal name composed of the Germanic elements gisil ‘pledge’, ‘hostage’, ‘noble youth’ (see Giesel) + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’. This personal name enjoyed considerable popularity in England during the Middle Ages, partly as a result of the fame of St. Gilbert of Sempringham (1085–1189), the founder of the only native English monastic order. Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames.

habitational name from Sidney in Surrey and Lincolnshire, so named from Old English sid ‘wide’ + eg ‘island’, ‘dry island in a fen’, with the adjective retaining traces of the weak dative ending, originally used after a preposition and definite article. Two places in Cheshire called Sydney are from Old English sid + halh ‘nook’, ‘recess’ and may also be sources of the surname. possibly a habitational name from a place in Normandy called Saint-Denis, from the dedication of its church to St. Dionysius (see Dennis). There is, however, no evidence to support this derivation beyond occasional early modern English forms such as Seyndenys, which may equally well be the result of folk etymology.

Scandinavian and Dutch: topographic or ornamental name from Scandinavian nord, Dutch noord ‘north’. As a topographic name it would have denoted someone who lived in the northern part of a village or to the north of a main settlement or someone who had migrated from the north. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Nord ‘north’. Dutch, German, and French: from a short form of a Germanic personal name with the first element nord ‘north’, for example Norbert.

Of uncertain origin. It occurs occasionally as a surname in England and Ireland, Italy, and Hungary, most probably being derived from the female personal name Anna, which comes through Latin and Greek from the Biblical Hebrew name Hanna.

French: from Old French chevalier ‘knight’ (literally ‘horseman’, ‘rider’, from Late Latin caballarius, a derivative of caballus ‘horse’). In the Middle Ages only men of comparative wealth were able to afford the upkeep of a riding horse. It is likely that in the majority of cases the surname was originally a nickname, or an occupational name for a knight’s servant, rather than a status name, for most men of the knightly class belonged to noble families which had more specific surnames derived from their estates.

Scottish, Irish, Welsh, English, and French: from the ancient Celtic personal name Arthur. In many cases it is a shortened form of Scottish or Irish McArthur, the patronymic Mac- often being dropped in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries under English influence. The personal name is most probably from an old Celtic word meaning ‘bear’. Compare Gaelic art, Welsh arth, both of which mean ‘bear’. It has been in regular use as a personal name in Britain since the early Middle Ages, owing its popularity in large part to the legendary exploits of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, which gave rise to a prolific literature in Welsh, French, English, German, and other European languages.

French: nickname for someone with red hair, from a diminutive of Roux.

English: from the personal name Francis (Old French form Franceis, Latin Franciscus, Italian Francisco). This was originally an ethnic name meaning ‘Frank’ and hence ‘Frenchman’. The personal name owed much of its popularity during the Middle Ages to the fame of St. Francis of Assisi (1181–1226), whose baptismal name was actually Giovanni but who was nicknamed Francisco because his father was absent in France at the time of his birth. As an American family name this has absorbed cognates from several other European languages (for forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988). Jewish (American): an Americanization of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames, or an adoption of the non-Jewish surname.

French and English (Norman and Huguenot): topographic name for someone who lived in a wood, from the fused preposition and definite article du ‘from the’ + French bois ‘wood’ (see Bois). In both England and America the name has been translated as Wood.

from the female personal name Fede, from Latin fides ‘faith’. reduced form of the personal name Federico. short form of the medieval personal name Bonafede, an omen name meaning ‘good faith’.

French: from the Old French title of rank conte ‘count’, either a nickname or an occupational name for a servant in the household of a count.

English: habitational name from a minor place in Somerset, an area of land in the marshes near Markham. This is first recorded in the form Rodenye; it derives from the genitive case of the Old English personal name Hroda (a short form of the various compound names with the first element hroð ‘renown’) + Old English eg ‘island’, ‘dry land (in a fen)’.

French: variant of Bon (‘good’), with the definite article le.

Spanish (Morlán): habitational name from Santa María Morlán in the province of A Coruña.

French (western and southwestern): topographic name for someone living in or near a ravine, from la combe ‘the ravine’ (a word of Gaulish origin, related to English Combe).

Dutch, Danish, and German: variant spelling of Frank.

English and French: occupational name for a wheelright, from Old French roier, rouwier, rouer, roer. French: from a Germanic personal name composed of hrod ‘renown’ + hari, heri ‘army’. Respelling of German Rauer.

French (Ogé): variant of Ogier.

Swedish: variant of Åslin (see Aslin).

Variant spelling of French Maurisset, from a pet form of the personal name Maurice (see Morris).

Southern French and Catalan: occupational name for a smith (see Faber).

English: habitational name from places called Caistor, in Lincolnshire and Norfolk, Caister in Norfolk, or Castor in Cambridgeshire, all named with Old English cæster ‘Roman fort or town’.

French: topographic name for someone living among rocks, from the fused preposition and definite article des + the plural of French roche ‘rock’, or a habitational name from any of several places named with this word. In North America, this name has been confused with Laroche, and translated as Rock.

Southern Italian (Samá): from the Biblical personal name. Catalan (Samà): habitational name from Samà, a place in Catalonia. Asturian-Leonese: in some cases, a habitational name from any of various places in Asturies named Sama. Indian (Gujarat): Hindu (Rajput) name of unknown meaning. The Samas are believed to be an offshoot of the Jadeja tribe. Japanese (not common in Japan): variously written, the name appears to be topographic, deriving from the word semai ‘narrow’.

French, Dutch: from the personal name Mathias (see Matthew). Spanish and Portuguese: variant spelling of Matias. Welsh: a late surname formation from the Biblical personal name Mathias (see Matthew).

French: from Old French osier ‘willow’, ‘osier’; a topographic name, or a metonymic occupational name for a basketmaker or for an osier grower.

English: variant of Mace 1. French (Picardy): metonymic occupational name from masse ‘mace’, ‘hammer’. French: habitational name from places called Masse (Allier and Cô-d’Or), or La Masse (Eure, Lot, Puy-de-Dôme, Saône-et-Loire). French (Massé): habitational name from a place called Massé in Maine-et-Loire, so named from Gallo-Roman Macciacum (from the personal name Maccius + the locative suffix -acum). Dutch: from Middle Dutch masse ‘clog’; ‘cudgel’, perhaps a metonymic occupational name for someone who wielded a club. Dutch: possibly a variant of Maas 1, or a patronymic from Mas.

English: variant spelling of Covell.

French Canadian: common secondary surname, used to distinguish different branches of the same family; from French espérance ‘hope’, with the definite article le, it could designate an optimistic person, or ironically, a pessimist. It is translated as Hope.

Italian: from the female personal name Lena, a short form of Maddalena or Helena. Spanish: habitational name from a place called Lena in Asturies.

English and French: variant of Rosamond (see Roseman), from the female personal name. German: probably from a Huguenot name Rosemont or its Germanized form Rosemund.

French: from a pet form of Bert.

French: from a Germanic personal name, Warinhari, composed of the elements war(in) ‘guard’ + hari, heri ‘army’. English: variant of Garner 1.

French: nickname for a refined person, sometimes no doubt applied ironically, from Old French curteis, co(u)rtois ‘refined’, ‘accomplished’.

English and French: variant of Durant. Americanized form of Hungarian Durándi, a habitational name for someone from a place called Duránd, in former Szepes county.

French: nickname for a wealthy man, from la ‘the’ bonté ‘goodness’, ‘wealth’. This is a frequent secondary surname in Canada.

French: habitational name from places so named in Allier, Meuthe-et-Moselle, and Yonne, derived from the Latin personal name Marcius, Martius, or Mercius + the locative suffix -acum. French: from a Picard or Walloon form of Mercier.

Irish: variant of Solan. French: habitational name from Les Solons in Oise, named with a regional variant of sablon ‘sand’.