1000 Most Common Last Names in Liberia

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic qamar ‘moon’. Hungarian: from kamara ‘little room’, from Latin camera or camara ‘house’, ‘room’, ‘royal treasury’. The most common Hungarian variant of this surname, Kamarás, is a status name for the treasurer of a court or of the royal household, or alternatively for a chamberlain. Compare German Kammerer.

English and Scottish: patronymic from the personal name John. As an American family name, Johnson has absorbed patronymics and many other derivatives of this name in continental European languages. (For forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988.)

English: occupational name for a maker and repairer of wooden vessels such as barrels, tubs, buckets, casks, and vats, from Middle English couper, cowper (apparently from Middle Dutch kuper, a derivative of kup ‘tub’, ‘container’, which was borrowed independently into English as coop). The prevalence of the surname, its cognates, and equivalents bears witness to the fact that this was one of the chief specialist trades in the Middle Ages throughout Europe. In America, the English name has absorbed some cases of like-sounding cognates and words with similar meaning in other European languages, for example Dutch Kuiper. Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized form of Kupfer and Kupper (see Kuper). Dutch: occupational name for a buyer or merchant, Middle Dutch coper.

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 Scottish: nickname for a mild and gentle man, from Middle English do ‘doe’ (Old English da). English (of Norman origin): habitational name (Old French d’Eu) for someone from Eu in Seine-Maritime, France. The place name is either a dramatic reduction of Latin Augusta ‘(city of) Augustus’, or else derives from the Germanic element auwa ‘water meadow’, ‘island’.

metonymic occupational name for an official responsible for settling accounts, from Old French paie ‘payment’. Compare Payeur. (Payé): apparently a variant of Paille.

English: variant spelling of Gay.

English and Scottish: from Maurice, an Old French personal name introduced to Britain by the Normans, Latin Mauritius, a derivative of Maurus (see Moore). This was the name of several early Christian saints. In some cases it may be a nickname of the same derivation for someone with a swarthy complexion. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Muirghis, a variant of Ó Muirgheasa (see Morrissey). Welsh: Anglicized form of the Welsh personal name Meurig (from Latin Mauritius), which was gradually superseded in Wales by Morus, Morys, a derivative of the Anglo-Norman French form of the name (see 1). German: variant of Moritz. Americanized form of any of various like-sounding Jewish surnames (see Morse).

English (also very common in Wales): patronymic from William.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: variant of Free. Irish: Anglicized (‘translated’) form of Gaelic Ó Saoraidhe (see Seery). In New England, an English equivalent of French Foissy (see Foisy). Translation of German Freimann (see Freiman).

English and Welsh (very common in southern England and South Wales): patronymic from the medieval English personal name Harry, pet form of Henry. This name is also well established in Ireland, taken there principally during the Plantation of Ulster. In some cases, particularly in families coming from County Mayo, both Harris and Harrison can be Anglicized forms of Gaelic Ó hEarchadha. Greek: reduced form of the Greek personal name Kharalambos, composed of the elements khara ‘joy’ + lambein ‘to shine’. Jewish: Americanized form of any of various like-sounding Jewish names.

English, Scottish, and Irish: generally a nickname referring to the color of the hair or complexion, Middle English br(o)un, from Old English brun or Old French brun. This word is occasionally found in Old English and Old Norse as a personal name or byname. Brun- was also a Germanic name-forming element. Some instances of Old English Brun as a personal name may therefore be short forms of compound names such as Brungar, Brunwine, etc. As a Scottish and Irish name, it sometimes represents a translation of Gaelic Donn. As an American family name, it has absorbed numerous surnames from other languages with the same meaning.

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).

This entry is questionable.(English) Dweller near the sea; one who came from Sai, in Normandy; the wise or prudent man.

English: from the medieval personal name Den(n)is (Latin Dionysius, Greek Dionysios ‘(follower) of Dionysos’, an eastern god introduced to the classical pantheon at a relatively late date and bearing a name of probably Semitic origin). The name was borne by various early saints, including St Denis, the martyred 3rd-century bishop of Paris who became the patron of France; the popularity of the name in England from the 12th century onwards seems to have been largely due to French influence. The feminine form Dionysia (in the vernacular likewise Den(n)is) is also found, and some examples of the surname may represent a metronymic form. English: variant of Dench. Irish (mainly Dublin and Cork): of the same origin as 1 and 2, sometimes an alternative form to Donohue but more often to MacDonough, since the personal name Donnchadh was Anglicized as Donough or Denis. Irish (Ulster and Munster): Anglicized form of the rare Gaelic name Ó Donnghusa ‘descendant of Donnghus’, a personal name from donn ‘brown-haired man’ or ‘chieftain’ + gus ‘vigor’.

Southern English: patronymic from David.

English, Scottish, and northern Irish: patronymic from the personal name Will, a very common medieval short form of William.

Chinese and Korean: variant of Cho. English: from a short form of Joseph.

English, Scottish, and northern Irish: patronymic from Jack 1. As an American surname this has absorbed other patronymics beginning with J- in various European languages.

Muslim: variant of Shah.

English: from Middle English more ‘moor’, ‘marsh’, ‘fen’, ‘area of uncultivated land’ (Old English mor), hence a topographic name for someone who lived in such a place or a habitational name from any of the various places named with this word, as for example Moore in Cheshire or More in Shropshire. English: from Old French more ‘Moor’ (Latin maurus). The Latin term denoted a native of northwestern Africa, but in medieval England the word came to be used informally as a nickname for any swarthy or dark-skinned person. English: from a personal name (Latin Maurus ‘Moor’). This name was borne by various early Christian saints. The personal name was introduced to England by the Normans, but it was never as popular in England as it was on the Continent. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Mórdha ‘descendant of Mórdha’, a byname meaning ‘great’, ‘proud’, or ‘stately’. Scottish: see Muir. Welsh: from Welsh mawr ‘big’, applied as a nickname or distinguishing epithet.

English, Welsh, French, South Indian, etc.: from the personal name George, Greek Georgios, from an adjectival form, georgios ‘rustic’, of georgos ‘farmer’. This became established as a personal name in classical times through its association with the fashion for pastoral poetry. Its popularity in western Europe increased at the time of the Crusades, which brought greater contact with the Orthodox Church, in which several saints and martyrs of this name are venerated, in particular a saint believed to have been martyred at Nicomedia in ad 303, who, however, is at best a shadowy figure historically. Nevertheless, by the end of the Middle Ages St. George had become associated with an unhistorical legend of dragon-slaying exploits, which caught the popular imagination throughout Europe, and he came to be considered the patron saint of England among other places. As an American family name, this has absorbed cognates from other European languages, including German Georg and Greek patronymics such as Georgiou, Georgiadis, Georgopoulos, and the status name Papageorgiou ‘priest George’. In English-speaking countries, this surname is also found as an Anglicized form of Greek surnames such as Hatzigeorgiou ‘George the Pilgrim’ and patronymics such as Giorgopoulos ‘son of George’. 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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: nickname for someone with gray hair or a gray beard, from Old English græg ‘gray’. In Scotland and Ireland it has been used as a translation of various Gaelic surnames derived from riabhach ‘brindled’, ‘gray’ (see Reavey). In North America this name has assimilated names with similar meaning from other European languages. English and Scottish (of Norman origin): habitational name from Graye in Calvados, France, named from the Gallo-Roman personal name Gratus, meaning ‘welcome’, ‘pleasing’ + the locative suffix -acum. French and Swiss French: habitational name from Gray in Haute-Saône and Le Gray in Seine-Maritime, both in France, or from Gray-la-ville in Switzerland, or a regional name from the Swiss canton of Graubünden.

Cambodian: unexplained.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: from a personal name that has the same origin as Jacob. However, among English speakers, it is now felt to be a separate name in its own right. This is largely because in the Authorized Version of the Bible (1611) the form James is used in the New Testament as the name of two of Christ’s apostles (James the brother of John and James the brother of Andrew), whereas in the Old Testament the brother of Esau is called Jacob. The form James comes from Latin Jacobus via Late Latin Jac(o)mus, which also gave rise to Jaime, the regular form of the name in Spanish (as opposed to the learned Jacobo). See also Jack and Jackman. This is a common surname throughout the British Isles, particularly in South Wales.

Muslim: unexplained. African: unexplained.

English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Saint-Paul-du-Vernay in Calvados or any of various other places in northern France named with Vernay, from the Gaulish element vern ‘alder’ + the locative suffix -acum.

West African: unexplained.

Scottish and English: patronymic from Gibb.

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.

English and Scottish: variant spelling of Willey or Wylie. Probably also a variant spelling of German Willi.

English (southwestern England and South Wales): apparently from tar (Old English te(o)ru), and applied perhaps to someone who worked with tar or bitumen in waterproofing ships. Possibly an altered spelling of German Tharr, of uncertain origin.

English: from a Middle English pet form of Nicholas. English: from a Middle English personal name derived from the Old English byname Cola (from col ‘(char)coal’, presumably denoting someone of swarthy appearance), or the Old Norse cognate Koli. Scottish and Irish: when not of English origin, this is a reduced and altered form of McCool. In some cases, particularly in New England, Cole is a translation of the French surname Charbonneau. Probably an Americanized spelling of German Kohl.

English: patronymic from the personal name Robert. This surname is very frequent in Wales and west central England. It is also occasionally borne by Jews, presumably as an Americanized form of a like-sounding Jewish surname.

Welsh and English: patronymic from the personal name Davy (Welsh Dafydd, Dewi), a pet form of David.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Jewish; also Welsh and English: from the Biblical name borne by the Israelite leader who led the Israelites out of Egypt, as related in the Book of Exodus. The Hebrew form of the name, Moshe, is probably of Egyptian origin, from a short form of any of various ancient Egyptian personal names, such as Rameses and Tutmosis, meaning ‘conceived by (a certain god)’. However, very early in its history it acquired a folk etymology, being taken as a derivative of the Hebrew root verb mšh ‘draw (something from the water)’, and was associated with a story of the infant Moses being discovered among the bullrushes by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2: 1–10). Moses is the usual English spelling. As a Welsh family name, it was adopted among Dissenter families in the 18th and 19th centuries. As a North American family name, it has absorbed forms of the name from other languages, for example Moise and Moshe.

English, Scottish, German, Dutch, etc.: from the personal name Peter (Greek Petros, from petra ‘rock’, ‘stone’). The name was popular throughout Christian Europe in the Middle Ages, having been bestowed by Christ as a byname on the apostle Simon bar Jonah, the brother of Andrew. The name was chosen by Christ for its symbolic significance (John 1:42, Matt. 16:18); St. Peter is regarded as the founding head of the Christian Church in view of Christ’s saying, ‘Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church’. In Christian Germany in the early Middle Ages this was the most frequent personal name of non-Germanic origin until the 14th century. This surname has also absorbed many cognates in other languages, for example Czech Petr, Hungarian Péter. It has also been adopted as a surname by Ashkenazic Jews.

English and Scottish: occupational name for a tailor, from Old French tailleur (Late Latin taliator, from taliare ‘to cut’). The surname is extremely common in Britain and Ireland, and its numbers have been swelled by its adoption as an Americanized form of the numerous equivalent European names, most of which are also very common among Ashkenazic Jews, for example Schneider, Szabó, and Portnov.

English and Scottish: nickname from Middle English king, Old English cyning ‘king’ (originally merely a tribal leader, from Old English cyn(n) ‘tribe’, ‘race’ + the Germanic suffix -ing). The word was already used as a byname before the Norman Conquest, and the nickname was common in the Middle Ages, being used to refer to someone who conducted himself in a kingly manner, or one who had played the part of a king in a pageant, or one who had won the title in a tournament. In other cases it may actually have referred to someone who served in the king’s household. The American surname has absorbed several European cognates and equivalents with the same meaning, for example German König (see Koenig), Swiss German Küng, French Leroy. It is also found as an Ashkenazic Jewish surname, of ornamental origin. Chinese : variant of Jin 1. Chinese , , , : see Jing.

Chinese: possibly a variant spelling of Xie.

English: from the Norman form of an Old French personal name composed of the Germanic elements wil ‘will’, ‘desire’ + helm ‘helmet’, ‘protection’. This was introduced into England at the time of the Conquest, and within a very short period it became the most popular personal name in England, mainly no doubt in honor of the Conqueror himself.

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.

Irish and English variant of Brown.

English (especially Yorkshire) and Scottish: occupational name for a fuller, Middle English walkere, Old English wealcere, an agent derivative of wealcan ‘to walk, tread’. This was the regular term for the occupation during the Middle Ages in western and northern England. Compare Fuller and Tucker. As a Scottish surname it has also been used as a translation of Gaelic Mac an Fhucadair ‘son of the fuller’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

patronymic from Reeve. topographic name for someone who lived on the margin of a wood, from a misdivision of the Middle English phrase atter eves ‘at the edge’ (Old English æt þære efese).

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.

English (mainly Yorkshire): patronymic from Mayer 1, i.e. ‘son of the mayor’. English: patronymic from mire ‘physician’ (see Myer 1). Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Midhir, probably a variant of Ó Meidhir ‘mayor’ (see Mayer 1).

German (Wäh): nickname for a smart, good looking person, from Middle High German wæhe ‘pretty’, ‘neat’. Chinese : variant of Hua 2. Other Southeast Asian: unexplained.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: variant spelling of Digges.

English and Welsh: patronymic from the Middle English personal name Jon(e) (see John). The surname is especially common in Wales and southern central England. In North America this name has absorbed various cognate and like-sounding surnames from other languages. (For forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988).

English: from the Norman personal name Huard, Heward, composed of the Germanic elements hug ‘heart’, ‘mind’, ‘spirit’ + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’. English: from the Anglo-Scandinavian personal name Haward, composed of the Old Norse elements há ‘high’ + varðr ‘guardian’, ‘warden’. English: variant of Ewart 2. Irish: see Fogarty. Irish (County Clare) surname adopted as an equivalent of Gaelic Ó hÍomhair, which was formerly Anglicized as O’Hure.

English, Welsh, German, etc.: ultimately from the Hebrew personal name yo?hanan ‘Jehovah has favored (me with a son)’ or ‘may Jehovah favor (this child)’. This personal name was adopted into Latin (via Greek) as Johannes, and has enjoyed enormous popularity in Europe throughout the Christian era, being given in honor of St. John the Baptist, precursor of Christ, and of St. John the Evangelist, author of the fourth gospel, as well as others of the nearly one thousand other Christian saints of the name. Some of the principal forms of the personal name in other European languages are Welsh Ieuan, Evan, Siôn, and Ioan; Scottish Ia(i)n; Irish Séan; German Johann, Johannes, Hans; Dutch Jan; French Jean; Italian Giovanni, Gianni, Ianni; Spanish Juan; Portuguese João; Greek Ioannes (vernacular Yannis); Czech Jan; Russian Ivan. Polish has surnames both from the western Slavic form Jan and from the eastern Slavic form Iwan. There were a number of different forms of the name in Middle English, including Jan(e), a male name (see Jane); Jen (see Jenkin); Jon(e) (see Jones); and Han(n) (see Hann). There were also various Middle English feminine versions of this name (e.g. Joan, Jehan), and some of these were indistinguishable from masculine forms. The distinction on grounds of gender between John and Joan was not firmly established in English until the 17th century. It was even later that Jean and Jane were specialized as specifically feminine names in English; bearers of these surnames and their derivatives are more likely to derive them from a male ancestor than a female. As a surname in the British Isles, John is particularly frequent in Wales, where it is a late formation representing Welsh Siôn rather than the older form Ieuan (which gave rise to the surname Evan). As an American family name this form has absorbed various cognates from continental European languages. (For forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988.) 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.

West African: unexplained.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Irish and Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Ceannéidigh ‘descendant of Ceannéidigh’, a personal name derived from ceann ‘head’ + éidigh ‘ugly’.

Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Coileáin and Mac Coileáin (see Cullen 1). English: patronymic from the Middle English personal name Col(l)in, a pet form of Coll, itself a short form of Nicholas. Americanized form of French Colin.

English: occupational name for a sheepshearer or someone who used shears to trim the surface of finished cloth and remove excess nap, from Middle English shereman ‘shearer’. Americanized spelling of German Schuermann. Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a tailor, from Yiddish sher ‘scissors’ + man ‘man’.

German: shortened form of Karren or Karrer.

Scottish and northern Irish: habitational name from any of the places in Scotland so called, principally that near Auchinleck. They all get their names from Gaelic lagan, a diminutive of lag ‘hollow’. Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Leocháin ‘descendant of Leochán’ (earlier spelled Lothchán), a personal name of unexplained origin.

Scottish and northern Irish: from Anglo-Norman French waleis ‘Welsh’ (from a Germanic cognate of Old English wealh ‘foreign’), hence an ethnic name for a Welsh speaker. In some cases this clearly denoted an incomer to Scotland from Wales or the Welsh Marches, but it may also have denoted a Welsh-speaking Scot: in western Scotland around Glasgow, the Welsh-speaking Strathclyde Britons survived well into the Middle Ages. Jewish: this surname has been adopted in the 19th and 20th centuries as an Americanized form of various Ashkenazic Jewish surnames, e.g. Wallach.

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.

English and Scottish: occupational name for a miller. The standard modern vocabulary word represents the northern Middle English term, an agent derivative of mille ‘mill’, reinforced by Old Norse mylnari (see Milner). In southern, western, and central England Millward (literally, ‘mill keeper’) was the usual term. The American surname has absorbed many cognate surnames from other European languages, for example French Meunier, Dumoulin, Demoulins, and Moulin; German Mueller; Dutch Molenaar; Italian Molinaro; Spanish Molinero; Hungarian Molnár; Slavic Mlinar, etc. Southwestern and Swiss German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Müller (see Mueller).

English and Scottish: patronymic from a Middle English male personal name: in most cases probably Allen, but other possibilities include a variant of Ellis or a short form of Alexander. In some instances, it may be from a female personal name, Alise or Alice (see Allis).

English: habitational name from either of the places called Washington, in Tyne and Wear and West Sussex. The latter is from Old English Wassingatun ‘settlement (Old English tun) of the people of Wassa’, a personal name that is probably a short form of some compound name such as Waðsige, composed of the elements wað ‘hunt’ + sige ‘victory’. Washington in Tyne and Wear is from Old English Wassingtun ‘settlement associated with Wassa’.

English, Scottish, Dutch, and North German: patronymic from the personal name Peter. Irish: Anglicized form (translation) of Gaelic Mac Pheadair ‘son of Peter’. Americanized form of cognate surnames in other languages, for example Dutch and North German Pieters.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Muslim: from the Arabic personal name Musa (the Biblical Moses). The Qur’an says (19:51): ‘He was specially chosen, and he was a Messenger and a Prophet.’ Southern Italian: habitational name from a place called Musa, particularly the one in Melito di Porto Salvo in Reggio Calabria, and the one in Nissorìa in Enna province, Sicily.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

African: unexplained. Compare Ba. Slovenian: unexplained.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: ethnic name for someone with Scottish connections. Scottish and Irish: ethnic name for a Gaelic speaker.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

A parish in co. Hereford.

Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Colmáin ‘descendant of Colmán’. This was the name of an Irish missionary to Europe, generally known as St. Columban (c.540–615), who founded the monastery of Bobbio in northern Italy in 614. With his companion St. Gall, he enjoyed a considerable cult throughout central Europe, so that forms of his name were adopted as personal names in Italian (Columbano), French (Colombain), Czech (Kollman), and Hungarian (Kálmán). From all of these surnames are derived. In Irish and English, the name of this saint is identical with diminutives of the name of the 6th-century missionary known in English as St. Columba (521–97), who converted the Picts to Christianity, and who was known in Scandinavian languages as Kalman. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Clumháin ‘descendant of Clumhán’, a personal name from the diminutive of clúmh ‘down’, ‘feathers’. English: occupational name for a burner of charcoal or a gatherer of coal, Middle English coleman, from Old English col ‘(char)coal’ + mann ‘man’. English: occupational name for the servant of a man named Cole. Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized form of Kalman. Americanized form of German Kohlmann or Kuhlmann.

North German: topographic name for someone who lived by a bog, from a Westphalian field name van ‘marsh’, or a habitational name from a place named with this word. German: a short form of the personal name Stephan (see Steven).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: from the possessive case of Brook (i.e. ‘of the brook’). Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames. Americanized spelling of German Brucks.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: variant spelling of Clark.

Dutch and North German: topographic name for someone living by a quayside, from Dutch kaai ‘quay’, German Kai (which was borrowed from the Dutch). Danish and Frisian: from the Danish personal name Kai, Kaj, Kay, which is of uncertain origin, most likely from Frisian or Latin Caius. Japanese: the original meaning is probably ‘shell’, but the name is written phonetically with two characters meaning ‘first class’ or ‘shell’, plus ‘beauty’. Though the surname is found mostly in the island of Kyushu, some families could have connections with the ancient province of Kai (now Yamanashi prefecture) in the mountains of central Honshu.

English: patronymic from the personal name Roger.

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.

Irish (mainly County Louth): generally of English origin (see 1); but sometimes also used as a variant of Harman or Hardiman, i.e. an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hArgadáin (see Hargadon). English: variant spelling of Harman 1.

English: patronymic from Thomas. Thompson is widely distributed throughout Britain, but is most common in northern England and northern Ireland. Americanized form of Thomsen.

English: occupational name for a transporter of goods, Middle English cartere, from an agent derivative of Middle English cart(e) or from Anglo-Norman French car(e)tier, a derivative of Old French caret (see Cartier). The Old French word coalesced with the earlier Middle English word cart(e) ‘cart’, which is from either Old Norse kartr or Old English cræt, both of which, like the Late Latin word, were probably originally derived from Celtic. Northern Irish: reduced form of McCarter.

English: variant spelling of Beadle. Possibly a variant of French and German Bedel.

English, Scottish, and northern Irish: occupational name for a maker of machinery, mostly in wood, of any of a wide range of kinds, from Old English wyrhta, wryhta ‘craftsman’ (a derivative of wyrcan ‘to work or make’). The term is found in various combinations (for example, Cartwright and Wainwright), but when used in isolation it generally referred to a builder of windmills or watermills. Common New England Americanized form of French Le Droit, a nickname for an upright person, a man of probity, from Old French droit ‘right’, in which there has been confusion between the homophones right and wright.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: patronymic from the medieval personal name Benne, a pet form of Benedict (see Benn). English: habitational name from a place in Oxfordshire named Benson, from Old English Benesingtun ‘settlement (Old English tun) associated with Benesa’, a personal name of obscure origin, perhaps a derivative of Bana meaning ‘slayer’. Jewish (Ashkenazic): patronymic composed of a pet form of the personal name Beniamin (see Bien, Benjamin) + German Sohn ‘son’. Scandinavian: altered form of such names as Bengtsson, Bendtsen, patronymics from Bengt, Bendt, etc., Scandinavian forms of Benedict.

Scottish (Galloway) and Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Ghoill ‘son of the stranger’ (see Gall 1). Irish: short form of Gaelic names beginning with Mac Giolla ‘son of the servant (or devotee) of’ (see for example McElroy). Scottish: Anglicized form of Mac Ghille Mhaoil, otherwise Anglicized as McMillan.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Welsh: Anglicized form of Welsh ap Herry ‘son of Herry’, a variant of Harry (see Harris). English: topographic name for someone who lived near a pear tree, Middle English per(r)ie (Old English pyrige, a derivative of pere ‘pear’). This surname and a number of variants have been established in Ireland since the 17th century.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

A much attenuated form of Bullock, which see. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries part of Bonnington near Peebles was held by the Bullos of Bonnington-Bullo. In the public records the name appears as Bo, Boe, Bowie, or Bullo. Barbara Boo in Darnick, 1655, and George Boo or Boe in Dainyeltoune (or Danzielton), 1660 (RRM.

Scottish and northern English: patronymic from the personal name Wat (see Watt)

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Northern English: patronymic from the personal name Dick.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Irish and Scottish: reduced form of McGee, Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Aodha ‘son of Aodh’ (see McCoy). English: this is a common name in northern England, of uncertain origin. The existence of a patronymic form Geeson points to a personal name, but this has not been satisfactorily identified. It may in fact be the Irish or Scottish name in an English context. French (Gée): habitational name from any of several places called Gé or Gée, for example in Maine-et-Loire, derived from the Gallo-Roman domain name Gaiacum.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English (but most common in Wales): from Lowis, Lodovicus, a Norman personal name composed of the Germanic elements hlod ‘fame’ + wig ‘war’. This was the name of the founder of the Frankish dynasty, recorded in Latin chronicles as Ludovicus and Chlodovechus (the latter form becoming Old French Clovis, Clouis, Louis, the former developing into German Ludwig). The name was popular throughout France in the Middle Ages and was introduced to England by the Normans. In Wales it became inextricably confused with 2. Welsh: from an Anglicized form of the personal name Llywelyn (see Llewellyn). Irish and Scottish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Lughaidh ‘son of Lughaidh’. This is one of the most common Old Irish personal names. It is derived from Lugh ‘brightness’, which was the name of a Celtic god. Americanized form of any of various like-sounding Jewish surnames.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

Irish: variant of Coyne.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ka?b ‘fame’, ‘glory’. This was the name of the ancestors of two different tribes in Mecca, Ka?b bin Rabiah and Ka?b bin Kilab. The ka?ba is an Islamic sacred shrine in Mecca, and the personal name may also have been chosen with reference to this. Muslim: possibly also from a personal name based on Arabic ka’ba ‘sorrow’. Japanese: ‘birch tree’. The name is not common in Japan. Czech (Kába): from the personal name Kába, a derivative of the Biblical name Gabriel. Hungarian: from kaba ‘falcon’, from Serbian and Croatian koba, kobac ‘sparrowhawk’, hence a nickname for someone thought to resemble a falcon, or a metonymic occupational name for a falconer. Alternatively, it may be a nickname for a slow-witted person, from kába ‘slow’, ‘lethargic’. It could also be a habitational name from places so called in Szabolcs county in northern Hungary and in former K{u’’}lso Szolnok county, now in Romania.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: occupational name for a gamekeeper employed in a medieval park, from an agent derivative of Middle English parc ‘park’ (see Park 1). This surname is also found in Ireland. Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish names.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: occupational name for a scribe or secretary, originally a member of a minor religious order who undertook such duties. The word clerc denoted a member of a religious order, from Old English cler(e)c ‘priest’, reinforced by Old French clerc. Both are from Late Latin clericus, from Greek klerikos, a derivative of kleros ‘inheritance’, ‘legacy’, with reference to the priestly tribe of Levites (see Levy) ‘whose inheritance was the Lord’. In medieval Christian Europe, clergy in minor orders were permitted to marry and so found families; thus the surname could become established. In the Middle Ages it was virtually only members of religious orders who learned to read and write, so that the term clerk came to denote any literate man.

English (mainly southwestern England): variant of Bryan.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

North German: from a medieval short form of Manegold (see Mangold).

English: habitational name from any of the many places in all parts of England, for example in Cheshire, Oxfordshire, and North Yorkshire, named in Old English as æppeltun ‘orchard’ (literally ‘apple enclosure’).

English: variant spelling of Pine.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: variant spelling of Paine. This is also a well-established surname in Ireland.

English: habitational name from any of various places named Farley, of which there are examples in Berkshire, Derbyshire, Hampshire, Kent, Somerset, and Staffordshire, from Old English as fearn ‘fern’ + leah ‘woodland clearing’. See also Farleigh, Fairley, Fairlie. Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Fearghaile (see Farrelly).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Welsh: descriptive nickname from Welsh llwyd ‘gray’. In Welsh the color term llwyd also includes shades of brown, and it is likely that, when used with reference to younger men, llwyd denoted brown or mouse-colored hair.

from a diminutive of Black. nickname for a person with dark eyes or one who was reputed to have the power of casting the evil eye on someone, from Middle English blak(e) ‘black’, ‘dark’ + ie ‘eye’.

English: topographic name for someone who lived by a small hill or a man-made mound or barrow, Middle English how (Old Norse haugr), or a habitational name from a place named with this word, such as Howe in Norfolk and North Yorkshire. English: variant of Hugh. Jewish (American): Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames. Americanized form of Norwegian Hove.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Basque: variant of Garde.

Muslim: unexplained. Possibly an adjectival derivative of Turan. African: unexplained. Hungarian: habitational name for someone from a place called Tura.

Chinese and Korean: variant of Ma.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Chinese : variant of Zheng. Filipino: unexplained.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English (of Norman origin): variant of Duley.

Italian: from the personal name Bono meaning ‘good’, from the Latin personal name Bonus, which was borne by a minor 3rd-century Christian saint, martyred at Rome with eleven companions under the Emperor Vespasian. It was adopted as a personal name partly in his honor and partly because of the transparently well-omened meaning. Italian: nickname from b(u)ono ‘good’ (Latin bonus). Hungarian (Bonó): from a pet form of the personal name Bonifác (see Bonifacio).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Hungarian: ethnic name for a member of a Turkic people known in English as the Cumanians (Hungarian kún). Jewish (from Hungary): adoption of 1, replacing the Jewish homophone Kuhn. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): variant of Kuhn.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

West African: probably a derivative of Arabic Jalil.

English and Scottish: occupational name for a stonemason, Middle English, Old French mas(s)on. Compare Machen. Stonemasonry was a hugely important craft in the Middle Ages. Italian (Veneto): from a short form of Masone. French: from a regional variant of maison ‘house’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English and Scottish: status name or occupational name from Middle English, Old French maresc(h)al ‘marshal’. The term is of Germanic origin (compare Old High German marah ‘horse’, ‘mare’ + scalc ‘servant’). Originally it denoted a man who looked after horses, but by the heyday of medieval surname formation it denoted on the one hand one of the most important servants in a great household (in the royal household a high official of state, one with military responsibilities), and on the other a humble shoeing smith or farrier. It was also an occupational name for a medieval court officer responsible for the custody of prisoners. An even wider range of meanings is found in some other languages: compare for example Polish Marszalek (see Marszalek). The surname is also borne by Jews, presumably as an Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames.

Basque: from solo ‘rural estate’, hence a topographic or occupational name for someone who lived or worked on a country estate.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

habitational name from any of the minor places in Wiltshire, Warwickshire, and other counties called (The) Folly, usually from Middle English folie in the sense ‘folly’, ‘foolish enterprise’, but otherwise from Old French feuillie ‘leafy bower or shelter’, later ‘clump of trees’. In some cases, the name may be topographic. nickname for an eccentric or foolish person, from Old French folie ‘foolishness’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Welsh: from the Old Welsh personal name Morcant, which is of uncertain but ancient etymology. Irish: importation of the Welsh surname, to which has been assimilated more than one Gaelic surname, notably Ó Muireagáin (see Merrigan). Scottish: of uncertain origin; probably from a Gaelic personal name cognate with Welsh Morcant.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish and northern English: very common patronymic from the personal name Ander(s), a northern Middle English form of Andrew. See also Andreas. The frequency of the surname in Scotland is attributable, at least in part, to the fact that St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, so the personal name has long enjoyed great popularity there. Legend has it that the saint’s relics were taken to Scotland in the 4th century by a certain St. Regulus. The surname was brought independently to North America by many different bearers and was particularly common among 18th-century Scotch-Irish settlers in PA and VA. In the United States, it has absorbed many cognate or like-sounding names in other European languages, notably Swedish Andersson, Norwegian and Danish Andersen, but also Ukrainian Andreychyn, Hungarian Andrásfi, etc.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: from a pet form of the personal name Samson (see Samson). Dutch (van Sam): variant of Van den Sand (see Sand 2). Nigerian and Ghanaian: unexplained. Chinese : variant of Shen. Chinese : variant of Shum. Other Southeast Asian: unexplained.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English, Scottish, Welsh, French, German, Dutch, Hungarian (Sámuel), Jewish, and South Indian: from the Biblical male personal name Samuel (Hebrew Shemuel ‘Name of God’). This name is also well established in South India. In North America this has absorbed other European cognates such as Greek Samouelidis. 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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Variant of Yancey.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English, Scottish, and Irish: from Rousel, a commonnAnglo-Norman French nickname for someone with red hair, a diminutivenof Rouse with the hypocoristic suffix -el.n Americanized spelling of German Rüssel, from a pet formnof any of the various personal names formed with the Old High Germannelement hrod ‘renown’. EG

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: from the personal name Toby (see Tobias).

English: habitational name from any of various places named with the Old English elements west ‘west’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’, as for example Westley in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, and Westleigh in Devon and Greater Manchester.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

African (Touré) and Muslim: unexplained.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish and northern Irish: patronymic from the personal name Dick.

Scottish, Dutch, English, South Indian, etc.: from the Greek name Philippos (from philein ‘to love’ + hippos ‘horse’). In the New Testament this name is borne by one of the apostles; it was also borne by various other early Christian saints. It owes part of its popularity to the medieval romances about Alexander the Great, whose father was Philip of Macedon. As a Highland Scottish surname, it represents an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Fhilib ‘son of Philip’. In North America, this surname has absorbed some cases of cognate names in other languages (e.g. French Philippe, Greek Philippos, Italian Filippi, Spanish Felipe, Catalan Felip, and their derivatives). As a Jewish name, it represents a borrowing of the personal name from Christians. 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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

(French-Tcut.) = Brunel(l, q.v. (English) Dweller at the Brown Slope or Corner [Old English brún + heal(h] or the Brown Hill [Old English hyll]

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Muslim (from West Africa): unexplained.

Jewish and English: patronymic from the personal name Jacob. As a Jewish surname it has also assimilated various other patronymics from the same personal name, as for example Jacobowitz.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

English, Scottish, and northern Irish: distinguishing name (Middle English yunge, yonge ‘young’), for the younger of two bearers of the same personal name, usually distinguishing a younger brother or a son. In Middle English this name is often found with the Anglo-Norman French definite article, for example Robert le Yunge. Americanization of a cognate, equivalent, or like-sounding surname in some other language, notably German Jung and Junk, Dutch (De) Jong(h) and Jong, and French Lejeune and LaJeunesse. assimilated form of French Dion or Guyon. Chinese: see Yang.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Northern English and Scottish: variant of Kerr. Irish (Ulster): Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Carra ‘descendant of Carra’, a byname meaning ‘spear’. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Chathair, a Donegal name meaning ‘son of the servant of Cathair’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Americanized spelling of German Kuhn or Dutch Koen.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English, Dutch, and Jewish: variant of Samson. The -p- was introduced in the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Shimshon. The English surname has also long been established in Ireland. In North America, this name has absorbed other European cognates, for example Greek Sampsonakis, Sampsonides.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Probably an altered spelling of Scottish Bartie, from a pet form of the personal name Bartholomew.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: variant spelling of Charley.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish: originally an occupational name for an administrative official of an estate, from Middle English stiward, Old English stigweard, stiweard, a compound of stig ‘house(hold)’ + weard ‘guardian’. In Old English times this title was used of an officer controlling the domestic affairs of a household, especially of the royal household; after the Conquest it was also used more widely as the native equivalent of Seneschal for the steward of a manor or manager of an estate.

English (chiefly southwestern England and South Wales): occupational name for a fuller, from an agent derivative of Middle English tuck(en) ‘to full cloth’ (Old English tucian ‘to torment’). This was the term used for the process in the Middle Ages in southwestern England, and the surname is more common there than elsewhere. Compare Fuller and Walker. Americanized form of Jewish To(c)ker (see Tokarz). Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Tuachair ‘descendant of Tuachar’, a personal name composed of the elements tuath ‘people’ + car ‘dear’, ‘beloved’. Possibly also an Americanized form of German Tucher, from an occupational name for a cloth maker or merchant, from an agent derivative of Middle High German tuoch ‘cloth’.

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

from the Middle English, Old French personal name Michel, vernacular form of Michael. nickname for a big man, from Middle English michel, mechel, muchel ‘big’. Irish (County Connacht): surname adopted as equivalent of Mulvihill.

Irish: reduced form of McClinton. English: habitational name, either from Glympton in Oxfordshire, named as ‘settlement (Old English tun) on the Glym river’, a Celtic river name meaning ‘bright stream’, or from Glinton in Cambridgeshire, recorded in 1060 as Clinton (named with an unrecorded Old English element akin to Middle Low German glinde ‘enclosure’, ‘fence’ + Old English tun).

English: from Middle English farre ‘bull’, applied as a nickname for a fierce or lusty man or a metonymic occupational name for someone who kept a bull. German: nickname from Middle High German varne, var, with the same meaning as 1.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

African: unexplained.

English: from a Middle English personal name, Elyat, Elyt. This represents at least two Old English personal names which have fallen together: the male name A{dh}elgeat (composed of the elements a{dh}el ‘noble’ + Geat, a tribal name; see Jocelyn), and the female personal name A{dh}elg¯{dh} (composed of the elements a{dh}el ‘noble’ + g¯{dh} ‘battle’). The Middle English name seems also to have absorbed various other personal names of Old English or Continental Germanic origin, as for example Old English Ælfweald (see Ellwood). English: from a pet form of Ellis. Scottish: Anglicized form of the originally distinct Gaelic surname Elloch, Eloth, a topographic name from Gaelic eileach ‘dam’, ‘mound’, ‘bank’. Compare Eliot.

English and German: patronymic from the personal name Richard. Richards is a frequent name in Wales.

English and Scottish: from the Middle English personal name Ma(t)thew, vernacular form of the Greek New Testament name Matthias, Matthaios, which is ultimately from the Hebrew personal name Matityahu ‘gift of God’. This was taken into Latin as Mat(t)hias and Matthaeus respectively, the former being used for the twelfth apostle (who replaced Judas Iscariot) and the latter for the author of the first Gospel. In many European languages this distinction is reflected in different surname forms. The commonest vernacular forms of the personal name, including English Matthew, Old French Matheu, Spanish Mateo, Italian Matteo, Portuguese Mateus, Catalan and Occitan Mateu are generally derived from the form Matthaeus. The American surname Matthew has also absorbed European cognates from other languages, including Greek Mathias and Mattheos. Compare Mathew, Mathai. 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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Barry.' There can be little doubt that this was of Norman extraction; compare the French Du Barry. The Irish Barrys have made a large inroad in the American directories. I cannot say whether they are of the same parentage or not.

Irish: translation of Gaelic Ó hUainín ‘descendant of Uainín’ (see Honan 2). variant spelling of Green as an English name or as an Americanized form of name of similar meaning in some other European language.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Italian: variant of Amaro. Muslim (mainly Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh): probably a variant of Omar.

English: topographic name from Middle English dene ‘valley’ (Old English denu), or a habitational name from any of several places in various parts of England named Dean, Deane, or Deen from this word. In Scotland this is a habitational name from Den in Aberdeenshire or Dean in Ayrshire. English: occupational name for the servant of a dean or nickname for someone thought to resemble a dean. A dean was an ecclesiastical official who was the head of a chapter of canons in a cathedral. The Middle English word deen is a borrowing of Old French d(e)ien, from Latin decanus (originally a leader of ten men, from decem ‘ten’), and thus is a cognate of Deacon. Irish: variant of Deane. Italian: occupational name cognate with 2, from Venetian dean ‘dean’, a dialect form of degan, from degano (Italian decano).

English and Scottish: extremely common and widely distributed topographic name for someone who lived on or by a hill, Middle English hill (Old English hyll). English: from the medieval personal name Hill, a short form of Hilary (see Hillary) or of a Germanic (male or female) compound name with the first element hild ‘strife’, ‘battle’. German: from a short form of Hildebrand or any of a variety of other names, male and female, containing Germanic hild as the first element. Jewish (American): Anglicized form of various Jewish names of similar sound or meaning. English translation of Finnish Mäki (‘hill’), or of any of various other names formed with this element, such as Mäkinen, Heinämaki, Kivimäki.

English: variant of Patmore. This name is common in Barbados.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: habitational name from various places named with banda, probably in the sense ‘side’, ‘edge’, ‘part’. Hungarian: of uncertain origin; probably from the old secular personal name Bán. Jewish (from Poland): metonymic occupational name from Polish banda ‘ribbon’. In some instances, perhaps an altered spelling of German and Dutch Bande (see Band). Croatian or Serbian: nickname for a bandit, from banda ‘band’, ‘gang’. This name originates from the Kordun and Krajina region on the former border between Croatia and Bosnia.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Welsh: nickname for a swarthy person, from Welsh du ‘dark’, ‘black’. Irish: variant of Daw 3. English and Scottish: habitational name from a settlement on the banks of the river Dee in Cheshire or either of the rivers so named in Scotland. The origin of both of these is a Celtic word meaning ‘sacred’, ‘goddess’.

English and Dutch: from Latin Marcus, the personal name of St. Mark the Evangelist, author of the second Gospel. The name was borne also by a number of other early Christian saints. Marcus was an old Roman name, of uncertain (possibly non-Italic) etymology; it may have some connection with the name of the war god Mars. Compare Martin. The personal name was not as popular in England in the Middle Ages as it was on the Continent, especially in Italy, where the evangelist became the patron of Venice and the Venetian Republic, and was allegedly buried at Aquileia. As an American family name, this has absorbed cognate and similar names from other European languages, including Greek Markos and Slavic Marek. English, German, and Dutch (van der Mark): topographic name for someone who lived on a boundary between two districts, from Middle English merke, Middle High German marc, Middle Dutch marke, merke, all meaning ‘borderland’. The German term also denotes an area of fenced-off land (see Marker 5) and, like the English word, is embodied in various place names which have given rise to habitational names. English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Marck, Pas-de-Calais. German: from Marko, a short form of any of the Germanic compound personal names formed with mark ‘borderland’ as the first element, for example Markwardt. Americanization or shortened form of any of several like-sounding Jewish or Slavic surnames (see for example Markow, Markowitz, Markovich). Irish (northeastern Ulster): probably a short form of Markey (when not of English origin).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

German: topographic name for someone who lived by an elder tree, Middle High German holder, or from a house named for its sign of an elder tree. In same areas, for example Alsace, the elder tree was believed to be the protector of a house. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Holder ‘elder tree’. English (chiefly western counties): occupational name for a tender of animals, from an agent derivative of Middle English hold(en) ‘to guard or keep’ (Old English h(e)aldan). It is possible that this word was also used in the wider sense of a holder of land within the feudal system. Compare Helder.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: variant spelling of Lamey 1. Possibly French (L’Amie), from l’amie ‘the (female) friend’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Variant of English Manter.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English, Scottish, and Irish: from Middle English whit ‘white’, hence a nickname for someone with white hair or an unnaturally pale complexion. In some cases it represents a Middle English personal name, from an Old English byname, Hwit(a), of this origin. As a Scottish and Irish surname it has been widely used as a translation of the many Gaelic names based on bán ‘white’ (see Bain 1) or fionn ‘fair’ (see Finn 1). There has also been some confusion with Wight. Translated form of cognate and equivalent names in other languages, such as German Weiss, French Blanc, Polish Bialas (see Bialas), etc.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English, Scottish, and French: status name for a young servant, Middle English and Old French page (from Italian paggio, ultimately from Greek paidion, diminutive of pais ‘boy’, ‘child’). The surname is also common in Ireland (especially Ulster and eastern Galway), having been established there since the 16th century. North German: metonymic occupational name for a horse dealer, from Middle Low German page ‘horse’. (Pagé): North American form of French Paget.

Scottish and English: from the personal name Stephen, variant spelling of Steven.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Norwegian: variant of Vee. Dutch: variant of Wei. Chinese : see Wei.

English: nickname for someone born on a Sunday, from Middle English Sunday.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English, North German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Phillips.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Seaton,' parishes and townships in Cumberland, Devon, County Durham, Rutland, Yorkshire (East Riding), and Northumberland.Richard de Seton, or Setoune, Devon, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English (Norfolk): from a pet form of the Norman personal name Gerald. Probably also an altered spelling of Scottish Gerrie, Gerry, shortened forms of Garioch.

North German: occupational name for a bargee, from Low German kane ‘boat’. German: from a short form of the Germanic personal name Cagano, itself a short form of a personal name formed with gagan, gegen ‘against’. Jewish (Ashkenazic): one of the many variants of Cohen.

English: topographic name for someone who lived near a meadow or a patch of arable land, Middle English lee, lea, from Old English lea, dative case (used after a preposition) of leah, which originally meant ‘wood’ or ‘glade’. English: habitational name from any of the many places named with Old English leah ‘wood’, ‘glade’, as for example Lee in Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hampshire, Kent, and Shropshire, and Lea in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, and Wiltshire. Irish: reduced Americanized form of Ó Laoidhigh ‘descendant of Laoidheach’, a personal name derived from laoidh ‘poem’, ‘song’ (originally a byname for a poet). Americanized spelling of Norwegian Li or Lie. Chinese : variant of Li 1. Chinese : variant of Li 2. Chinese : variant of Li 3. Korean: variant of Yi.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: from the personal name Horace, Latin Horatius, a Roman family name of unknown origin, associated chiefly with the name of the poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65–8 bc).

English: occupational name, from Middle English bakere, Old English bæcere, a derivative of bacan ‘to bake’. It may have been used for someone whose special task in the kitchen of a great house or castle was the baking of bread, but since most humbler households did their own baking in the Middle Ages, it may also have referred to the owner of a communal oven used by the whole village. The right to be in charge of this and exact money or loaves in return for its use was in many parts of the country a hereditary feudal privilege. Compare Miller. Less often the surname may have been acquired by someone noted for baking particularly fine bread or by a baker of pottery or bricks. Americanized form of cognates or equivalents in many other languages, for example German Bäcker, Becker; Dutch Bakker, Bakmann; French Boulanger. For other forms see Hanks and Hodges (1988).

English: habitational name from the city of Lincoln, so named from an original British name Lindo- ‘lake’ + Latin colonia ‘settlement’, ‘colony’. The place was an important administrative center during the Roman occupation of Britain and in the Middle Ages it was a center for the manufacture of cloth, including the famous ‘Lincoln green’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English and Scottish: from the usual vernacular English form (recorded from the 13th century onward) of the New Testament Greek personal name Andreas.

Portuguese (Júnior): from a personal name, from Latin junior, comparative of juvenis ‘young’. In some cases this may be a translation of for example German Jung(er).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English and (especially) Scottish (of Norman origin), and French: nickname from Anglo-Norman French graund, graunt ‘tall’, ‘large’ (Old French grand, grant, from Latin grandis), given either to a person of remarkable size, or else in a relative way to distinguish two bearers of the same personal name, often representatives of different generations within the same family. English and Scottish: from a medieval personal name, probably a survival into Middle English of the Old English byname Granta (see Grantham). Probably a respelling of German Grandt or Grand.

Dutch, English, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): patronymic from the personal name David.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English and Scottish: topographic name for someone who lived in the woods (see Wood). Irish: English name adopted as a translation of Ó Cuill ‘descendant of Coll’ (see Quill), or in Ulster of Mac Con Coille ‘son of Cú Choille’, a personal name meaning ‘hound of the wood’, which has also been mistranslated Cox, as if formed with coileach ‘cock’, ‘rooster’.

German, Dutch, Scandinavian, Slovenian, Czech, Hungarian, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): ethnic or regional name for someone from Franconia (German Franken), a region of southwestern Germany so called from its early settlement by the Franks, a Germanic people who inhabited the lands around the river Rhine in Roman times. In the 6th–9th centuries, under leaders such as Clovis I (c. 466–511) and Charlemagne (742–814), the Franks established a substantial empire in western Europe, from which the country of France takes its name. The term Frank in eastern Mediterranean countries was used, in various vernacular forms, to denote the Crusaders and their descendants, and the American surname may also be an Americanized form of such a form. English, Dutch, German, etc.: from the personal name Frank, in origin an ethnic name for a Frank. This also came be used as an adjective meaning ‘free’, ‘open-hearted’, ‘generous’, deriving from the fact that in Frankish Gaul only people of Frankish race enjoyed the status of fully free men. It was also used as a Jewish personal name.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish and Irish (of Scottish origin): from the Gaelic personal name Donnchadh, composed of the elements donn ‘brown-haired man’ or ‘chieftain’ + a derivative of cath ‘battle’, Anglicized in Ireland as Donagh or Donaghue. Compare Donahue. Irish (Sligo): used as an Anglicized equivalent of Gaelic Ó Duinnchinn ‘descendant of Donncheann’, a byname composed of the elements donn ‘brown-haired man’ or ‘chieftain’ + ceann ‘head’.

English (mainly East Anglia): topographic name for someone who lived by a common pasture, Middle English tye (Old English teag). North German: from a short form, Tide, of the personal name Dietrich.

English and German: patronymic from a short form of Richard. English: topographic name for someone who lived where rushes grew, Middle English rexe, rixe (Old English rix).

English: variant spelling of Cassel or Castle. Altered spelling of German Kassel.

African: unexplained.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

South German: patronymic from a personal name derived from Pelagius (from Greek Pelagios, a derivative of pelagos ‘sea’; compare Spanish Pelayo). Saint Pelagius is the patron saint of Constance. English: variant of Bulley.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

from a topographic name from Middle High German or Middle Low German ban ‘open space’, ‘public area’, or in eastern Germany from Sorbian bahno ‘swamp’. from a Germanic personal name of uncertain origin.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish: variant spelling of Grier, itself a variant of Gregor.

Jewish: from the Hebrew personal name Amos, of uncertain origin, in some traditions connected with the Hebrew verb amos ‘to carry’, and assigned the meaning ‘borne by God’. This was the name of a Biblical prophet of the 8th century bc, whose oracles are recorded in the Book of Amos. This was one of the Biblical names taken up by Puritans and Nonconformists in the 16th–17th centuries, too late to have had much influence on surname formation, except in Wales. English: variant of Amis, assimilated in spelling to the Biblical name. It occurs chiefly in southeastern England.

English: variant of Bliss 2. Catalan: variant of Blasi.

Indian (Panjab): Sikh name based on the name of a Jat clan. Evidently also a reduced form of Irish or Scottish McNatt. Jewish (American): shortened form of Nathan.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: habitational name from Merriams in Leeds, Kent.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Muslim: variant of Mian. In Panjab and Rajasthan it is also found as a Hindu name among a class of Hill Rajputs.

Scottish and northern English: patronymic from the personal name Robert. This surname is especially common in Scotland, where Robert was a popular personal name and the name of three kings of Scotland, including Robert the Bruce (1274–1329).

Scottish: reduced form of McBee, a variant of McBeth. English: from Middle English be ‘bee’, Old English beo, hence a nickname for an energetic or active person or a metonymic occupational name for a beekeeper. Compare Beeman 2.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish: habitational name from Dunbar, a place on the North Sea coast near Edinburgh, named with Gaelic dùn ‘fort’ + barr ‘top’, ‘summit’.

Korean: variant of Ko.

English: from the personal name Anthony, Latin Antonius. See also Anton. This, with its variants, cognates, and derivatives, is one of the commonest European personal names. Many of the European forms have been absorbed into this spelling as American family names; for the forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988. Spellings with -h-, which first appear in English in the 16th century and in French (as Anthoine) at about the same time, are due to the erroneous belief that the name derives from Greek anthos ‘flower’. The popularity of the personal name in Christendom is largely due to the cult of the Egyptian hermit St. Anthony (ad 251–356), who in his old age gathered a community of hermits around him, and for that reason is regarded by some as the founder of monasticism. It was further increased by the fame of St. Anthony of Padua (1195–1231), who long enjoyed a great popular cult and who is believed to help people find lost things. South Indian: this is only a given name in India, but has come to be used as a family name among Christians from South India in the U.S.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

French and English (of Norman origin): from a Norman French form of the Germanic personal name Wido (see Guy). German: variant spelling of Vian, a short form of the medieval personal name Vivianus (from Latin, meaning ‘lively’).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: habitational name from any of the many places so named, from Old English neowe ‘new’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’. According to Ekwall, this is the commonest English place name. For this reason, the surname has a highly fragmented origin.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: habitational name from a group of villages near Huntingdon, called Great, Little, and Steeple Gidding, named from Old English Gyddingas ‘people of Gydda’, a personal name of uncertain origin.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English (of Norman origin) and North German: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements war(in) ‘guard’ + heri, hari ‘army’. The name was introduced into England by the Normans in the form Warnier. English (of Norman origin): reduced form of Warrener (see Warren 2). Irish (Cork): Anglicization of Gaelic Ó Murnáin (see Murnane), found in medieval records as Iwarrynane, from a genitive or plural form of the name, in which m is lenited.

Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Duinn, Ó Doinn ‘descendant of Donn’, a byname meaning ‘brown-haired’ or ‘chieftain’. English: nickname for a man with dark hair or a swarthy complexion, from Middle English dunn ‘dark-colored’. Scottish: habitational name from Dun in Angus, named with Gaelic dùn ‘fort’. Scottish: nickname from Gaelic donn ‘brown’. Compare 1.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Jewish, English, Scottish, Dutch, French, Swedish, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish (Solomón): vernacular form of the Biblical Hebrew male personal name Shelomo (a derivative of shalom ‘peace’). This was fairly widespread in the Middle Ages among Christians; it has for generations been a popular Jewish name. In the Bible it is the name of King David’s successor, noted for his wisdom. Among Christians it was also used as a nickname for a man who was considered wise. In North America it is also found as an Anglicized form of Salomon and Salamon.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

French and English (of Norman origin): from a Continental Germanic personal name composed of a first element of uncertain meaning + berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’.

Scottish and English (of Norman origin): habitational name for someone from Rots near Caen in Normandy, probably named with the Germanic element rod ‘clearing’. Compare Rhodes. This was the original home of a family de Ros, who were established in Kent in 1130. Scottish and English: habitational name from any of various places called Ross or Roos(e), deriving the name from Welsh rhós ‘upland’ or moorland, or from a British ancestor of this word, which also had the sense ‘promontory’. This is the sense of the cognate Gaelic word ros. Known sources of the surname include Roos in Humberside (formerly in East Yorkshire) and the region of northern Scotland known as Ross. Other possible sources are Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, Ross in Northumbria (which is on a promontory), and Roose in Lancashire English and German: from the Germanic personal name Rozzo, a short form of the various compound names with the first element hrod ‘renown’, introduced into England by the Normans in the form Roce. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a breeder or keeper of horses, from Middle High German ros, German Ross ‘horse’; perhaps also a nickname for someone thought to resemble a horse or a habitational name for someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of a horse. Jewish: Americanized form of Rose 3.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: variant spelling of Port. French: from Old French porte ‘gateway’, ‘entrance’ (from Latin porta), hence a topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a fortified town (typically, the man in charge of them). Jewish (Sephardic): variant of Porta.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

North German, Dutch, and Danish: topographic name or status name for the owner of a farm, or occupational name for someone who worked on the main farm in a community, from Middle High and Low German hof ‘farmstead’, ‘manor farm’, or habitational name from any of the many places named with this word. Compare Hofer. Norwegian: habitational name from any of numerous farmsteads named Hov, from Old Norse hof ‘sacrificial temple’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: patronymic from the personal name Andrew. This is the usual southern English patronymic form, also found in Wales; the Scottish and northern English form is Anderson. In North America this name has absorbed numerous cases of the various European cognates and their derivatives. (For forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988.)

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Italian: from a short form of any of various medieval personal name ending with -mento, as for example Agromento, Comento, Fundamento, Palmento, or Saramento, all of which have now fallen into disuse.

English: occupational name for a retail trader or a stallholder in a market, Middle English monger, manger (see Manger).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Classicized spelling of German Zehfuss, Siefus, Ziehfuss, literally ‘toe foot’, which is a folk-etymological development of the early medieval personal name Sigifuns, from Old High German sigu ‘victory’.

English and Scottish: from a Celtic personal name of great antiquity and obscurity. In England the personal name is now usually spelled Alan, the surname Allen; in Scotland the surname is more often Allan. Various suggestions have been put forward regarding its origin; the most plausible is that it originally meant ‘little rock’. Compare Gaelic ailín, diminutive of ail ‘rock’. The present-day frequency of the surname Allen in England and Ireland is partly accounted for by the popularity of the personal name among Breton followers of William the Conqueror, by whom it was imported first to Britain and then to Ireland. St. Alan(us) was a 5th-century bishop of Quimper, who was a cult figure in medieval Brittany. Another St. Al(l)an was a Cornish or Breton saint of the 6th century, to whom a church in Cornwall is dedicated.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: variant spelling of Kay 4 and 5.

English: variant of Peel.

English: nickname for a silly person, from Middle English golle ‘unfledged bird’. There is evidence of a female personal name Golla and it is possible that this also may have given rise to the surname. German and Swiss German: unflattering nickname from dialect goll ‘bullfinch’, in the sense ‘simpleton’; or perhaps a variant of Gollmann (see Goleman 2).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English and Scottish: from an Anglo-Norman French pronunciation of the Old and Middle English personal name Wolrich (see Wooldridge).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Probably an Americanized spelling of Swiss German Rölli (see Roelle). variant of Raile or Reile.

English: from the Middle English and Old French personal name Lorens, Laurence (Latin Laurentius ‘man from Laurentum’, a place in Italy probably named from its laurels or bay trees). The name was borne by a saint who was martyred at Rome in the 3rd century ad; he enjoyed a considerable cult throughout Europe, with consequent popularity of the personal name (French Laurent, Italian, Spanish Lorenzo, Catalan Llorenç, Portuguese Lourenço, German Laurenz; Polish Wawrzyniec (assimilated to the Polish word wawrzyn ‘laurel’), etc.). The surname is also borne by Jews among whom it is presumably an Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Ashkenazic surnames.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English (chiefly West Midlands): habitational name from a place in Cheshire, so called from Old English smæl ‘narrow’ + wudu ‘wood’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish and Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Phádraig ‘son of Patrick’, a personal name derived from Latin Patricius ‘son of a noble father’, ‘member of the patrician class’. This was the name of a 5th-century Romano-Briton who became the apostle and patron saint of Ireland, and it was largely as a result of his fame that the personal name was so popular from the Middle Ages onward. In Ireland the surname is usually Scottish in origin, but it is also found as a shortened form of Mulpatrick and Fitzpatrick.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: nickname for a clever trickster, from Old English prætt ‘trick’, ‘tricky’, ‘cunning’ (which is found in use as a byname in the 11th century). This surname is quite common in southeastern Ireland.

Chinese : according to legend, this name comes from Bai Huang, the name of a prehistoric Chinese leader. At a later date, the kingdom of Bai in the area of present-day Henan province gave its name to descendants of its ruling clan. The Chinese character for this name may also mean ‘cypress’. Chinese : from the name of the Victorious Duke Bai of the kingdom of Chu, who lived during the Zhou dynasty (1122–221 bc). This Chinese character may also mean ‘white’ or ‘clear’. Korean: variant of Pae.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

nickname for someone with deformed or otherwise remarkable toes, from Middle High German zehe, zehe ‘toe’, ‘claw’. The term also meant ‘tough’, and in some cases the surname may have arisen from this sense. variant of Zech 1.

This surname is derived from a nickname. or personal; compare Monday, Pentecost, Whitsunday, Pask, &c.Willelmus Ceterday, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Irish: variant of Cumming, with the addition of English patronymic -s.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: topographic name for someone who lived near a ford, Middle English, Old English ford, or a habitational name from one of the many places named with this word, such as Ford in Northumberland, Shropshire, and West Sussex, or Forde in Dorset. Irish: Anglicized form (quasi-translation) of various Gaelic names, for example Mac Giolla na Naomh ‘son of Gilla na Naomh’ (a personal name meaning ‘servant of the saints’), Mac Conshámha ‘son of Conshnámha’ (a personal name composed of the elements con ‘dog’ + snámh ‘to swim’), in all of which the final syllable was wrongly thought to be áth ‘ford’, and Ó Fuar(th)áin (see Foran). Jewish: Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames. Translation of German Fürth (see Furth).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: metonymic occupational name for a trapper or hunter, in particular someone who caught fish, especially eels, by setting up wicker traps in rivers and estuaries, from Middle English wile ‘trap’, ‘snare’ (late Old English wil ‘contrivance’, ‘trick’ possibly of Scandinavian origin), or in some cases probably a nickname for a devious person.

Jewish, English, and German: from the Biblical Hebrew personal name Natan ‘given’ (i.e. by God). Sometimes this is also a Jewish short form of Jonathan or Nathaniel. The personal name was comparatively rare among non-Jews in the Middle Ages (although always common among Jews); as a modern surname it is most frequently Jewish.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

variant of Hill 1. patronymic from Hill 2.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English, North German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): patronymic from the personal name Daniel.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Tongan: unexplained.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: from the personal name Toby (see Tobias).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: nickname for a strong, aggressive, bull-like man, from Middle English bul(l)e, bol(l)e. Occasionally, the name may denote a keeper of a bull. Compare Bulman. German (mainly northern): from a byname for a cattle breeder, keeper, or dealer. Compare South German Ochs. South German: nickname for a short fat man, a variant of Bolle, or a nickname for a man with the physical characteristics of a bull.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: occupational name for a maker or layer of tiles, from an agent derivative of Middle English tile ‘tile’. In the Middle Ages tiles were widely used in floors and pavements, and to a lesser extent in roofing, where they did not really come into their own until the 16th century.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English (chiefly central and northern England): variant of Holme. Scottish: probably a habitational name from Holmes near Dundonald, or from a place so called in the barony of Inchestuir. Scottish and Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Thomáis, Mac Thómais (see McComb). In part of western Ireland, Holmes is a variant of Cavish (from Gaelic Mac Thámhais, another patronymic from Thomas).

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.

English: from the Middle English personal name Edward, Old English Eadward, composed of the elements ead ‘prosperity’, ‘fortune’ + w(e)ard ‘guard’. The English personal name also became popular on the Continent as a result of the fame of the two canonized kings of England, Edward the Martyr (962–79) and Edward the Confessor (1004–66). They certainly contributed largely to its great popularity in England.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

From a short form of Alexis or Alexander in any of several languages.

Americanized form of Norwegian Sæbø, a habitational name from any of over fifteen farmsteads on the west coast of Norway, named in Old Norse as Sæbœr or Sævarbýr, from sær ‘sea’ + býr ‘farm’. Hungarian (Sebo): from a pet form of the personal name Sebestyén, Hungarian form of Sebastian.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Danish, Norwegian, and North German: patronymic from the personal name Jens, a reduced form of Johannes (see John). This is Denmark’s most frequent surname.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish: variant of Rainey.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

occupational name from Old French mire ‘physician’. topographic name from Middle English mire ‘marsh’ (Old Norse mýrr) . variant of Mayer 1.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

German and Swiss German (also Kläy): variant of Kley.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

patronymic from the personal name May (see May). variant spelling of Mason.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Hungarian (Szalay): regional name for someone from Zala county in western Hungary, or a habitational name from any of various villages called Szala.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

habitational name from a place in Bedfordshire, so named from Old English sand ‘sand’ + eg ‘island’, ‘dry land in a fen or marsh’. from the Old Norse personal name Sand(i), a short form of the various compound names with the first element sandr ‘sand’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English, North German, Dutch, Frisian, and Danish: from a Germanic personal name, Boio or Bogo, of uncertain origin. It may represent a variant of Bothe, with the regular Low German loss of the dental between vowels, but a cognate name appears to have existed in Old English (see Boyce), where this feature does not occur. Boje is still in use as a personal name in Friesland. Dutch: nickname from Middle Dutch boy(e) ‘boy’, ‘lad’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: variant of Read 1.

English: patronymic from the personal name Stephen (see Steven).

German: from Middle High German kellaere ‘cellarman’, ‘cellar master’ (Latin cellarius, denoting the keeper of the cella ‘store chamber’, ‘pantry’). Hence an occupational name for the overseer of the stores, accounts, or household in general in, for example, a monastery or castle. Kellers were important as trusted stewards in a great household, and in some cases were promoted to ministerial rank. The surname is widespread throughout central Europe. English: either an occupational name for a maker of caps or cauls, from Middle English kellere, or an occupational name for an executioner, from Old English cwellere. Irish: reduced form of Kelleher. Scottish: variant of Keillor.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Probably an Americanized form of French Charbon, nickname for a man with dark hair or a swarthy complexion (see Charbonneau).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Indian (Bengal) and Bangladeshi: Hindu (Kayasth) name, probably from Sanskrit kara ‘doer’, ‘hand’. Jewish: origin uncertain; perhaps a nickname from Hebrew kar ‘cold’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English (Northamptonshire): unexplained; probably a habitational name from a lost or unidentified place.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: variant of Stewart.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: habitational name from any of the numerous places named in Old English as ‘long ford’, from lang, long ‘long’ + ford ‘ford’, except for Langford in Nottinghamshire, which is named with an Old English personal name Landa or possibly land, here used in a specific sense such as ‘boundary’ or ‘district’, with the same second element.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: variant spelling of Day.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish: nickname from Gaelic cam ‘crooked’, ‘bent’ + beul ‘mouth’. The surname was often represented in Latin documents as de bello campo ‘of the fair field’, which led to the name sometimes being ‘translated’ into Anglo-Norman French as Beauchamp. In New England documents, Campbell sometimes occurs as a representation of the French name Hamel.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Northern English form of Bridge, from Old Norse bryggja.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English and Scottish: topographic name for someone who lived on the slope of a hillside or by a riverbank, from northern Middle English banke (from Old Danish banke). The final -s may occasionally represent a plural form, but it is most commonly an arbitrary addition made after the main period of surname formation, perhaps under the influence of patronymic forms with a possessive -s. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Bruacháin ‘descendant of Bruachán’, a byname for a large-bellied person. The English form was chosen because of a mistaken association of the Gaelic name with bruach ‘bank’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Variant of Dutch Winne. Scottish: perhaps a variant of Winning.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

from Old French Guarinot, Warinot, a pet form of the personal name Guarin, Warin, from Germanic wari(n)- ‘protection’, ‘shelter’. possibly a metonymic occupational name for a maker or fitter of garnets, a type of hinge, Middle English garnette, or for a jeweler, from Middle English garnette, gernet ‘garnet’. from a diminutive of Garner 1.

North German: from a variant of the personal name Kaspar. English (Devon and Cornwall): from the personal name Jasper, cognate with 1.

Variant spelling of Irish Kane; also a variant of Coyne. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Cohen.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish: variant spelling of Livingston.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Irish (Galway and Mayo): Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Béara or Ó Beargha (see Barry 1). Scottish and northern Irish: variant spelling of Barrie. English: habitational name from any of several places named with Old English byrig, dative case of burh ‘fortified manor house’, ‘stronghold’, such as Berry in Devon or Bury in Cambridgeshire, Greater Manchester, Suffolk, and West Sussex. French: regional name for someone from Berry, a former province of central France, so named with Latin Boiriacum, apparently a derivative of a Gaulish personal name, Boirius or Barius. In North America, this name has alternated with Berrien. Swiss German: pet form of a Germanic personal name formed with Old High German bero ‘bear’ (see Baer).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

reduced form of Shanahan. reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Seanáin ‘descendant of Seanán’, a personal name based on a pet form of seán ‘old’. in County Clare, a reduced Anglicized form of Mac Giolla tSeanáin ‘son of the servant of St. Seanán’. In the Irish midlands Leonard and Nugent have been adopted as equivalents of this name.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: patronymic from the Middle English personal name Wikke (see Wick 2). English: variant of Wick 1. It may also be an Americanization of Scandinavian Vik.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English and Scottish: occupational name for an archer, Middle English bow(e)man, bouman (from Old English boga ‘bow’ + mann ‘man’). This word was distinguished from Bowyer, which denoted a maker or seller of the articles. It is possible that in some cases the surname referred originally to someone who untangled wool with a bow. This process, which originated in Italy, became quite common in England in the 13th century. The vibrating string of a bow was worked into a pile of tangled wool, where its rapid vibrations separated the fibers, while still leaving them sufficiently entwined to produce a fine, soft yarn when spun. Americanized form of German Baumann (see Bauer) or the Dutch cognate Bouman.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: variant spelling of Rouse. German: from a short form of a Germanic personal name formed with hrod ‘renown’. German (of Slavic origin): from Old Slavic rusu ‘reddish’, ‘blond’, hence a nickname or an ethnic name meaning ‘Russian’. Swiss German: topographic name for someone who lived by a scree, Middle High German ru(o)zze. In some instances the name referred to personal or business connections with Russia, the country of the Reussen, from Middle High German Riusse. exg***

Scottish, English, and northern Irish: habitational name from any of the various places, for example in Lanarkshire (Scotland) and Dorset and Lancashire (England) called Crawford, named in Old English with crawe ‘crow’ + ford ‘ford’. English: variant of Crowfoot (see Crofoot).

from the medieval personal name Hodge, a short form of Roger. (For the change of initial, compare Hick.) nickname from Middle English hodge ‘hog’, which occurs as a dialect variant of hogge, for example in Cheshire place names.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Vietnamese ({D-}ào): unexplained.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: habitational name from a group of villages in Somerset named with Coker, from a Celtic river name meaning ‘crooked’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: from a Middle English personal name representing two originally distinct personal names, Siward and Seward, Old English Sigeweard and S?weard, composed of the elements sige ‘victory’ and s? ‘sea’ + weard ‘guard’, ‘protect’. They became confused in the late Old English period. English: occupational name for a swineherd, from Old English su ‘pig’ + hierde ‘herdsman’. Irish: when not of English origin (see 1 above) a reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Suaird, Ó Suairt, usually Anglicized as Sword.

Chiefly Irish variant spelling of English Young.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

German: metronymic from a pet form of the female personal name Katharina. German: nickname from Low German Ketter ‘heretic’ (standard German Ketzer). German: Austrian variant of the topographic name Köther, from Middle High German kote ‘hut’, ‘cottage of a day laborer’ (see Koth). German: possibly a derivative of Middle High German keten(e) ‘chain’ (see Ketterer). Dutch: nickname from Middle Dutch catter ‘heretic’. Compare 2 above.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

German: habitational name for someone from any of various places named Wissen, mostly in the Rhineland, for example near Siegen. North German: variant of Wischner.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Irish: variant of Kern, a reduced and altered form of McCarron. German (Kärn): variant of Kern.

German: variant of Kray.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

Welsh: patronymic from Griffith.

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Bracewell,' a parish in Yorkshire and the Diocese Ripon.John de Bracewell, Lincolnshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.Willelmus de Braycewell, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English, Scottish, and German: patronymic from Peter. Americanized form of similar surnames of non-English origin (such as Petersen, or Swedish Pettersson). In VT, there are Petersons who were originally called by the French name Beausoleil; in some documentation this was translated fairly literally as Prettysun, which was then assimilated to Peterson.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German sun, son, German Sohn ‘son’, hence a distinguishing epithet for a son who shared the same personal name as his father. Korean: variant of Son.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English, German, and Jewish (Sephardic and Israeli): from the Biblical personal name Noah (see Noe). English: probably a variant spelling of Noar, a topographic name derived from misdivision of the Middle English phrase atten ore ‘at the bank or steep slope’ (Old English ora).

English: topographic name from Old English gr?fe ‘brushwood’, ‘thicket’, or a habitational name from any of the places named with this word, for example in Cumbria, Lancashire, and Staffordshire.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: patronymic from the personal name Steven. It is also found in this spelling as a Dutch and North German name, and as an Americanized form of some like-sounding Jewish name, as well as cognate names in other European languages such as Stefan and Steffen and their derivatives.

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.

Chinese : from the name of the state of Luo during the Zhou dynasty (1122–221 bc). This was granted to a descendant of Zhu Rong, a son of Zhuan Xu, legendary emperor of the 26th century bc. Subsequently, his descendants adopted the state name as their surname. Chinese : from the personal name of Jiang Luo, a son of the grand duke of the state of Qi during the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 bc). His descendants adopted his given name, Luo, as their surname. This character also means ‘camel’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian: topographic name for someone who lived by a marsh, lama (from Latin lama). In some cases the Italian and Spanish name may be habitational, from any of numerous places named with this word. Buddhist name found among people from Tibet and Nepal, from Tibetan blama ‘priest’, ‘monk’.

status name for a steward or official, Middle English bail(l)i (Old French baillis, from Late Latin baiulivus, an adjectival derivative of baiulus ‘attendant’, ‘carrier’ ‘porter’). topographic name for someone who lived by the outer wall of a castle, Middle English bail(l)y, baile ‘outer courtyard of a castle’, from Old French bail(le) ‘enclosure’, a derivative of bailer ‘to enclose’, a word of unknown origin. This term became a place name in its own right, denoting a district beside a fortification or wall, as in the case of the Old Bailey in London, which formed part of the early medieval outer wall of the city. habitational name from Bailey in Lancashire, named with Old English beg ‘berry’ + leah ‘woodland clearing’. Anglicized form of French Bailly.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: occupational name for someone who earned his living by sawing wood, Middle English saghier, an agent derivative of sagh(en) ‘to saw’. Americanized form of some like-sounding Jewish surname or a translation of Seger.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: from Old French bas(se) ‘low’, ‘short’ (Latin bassus ‘thickset’; see Basso), either a descriptive nickname for a short person or a status name meaning ‘of humble origin’, not necessarily with derogatory connotations. English: in some instances, from Middle English bace ‘bass’ (the fish), hence a nickname for a person supposedly resembling this fish, or a metonymic occupational name for a fish seller or fisherman. Scottish: habitational name from a place in Aberdeenshire, of uncertain origin. Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a maker or player of bass viols, from Polish, Ukrainian, and Yiddish bas ‘bass viol’. German: see Basse.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Simon,' from the nick. Sim, whence Simpson, with intrusive 'p', as in Thompson, Hampson, &c. Sims or Simms is the genitive of Sim; compare William and Williams.Robertus Symmes, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

German: patronymic from Bohl 1. German: habitational name from a place in Westphalia named Bohlen. German (Böhlen): habitational name from any of several places in Saxony named Böhlen. Swedish (Bohlén): ornamental name from Bohl 1 + the suffix -én, a derivative of Latin -enius ‘descendant of’.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English and Dutch: from the personal name Derrick (now more commonly spelled Derek in England, earlier Dederick), which was introduced to England in the 15th century, from Dutch Diederick, Dirck (see Terry). Irish: an English introduction of the same origin as 1, but occasionally a variant of Derrig.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Americanized form of any of various European surnames from personal names derived from Latin Augustinus (see Austin).

Variant of French Berrien.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Irish and Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Aodha ‘son of Aodh’ (see McCoy).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English and French: from the Germanic personal name Dillo (of uncertain origin, perhaps a byname from the root dil ‘destroy’), introduced to Britain from France by the Normans. English: habitational name from Dilwyn near Hereford, recorded in 1138 as Dilun, probably from Old English diglum, dative plural of digle ‘recess’, ‘retreat’, i.e. ‘at the shady or secret places’. Irish (of Norman origin): altered form of de Leon (see Lyon). Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Duilleáin ‘descendant of Duilleán’, a personal name, a variant of Dallán meaning ‘little blind one’. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): of uncertain origin; either an ornamental name from the Biblical place name Dilon (Joshua 15:38), or an altered form of Sephardic de León (see Lyon).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish or Irish: reduced form of McQuire (see McGuire).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish: patronymic from the personal name Morris.

'What craftsman art thou?' said the king.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

regional name for someone who had migrated from the North (i.e. further north in England, or from Scotland or Scandinavia), from Old French nor(r)eis ‘northerner’. topographic name for someone who lived in a house on the north side of a settlement or estate, from Middle English north ‘north’ + hous ‘house’. occupational name for a wet-nurse or foster mother, from Old French nurice, norrice (Latin nutrix, genitive nutricis).

Southern Italian: from the personal name Cisco, a short form of Francesco, from Latin Franciscus (see Francis).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Muslim: variant of Muhammad. This is the traditional English-language spelling. It is also common as a name adopted by Black Americans on conversion to Islam.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Jewish: variant of Jaffe.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Southern Italian: habitational name from any of various places called Massa, for example Massa Lubrense or Massa di Somma, both in Naples province, or Masse d’Albe in Aquila, all named from medieval Latin massa ‘holding’, ‘estate’ (from Latin massa ‘mass’, ‘lump’, ‘pile’, Greek maza).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Americanized spelling of North German John.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

from the medieval female personal name Constance, Latin Constantia, originally a feminine form of Constantius (see Constant), but later taken as the abstract noun constantia ‘steadfastness’. habitational name from Coutances in La Manche, France, which was named Constantia in Latin (see above) in honor of the Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus, who was responsible for fortifying the settlement in ad 305.

Scottish (Dumbartonshire) and Irish (Westmeath): Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Amhalghaidh ‘son of Amhalghadh’, a personal name of uncertain origin. Scottish (Hebrides) and Irish (Fermanagh): Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Amhlaoibh or Mac Amhlaidh ‘son of Olaf’, from Gaelic forms of the Old Norse personal name Áleifr, Óláfr. Compare McAuliffe.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: variant spelling of Gardener.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

apparently from Middle High German kle ‘clover’, either a topographic name for someone who lived near a field of clover or a metonymic occupational name for someone who grew clover to feed cattle. from a shortened form of the personal name Klemens.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: from Middle English yates ‘gates’, plural of yate, Old English geat ‘gate’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a walled town, or a metonymic occupational name for a gatekeeper.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Muslim: from Persian pur(i) ‘son of’, used like Arabic ibn or bin. For example, Mahmud of Ghaznah (971–1030), the founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty in Afghanistan and Khorasan, was known as Mahmud puri Sabuktagin ‘Mahmud son of Sabuktagin’. Perhaps also an altered spelling of German Pauer, a Bavarian and Austrian variant of Bauer.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Barlow , a probable variant (a) Local, 'of Barley,' a parish in Hertfordshire, near Barkway. No doubt [a) is the chief parent of our southern Barleys.William de Berele, Cambridgeshire, 1273.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Northern English: patronymic from the medieval personal name Harry.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Muslim: variant of Muhammad. See also Mohammed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

German: habitational name for someone from one of the places, in the Rhineland and former East Prussia, called Kerpen. German: variant of Körper (see Korber). Jewish (Ashkenazic): see Karp.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.