1000 Most Common Last Names in Panama

Spanish (Rodríguez) and Portuguese: patronymic from the personal name Rodrigo.

Spanish (González): patronymic from the personal name Gonzalo, a personal name of Visigothic origin, based on the Germanic element gunþ ‘battle’. Compare Portuguese Gonçalves (see Goncalves).

Spanish (Sánchez): patronymic from the personal name Sancho.

Spanish (Martínez): patronymic from the personal name Martin.

Spanish: from castillo ‘castle’, ‘fortified building’ (Latin castellum), a habitational name from any of numerous places so named or named with this word.

Spanish (Pérez) and Jewish (Sephardic): patronymic from the personal name Pedro, Spanish equivalent of Peter. Jewish: variant of Peretz.

Spanish (also Ábrego): from ábrego, which originally meant ‘African’, from Latin africus. The vocabulary word in modern Spanish has lost this general sense and now means only ‘south wind’, literally, ‘African (wind)’.

Spanish (Hernández) and Jewish (Sephardic): patronymic from the personal name Hernando (see Fernando). This surname also became established in southern Italy, mainly in Naples and Palermo, since the period of Spanish dominance there, and as a result of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal at the end of the 15th century, many of whom moved to Italy.

Spanish (García) and Portuguese: from a medieval personal name of uncertain origin. It is normally found in medieval records in the Latin form Garsea, and may well be of pre-Roman origin, perhaps akin to Basque (h)artz ‘bear’.

Spanish: topographic name from the plural of moral ‘mulberry tree’.

Spanish (Jiménez): patronymic from the medieval personal name Jimeno, which is of pre-Roman origin.

Spanish, Portuguese, and Jewish (Sephardic): nickname for someone with dark hair and a swarthy complexion, from Spanish and Portuguese moreno ‘dark-haired’, a word of uncertain origin, probably from Late Latin maurinus, a derivative of classical Latin Maurus ‘Moor’. Compare Moore 2.

Spanish: variant of Galician Quinteiro, a habitational name from Quintero in Ourense province, Galicia, so named from quinteiro ‘farmstead’.

Spanish (from Galician): habitational name from Ortega in A Coruña province. Spanish: nickname from ortega ‘(female) black grouse’ (from Greek ortyx ‘quail’). Southern French (Occitan): topographic name from Occitan ortiga ‘nettle’ (Latin urtica, French ortie).

Spanish (López): patronymic from the medieval personal name Lope (from Latin lupus ‘wolf’). This is one of the commonest of all Spanish surnames.

Spanish (Díaz): patronymic from the medieval personal name Didacus (see Diego).

Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian: nickname for a belligerent person or for a soldier, from guerra ‘war’. In some cases the Italian name may represent a short form of various compound personal names containing this element, for example Vinciguèrra. The Iberian name may in some cases reflect a misinterpretation of the Basque base ezquerra, esquerra, from esker ‘left-handed’. Basque: Castilianized form of Basque Gerra, a topographic name for someone who lived in a break or depression in a range of hills, from Basque gerri ‘waist’.

Spanish, Portuguese, and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from any of numerous places in Spain and Portugal called Miranda. The derivation of the place name is uncertain; it may be of pre-Roman origin, or from Latin miranda ‘view’, ‘outlook’. This name is also found in western India, where it was taken by Portuguese colonists.

Basque: habitational name from several places in the provinces of Arava and Biscay called Mendoza, named with Basque mendi ‘mountain’ + otz ‘cold’ + the definite article -a.

Spanish (Gómez): from a medieval personal name, probably of Visigothic origin, from guma ‘man’. Compare Gomes.

Spanish and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from villages so called in the provinces of Seville and Badajoz, from a word meaning ‘iron smithy’, ‘blacksmith’s forge’ (a derivative of hierro ‘iron’, Latin ferrum). French: habitational name from the Gascon form of Ferrière, a place in Pyrénées-Atlantique. The place name is derived from Latina ferraria ‘iron-mine’, ‘iron-forge’.

Found in Aragon. Derived from Greek word meaning to baptize. Also found in Baptista (see) and nickname is "Titta." Name in honor of John the Baptist.

from a personal name, byname, or nickname, dos Santos (from Spanish Todos los Santos ‘All Saints’, Portuguese Todos os santos), typically bestowed on a child born on All Saints’ Day. in many cases, a habitational name from any of the places named Santos, from the dedication of a local church or shrine to all the saints. This is a very common Portuguese surname.

Spanish: occupational name from caballero ‘knight’, ‘soldier’, ‘horseman’ (from Late Latin caballarius ‘mounted soldier’).

Galician and possibly also Spanish: patronymic from the personal name Vasco, reduced form of Spanish Velásquez (see Velasquez).

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Rivera, a variant of Ribera. Italian: northern variant of the southern (especially Sicily) topographic name Ribera. Catalan: in some cases, variant of Catalan Ribera.

Asturian-Leonese and Spanish (Valdés): habitational name from either of the two places called Valdés in Málaga and Asturies. Catalan (Valdès): nickname from Catalan valdès ‘Waldensian’, i.e. a member of a Puritan religious sect which was founded in the 12th century by Peter Valdes (died 1205) in southern France. The widespread distribution of the surname in present-day Spain, however, suggests that other sources may also have been involved.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Vega or La Vega, from vega ‘meadow’ (of pre-Roman origin, probably originally denoting irrigated land).

Galician and Spanish (Ríos): habitational name from any of the places called Ríos, predominantly in Galicia. Spanish (Ríós): habitational name from Ríós in Ourense, Galicia.

Spanish: from the plural of flor ‘flower’.

Portugese and Spanish: habitational name from any of the towns called Ramos, in Portugal and Spain. Portuguese and Spanish: from the plural of ramo ‘branch’ (Latin ramus), a topographic name for someone who lived in a thickly wooded area.

Spanish, Catalan, and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from any of numerous places called Aguilar, from Latin aquilare ‘haunt of eagles’ (a derivative of aquila ‘eagle’), for example Aguilar de Campo in Palencia, Aguilar de la Frontera in Córdoba, and Aguilar de Segarra in Catalonia.

Spanish: habitational name from any of several places named Villar(r)eal, from Spanish villa ‘(outlying) farmstead’, ‘(dependent) settlement’ + real ‘royal’ (Latin regalis), as for example Villarreal de San Carlos in Cáceres. The places were so named from having some particular connection with the Crown. in some cases, variant of Catalan Vila-real, from the town named Vila-real in Castelló de la Plana provinve.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Espinosa, from a collective form of espina ‘thorn’.

Spanish (Domínguez): patronymic from the personal name Domingo.

Spanish and Catalan: habitational name from any of the places in the provinces of Barcelona, Cuenca, and Burgos named Pineda, from Spanish and Catalan pineda ‘pine forest’. in some instances possibly Asturian-Leonese Piñeda, from a town called Piñeda in Asturies.

Galician, Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese, and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from any of the numerous places named Torres, all named with the plural of torre ‘tower’ (see Torre). Italian: habitational name from Torres in Belluno or Porto Torres in Sassari. In southern Italy the surname is sometimes a borrowing from Spanish (see 1). Dutch: from a short form of Victoris, from the Latin personal name Victorius.

Spanish: patronymic from the personal name Ruy, a short formnof Rodrigo. DK, kh, RS

Spanish (Gutiérrez): patronymic from the medieval personal name Gutierre, from a Visigothic personal name of uncertain form and meaning, perhaps a compound of the elements gunþi ‘battle’ + hairus ‘sword’.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the many places in Spain, especially Galicia, called Palacio (alongside the Galician form Pazo), or from El Palacio, Castilianized form of El Palaciu, a town in Asturies. All are named with palacio ‘palace’, ‘manor’, ‘great house’, Latin palatium, a word derived from the Palatium or mons Palatinus in Rome, site of the emperor Augustus’ golden house.

Spanish and Portuguese: habitational name from Vargas in Santander province, or a topographic name from vargas, plural of varga, a dialect term used in various senses: ‘(thatched) hut’, ‘steep slope’, or ‘fenced pastureland which becomes waterlogged in winter’.

Basque: Castilianized variant of Basque Bergara, a habitational name from places so called (earlier Virgara) in the provinces of Gipuzkoa and Navarre. The place name is of uncertain derivation; the second element is gara ‘hill’, ‘height’, ‘eminence’, but the first has not been satisfactorily identified.

plural variant of Rey. Castilianized form of the Galician habitational name Reis.

Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian: habitational name from any of various places in Spain, Portugal, and Italy called Montenegro (‘black mountain’).

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname for a thin person, from Spanish, Portuguese delgado ‘slender’ (Latin delicatus ‘dainty’, ‘exquisite’, a derivative of deliciae ‘delight’, ‘joy’).

Spanish, Italian, and Jewish (Sephardic) (of Basque origin): regional name denoting someone from Navarre (see Navarra).

Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Móráin ‘descendant of Mórán’, a personal name meaning ‘great’, ‘large’; the stress is normally on the first syllable. English: variant of Morant, normally pronounced with the stress on the second syllable. Spanish (Morán): habitational name from places called Morán in Asturies, Galicia (Pontevedra) and Aragon (Zaragoza).

Spanish: patronymic from the Basque personal name Orti (Latin Fortunius).

Castilianized form (alongside Araoz) of Basque Araotz, a habitational name from a town called Araotz in Gipuzkoa province, Basque Country; or possibly also a topographic name from Basque ara(n) ‘valley’ + an unidentified suffix, or alternatively a reduced form of Aranotz, from aran ‘valley’ + otz ‘cold’.

Spanish (also found in Portugal and Brazil): topographic name for someone who lived by a mountain ridge or chain of hills, from an adjectival derivative of serra.

Spanish: habitational name from Bonilla in Cuenca province or Bonilla de la Sierra in Ávila province.

Spanish: unexplained.

Portuguese and Spanish: altered form (by misdivision) of Da Costa.

Spanish and Portuguese: from a common and widespread religious Christian personal name from cruz ‘cross’ (Latin crux), or a habitational name from any of numerous places named Cruz or La Cruz, from this word.

Spanish (Fernández): patronymic from the personal name Fernando. The surname (and to a lesser extent the variant Hernandez) has also been established in southern Italy, mainly in Naples and Palermo, since the period of Spanish dominance there, and as a result of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal at the end of the 15th century, many of whom moved to Italy.

Spanish and Jewish (Sephardic): nickname from pinto ‘colorful’, ‘painted’. Spanish: habitational name from Pinto in Madrid. Catalan (Pintó): Catalan variant of Pintor ‘painter’. Portuguese: from a nickname from pinto ‘chick’. This name is also common in western India, where it was taken by Portuguese colonists. Italian: from pinto ‘mottled’, ‘dotted’ (Late Latin pinctus, for classical Latin pictus ‘painted’), hence a nickname for a person with a blotchy or pock-marked complexion or pepper-and-salt hair, or in some parts of the south at least from the same word in the sense ‘lively or restless person’.

Spanish and Asturian-Leonese (Solís): habitational name from Solís in Asturies or a similarly named place elsewhere. English: from a medieval personal name bestowed on a child born after the death of a sibling, from Middle English solace ‘comfort’, ‘consolation’. The word also came to have the sense ‘delight’, ‘amusement’, and in some cases the surname may have arisen from a nickname for a playful or entertaining person.

habitational name from any of numerous places named La Concepción. from the Marian female personal name (from Late Latin conceptio, genitive conceptionis ‘conception’), alluding to the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary.

Santa Maria: meaning "Holy Mary" in Spanish and Italian. Name adopted by converted Jews forced to believe in Christianity, changing their last names to religious names given by the Spanish kingdom.(other)Coming from the Spanish region of Andalusia, El Puerto de Santa María was home to other bearers of the last name.

Portuguese: from an irregular derivative, of uncertain significance, of Pimenta.

Galician, Portuguese, Italian, and Jewish (Sephardic): topographic name from castro ‘castle’, ‘fortress’ (Latin castrum ‘fort’, ‘Roman walled city’): in Galicia and also in northern Portugal a habitational name from any of various places named with this word; in Italy either a topographic name or a habitational name.

Spanish: habitational name from a place in Badajoz province called Alvarado.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the several places, as for example Medina-Sidonia in Cádiz province and Medina del Campo in Valladolid, so called from Arabic medina ‘city’. The surname is also borne by Sephardic Jews.

Spanish (Pinzón): nickname from pinzón ‘finch’.

Basque: Castilianized form of Basque Gebara, a habitational name from a place in the Basque province of Araba. The origin and meaning of the place name are uncertain; it is recorded in the form Gebala by the geographer Ptolemy in the 2nd century ad. This is a rare name in Spain.

Basque: habitational name from Samaniego in Araba, Basque Country.

Spanish (Ávila): habitational name from Ávila in old Castile. Its name, first recorded in the Latin forms Avela and Abulia, is of unknown derivation and meaning. Portuguese and Galician: from Davila, a topographic name for someone from a town or village, da vila, reinterpreted as d’Avila.

Spanish: habitational name from any of several places called Murillo, notably in Navarre, Logroño, and Zaragoza provinces, so named from a diminutive of muro ‘wall’.

Spanish (Córdoba): habitational name from the city of Córdoba in southern Spain, of extremely ancient foundation and unknown etymology.

One who came from Barrios (district, suburb); the name of many places in Spain.Popular surname found in most of the Peninsula, but mainly in northern areas: Leon, Vizcaya, and Burgos. Over 30 towns and villages in all parts of Spain with this name which implies a political subdivision, a ward or suburb.

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).

Spanish: habitational name from Camarena in Toledo province or Camarena de la Sierra in Teruel.

Southern Portuguese and Latin American: variant of Spanish Zamudio, a habitational name from Zamudio in Biscay province.

Spanish (Marín), French, English, Slovenian, Croatian, and Romanian: from the Latin personal name Marinus, borne by several minor early saints. Originally this was a Roman family name derived from Marius (compare Marie), but was often taken to mean ‘of the sea’. Italian (Venetia): variant of Marino. Serbian, Croatian, and Slovenian: from the personal name Marija or its short form Mara (see Maria). Galician and Spanish: habitational name from a place called Marín, in particular the one in Pontevedra, Galicia. French: occupational name for a sailor, Old French marin (Late Latin marinus, a derivative of mare ‘sea’). Asturian-Leonese (Marín): occupational name for a sailor in Asturies.

Spanish (Chávez): variant spelling of Chaves.

Catalan: from the personal name Bernal, a variant of Spanish Bernaldo (see Bernard).

Spanish: habitational name from a place called Salazar in Burgos, probably named with sala ‘hall’ + Basque za(h)ar ‘old’, and thus a Basque equivalent of Saavedra. Spanish: Castilianized variant of Basque Zaraitzu, a habitational name from a town so named in Navarre.

habitational name from any of numerous places named Soto or El Soto, from soto ‘grove’, ‘small wood’ (Latin saltus). Castilianized spelling of Asturian-Leonese Sotu, a habitational name from a town so named in Asturies. Castilianized spelling of the Galician equivalent, Souto.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: habitational name from places in Burgos or Lugo (Galicia) named Rojas, from a derivative of rojo ‘red’.

Spanish (of Basque origin): variant of Mújica (see Mujica).

Spanish: nickname from romero ‘pilgrim’, originally ‘pilgrim to Rome’ (see Romeo).

Portuguese and Spanish: from a personal name, bestowed especially on children born on or around the Feast of the Epiphany (6 January), Spanish Aparición, which celebrates the appearance of Christ to the Magi. The Spanish vocabulary word aparición means ‘appearance’ or ‘manifestation’. In Portugal and Spain, however, this is found as a forenames only, not a surname.

Spanish: habitational name from either of two places in the Burgos province: Jaramillo de la Fuente or Jaramillo Quemada.

Gallardo is a word originally used after a name to distinguish between others of the same name which eventually developed into a surname. It means "elegant, graceful."Refers to someone who is full of life and valiant and probably comes from the latin "galleus" which has a similar meaning.

Italian: from the personal name Pitto, a Lombard variant of Bitto.

Portuguese: topographic name from campos ‘fields’, denoting someone who lived in the countryside as opposed to a town.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: habitational name from what is now Spain’s principal city. Throughout the Middle Ages it was of only modest size and importance, and did not become the capital of Spain until 1561. Its name is of uncertain origin, most probably a derivative of Late Latin matrix, genitive matricis ‘riverbed’, much changed by Arabic mediation. Compare Madrigal. There are other, smaller places of the same name in the provinces of Burgos and Santander, and these may also be sources of the surname.

Spanish (Álvarez): from a patronymic form of the personal name Álvaro (see Alvaro).

Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places named with fuentes, plural of fuente ‘spring’, ‘well’ (see Fuente), as for example Fuentes (Cuenca, Albacete, and Segovia provinces), Fuentes Calientes (Teruel), Fuentes de León (Badajoz), Fuentes de Valdepero (Palencia).

Spanish and Italian: from a personal name, in origin an ethnic name for a Frank, a member of the Germanic people who inhabited the lands around the river Rhine in Roman times. See also Frank. The personal name was popularized by the cult of San Franco di Assergi. Italian and Spanish: nickname or status name from franco ‘free’ (usually denoting a freed slave). Jewish (Sephardic): adoption of the Spanish surname.

Spanish: occupational name for a beater or other assistant at a hunt, from an agent derivative of monte, which, as well as meaning ‘mountain’, ‘hill’, could be used in the transferred sense of a game forest on wooded upland. The occupational term was itself also used as a title for any of various palace functionaries, and some cases of the surname may derive from this.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Rivas or Ribas, a variant of Ribas. in some cases, variant of Catalan Ribes (see Ribas).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian: nickname for an aggressive person or for a soldier, from an agent derivative of guerra ‘war’. Compare Guerra.

Galician (Méndez): patronymic from the personal name Mendo (see Mendes, of which this is the Galician equivalent).

Spanish (Velásquez): patronymic from the personal name Velasco.

Spanish and Italian: from the personal name Lorenzo, derived from the Latin personal name Laurentius (see Lawrence).

Aragonese, Catalan, and Spanish: habitational name from any of the places in Aragon, Catalonia, and Navarre called Peralta, from Latin petra alta ‘high rock’. This name is also established in Italy.

Spanish form of Basque Agirre, a topographic name from Basque ager, agir ‘open space’, ‘pasture’. This is found as the first element of several place names, reflected in surnames such as Aguirrezabal(a) ‘broad open space’; the modern surname may be a shortening of any of these.

Spanish: topographic name for someone who lived in a place overgrown with broom, from a collective form of escoba ‘broom’ (Late Latin scopa), or a habitational name from any of the various places named with this word: for example, Escobar de Campos (León), Escobar de Polendos (Segovia), and three minor places in Murcia.

Spanish: from the popular medieval personal name Arias which is probably of Germanic origin. Jewish (Sephardic): adoption of the Spanish family name.

probably a variant spelling of Spanish Lazcano, a habitational name from Basque Lazkao, a town in Gipuzkoa province.

Spanish: probably a habitational name from a place named Tejada, most likely the one in Burgos province but possibly the one in Huelva province, so named from a derivative of teja ‘(roof) tile’.

Spanish and Portuguese: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Santana, an assimilated form of Santa Ana.

Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Dutch, and German: from the personal name Gil, from French Gille(s), from Latin Aegidius (see Giles). German: from Slavic gil ‘bullfinch’, probably a nickname for a simpleton.

Spanish (mainly Mexico): variant of Quiros.

Spanish (Ramírez): patronymic from the personal name Ramiro, composed of the Germanic elements ragin ‘counsel’ + mari, meri ‘fame’.

Galician: habitational name from any of the places in the Galician provinces of Ourense and Lugo named Saavedra, from saa ‘hall’ (from Gothic sals ‘main house’) + vedro ‘old’ (Latin vetus).

Spanish (Calderón): topographic name from an augmentative of caldera ‘basin’, ‘crater’, ‘hollow’, a common element of stream and mountain names, or a habitational name from a place named with this word, as for example Calderón in Valencia province. Alternatively, it may be a metonymic occupational name from the same word in the sense ‘kettle’, ‘cauldron’.

Spanish: from hidalgo ‘nobleman’ (attested in this form since the 12th century), a contraction of the phrase hijo de algo ‘son of something’. The expression hijo de (Latin filius ‘son’ + de ‘of’) is used to indicate the abundant possession of a quality, probably influenced by similar Arabic phrases with ibn; algo (Latin aliquid ‘something’) is used in an elliptical manner to refer to riches or importance. As in the case of other surnames denoting high rank, the name does not normally refer to the nobleman himself, but is usually an occupational name for his servant or a nickname for someone who gave himself airs and graces.

Asturian-Leonese (Quirós): habitational name from Quirós in Asturies.

Spanish: probably variant of García (see Garcia).

Spanish: variant (plural) of Palacio.

Spanish (Cáceres): habitational name from the city of Cáceres in Estremadura, named with the plural of Arabic al-qa?sr ‘the citadel’.

Spanish (Cárdenas): habitational name from places in the provinces of Almería and Logroño named Cárdenas, from the feminine plural of cárdeno ‘blue’, ‘bluish purple’ (Late Latin cardinus, from carduus ‘thistle’). Presumably the noun tierras ‘lands’ is to be understood, and the reference is to land covered with bluish plants, such as thistles or vines.

Spanish: nickname for someone descended from a prominent elder in a community or one whose memory was respected, from Spanish nieto ‘grandson’ (Latin nepos, genitive nep(o)tis, ‘grandson’, ‘nephew’).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish (Magallón): habitational name from a place called Magallón in Zaragoza province.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

variant spelling of Spanish Laso, a nickname from laso ‘weak’, ‘exhausted’. variant spelling of Lazo.

Spanish (Cortés), Catalan (Cortès), and Portuguese (Cortês): from cortés ‘courteous’, ‘polite’, a derivative of corte (see Corte), a nickname for a refined person, sometimes no doubt given ironically. Spanish and Portuguese (Cortes): habitational name from any of numerous places in Spain and Portugal named with cortes, plural of corte ‘court’.

Spanish: habitational name for someone from a place in Andalusia called Camargo.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

This family had, for a very long time, houses in the town of Espinosa de los Monteros; in the province of Burgos, as well as in Salamanca, Talavera de la Reina (Toledo) and Jerez de la Frontera (Cadiz).

Spanish: habitational name from a place in León province named Almanza.

Catalan (València) and Spanish: habitational name from any of various places called València or Valencia, principally the major city in eastern Spain, which was formerly the capital of an independent Moorish kingdom of the same name, until it was reconquered in 1239 by James I, king of the Catalan dynasty, and became part of the Crown of Aragon together with the Principality of Catalonia and the Kingdom of Aragon. The city was apparently named from an honorary title derived from Latin valens ‘brave’.

Portuguese (Osório) and Spanish: from a medieval personal name Osorius, of uncertain origin. It is perhaps a metathesized form of Latin Orosius (Greek Orosios, a derivative of oros ‘mountain’), the name borne by a 4th-century Iberian theologian and historian, who was famous in Spain throughout the Middle Ages.

Spanish: variant of Cortés (see Cortes).

Spanish: topographic name for someone living by a main road, carrera ‘thoroughfare’, originally a road passable by vehicles as well as pedestrians (Late Latin carraria (via), a derivative of carrum ‘cart’), or a habitational name from any of various places named with this word. Southern Italian: habitational name from a place named Carrera, cognate with 1.

Spanish: topographic name from the plural of roble ‘oak’, or a habitational name from Los Robles in Lleón, named from the same word.

Spanish: from coronado ‘crowned’, past participle of coronare ‘to crown’, applied as a nickname for someone who behaved in an imperious manner.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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).

Spanish: topographic name for someone who lived in a place that was infested with flies or mosquitos, from a derivative of mosca ‘fly’ (see Mosca). Catalan: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Mosquera in Catalonia, Valencia and Andorra.

Spanish: nickname from the past participle of hurtar ‘to rob or conceal’ (Late Latin furtare, from furtum ‘theft’, fur ‘thief’). The reference was probably to an illegitimate child, whose existence was concealed, or to a kidnapped child.

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.

Galician: habitational name from any of the places in Galicia named Figueroa, from a derivative of figueira ‘fig tree’.

Basque: habitational name from any of several places in the Basque Country named Ibarra, from ibar ‘meadow’ + the definite article -a.

Spanish: topographic name from carrasco, carrasca ‘holm oak’ (from Latin cerrus, from a pre-Roman Celtiberian word), or a habitational name from any of various places named with this word, as for example Carrasco in Salamanca province or Casas Carrasco in Jaén province, Spain.

Scottish: habitational name from a place in Berwickshire (Borders), named with Welsh gor ‘spacious’ + din ‘fort’. English (of Norman origin) and French: habitational name from Gourdon in Saône-et-Loire, so called from the Gallo-Roman personal name Gordus + the locative suffix -o, -onis. Irish: adopted as an English equivalent of Gaelic Mag Mhuirneacháin, a patronymic from the personal name Muirneachán, a diminutive of muirneach ‘beloved’. Jewish (from Lithuania): probably a habitational name from the Belorussian city of Grodno. It goes back at least to 1657. Various suggestions, more or less fanciful, have been put forward as to its origin. There is a family tradition among some bearers that they are descended from a son of a Duke of Gordon, who converted to Judaism in the 18th century, but the Jewish surname was in existence long before the 18th century; others claim descent from earlier Scottish converts, but this is implausible. Spanish and Galician Gordón, and Basque: habitational name from a place called Gordon (Basque) or Gordón (Spanish, Galician), of which there are examples in Salamanca, Galicia, and Basque Country. Spanish: possibly in some instances from an augmentative of the nickname Gordo (see Gordillo).

Spanish and Catalan: habitational name from any of numerous places named Molina, in particular the one in Guadalajara province.

Spanish (Meléndez): variant of Menéndez (see Menendez).

Spanish (Chavarría): variant of Echevarria.

Basque: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Mendieta, from mendi ‘mountain’ + the plural suffix -eta.

Spanish (Gálvez): patronymic from the medieval personal name Galve (Arabic Ghalib ‘triumphant’), which was borne by various Moorish chieftains in Spanish history and legend, notably the father-in-law of Al-Mansur, the 10th-century vizier of Córdoba.

South American spelling of Spanish Espinosa; the spelling with -z- represents a voiced pronunciation heard in some Latin-American countries, whereas in Castilian Spanish it now has an unvoiced -s-.

Spanish: from a medieval personal name, Toribio, Latin Turibius, bestowed in honor of two Spanish saints. St. Turibius of Astorga was a 5th-century bishop who championed Catholic doctrine against the Priscillianist heresy. St. Turibius of Palencia was the 6th-century founder of the famous abbey of Liébana in Asturies.

Spanish (Frías) and Portuguese: habitational name from any of various places, for example in the provinces of Burgos and Teruel, so called from the feminine plural form of the adjective frío ‘cold’ (Latin frigidus); a noun such as aguas ‘waters’ or fuentes ‘springs’ has been lost.

Spanish: habitational name for someone ‘from Zamora’, from an adjectival form of the place name. Spanish: possibly also habitational name for someone from Zanbrana, a town in Araba province, Basque Country. Italian: of uncertain derivation; it is thought by some authorities, on the basis of the form Zammarano to be a habitational name for someone from Zammaro, part of San Gregorio d’Ippona in Vibe Valentia province, hypercorrection of -mm- to -mb- being a characteristic of southern dialect.

Spanish: topographic name for someone living by a hawthorn or in an area characterized by hawthorns, espino.

Spanish, Galician, Portuguese, and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from any of the numerous places in Spain (especially in Galicia) and Portugal named or named with Prado, from prado ‘meadow’ (from Latin pratum).

Galician: probably a habitational name from Tenorio in Pontevedra province, Galicia.

Spanish (Benítez): patronymic from Benito.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Salinas, from the plural of salina ‘saltworks’ (Latin salinae, a derivative of sal ‘salt’).

Spanish: habitational name from Conteraras, a place in the province of Burgos. The place name is derived from Late Latin contraria ‘surrounding area’, ‘region’ (from the preposition contra ‘opposite’, ‘against’, ‘hard by’).

Spanish (Henríquez): variant of Enríquez (see Enriquez).

Spanish: probably a variant of Rengel. This name is also found in Portugal.

Spanish: habitational name from La Salina in Teruel province, or a topographic name from salina ‘saltworks’, ‘salt marsh’.

Catalan and Spanish: habitational name from any of various minor places called Cabrera, from Late Latin capraria ‘place of goats’ (a derivative of Latin capra ‘goat’).

Spanish (Castilian and Galician): topographic name from Old Spanish acebedo, azevedo ‘holly grove’ (from azevo ‘holly’ + -edo ‘plantation’). This name is common in Tenerife.

Portuguese, Spanish, and Catalan (Móra): habitational name from any of the places named Mora, in some cases from mora ‘mulberry’ (Late Latin mora, originally the plural of classical Latin morum). Occitan and Catalan (Morà): from Morandus, an old personal name of uncertain derivation and meaning. Italian: topographic name from Old Italian mora ‘pile of stones’. Hungarian (Móra): from a pet form of the personal name Móricz, Hungarian form of Morris. Czech and Polish: from a short form of a personal name, e.g. Czech Mauric, Polish Maurycy, derived from Latin Mauritius (see Morris). Polish: possibly a nickname from mora ‘sickness’, ‘plague’. Czech: possibly a nickname from mora ‘vampire’.

Portuguese: from the personal name Duarte, Portuguese equivalent of Edward.

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

Spanish (Sáenz): patronymic from an unidentified personal name.

Spanish (of Basque origin): patronymic from the personal name Adame.

nickname for an old man or someone with prematurely white hair, from cano ‘white or gray haired’, ‘old’, ‘worthy’ (Latin canus). habitational name from a place in Spain called Caño or Cano in Portugal, both named with a derivative of Latin canna ‘reed’.

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname from Spanish, Portuguese garrido ‘elegant’, ‘handsome’, ‘comely’.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Valderrama, as for example in Burgos province.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Rosales, from the plural of rosal, collective of rosa ‘rose’ (see Rosal). Galician (Rosalés): name for someone from Rosal, a town in Baixo Miñ district in Galicia.

English, French, German, Polish, and Slovenian; Spanish and Hungarian (Jordán): from the Christian baptismal name Jordan. This is taken from the name of the river Jordan (Hebrew Yarden, a derivative of yarad ‘to go down’, i.e. to the Dead Sea). At the time of the Crusades it was common practice for crusaders and pilgrims to bring back flasks of water from the river in which John the Baptist had baptized people, including Christ himself, and to use it in the christening of their own children. As a result Jordan became quite a common personal name.

Spanish: habitational name from Meneses de Campos (Palencia, Castile), or for an ethnic name for someone from the Mena valley in Burgos. Portuguese: habitational name from any of the several places named Meneses in Portugal.

Spanish: from the personal name Alonso, a cognate of Alfonso.

Basque: habitational name or topographic name from Basque ai ‘slope’, ‘hillside’ + al(h)a ‘pasture’.

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).

Spanish (Juárez): regional variant of Suárez (see Suarez).

Spanish and Catalan: topographic name for someone who lived near a gate or fence, from Spanish and Catalan barrera ‘barrier’. topographic name for someone who lived by a clay pit, Spanish barrera, barrero (a derivative of barro ‘mud’, ‘clay’).

Spanish: habitational name from a place called Ceballos, a district of Santander.

habitational name from any of various places so called, from Spanish otero ‘height’, ‘hill’ (Late Latin altarium, a derivative of altus ‘high’). Castilianized form of the common Galician and Asturian-Leonese place names Outeiro and Uteru.

Spanish (Guillén): from the personal name Guillén, Spanish equivalent of William.

Spanish (Márquez): patronymic from the personal name Marcos.

Galician and Portuguese: habitational name from any of numerous places in Galicia and Portugal named Andrade, perhaps originally villa Andr(e)ati ‘estate of a man named Andreas’.

Catalan (Guàrdia), Spanish, and Italian: from Catalan guàrdia, Spanish and Italian guardia ‘guard’, ‘watch’, a topographic name for someone who lived by a watch place, an occupational name for a member of the town guard, or a habitational name from any of the numerous places named (La) Guardia.

Northern English: patronymic from the personal name Robin.

One who came from Sandoval, in Spain.The latin "sancto-vallis" - holy valley - provides the meaning of this surname. One who dwells in a holy valley.Castilian name from political subdivision of Villadiego (Burgos), and descended from Count Fernán-González.

Spanish (Guzmán): of uncertain and disputed etymology, probably from a Germanic personal name. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): variant of Gusman.

Spanish and Portuguese: topographic for someone who lived on a corner, canto ‘corner’ (from Latin cantus), or a habitational name from numerous places in Spain and Portugal named with this word. Catalan (Cantó): habitational name from any of the minor places in Catalonia named Cantó, from Catalan cantó ‘stone’, derived from the pre-Latin form cant-.

Basque: Castilianized form of Garai, a habitational name from Garai, in Biscay, Basque Country, or from one of the five other, smaller places of the same name, also in Biscay, all named from Basque garai ‘high’, a derivative of gara ‘height’, ‘peak’. Hungarian: habitational name for someone from a place called Gara.

Spanish (Mejía): probably from a religious byname (possibly under Jewish influence), from a vernacular form of Latin, Greek Messias ‘Messiah’, from Hebrew mašia?h ‘anointed’.

Spanish and Portuguese: occupational name for any of various officials who had to take an oath that they would perform their duty properly, from jurado ‘sworn’, past participle of jurar ‘to swear’ (Latin iurare).

Spanish: metonymic occupational name for a cobbler or shoemaker, from zapato ‘half boot’. Spanish and Galician: possibly also a habitational name from the places in Pontevedra and Ávila called Zapata.

Spanish: possibly from correa ‘leather strap’, ‘belt’, ‘rein’, ‘shoelace’, plural correas (Latin corrigia ‘fastening’, from corrigere ‘to straighten’, ‘to correct’), applied as a metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of such articles.

Spanish: habitational name from Bustamante in Santander province, so named with Late Latin bustum Amantii ‘pasture (see Busto) of Amantius’, a personal name derived from Late Latin Amans, genitive Amantis, meaning ‘loving’.

Spanish and Portuguese: from the plural of rosa ‘rose’. Catalan: variant of Roses, habitational name from Roses, a town in L’Alt Empordà, Catalonia (earlier Rodas). Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Las Rosas.

Spanish: habitational name from a place named Lara de los Infantes in Burgos province.

Spanish: possibly a nickname for a person with a prominent jaw, from quijada ‘jaw’, ‘jawbone’.

Spanish (Chacón): nickname from chacón ‘gecko’.

Spanish: variant spelling of Ledesma.

Galician and Spanish: habitational name from any of the places in Galicia named Pino, from pino ‘pine’, or topographic name for somebody who lived by a remarkable pine tree. Italian: habitational name from Pino d’Asti in Asti province, Pino Torinese in Torino, or Pino Solitario in Taranto, all named with pino ‘pine’. Italian: from the personal name Pino, a short form Giuseppino (from Giuseppe), Filippino (from Filippo), Jacopino (from Jacopo), or some other pet name formed with this suffix.

Spanish, Catalan, Asturian-Leonese, and Galician: habitational name from any of the numerous places, large and small, named Quintana, from quintana ‘country house’ (originally having a tax liability of one fifth of the annual produce). variant of French Quintaine, from an Old French term denoting a post for jousting practice, hence a nickname for one who was skilled at this.

Korean (Ch{ou}ng): there are three Chinese characters used to represent the Ch{ou}ng surname. The clans that use two of these characters are quite rare and are mostly found in Ch{ou}lla province; their origins are obscure. The more common of the three clans is the oldest and is widely distributed throughout the peninsula. Only the clans which use this more common character will be treated here. Some sources indicate that there are 215 separate Ch{ou}ng clans, but only 32 of them can be documented. The earliest and largest Ch{ou}ng clan began in 32 ad when Chibaekho, one of the six ruling elders of pre-Shilla Korea, received the surname of Ch{ou}ng from the Shilla King Yuri Isag{uu}m (ad 24–57). Ch{ou}ng is one of the most common Korean surnames. Chinese : variant of Zhuang. Chinese : Cantonese form of Zang 1. Chinese : variant of Zhong. Chinese : variant of Zhang 1. Chinese : variant of Zong.

Spanish: occupational name for a squire, a young man of good birth attendant on a knight, or shield bearer, escudero (medieval Latin scutarius, a derivative of Latin scutum ‘shield’).

Spanish: habitational name from a place in Soria province.

Spanish: habitational name from Cisneros, a place in the province of Palencia, named with a derivative of Spanish cisne ‘swan’ (via Old French and Latin from Greek kyknos).

Spanish: variant spelling of Valdés (see Valdes).

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.

S AN EZ Origen Y Significado El apellido Sáez se ha incluido en el grupo de los apellidos patronímicos, es decir, de aquellos que derivan del nombre propio de la persona que en un momento histórico determinado adoptan el nombre como apellido.

Galician: topographic name from o vale ‘the valley’ (Latin uallis, ualles).

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname from bravo ‘fierce’, ‘violent’, ‘courageous’ (from Latin barbarus ‘barbarian’, ‘ruffian’).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: nickname for a person with some peculiarity of the cheek or jaw, Spanish carrillo. The word is attested since the 13th century, but its origin is uncertain. It appears to be a diminutive of carro ‘cart’, ‘wagon’, and it has been suggested that the reference is to the movements of the jaw in chewing. The surname may also have denoted originally a bold or shameless person; for the semantic development compare Cheek.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: variant of Alonso.

Chinese : from name of the region of Chen (in present-day Henan province). After overthrowing the Shang dynasty and becoming the first king of the Zhou dynasty in 1122 bc, Wu Wang searched for a descendant of the great ancient emperors to guard their memory and offer sacrifices, to help retain the ‘Mandate of Heaven’, which was considered essential to remain in power. He found Gui Man, a descendant of the model emperor Shun (2257–2205 bc), and granted him the region of Chen, along with the title Marquis of Chen and one of his daughters in marriage. Gui Man was posthumously named Chen Hugong, and his descendants came to adopt the surname Chen.

This could be onomatopoeic Spanish for the sound "tap."Found in Asturias. Name of villages near Leon and Oviedo. Derived from word "toppa" meaning a wall made from mud.Basque word meaning a place of the cranberries.Castilian name.

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.

Spanish: habitational name from Polanco in Santander province.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, and southern Italian: habitational name from any of various places named or named with Palma, from Latin palma ‘palm’. Portuguese: habitational name for someone from Parma in Italy.

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname for someone with tawny hair, from pardo ‘dusky’, ‘brown’, ‘dark gray’, (from Latin pardus ‘leopard’). Italian: from a personal name, a variant of the Lombardic personal name Bardo (see Bardo). Italian and Greek: from the Greek personal name Pardos ‘leopard’, ‘cheetah’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish and Catalan: habitational name from any of the numerous places in Spain and Portugal named Estrada, from estrada ‘road’, Latin stata (via) (from sternere ‘to strew or cover’), a term denoting a paved way.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Galician and Spanish: nickname, probably for a high-spirited person, from becerra ‘young cow’, ‘heifer’. It may also have been a metonymic occupational name for a cowherd.

Spanish: topographic name for someone who lived by a field of lucerne, Spanish melgar (a collective derivative of mielga ‘lucerne’, Late Latin melica, for classical Latin Medica (herba) ‘plant’ from Media). There are several places in Spain named with this word, and the surname may be a habitational name from any one of them. Dutch: variant of Melchior.

Spanish: habitational name from Montilla, a place in Córdoba province.

Spanish (Carrión): habitational name from a place of this name in the Spanish province of Ciudad Real, or from Carrión de los Céspedes in Seville, or Carrión de los Condes in Palencia.

Spanish: habitational name from the city so named in Cáceres province, called in Latin Turgalium, which is probably of Arabic origin. This place was the home of various conquistadors, hence its great frequency in the Americas.

Asturian-Leonese (Avilés): habitational name from Avilés, a place in Asturies on the coast west of Xixón (Gijón in Spanish). The place name is derived either from a pre-Roman cognomen, Abilus, or from the Latin name Abilius, from the place name formed with (Villa) Abilius + the suffix -ensis. Spanish: possibly also habitational name for someone from Ávila (see Avila).

Spanish (Bermúdez): patronymic from Bermudo, a Germanic (Visigothic) personal name of uncertain etymology.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Reina. Spanish and Portuguese: most likely from the female personal name Reina (from Latin Regina), otherwise a nickname from reina ‘queen’. Italian: from a Sicilian variant of regina ‘queen’ (see Regina).

Spanish: habitational name from any of various places in Spain, for example Ballesteros de Calatrava in the province of Ciudad Real, Los Ballesteros (Huelva), Ballesteros (Cuenca), and others no longer identifiable, which were probably so named because of their association with ballesteros ‘crossbowmen’, plural of ballestero, an agent derivative of ballesta ‘crossbow’ (see Ballester).

Spanish: habitational name from Arjona in Jaén province.

Spanish (Macías) and Portuguese: from a variant of the personal name Matías (see Matthew).

Chinese: variant of Wang. Chinese: variant of Huang.

Spanish: habitational name from the city of Zamora in northwestern Spain, capital of the province which bears its name.

Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named for the dedication of their churches to St. James (Sant Iago). The apostle St. James the Greater is the patron saint of Spain; there is a medieval legend that, after the death of Christ, he did not meet a speedy end under Herod Agrippa, but visited and evangelized the Iberian peninsula. His alleged burial site at Compostela has been a place of pilgrimage from all over Europe for over a thousand years.

Spanish, Galician and Portuguese: topographic name for someone who lived in a lean-to built against the wall of a larger building, from Spanish pared, Portuguese and Galician parede ‘(house) wall’. Servants often lived in buildings of this sort outside manor houses, and masons constructed huts of this kind on the site of their labors, making temporary use of the walls of the new building. There are also numerous places named with this word, and the surname may also be a habitational name from any of these.

Spanish (common in Mexico): unexplained.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the various minor places, for example in the provinces of Burgos, Guadalajara, and Valladolid, named from Spanish padilla ‘frying pan’, ‘breadpan’ (Latin patella, a diminutive of patina ‘shallow dish’), a word which was commonly used in the topographical sense of a gentle depression.

Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Portuguese, and southern French: nickname for a man noted for his beard, from barba ‘beard’ (Latin barba). Italian: from a byname from a southern dialect word meaning ‘uncle’ (from Latin barba ‘beard’ via Lombardic barba, barbane), as characterizing a man of wisdom and authority. Greek: see Barbas. Slovenian: unexplained. This name comes from the Brkini region in southwestern Slovenia.

Spanish and Aragonese: from the personal name Tello (see Tellez). Italian: from a short form of a personal name formed with this suffix, as for example Donatello, Moscatello, Otello.

Asturian-Leonese and Spanish: plural form of Spanish and Asturian-Leonese Nava (see also Naves). In some cases possibly Catalan (Navàs): variant spelling of Navars, habitational name from a place so called in Barcelona province, from a regional name denoting someone from Navarre (see Navarra) In some cases possibly French: variant (old form) of Naves.

Spanish and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from Mena, in Castile and León provinces. Greek (Menas): see Minas.

Castilianized form of Basque Kaizedo, a habitational name from Kaizedo Behekoa (Caicedo de Yuso in Spanish) or Kaizedo Goikoa (Caicedo Sopeña in Spanish), two towns in the Basque province of Araba.

French: variant of Géron (see Geron). Spanish (Girón): from a medieval nickname Girón, from Galician girón (xirón) ‘hem’, ‘remnant’.

Spanish: topographical name from cueva ‘cave’, plural cuevas, or a habitational name from any of numerous places named with this word, for example in the provinces of Burgos and Málaga.

Spanish: topographic name for someone who lived near an oak grove, from a collective noun derivative of carvallo ‘oak’, or a habitational name from a place so named, for example in Málaga province. Compare Carbajal.

Spanish and Portuguese: from the Marian epithet paz ‘peace’ (Latin pax, genitive pacis): María de la Paz (Spanish), Maria da Paz (Portuguese). The name was often assumed, as an approximate translation of the Hebrew personal name Shelomo, by Jews converted to Christianity.

Spanish and French: from the medieval personal name Ponce, ultimately from Pontius, a Roman family name of uncertain origin, perhaps an ethnic name for someone from Pontus (named with Greek pontos ‘ocean’) in Asia Minor, or an Italic cognate of Latin Quintus ‘fifth’ (i.e. ‘fifth-born’). The name was borne by two 3rd-century saints, a Carthaginian deacon and a martyr of Nice, but was not widely popular in the Middle Ages because of the inhibiting influence of the even more famous Pontius Pilate. In some cases, though, the surname may have been originally used for someone who had played the part of this character in a religious play.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places in southern Spain (Alacant, Ciudad Real, Jaen, Badajoz, and Cadiz) named Perea.

Spanish: probably a Castilianized or Americanized form of Sousa, or (less likely) from sosa ‘seaweed’.

Spanish, Galician, Aragonese, and Portuguese: habitational name from any of the numerous places called with Salas, like Salas and Salas de los Barrios, (Galicia), Salas de los Infantes, (Burgos province), Salas Altas and Salas Baxas (Aragon), from the plural of Sala. Catalan and Asturian-Leonese: variant of Sales. Americanized spelling of Hungarian Szálas, a nickname from szálas ‘tall’.

Spanish: probably a variant of Quesada.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: habitational name from places called Luna in Zaragoza, Araba, and Lleón provinces. Jewish (Sephardic): from the female personal name Luna (Spanish luna ‘moon’).

Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian: nickname for a bald-headed man, from calvo ‘bald’ (Latin calvus).

Spanish: habtational name of any of the many places called (Los) Corrales, plural of Corral, plural of Corral.

Spanish and Portuguese: from a personal name of uncertain, possibly pre-Roman, origin.

Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places named with arroyo ‘watercourse’, ‘irrigation channel’ (a word of pre-Roman origin).

Spanish: habitational name, from the name of a mountain and an ancient city in the province of Burgos, probably derived from Basque amai ‘end’ + the article suffix -a. Japanese: usually written with characters meaning ‘heavenly valley’. It is pronounced Amaya or Amagai in eastern Japan and Amatani in western Japan.

Spanish, Aragonese, Asturian-Leonese: habitational name from any of the places named Solano (Burgos and Málaga provinces) or El Solano (Asturies, and Uesca, Aragon), named with solano ‘place exposed to the sun’ (Late Latin solanum, a derivative of sol ‘sun’). Spanish and Portuguese: from a personal name adopted in honor of Francisco Solano, a 17th-century missionary to South America. Italian: possibly also from the personal name adopted in honor of Francisco Solano.

Spanish: nickname for a man with white or fair hair or a pale complexion, from blanco ‘white’. Italian (Sicily): variant of Bianco, perhaps influenced by French blanc and Spanish (see 1 above).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Chinese : variant of Zhang 1. Chinese : The emperor Huang Di (2697–2595 bc) had two advisers whose names contained this character; descendants of both of them are believed to have adopted Chang as their surname. Additionally, in the state of Wei during the Zhou dynasty (1122–221 bc) there existed a fief named Chang, the name of which was adopted by descendants of its ruling class. The Chinese character also has the meanings ‘often’ and ‘ordinary’. Chinese : variant of Zhang 2. Chinese : a rare name whose Chinese character also means ‘prosperous, flourishing’. This name is said to have originated 4500 years ago with Chang Yi, son of the legendary emperor Huang Di and father of emperor Zhuan Xu. Korean: there are 33 Chang clans in Korea, all but three of which use the same Chinese character for their surname. All of the Korean Chang clans had their origins in China, and, apart from the T{ou}ksu Chang clan and the Ch{ou}lgang Chang clan, they all originated from a single founding ancestor, Chang Ch{ou}n-p’il. He was born in China in 888 ad and fled to Korea with his father during a tumultuous period of Chinese history. The T{ou}ksu Chang clan’s founding ancestor, Chang Sul-long, stayed in Korea, having escorted Kory{ou} King Ch’ungy{ou}l’s queen-to-be from China to Korea in 1275. Most of the founding ancestors of the other Chang clans arrived in Korea from Y{uu}an China during the Kory{ou} period (ad 918–1392) or during the early Chos{ou}n period.

Spanish: variant spelling of Reina.

Spanish and Catalan: habitational name from any of various places called Segura, named with segura ‘safe’, ‘secure’.

Southern English: patronymic from David.

Castilianized form of Asturian-Leonese Vixil, a habitational name from a place named Vixil in the district of Consejo de Siero, Asturies.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish (Suárez): occupational name for a swineherd, Latin Suerius. Compare Portuguese Soares.

Spanish: variant of Esquibel.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan: from a medieval personal name, Latin Amator ‘lover (i.e. of God)’, from amare ‘to love’. As a personal name it was particularly popular in the 16th century, having been borne by various saints.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places called Arenas, from the plural of arena ‘sand’ (Latin (h)arena).

Castilianized form of Asturian-Leonese Arangu, a habitational name from a place named Arangu in Asturies.

Spanish and Portuguese: from Spanish and Portuguese machado ‘hatchet’ (a derivative of Macho 2), probably a nickname, but possibly also a habitational name, as this word is also a common element of place names.

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).

Spanish: habitational name from a place called Iglesias (from the plural of iglesia ‘church’), in particular the one in Burgos province.

Spanish and Portuguese (Júlio), and Italian: from the personal name Julio, a vernacular form of Latin Julius.

Spanish (also Póveda): habitational name from any of the places called Poveda, in the provinces of Cuenca, Ávila, Salamanca, and Soria, or from Póveda de la Sierra in Guadalajara.

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.

Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places named Salcedo, so named from a collective form of salce ‘willow tree’. Compare Salce. Spanish: Castilianized variant of Basque Saratsu, a habitational name from a town so named, in Araba, Basque Country.

Spanish and Portuguese: topographic name, a plural form of Monte. Dutch: patronymic from a short form of a Germanic compound personal name formed with -mund ‘protection’ as the final element. Compare Raymond.

Portuguese, Galician, and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from any of the many places called Silva, or a topographic name from silva ‘thicket’, ‘bramble’.

Spanish: habitational name from a place in Logroño province named Alfaro, apparently from Arabic al ‘the’ + Old Spanish faro ‘beacon’, ‘lighthouse’.

Spanish (of Basque origin): habitational name from any of the numerous minor places named Molinar, in particular the one in Biscay province, so named from a derivative of molina ‘mill’.

Northern English: patronymic from the personal name Dick.

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.

Italian (southern) and Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places named with arena ‘sand’, ‘sandy place’, also ‘arena’, ‘(bull) ring’.

Spanish: possibly of the same derivation as 2. Italian: from the personal name Polo, a variant of Paolo (see Paul).

Spanish: from centeno ‘rye’ (Late Latin centenum, a derivative of centum ‘hundred’, so called as the plant was supposed to be capable of producing a hundred grains on each stalk). The a surname may have arisen as a metonymic occupational name for someone who grew or sold rye, or a topographic name for someone who lived by a field given over to the cultivation of this crop.

Spanish: variant of Carballo.

Spanish: topographic name for someone who lived by a dogwood tree, Spanish cornejo (Latin corniculus), or a habitational name from any of the various minor places named Cornejo, for example in the provinces of Almería, Burgos, and Ciudad Real.

Spanish: habitational name from any of various places called Linares, as for example in the provinces of Jaén, Seville, Salamanca, Cantabria, Burgos, and Soria, from the plural of linar ‘flax field’ (Latin linare, a derivative of linum ‘flax’). Asturian-Leonese and Aragonese: Castilianized form of Asturian-Leonese Llinares (also L.linares), or Aragonese Linars, habitational names from the towns in Aragon named with the word linars ‘flax fields’. Spanish (Liñares): occupational name for a linen merchant, Latin linarius.

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

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.)

Spanish: habitational name from Rueda in Valladolid, Rueda denJalón in Zamora, Rueda de la Sierra in Guadalajara, or any of thenplaces called La Rueda, from Castilian rueda ‘wheel’, Latinnrota. Compare Catalan Roda. DK, kh

Spanish (Durán) and Catalan: from the personal name Durand (see Durant, Durante). English: variant of Durant. Polish: from a derivative of Dura. Czech: from a derivative of Dura.

Spanish, Italian, and Romanian: habitational name from any of the places named in any of these languages with this element. Its meaning is various and disputed; the coincidence in form with Latin alba (feminine) ‘white’ is suggestive, but in many cases the name is pre-Roman and denotes a site on a hill or mountain.

Spanish: habitational name from Buitrago in Soria province or possibly Buitrago del Lozoya in Madrid province, so named with the Late Latin personal name Vulturius (a derivative of vultur ‘vulture’) + the locative suffix -acum.

Basque: habitational name from Berrio in Biscay province, Basque Country, or a topographic name, probably from Basque berri ‘new’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname for a philanderer, from amores (plural) ‘loves’ (see Amor).

Chinese : variant of Wu 1. Chinese : variant of Wu 4.

Spanish: habitational name from places called Tamayo in the provinces of Burgos and Albacete.

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.

Spanish, Catalan (Garcés), and Portuguese (Garcês): variant of the patronymic Garciez, from the personal name García (see Garcia).

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Olmos, from the plural of olmo ‘elm’.

Spanish: habitational name from Burgos, the capital of old Castile.

habitational name from La Rovira in Barcelona province. topographic name for someone who lived by an oak wood, from Catalan rovira, collective form of roure ‘oak’ (from Latin robur).

Variant spelling of Spanish Venegas.

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

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the sire,' i.e. the master.John le Sire, Huntingdonshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.Alexander le Sire, Huntingdonshire, ibid.Walter le Sire, Buckinghamshire, ibid.Simon le Sire, Fines Roll, 17 Edward II.

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.

Spanish: status name or occupational name from mariscal ‘marshal’.

Galician: habitational name from any of the places in Galicia named Varela, from a diminutive of vara ‘rod’, ‘stick’. Greek (Varelas): from Greek varela ‘barrel’, from Italian barella ‘barrel’. Accented on the final syllable, varelás is a metonymic occupational name for a cooper; with the accent on the middle syllable, varélas is a nickname for a large fat man.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Italian (Liguria): patronymic from the medieval personal name Garibaldo, from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements gar, ger ‘spear’, ‘lance’ + bald ‘bold’, ‘brave’.

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

Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese: ethnic name for someone from Lombardy (see Lombard) specifically, or more generally for someone from northern Italy, as opposed to the south (i.e. the area once under Byzantine rule). In the form Lombardos it is also found as a Greek family name.

Basque: habitational name from Corella in Navarre province, Basque Country. Italian: possibly from diminutive of a feminine form of Core.

Spanish: from a medieval personal name, Spanish form of Victor. French: from the personal name Victoria (female form of Victor), which was popularized by a 3rd-century martyr so named.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, and northern Italian (Piedmont): variant of Claro. Dutch: metronymic from the female personal name Clara (see Clare).

Spanish (Flórez): probably a patronymic from the Visigothic personal name Froila, a derivative of fro ‘lord’, ‘master’. The name is also borne by Sephardic Jews.

Asturian-Leonese: habitational name from Noriega in Asturies.

Portuguese, Galician, and Jewish (Sephardic): topographic name from Portuguese pereira ‘pear tree’, or a habitational name from a place named with this word in Portugal and Galicia. The surname is also common in western India, having been taken there by Portuguese colonists.

Spanish: from a variant of salcedo ‘willow plantation’, as a topographic or habitational name (see Salcedo).

Spanish: habitational name from any of various places, for example Aranda de Duero in Burgos province, which bears a name of pre-Roman, probably Celtic, origin.

Asturian-Leonese: habitational name from Villamil, a place in Asturies.

English, Scottish, Irish, German, and Scandinavian: from Middle English hall (Old English heall), Middle High German halle, Old Norse holl all meaning ‘hall’ (a spacious residence), hence a topographic name for someone who lived in or near a hall or an occupational name for a servant employed at a hall. In some cases it may be a habitational name from places named with this word, which in some parts of Germany and Austria in the Middle Ages also denoted a salt mine. The English name has been established in Ireland since the Middle Ages, and, according to MacLysaght, has become numerous in Ulster since the 17th century.

Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places named Higuera, from higuera ‘fig tree’ (Latin ficaria).

Chinese : Cantonese variant of Qiu 1. Chinese: see You.

Galician: habitational name from either of two places in Galicia named Ulloa (in A Coruña and Lugo provinces).

Spanish (of Basque origin): habitational name from Basque Mentxaka in Biscay province.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish (of Basque origin): habitational name from a minor place in Santander province named Bedoya. The place name is from Basque bedi ‘pasture’, ‘grazing’ + the locative suffix -ona.

Spanish: habitational name from Villalobos in Zamora province, named from villa ‘(outlying) farmstead’, ‘(dependent) settlement’ + lobos, plural of lobo ‘wolf’.

Asturian-Leonese and Spanish (Argüelles): habitational name from any of various places called Argüelles, mainly the one in Asturies.

English, Dutch, North German, and Jewish (western Ashkenazic): patronymic from the personal name Philip. In North America this name has also absorbed cognate names from other European languages, for example Italian Filippi, Polish Filipowicz.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Olmedo in Burgos and Valladolid provinces, from olmedo ‘stand of elm trees’.

Spanish: nickname from lucero, a derivative of luz ‘light’, which has variety of meanings including ‘morning or evening star’, ‘star or blaze marking on a horse’.

Spanish and Catalan (Gràcia): from a short form of the religious epithet da Gracia meaning ‘of mercy’, from gracia ‘grace’, ‘mercy’.

Spanish and Portuguese: from duque ‘duke’ (from Latin dux, genitive ducis ‘leader’), an occupational name for someone who worked in the household of a duke, or as a nickname for someone who gave himself airs and graces. French (also Duqué): nickname from duquet, a diminutive of French duc ‘duke’ (see Duchon).

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.

Chinese : Cantonese variant of Chen. Chinese : variant transcription of Zhan. Vietnamese (Chân): unexplained. Galician and Portuguese: topographic name from a field named Chan (Galician) or Chã (Portuguese), from Latin plana ‘level’, ‘flat’.

Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places named Villar, or in some cases a Castilianized spelling of the Catalan and Galician cognates Vilar. English: variant of Villers, cognate with 3. Southern French: topographic name from Late Latin villare ‘outlying farm’, ‘dependent settlement’, or a habitational name from any of various places named with this word.

Spanish: habitational name from any of several places named Olivares, from the plural of Spanish olivar ‘olive grove’. Compare Oliveira. The Spanish surname spread into Italy, becoming widespread in Milan and the Naples region.

Spanish: habitational name for someone from any of various places named Valdespino.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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).

Spanish: habitational name from Obando in Extremadura province.

Variant of Spanish González (see Gonzalez).

The rivers Quindío and Barragán are born in the foothills of the Quindío Volcano in Salento (at more than 4,000 meters above sea level) and in Genoa (at 3,000m.s.n.m) respectively. Once formed, at the site called Maravelez, La Vieja runs as a boundary through the departments of Quindio, Valle del Cauca and Risaralda.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Basque: habitational name from either of two places in Biscay province called Urrutia, named with Basque urruti ‘distant’ + the definite article -a.

Spanish and Portuguese: habitational name from any of several places named for a spring that dried up during the summer months, from fonte seca ‘dry well’.

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.

Chinese : variant of Zhong 1. Chinese : variant of Zong. Chinese : variant of Zhong 2. Chinese : variant of Cong. Korean: variant of Ch{ou}ng (see Chong).

North German and Dutch: topographic name for someone living near a wood (Dutch loo ‘wood’, Middle Low German lo, loge), or a habitational name from places called Lo or Loh, named with this word. Chinese: variant of Lu.

Galician: nickname from puga ‘thorn’, ‘prickle’, probably in the figurative sense ‘sharp’, ‘clever’.

Spanish: habitational name from Porras, a town in Andalusia, or nickname from the plural of porra ‘cudgel’, ‘club’, nickname either for a stockily built person or for a tiresome person. ‘Porras!’ is also used as an idiomatic expression meaning ‘Go to the Devil’. Galician: habitational name from any of three places in Lugo province named Porras.

Basque: habitational name from Zarate, a place in Araba province, named from Basque zara ‘thicket’.

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

Spanish: nickname for an elegant or haughty person, from lozano ‘splendid’, later ‘good-looking’.

Spanish (Castrejón): habitational name from any of various places called Castrejón, for example in Salamanca province, or named with this word, a diminutive of castro ‘castle’, from Latin castrum ‘fort’, ‘Roman walled city’.

nickname for an ugly or stupid person, from Spanish mal donado ‘ill-favored’. The phrase is a compound of mal ‘badly’ + donado ‘given’, ‘endowed’, past participle of donare ‘to give’, ‘to bestow’. habitational name from Maldonado, a village in the province of Albacete.

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.

Galician: habitational name from Godoy, a place in Galicia. The origin of the place name is uncertain, but a connection has been suggested with the Gothic elements gu{dh}s ‘god’ + wihs ‘saint’.

ethnic name for a German, alemán. from the old personal name Alemannus, with the same meaning.

Spanish: probably a habitational name from Calles in Valencia province.

Spanish, Portuguese, and northern Italian: nickname for a man with curly hair, from Latin crispus ‘curly-haired’.

Spanish: from the personal name Pascual, Latin Paschalis, from pascha ‘Easter’. Compare Italian Pasquale.

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.

Spanish: habitational name from Encima-Angulo in Burgos province.

Spanish: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements ric ‘power(ful)’ + helm ‘helmet’, ‘protection’.

Galician: topographic name for someone who lived by a beech tree or in a beech wood, from Late Latin fagea (arbor) ‘beech (tree)’, a derivative of classical Latin fagus ‘beech’.

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.

Spanish (Rentería): Castilianized variant of Basque Errenteria, habitational name from either of the two Basque towns called Errenteria in Gipuzkoa and Biscay provinces, Basque Country.

Portuguese: widespread habitational name from any of numerous places in Portugal named Matos, from mata ‘brushwood’, ‘scrub’, ‘thicket’. Spanish: topographic name, from the plural of Mato. Hungarian: variant of Matus.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: from a short form of the personal names Giles, Julian, or William. In theory the name would have a soft initial when derived from the first two of these, and a hard one when from William or from the other possibilities discussed in 2–4 below. However, there has been much confusion over the centuries. Northern English: topographic name for someone who lived by a ravine or deep glen, Middle English gil(l), Old Norse gil ‘ravine’. Scottish and Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Gille (Scottish), Mac Giolla (Irish), patronymics from an occupational name for a servant or a short form of the various personal names formed by attaching this element to the name of a saint. See McGill. The Old Norse personal name Gilli is probably of this origin, and may lie behind some examples of the name in northern England. Scottish and Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac An Ghoill (see Gall 1). Norwegian: habitational name from any of three farmsteads in western Norway named Gil, from Old Norse gil ‘ravine’. Dutch: cognate of Giles. Jewish (Israeli): ornamental name from Hebrew gil ‘joy’. German: from a vernacular short form of the medieval personal name Aegidius (see Gilger). Indian (Panjab): Sikh name, probably from Panjabi gil ‘moisture’, also meaning ‘prosperity’. There is a Jat tribe that bears this name; the Ramgarhia Sikhs also have a clan called Gill.

Spanish and Portuguese: mostly from a short form of Spanish (del) Rosario, Portuguese (do) Rosá, from rosario ‘rosary’; or from the Marian name María del Rosario, given in particular to a girl who was born on the festival of Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrated on the first Sunday in October. The word derives from Late Latin rosarium ‘rose garden’, and was transferred to a set of devotions dedicated to the Virgin Mary as the result of the medieval symbolism which constantly compared her to a rose. Italian: from the male personal name Rosario, of the same origin as 1 above.

Spanish and southern Italian: from the personal name Alfonso, the name of a number of Spanish and Portuguese kings. It derives from the Visigothic personal name Adelfonsus, composed of the elements hathu ‘war’ + funs ‘ready’.

Italian: patronymic or plural form of a pet form of the personal name Marco.

English (also common in Wales): patronymic from Edward.

Basque: habitational name from Iturralde in Biscay province, Basque Country, so named from iturri ‘spring’ + alde ‘near (to)’.

English: from Middle English, Old French faucon, falcun ‘falcon’, either a metonymic occupational name for a falconer, or a nickname for someone thought to resemble the falcon, which was regarded as a symbol of speed and courage in the Middle Ages. In a few cases, it may also have been a metonymic occupational name for a man who operated the piece of artillery named after the bird of prey. Compare Faulkner. In Louisiana, the name Falcón is borne by the descendants of Canary Islanders brought in to settle in 1779.

English and Welsh: from the medieval personal name Elis, a vernacular form of Elijah (see Elias). In Wales this surname absorbed forms derived from the Welsh personal name Elisedd, a derivative of elus ‘kindly’, ‘benevolent’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Galician or Spanish: probably from Galician botella ‘little bottle’.

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.

English: one of the most common and widespread of English surnames, either a nickname for someone who was fond of dressing in this color (Old English grene) or who had played the part of the ‘Green Man’ in the May Day celebrations, or a topographic name for someone who lived near a village green, Middle English grene (a transferred use of the color term). In North America this name has no doubt assimilated cognates from other European languages, notably German Grün (see Gruen). Jewish (American): Americanized form of German Grün or Yiddish Grin, Ashkenazic ornamental names meaning ‘green’ or a short form of any of the numerous compounds with this element. Irish: translation of various Gaelic surnames derived from glas ‘gray’, ‘green’, ‘blue’. See also Fahey. North German: short form of a habitational name from a place name with Gren- as the first element (for example Greune, Greubole).

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’.

Spanish form (Echeverría) of Basque Etxeberria (see Echevarria).

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

English (mainly southeastern): variant of Hook (in the occupational or topographic and habitational senses), with the addition of the agent suffix -er.

English and Scottish: variant of Trotter 1. Altered spelling of German Trotmann, a variant of Trotter 2.

Spanish: variant of Ovalle.

Spanish: variant spelling of Pedrosa.

Spanish: variant of Abrego.

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.

Spanish and Catalan: variant (plural) of Casa. The Catalan form is a respelling (probably Castilianization) of Catalan Cases.

English: habitational name from places in Cambridgeshire, Kent, Northumbria, and North Yorkshire; most are so named from Old English Ellingtun ‘settlement (Old English tun) associated with Ella’, a short form of the various compound names with a first element ælf ‘elf’, but the one in Kent has its first element from the Old English byname Ealda meaning ‘old’.

Spanish and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from any of the numerous places named Sierra or La Sierra, from sierra ‘ridge or chain of hills’ (from Latin serra ‘saw’).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Masculine adjective referring to someone from Béjar, a city in the Salamanca province of western Spain.Of Portuguese origin but established in Estremadura in 13th century.

Spanish: habitational name from Monroy (‘red mountain’), a place in Cáceres province.

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

Spanish (Águila): from águila ‘eagle’ (Latin aquila). This is either a nickname for a haughty man or one with an aquiline nose, or a habitational name from a place in Salamanca province called Águila.

Italian and Spanish: from the personal name Mariano, from the Latin family name Marianus (a derivative of the ancient personal name Marius, of Etruscan origin). In the early Christian era it came to be taken as an adjective derived from Maria, and was associated with the cult of the Virgin Mary. It was borne by various early saints, including a 3rd-century martyr in Numibia and a 5th-century hermit of Berry, France.

Spanish and Italian: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements grim ‘mask’, ‘helmet’ + wald ‘rule’. This name is common in Mexico and Peru.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: of uncertain origin; a connection with the place name Gauna (in Araba, Basque Country) is doubtful because of the consistent spelling of the surname with -o-.

from the personal name Velasco, Belasco, formed with Basque bel- ‘raven’ + the diminutive suffix -sco. in some cases possibly a habitational name from any of various places in Logroño, Soria, and Seville provinces named Velasco.

Spanish: habitational name from Mayorga in Valladolid province (Latin Maiorica).

Spanish or Basque: possibly a topographic name from Basque belar ‘vegetation’, ‘grass’ + the suffix -de, -di denoting abundance.

Chinese : variant of Fang 1. Chinese : variant of Feng 1. Chinese : variant of Fang 2.

Castilianized form of Basque Aritza, a topographic name from Basque (h)aritz ‘oak’ + the article suffix -a. Spanish: habitational name from a place so named in Zaragoza province in Aragón.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish (of Basque origin): habitational name from Orozco in Bilbao province.

English: variant spelling of Clark.

Andrade: It means "the Galician realm of topônimo" or "reference to the new Jews."Andrade is a surname that appeared in the region of Galicia, this onomástica in the Portuguese language as a name of toponymic origin, ie, based on a region or locality.

Portuguese and Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places in Portugal and Spain named Mata, from mata ‘wood’, ‘forest’. Catalan: topographic name from mata ‘scrub’. Hungarian: from a pet form of the personal name Máté (see Matthew).

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish: habitational name from the island of Bute in the Firth of Clyde, the Gaelic name of which is Bód (genitive Bóid).

Portuguese: habitational name from any of numerous places named with Portuguese merlo ‘blackbird’ (Latin merulus).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish (Bazán; of Basque origin): Castilianized form of Basque Baztan, a habitational name from Baztan in Navarre province, named from Basque aza, azta ‘bramble’ + the locative suffix -an, with the addition of initial B-. Polish and Ukrainian: from Polish ba?zant ‘pheasant’ (from Middle High German fasan(t)), hence a nickname for someone thought to resemble the bird in some way.

Korean (Ho): there is only one Chinese character for the Ho surname. Some records indicate that there are fifty-nine Ho clans, but only four have been identified and documented. All four clans descend from the same founding ancestor. In ad 48, a sixteen-year-old Indian princess is said to have arrived by boat on the shores of Korea. The Karak Kingdom’s King Suro married the woman, and out of respect for her origins allowed the second of their ten children to retain his mother’s surname, Ho. The Ho surname is very common and is widely distributed throughout the Korean peninsula. Vietnamese (Hô`): unexplained. Chinese: variant of He.

Galician, Asturian-Leonese, Spanish, and Basque: habitational name from any of numerous places in Galicia, Asturies, León, Santander, and Basque Country named with the topographical term cueto ‘hill’, ‘fortified settlement’ (from Latin cautus ‘sheltered’. The Asturian-Leonese form is a Castilianized variant of the Asturian-Leonese habitational name Cuetu (compare Coto)

Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, and Galicia: habitational name from any of the numerous places called Real; those in Galicia and Portugal being named from real ‘royal’, while those in southern Spain and Catalonia are named in part from real meaning ‘encampment’, ‘rural property’ (Arabic ra?hal ‘farmhouse’, ‘cabin’). French (Réal) and Spanish: from southern French réal, Spanish real ‘royal’, hence a nickname for someone who behaved in a regal manner or an occupational name for someone in the service of the king. French (Réal): habitational name from any of various places named for having been part of a royal domain (see Reau, Reaux). Probably an Americanized spelling of German Riehl, Riel, or Rühl (see Ruehl).

“Lion” in Sanskrit (Sinha). Hence Singapore - “City of the Lion”.

Spanish and Portuguese: from machucar, machacar ‘to squash’, ‘to crush’, probably applied as a nickname for someone who was obstinate.

Spanish: habitational name from places named Valenzuela in Córdoba and Ciudad Real. The place name is a diminutive of Valencia, literally ‘Little Valencia’.

Chinese : variant of Lin 1. Chinese : variant of Lan. Vietnamese (Lâm): unexplained. Dutch and North German: from a short form of the personal name Lambert. Danish: nickname for a gentle person, from Old Norse lamb ‘lamb’, or possibly for a lame man, Old Norse lami.

English: variant of Lee. Scottish: reduced variant of McClay. French: habitational name from places so named in Loire, Meurthe-et-Moselle, and Pyrénées-Atlantique. German: habitational name from places so named, in the Rhineland near Koblenz and in Bavaria, named with lay(h), a word meaning ‘stone’, ‘rock’, ‘slate’.

Ancient Galician and Portuguese surname, and name of villages near Orense, Santander, and Oviedo. Means "lleno de barro," to fill a pit.This word could have two possible meanings: the physical appearance of an individual's face or it could refer to a humid and uncomfortable place.

Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, English, French, and Jewish: ethnic name or regional name for someone from Portugal or who had connections with Portugal. The name of the country derives from Late Latin Portucale, originally denoting the district around Oporto (Portus Cales, named with Latin portus ‘port’, ‘harbor’ + Cales, the ancient name of the city). In some cases the surname may be simply a nickname for someone who had business connections with Portugal.

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.

This form represents at least ten different Chinese family names, as well as a Korean one. Chinese : variant of Zhu 1. Chinese : from the name of an adminstrative position during the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 bc). At this time, many dukes of the Zhou dynasty, including the duke of the state of Song, established a high administrative position which may be roughly translated as ‘Chu master’. The descendants of a Song Chu master took this title as their surname. Additionally, there was an area named Chu during the Zhou dynasty (1122–221 bc) which lent its name to the people who lived there. Chinese : variant of Zhu 2. Chinese : variant of Qu 1. Chinese : from the name of the state of Chu, one of the most powerful states of the Warring States period (403–221 bc), adopted as a surname by its ruling class. Chinese : variant of Ju. Chinese : variant of Qu 2. Chinese : variant of Qu 3. Chinese : variant of Zhu 3. Chinese : variant of Zhu 4. Korean: there are two Chinese characters for the Chu surname in use in Korea. One character has only one clan associated with it (the Shinan Chu clan), and while some records indicate that the other has as many as 25, only four can be documented; all of these descended from a common ancestor, Chu Hwang, who was naturalized in 907. The Shinan Chu clan is descended from a man named Chu Cham, a direct descendant of the Chinese philosopher Chu-tze. Chu Cham migrated from China to Korea some time in the early 13th century. Chu is a fairly common surname and is found throughout the peninsula.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: patronymic from the common medieval personal name Ben Avid, of Arabic origin, from ibn ?Abd ‘son of the servant (of God)’ see Benavidez.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname from zarco ‘light blue (eyes)’.

Galician: habitational name from a place in Lugo province named Cervantes.

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the small'; compare Large, Bigg, Little, &c.Robert le Small, Huntingdonshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.Henry le Smale, Cambridgeshire, ibid.Richard le Smale, Close Rolls, 9 Edward II.

Galician and Portuguese: from a misdivision of Daponte, a topographic name from da ponte ‘from the bridge’.

Spanish: habitational name from a place in Santoña in Santander province, whose name derives from escala ‘ladder’ (Latin scala), referring to a terraced slope.

nickname for a person with red hair or a ruddy complexion, from Older Scots reid ‘red’. topographic name for someone who lived in a clearing, from Old English r¯d ‘woodland clearing’. Compare English Read.

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.

Spanish: occupational name for a laborer who worked the land, from an agent derivative of labrar ‘to cultivate (land)’.

Italian: from the title of rank conte ‘count’ (from Latin comes, genitive comitis ‘companion’). Probably in this sense (and the Late Latin sense of ‘traveling companion’), it was a medieval personal name; as a title it was no doubt applied ironically as a nickname for someone with airs and graces or simply for someone who worked in the service of a count. English: variant of Count, cognate with 1. French: nickname for someone in the service of a count or for someone who behaved pretentiously, from Old French conte, cunte ‘count’ (of the same derivation as 1). French (Conté): variant of Comté (see Comte).

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

nickname from Spanish zurita ‘dove’. habitational name from either of two places, in Uesca and Santander, named Zurita, possibly from Basque zuri ‘white’.

Spanish (Bárcena(s)): habitational name from any of various places throughout Spain named Barcenas, from an unattested pre-Roman topographical element bargina, denoting an area of cultivated land.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the many places named with cueva ‘cave’.

Spanish: probably variant of Valdivielso, habitational name from Valdivielso, a region in Burgos province.

Spanish (Vélez): patronymic from the personal name Vela. Spanish (Vélez): habitational name from any of various places in Andalusia called Vélez. Portuguese (Velez, Velêz): unexplained. It may be a habitational name from Vellés in Salamanca.

Spanish and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name for an inhabitant of Soria in Castile, from the adjective soriano ‘from Soria’. Southern Italian: habitational name from Soriano Calabro in Vibo Valentia province or Soriano nel Cimino in Viterbo, or of the same derivation as 1.

habitational name from any of the numerous places named Villanueva, from Spanish villa ‘(outlying) farmstead’, ‘(dependent) settlement’ + nueva (feminine) ‘new’ (Latin nova). Castilianized spelling of Catalan and Galician Vilanova, a habitational name from a frequent place name, of the same derivation as 1 above.

Spanish: habitational name from Quijano in Cantabria province.

Spanish: variant of Huerta, from the plural form, found in numerous place names.

Spanish: nickname from rubio ‘red’ (Latin rubeus), probably denoting someone with red hair or a red beard. Catalan (Rubió): habitational name from any of the places named Rubió in Catalonia.

Nickname for one with a black mouth; one who used intemperate language.Of Genoese origin but came into Spain with the knight Egidio Bocanegra who received grant of land, la villa de Palma del Río (Seville) from don Alfonso XI.

Spanish: topographic name from Spanish collado ‘hill’, ‘mountain pass’, from Late Latin collatum, a derivative of Latin collis ‘hill’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: habitational name from Luque in Córdoba.

Spanish: habitational name from a place called Marmolejo in Jaén province.

Variant of Portuguese Gouveia.

Spanish: southern variant of Losada.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: habitational name from a place in Soria province, named Aguilera from aguilera ‘eagle’s nest’ (from Latin aquilaria ‘place of eagles’).

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.

Spanish: topographic name from arboleda ‘grove of trees’, from árbol ‘tree’ (Latin arbor), or a habitational name from a place named with this word, as for example Caserío de Arboleda in Logroño province.

Italian and Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places named Molino, from molino ‘mill’, or a topographic name for someone who lived at a mill. Molinos is also found as a Greek name.

English, Scottish, French, and German: from the name of the flower, Middle English, Old French, Middle High German rose (Latin rosa), in various applications. In part it is a topographic name for someone who lived at a place where wild roses grew, or a habitational name for someone living at a house bearing the sign of the rose. It is also found, especially in Europe, as a nickname for a man with a ‘rosy’ complexion. As an American surname, this name has absorbed cognates and similar-sounding names from other European languages. English: variant of Royce. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from the word for the flower (German Rose, Yiddish royz), or a metronymic name from the Yiddish female personal name Royze, derived from the word for the flower.

Spanish and Jewish (Sephardic): ornamental name from Spanish preciado ‘prized’, ‘valuable’ (Late Latin pretiosus, a derivative of pretium ‘price’, ‘prize’).

possibly Basque: unexplained.

Jewish (Ashkenazic and Sephardic): from the Biblical personal name Levi, from a Hebrew word meaning ‘joining’. This was borne by a son of Jacob and Leah (Genesis 29: 34). Bearers of this name are Levites, members of the tribe of Levi, who form a hereditary caste who assist the kohanim (see Cohen) in their priestly duties.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: from cuesta ‘slope’, ‘bank’ (Latin costa ‘rib’, ‘side’, ‘flank’, also used in a transferred topographical sense), hence a topographic name for someone who lived on a slope or riverbank, less often on the coast, or a habitational name from a place named with this word, as for example La Cuesta, in the provinces of Segovia and Soria.

Asturian-Leonese and Spanish: habitational name from any of the places (mainly in Asturies) called Villa, from villa ‘(outlying) farmstead’, ‘(dependent) settlement’, or from any of the numerous places named with this word as the first element. Italian: topographic name for someone who lived in a village as opposed to an isolated farmhouse, or in a town as opposed to the countryside, from Latin villa ‘country house’, ‘estate’, later used to denote of a group of houses forming a settlement and in some dialects to denote the most important area or center of a settlement, or a habitational name from any of various places named with this word.

Spanish: from an old form of the personal name Olivero (see Oliver).

Chifundo is a surname of the Chewa tribe, meaning: mercy.

Spanish: habitational name from Villegas, a place in Burgos province.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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

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.

Scottish: habitational name from a place near Aberdeen, so named from Gaelic forba ‘field’, ‘district’ + the locative suffix -ais. The place name is pronounced in two syllables, with the stress on the second, and the surname until recently reflected this. Today, however, it is generally a monosyllable. Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Firbhisigh ‘son of Fearbhisigh’, a personal name composed of Celtic elements meaning ‘man’ + ‘prosperity’. A family of this name in Connacht was famous for its traditional historians, compilers of the Book of Lecan.

From the latin "sarmentum" - vine shoots. The landmark of the area where the inhabitants were given this name. Place name in Argentina.Galician name descended from knight Salvador González, Count of Bureba.

Basque: topographic name from Basque loa ‘mud’, ‘mire’, with the suffix -tza denoting abundance. This name is now well established in Mexico and Colombia.

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.

Welsh: patronymic from the personal name Iefan (see Evan), with redundant English patronymic -s.

Spanish: unexplained.

Spanish: plural variant of Vallejo.

Spanish: unexplained. This is a frequent name in Spain.

English: from the medieval personal name Benedict (Latin Benedictus meaning ‘blessed’). In the 12th century the Latin form of the name is found in England alongside versions derived from the Old French form Beneit, Benoit, which was common among the Normans. See also Benedict.

English: reduced form of Forster. English: nickname from Middle English foster ‘foster parent’ (Old English fostre, a derivative of fostrian ‘to nourish or rear’). Jewish: probably an Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames, such as Forster.

Asturian-Leonese: probably a habitational name from a place in Asturies called Cuadra.

Asturian-Leonese: habitational name from Restrepo in Asturies.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Villaverde, from villa ‘(outlying) farm’, ‘(dependent) settlement’ + verde ‘green’, or a Castilianized spelling of the Galician cognate Vilaverde.

Castilianized form of Basque and Catalan Araia, a habitational name from any of various places called Araia, for example in Araba, Basque Country, and Catelló de la Plana, Valencia. Spanish: habitational name from any of the places called Araya, as for example the one in Canary Islands. Japanese: meaning ‘wild valley’ or ‘new valley’; found in eastern Japan and pronounced Aratani in western Japan. Neither version is particularly common.

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

Spanish (Galván): from a medieval personal name. This is in origin the Latin name Galbanus (a derivative of the Roman family name Galba, of uncertain origin). However, it was used in a number of medieval romances as an equivalent of the Celtic name Gawain (see Gavin), and it is probably this association that was mainly responsible for its popularity in the Middle Ages.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: from mercado ‘market’, topographic name for someone living by a market or metonymic occupational name for a market trader.

English (of Welsh origin): Anglicized form of Welsh ap Hywel ‘son of Hywel’, a personal name meaning ‘eminent’ (see Howell). Irish: mainly of Welsh origin as in 1 above, but sometimes a surname adopted as equivalent of Gaelic Mac Giolla Phóil ‘son of the servant of St. Paul’ (see Guilfoyle).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Basque: topographic name composed of the elements gain ‘peak’, ‘summit’ + boa ‘rounded’.

Spanish (Alarcón): habitational name, most probably from Alarcón in Cuenca province.

Spanish: variant of Tobar.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Castilianized form of Basque Karrantza, a habitational name from Karrantza in Biscay province, Basque Country.

Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places, for example in Hervás and Cáceres provinces, named Cerezo, from cerezo ‘cherry tree’ (from Latin cerasus).

Spanish: from cordero ‘young lamb’ (Latin cordarius, a derivative of cordus ‘young’, ‘new’), hence a metonymic occupational name for a shepherd, or alternatively a nickname meaning ‘lamb’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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’.

Portuguese and Spanish: from an adjectival derivative of guardar ‘to guard’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

Spanish (of Basque origin): Castilianized form of the Basque personal name Otxoa, equivalent of Latin lupus ‘wolf’.

Spanish: from forero ‘someone obliged to pay tribute’, ‘tribute collector’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Ceallaigh ‘descendant of Ceallach’, an ancient Irish personal name, originally a byname meaning ‘bright-headed’, later understood as ‘frequenting churches’ (Irish ceall). There are several early Irish saints who bore this name. Kelly is now the most common of all Irish family names in Ireland.

Chinese : variant of Zheng. Chinese : from the name of the area of Cheng during the Shang dynasty (1766–1122 bc). A high adviser who was a descendant of the legendary emperor Zhuan Xu was granted the fiefdom of this area, and his descendants adopted its name as their surname. Chinese : from the name of the state of Cheng during the Zhou dynasty (1122–221 bc). The fifth son of Wen Wang was granted lordship of the state of Cheng following the fall of the Shang dynasty and the establishment of the Zhou dynasty. Subsequently, his descendants adopted the place name as their surname.

Spanish (Antúnez): patronymic from a dialect form of the personal name Antonio.

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.

topographic name for someone who lived in the lower part of a village, from Basque uri ‘settlement’ + be(h)e ‘lower part’. habitational name from Uribe, a town in Biscay province, Basque Country.

Spanish (Beltrán), Catalan, and southern French: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’ + hrabn ‘raven’. See also Bertram.

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Bryan.' The 'i' in Briant and Bryant is of course excrescent. Bryan was not an importation from Ireland, though its popularity as an English fontname is gone. It lingered in North Yorkshire, Westmoreland, and Furness till the close of the last century.

Adjective from the latin "bellus" - beautiful.Found in Galicia, Orense, and Leon. Names of villages near Oviedo and Teruel. Derived from latin "bellus" - beautiful, perfect.Galician name found throughout the Peninsula.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

A... is a surname of the Chewa tribe, meaning: (prefix) A sign of respect when hailing an older person (e.g To show respect to David, one would typically address him as A david, pronounced aahDavid).

Jewish: from Hebrew kohen ‘priest’. Priests are traditionally regarded as members of a hereditary caste descended from Aaron, brother of Moses. See also Kaplan.

Spanish: from the medieval personal name Galindo, of predominantly Aragonese origin and distribution, but of unknown etymology.

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

Spanish: probably from a variant of zorra ‘vixen’, zorro ‘fox’, applied as nickname either for a crafty or devious person, or possibly a lazy one, the Spanish term for the fox meaning literally ‘the lazy one’, from Old Spanish zorro ‘lazy’ (from zorrar ‘to drag’).

Catalan, French, English, German (also Romann), Polish, Hungarian (Román), Romanian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian: from the Latin personal name Romanus, which originally meant ‘Roman’. This name was borne by several saints, including a 7th-century bishop of Rouen. English, French, and Catalan: regional or ethnic name for someone from Rome or from Italy in general, or a nickname for someone who had some connection with Rome, as for example having been there on a pilgrimage. Compare Romero.

from a derivative of rosa ‘rose’. possibly also from rosero ‘gatherer of saffron crocus flowers’.

Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, northern Italian, French, and English: from the personal name, a derivative of the Latin personal name Vitalis (see Vitale).

German: nickname for a physically strong person, from Middle High German louwe, lauwe ‘lion’. In some cases the surname may have been originally from a house sign. North German: topographic name for someone living in a bush-covered area or clearing, Middle Low German lo, loch, lage. North German and Dutch: from a vernacular short form of the personal name Laurentius (see Lawrence). Dutch: nickname from Middle Dutch laeu ‘lazy’, ‘indifferent’, ‘faint-hearted’. Chinese : Cantonese form of Liu 1. Chinese : Cantonese form of Liu 3. Chinese : variant of Lao 2.

Spanish (Liño): perhaps a metonymic occupational name for a linen weaver, from liño ‘linen’.Spanish and Portuguese: from the medieval personal name Lino (Latin Linus), or from a short form of a personal name ending with -lino.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the various places named Villalba, from villa ‘(outlying) farmstead’, ‘(dependent) settlement’ + albo, feminine alba ‘white’ (Latin alba).

English: patronymic from the medieval personal name Hudde (see Hutt 1). This surname is particularly common in Yorkshire and is also well established in Ireland.

Portuguese and Spanish: habitational name from places named Montalvo. See Montalbo.

English: variant of Braithwaite.

Portuguese: unexplained. This very common Portuguese surname seems to have originated in Andalusia, Spain.

Spanish (especially southern Spain): habitational name from any of various places called Vera or La Vera, named with vera ‘river bank’.

possibly Basque: of uncertain derivation, perhaps a topographic name from Basque isats ‘broom’ (the plant) + the definite article -a.

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).

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.

English: occupational name for someone who was employed in the private living quarters of his master, rather than in the public halls of the manor. The name represents a genitive or plural form of Middle English cha(u)mbre ‘chamber’, ‘room’ (Latin camera), and is synonymous in origin with Chamberlain, but as that office rose in the social scale, this term remained reserved for more humble servants of the bedchamber.

Italian: patronymic from a variant of Francesco.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: from mancilla ‘mole’, ‘birthmark’ or ‘blot’, ‘stain’ (Latin manucella), hence a nickname for someone with a blemish on their skin or their character. Asturian-Leonese: habitational name from Mancilla, a village in Lleón province, northern Spain.

Spanish (Terán): habitational name from Terán in Santander province.

English: variant spelling of Chinn. Chinese : variant of Jin 1. Chinese : Cantonese variant of Qian. Chinese : variant of Qin 1. Chinese : variant of Qin 2. Chinese : variant of Jin 2. Chinese : variant of Jin 3. Korean: there are four Chinese characters for the surname Chin, representing five clans. At least three of the clans have origins in China; most of them migrated to Korea during the Kory{ou} period (ad 918–1392).

English (Devon): from the rare Old English masculine personal name Mocca, which may be related to a Germanic stem mokk- ‘to accumulate’, ‘to be heaped up’, and hence may originally have been a nickname for a heavy, thickset person. Alternatively, it could be from Middle English mokke ‘trick’, ‘joke’, ‘jest’, ‘act of jeering’, a derivative of mokke(n) ‘to mock’, from Old French moquer. German: variant of Maag. German: nickname for a short, thickset man, Middle High German mocke. Dutch: nickname from Middle Dutch mocke ‘dirty or wanton woman’, ‘slut’, or from West Flemish mokke ‘fat child’.

Japanese: common place name and surname throughout Japan, meaning ‘small rice paddy’. A less common but more famous Oda name, written with characters meaning ‘woven rice paddy’ (i.e. fields laid out evenly as woven cloth), was borne by the family of the famous conqueror Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582). Their name is taken from two Shinto shrines in Fukui prefecture; so an added meaning would be ‘august rice paddy’, denoting respect shown to a shrine’s property.

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

Spanish: topographic name from a diminutive of vado ‘ford’ (Latin vadum) or a habitational name from either of two places named with this word: Valillo de la Guarena in Zamora province or Vadillo de al Sierra in Ávila.

Spanish and Portuguese: from Italian colonnello, a diminutive of colonna ‘column (of troops)’ (Latin columna), hence a metonymic occupational name for someone in command of a regiment. According to Tibon, the change of -l- to -r- may be under the influence of the word corona ‘crown’ as a symbol of power.

Catalan: from the personal name Carles, Catalan form of Charles 1.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: habitational name from places called Carmona, in the provinces of Santander and (more famously) Seville. The place name is of pre-Roman origin and uncertain meaning.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Laguna, from laguna ‘pool’, ‘pond’ (from Latin lacuna ‘hollow’, ‘hole’).

Portuguese: ethnic name for someone from or who had been to the (Costa da) Mina in Africa. Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Mina, La Mina, from Spanish and Portuguese mina ‘mine’. Greek: variant of Minas. Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic mina?h ‘gifts’, ‘favors’.

English: old spelling of Allen, already well established as a surname in England in Tudor times.

Spanish (Blandón): Andalusian (Huelva, Sevilla), from blandón ‘wax torch’.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Valverde ‘green valley’.

English: patronymic from the Middle English personal name Hawkin, a diminutive of Hawk 1 with the Anglo-Norman French hypocoristic suffix -in. English: in the case of one family (see note below), this is a variant of Hawkinge, a habitational name from a place in Kent, so called from Old English Hafocing ‘hawk place’. Irish: sometimes used as an English equivalent of Gaelic Ó hEacháin (see Haughn).

Spanish: habitational name from places in the provinces of Santander and Navarra called Arce. Their name is a Castilianized spelling of Basque artze ‘stony place’ (from arri ‘stone’ + the suffix of abundance -tz(e)).

Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Gille Eathain, a patronymic from a personal name meaning ‘servant of (Saint) John’. The family bearing this name were chieftains in several islands of the Inner Hebrides. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Eóin, cognate with 1, from a different Gaelic form of Johannes (John). Compare McGlone.

Spanish (Véliz): variant of Vélez (see Velez).

Basque: habitational name from any of the places called Arrieta, for example in the provinces of Araba, Biscay, Gipuzkoa and Navarre, from Basque arri ‘stone’ + the suffix -eta ‘place or group of’.

Spanish and Italian: from the personal name Olivero (see Oliver). Catalan (Oliveró): topographic name, from a diminutive of oliver ‘olive tree’. Spanish: habitational name for someone from Oliva de la Frontera, in Badajoz province.

Spanish and Portuguese: from a personal name Dimas, supposedly that of the repentant robber crucified alongside Christ, although no name is recorded in the Biblical account.

Welsh: from the Old Welsh personal name Gruffudd, Old Welsh Grip(p)iud, composed of the elements grip, of uncertain significance, + iud ‘chief’, ‘lord’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: habitational name from Moya, in Cuenca, or from places so named Valencia, Lugo, and the Canaries. Catalan (Moyà): variant spelling of the habitational name from Moià in Barcelona province, named in Late Latin as Modianus ‘(estate) of Modius’ (a personal name derived from Latin modus ‘measure’).

Spanish: nickname from chamorro ‘shaven head’, used especially to denote a boy or Portuguese man.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish (Díez): variant of Díaz (see Diaz, Diego). German: variant spelling of Dietz.

mainly a topographic name for someone who lived in or by a wood or a metonymic occupational name for a woodcutter or forester, from Middle English wode ‘wood’ (Old English wudu). nickname for a mad, eccentric, or violent person, from Middle English wod ‘mad’, ‘frenzied’ (Old English wad), as in Adam le Wode, Worcestershire 1221.

habitational name from various places, for example Chipping (High) Barnet, East Barnet, and Friern Barnet in Greater London, named with Old English bærnet ‘place cleared by burning’ (a derivative of bærnan ‘to burn’, ‘to set light to’). from a medieval personal name, a variant of Bernard.

Spanish (Córdova): variant of Cordoba.

Spanish: habitational name from a place in Soria province.

Galician and Portuguese: nickname for a witty person, from salgado ‘salty’, figuratively ‘witty’, ‘piquant’ (from Late Latin salicatus, past participle of salicare ‘to give salt to’).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

Scottish: habitational name from any of the various places called Douglas from their situation on a river named with Gaelic dubh ‘dark’, ‘black’ + glas ‘stream’ (a derivative of glas ‘blue’). There are several localities in Scotland and Ireland so named, but the one from which the surname is derived in most if not all cases is 20 miles south of Glasgow, the original stronghold of the influential Douglas family and their retainers.

Spanish (Tristán): from the popular medieval personal name Tristán, derived from a British Celtic legend which became incorporated into the Arthurian cycle as the story of Tristan and Iseult. The name is of unknown derivation. It was transmitted through Old French and became associated by folk etymology with Latin tristis ‘sad’.

The Roman family of the Scipiones derived their name from the filial piety of a person who used to lead about his aged father, who was blind, and thus by metaphor became his staff (scipio.) Whether the English family can boast of a like honourable origin I know not.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish (Góngora) from Basque: habitational name from Basque Gongora, a place in the Aranguren valley in Navarre, Basque Country.

Spanish: topographic name for someone who lived by an orange grove, from Spanish naranjo ‘orange tree’ (from naranja ‘orange’, Arabic naránjya), or a habitational name from a place named Naranjo in A Coruña and Códoba provinces. (The word orange reached English from Spanish via Old French and Old Provençal, in which languages the initial n- had already been sporadically lost.)

Dutch, German, Danish, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a baker of bread, or brick and tiles, from backen ‘to bake’. English: occupational name for a maker or user of mattocks or pickaxes, from an agent derivative of Old English becca ‘mattock’.

Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Coinnich, patronymic from the personal name Coinneach meaning ‘comely’. Compare Menzies.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Portuguese (and Galician): habitational name from any of various places called Araújo: in Portugal, in Coimbra, Elvas, Estremoz, Lisbon, Moncorvo, Monsão, Serpa, Setúbal, and Villa Verde; also in Ourense, Galicia.

English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, etc.: from the Latin personal name Lucas (Greek Loukas) ‘man from Lucania’. Lucania is a region of southern Italy thought to have been named in ancient times with a word meaning ‘bright’ or ‘shining’. Compare Lucio. The Christian name owed its enormous popularity throughout Europe in the Middle Ages to St. Luke the Evangelist, hence the development of this surname and many vernacular derivatives in most of the languages of Europe. Compare Luke. This is also found as an Americanized form of Greek Loukas. Scottish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Lùcais (see McLucas).

Irish (of Anglo-Norman origin): habitational name from Burgh in Suffolk, England. This is named with Old English burh ‘fortification’, ‘fortified manor’. Norwegian: Americanized form of Børke, a habitational name from any of eight farms in southeastern Norway, named with Old Norse birki ‘birch wood’. German: variant of Burk.

Spanish: from a pet form of the nickname Gordo, from Spanish gordo ‘fat’ (Late Latin gurdus, of uncertain origin).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish (of Norman origin): name of a powerful Scottish clan, originally a habitational name from Saint-Clair-sur-Elle in La Manche or Saint-Clair-l’Évêque in Calvados, so called from the dedication of their churches to St. Clarus (see Clare 3). Jewish: Americanized form of some like-sounding Ashkenazic Jewish surname.

Scottish: regional name from Moray in northeastern Scotland, which is probably named with Old Celtic elements meaning ‘sea’ + ‘settlement’. Irish (southern Ulster): reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Muireadhaigh ‘descendant of Muireadhach’ (the name of several different families in various parts of Ireland), or a shortened form of McMurray. Irish: reduced form of MacIlmurray, Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Mhuire (see Gilmore).

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.

Spanish (also Portuguese): nickname from rico ‘rich’.

Scottish and northern English: patronymic from the personal name Steven. As a North American surname, it has assimilated some European cognates such as Stefan and Steffen and their derivatives.

Scottish and northern Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Pharthaláin, a patronymic from the personal name Parthalán, which is most probably from Latin Bartholomaeus (see Bartholomew).

Scottish, English, German, Dutch; also found in many other cultures: from the personal name Alexander, classical Greek Alexandros, which probably originally meant ‘repulser of men (i.e. of the enemy)’, from alexein ‘to repel’ + andros, genitive of aner ‘man’. Its popularity in the Middle Ages was due mainly to the Macedonian conqueror, Alexander the Great (356–323 bc)—or rather to the hero of the mythical versions of his exploits that gained currency in the so-called Alexander Romances. The name was also borne by various early Christian saints, including a patriarch of Alexandria (ad c.250–326), whose main achievement was condemning the Arian heresy. The Gaelic form of the personal name is Alasdair, which has given rise to a number of Scottish and Irish patronymic surnames, for example McAllister. Alexander is a common forename in Scotland, often representing an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name. In North America the form Alexander has absorbed many cases of cognate names from other languages, for example Spanish Alejandro, Italian Alessandro, Greek Alexandropoulos, Russian Aleksandr, etc. (For forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988.) It has also been adopted as a Jewish name.

Spanish (Cárcamo): from cárcavo ‘cooking pot’ (from Latin carcabus), hence probably a metonymic occupational name for a maker of such pots or for a cook.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Italian and Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places named with campo ‘field’, ‘country(side)’, a derivative of Latin campus ‘plain’. Possibly a respelling of French Campeau.

English and Jewish: patronymic from Samuel.

Spanish: nickname from donoso ‘graceful’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Variant of Welsh Gittings.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

French: variant of Record.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

Scottish: habitational name from a district in Ayrshire, first recorded in 1153 in the form Cunegan, a Celtic name of uncertain origin. The spellings in -ham, first recorded in 1180, and in -ynghame, first recorded in 1227, represent a gradual assimilation to the English place-name element -ingham. Irish: surname adopted from Scottish by bearers of Gaelic Ó Cuinneagáin ‘descendant of Cuinneagán’, a personal name from a double diminutive of the Old Irish personal name Conn meaning ‘leader’, ‘chief’.

Indian (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka): Hindu and Parsi name which goes back to an official title meaning ‘village headman’, p??tel in Gujarati, Marathi, and Kannada (where it is pa?tela). It comes ultimately from Sanskrit pa?t?takila ‘tenant of royal land’. Among the Indians in the U.S, it is the most common family name.

Spanish: from palomino ‘squab’, ‘young pigeon’, a derivative of paloma ‘dove’.

English: patronymic from Gibb.

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).

habitational name from any of the places named Salvatierra (literally ‘save land’). This is a widespread place name, denoting a place of strategic importance. Castilianized form of Galician Salvaterra or Aragonese Salbatierra, habitational names from places in Galicia and Aragon.

Spanish and Aragonese (of Basque origin): habitational name from any of the places in La Rioja, Aragon, and Basque Country named Navarrete, from Basque (spoken in all those areas in pre-Roman times) Nafarrete ‘plateau between two small valleys’, a derivative of naba (see Nava, Navarra).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English, northern Irish, and French: from Middle English, Old French beste ‘animal’, ‘beast’ (Latin bestia), applied either as a metonymic occupational name for someone who looked after beasts—a herdsman— or as a derogatory nickname for someone thought to resemble an animal, i.e. a violent, uncouth, or stupid man. It is unlikely that the name is derived from best, Old English betst, superlative of good. By far the most frequent spelling of the French surname is Beste, but it is likely that in North America this form has largely been assimilated to Best. German: from a short form of Sebastian.

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. Welsh Ap-Rice or Ap-Rees=son of Rice (q.v).'Item, geven to Harry ap-Rice', 1544: Privy Purse Exp., Princess Mary.Philip ap Rys. Calendarium Rotulorum Patentium in Turri Londinensi.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: habitational name from Llerena in Cáceres province.

Catalan (Miró): from the medieval personal name Mir, Mirone, of Germanic origin.

Spanish: habitational name from places in the provinces of Cantabria, Palencia, and Burgos named Olea, possibly from Basque ola ‘forge’, ‘ironworks’ + the definite article -a.

Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, and Galician: from parra ‘vine bower’, ‘trellis’, a topographic name or a habitational name from any of the places named with this word.

English: variant of Black 1, meaning ‘swarthy’ or ‘dark-haired’, from a byform of the Old English adjective blæc, blac ‘black’, with change of vowel length. English: nickname from Old English blac ‘wan’, ‘pale’, ‘white’, ‘fair’. In Middle English the two words blac and blac, with opposite meanings, fell together as Middle English blake. In the absence of independent evidence as to whether the person referred to was dark or fair, it is now impossible to tell which sense was originally meant. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Bláthmhaic ‘descendant of Bláthmhac’, a personal name from bláth ‘flower’, ‘blossom’, ‘fame’, ‘prosperity’ + mac ‘son’. In some instances, however, the Irish name is derived from Old English blæc ‘dark’, ‘swarthy’, as in 1 above. Many bearers are descended from Richard Caddell, nicknamed le blac, sheriff of Connacht in the early 14th century. The English name has been Gaelicized de Bláca.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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’.

Catalan: occupational name for a blacksmith or a worker in iron, from Latin ferrarius. This is the commonest Catalan surname. English: variant of Farrar.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: habitational name from any of the places so called, in southwestern Lancashire (now Merseyside), Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, and Devon, all of which are named from Old English preost ‘priest’ + cot ‘cottage’, ‘dwelling’. The surname is most common in Lancashire, and so it seems likely that the first of these places is the most frequent source. It is also present in Ireland, being recorded there first in the 15th century.

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname from lindo ‘lovely’.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Portillo, from the diminutive of puerto ‘mountain pass’, notably those in Valladolid, Soria, and Toledo.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish: habitational name from a place near Melrose in Roxburghshire. The place name is first recorded in 1144 in the form Mackeswell ‘Mack’s spring or stream (Old English well(a))’. Irish: this surname is common in Ulster, where it has sometimes been adopted as an alternative to Miskell. Jewish: arbitrary adoption of the Scottish name, or Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames.

Spanish and Italian: habitational name from any of the many places named with valle ‘valley’, or topographic name for someone who lived in a valley (Latin vallis). Norwegian: habitational name from any of several farmsteads so named, from Old Norse vollr ‘field’, ‘meadow’.

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.

Spanish: from the personal name Pablo, Spanish equivalent of Paul.

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Berold,' the French Berraud. This great surname appears as a personal name in Domesday: Baret, Yorkshire.Stephanus fil. Beroldi, Pipe Roll, 5 Henry II.Berard de Wattlesfeld, Suffolk, 1273.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

Welsh: from the personal name Hywel ‘eminent’, popular since the Middle Ages in particular in honor of the great 10th-century law-giving Welsh king. English: habitational name from Howell in Lincolnshire, so named from an Old English hugol ‘mound’, ‘hillock’ or hune ‘hoarhound’.

Spanish: nickname from macho ‘mule’, applied either to denote an idiot or alternatively a virile, strong man (Latin masculus). Spanish: possibly a nickname for a forceful person or a metonymic occupational name for a smith, from macho ‘sledgehammer’ (Latin marculus ‘hammer’). Hungarian (Macsó): from the old secular personal name Macsó. The spelling is either Americanized, or an archaic form. In 15th- and 16th-century documents the family name is recorded in the form Macho, in which form the name is also found in Slovakia.

English (Kent): variant of Parrish. French: variant of Paris 1.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: from the personal name Jaime, Spanish equivalent of James.

Basó, with an accent, is a false graphy for the Catalan, bessó, meaning 'twin'.

Chinese : variant of Feng 1. Chinese : variant of Feng 2. Chinese : variant of Feng 3. Chinese : variant of Feng 4.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: occupational name for a person who finished freshly woven cloth by passing it between heavy rollers to compress the weave. The English term for such a worker, calender, is from Old French calandrier, calandreur, from the verb calandrer. Scottish: variant spelling of Callander. Variant spelling of German Kalander (see Kolander).

English: status name from Middle English knyghte ‘knight’, Old English cniht ‘boy’, ‘youth’, ‘serving lad’. This word was used as a personal name before the Norman Conquest, and the surname may in part reflect a survival of this. It is also possible that in a few cases it represents a survival of the Old English sense into Middle English, as an occupational name for a domestic servant. In most cases, however, it clearly comes from the more exalted sense that the word achieved in the Middle Ages. In the feudal system introduced by the Normans the word was applied at first to a tenant bound to serve his lord as a mounted soldier. Hence it came to denote a man of some substance, since maintaining horses and armor was an expensive business. As feudal obligations became increasingly converted to monetary payments, the term lost its precise significance and came to denote an honorable estate conferred by the king on men of noble birth who had served him well. Knights in this last sense normally belonged to ancient noble families with distinguished family names of their own, so that the surname is more likely to have been applied to a servant in a knightly house or to someone who had played the part of a knight in a pageant or won the title in some contest of skill. Irish: part translation of Gaelic Mac an Ridire ‘son of the rider or knight’. See also McKnight.

Chinese : from a person named Liao Shu’an in ancient China, about whom nothing more is known.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Chinese : variant of Cai 1. Possibly an Americanized form of German Scheu.

A surname of Jewish descent, denotes a characteristic of the profession who performed some young people in the Middle Ages, called the garzoneria, its purpose was to serve their lords caballeros. The meaning is similar to that used in France: "Garçon" handsome young man but servant for example it is used to call the waiter.

Scottish and northern Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Aodha ‘son of Aodh’, an ancient personal name meaning ‘fire’. Etymologically, this is the same name as McCoy.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places in Toledo, Burgos, Cuenca, Soria, and Logroño called Quintanar, from a derivative of quintana ‘country house’ (see Quintana).

Hispanic or southern Italian: unexplained.

Spanish: habitational name from Cepeda in Salamanca province or Cepeda la Mora in Ávila province, named from cepeda, a collective of cepa ‘tree stump’, ‘stock’ (from Latin cippus ‘pillar’).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

topographic name for someone who lived by a hedgerow or in a row of houses built next to one another, from Middle English row (northern Middle English raw, from Old English raw). from the medieval personal name Row, a variant of Rou(l) (see Rollo, Rolf) or a short form of Rowland. English name adopted by bearers of French Baillargeon.

Spanish: from the personal name Llorente, vernacular form of Latin Florentius (see Florence).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: habitational name from a place now in Worcestershire (formerly in Gloucestershire) named Beckford, from the Old English byname Becca (see Beck 4) + Old English ford ‘ford’.

Spanish (D’Ávila): habitational name for someone from Ávila (see Avila). Galician and Portuguese (da Vila): topographic name for someone ‘from the village (vila)’.

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.

Spanish and Galician: habitational name from any of the places, mainly in Galicia, called Moscoso, named with an adjectival derivative of mosca ‘fly’, denoting a place where there were many flies.

Galician and Portuguese: habitational name from a place in Lugo province, Galicia. It is probably from a name recorded in Latin sources as Lemavos, apparently a derivative of the Celtic element lemos, limos ‘elm’.

Scottish: patronymic from the personal name Fergus.

English and Scottish: variant spelling of Low. German (Löwe): see Loewe. Jewish (Ashkenazic; Löwe): ornamental name from German Löwe ‘lion’. Jewish (Ashkenazic): Germanized form of Levy.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish and English: habitational name from Grantham in Lincolnshire, recorded in Domesday Book as Graham (as well as Grantham, Grandham, and Granham). See also Grantham.

Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Dhomhnuill, a patronymic from the personal name Domhnall, which is composed of the ancient Celtic elements domno- ‘world’ + val- ‘might’, ‘rule’.

Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese: habitational name from Oliva in Valencia, Santa Oliva in Girona, or possibly from any of the places in Extremadura named La Oliva, from Latin oliva ‘olive’. Italian (mainly southern and Ligurian): from Latin oliva ‘olive’; a topographic name for someone who lived by an olive tree or grove, or a metonymic occupational name for a gatherer or seller of olives or an extractor or seller of olive oil, or perhaps in some cases a nickname for someone with a sallow complexion. German: habitational name from Oliva, a place now in Gdansk voivodeship, Poland.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Portuguese and Galician: habitational name from any of the numerous places in Portugal and Galicia called Moreira, from moreira ‘mulberry tree’.

Spanish: unexplained.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

Spanish and Portuguese: from the personal name Francisco (see Francis).

English (mainly southern England and South Wales) and Irish: from the Old English personal name Hearding, originally a patronymic from Hard 1. The surname was first taken to Ireland in the 15th century, and more families of the name settled there 200 years later in Tipperary and surrounding counties. North German and Dutch: patronymic from a short form of any of the various Germanic compound personal names beginning with hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish (Céspedes): from the plural of cesped ‘peat’, ‘turf’ (Latin caespes, genitive caespitis), applied as a habitational name from a place named Céspedes (for example in Burgos province) or named with this word, or a topographic name for someone who lived by an area of peat, or possibly as a metonymic occupational name for someone who cut and sold turf.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English (Norfolk): variant spelling of Hansel. In some cases probably a respelling of Hansel 1 or 3.

Chinese : the origin of this name goes back 4500 years to a grandson of the legendary emperor Huang Di (2697–2595 bc), surnamed Hui. Hui invented bows and arrows, and was put in charge of their production. In honor of his deeds, he was given as surname the character pronounced Zhang, which is composed of the symbols for ‘bow’ and ‘long’, meaning to ‘stretch open a bow’. Zhang has now become one of the most common names in China. Chinese : from the name of an area called Zhang in present-day Shandong province. During the Western Zhou dynasty (1122–771 bc) a fief was made of this area. It was later conquered by the state of Qi; at that time the former rulers of conquered states were not allowed to take the name of their state as their surname. The former ruling class of Zhang fortunately were able to drop off a small portion of the character for Zhang and still leave another character also pronounced Zhang. This modified character became their surname.

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.

English (southern): patronymic either from the personal name Simon (see Simon) or, as Reaney and Wilson suggest, from the medieval personal name Simund (composed of Old Norse sig ‘victory’ + mundr ‘protection’), which after the Norman Conquest was taken as an equivalent Simon, with the result that the two names became confused.

Basque: from Basque Anaia, from anai ‘brother’ + the definite article (suffixed) -a. In Basque this was used both as a byname and as a personal name. Spanish: habitational name from either of two places called Anaya, in Salamanca and Segovia provinces. The place name is probably of Arabic origin.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Scottish, northern Irish, and English: topographic name for someone who lived by a wood, from Old French bois ‘wood’. English: patronymic from the Middle English nickname boy ‘lad’, ‘servant’, or possibly from an Old English personal name Boia, of uncertain origin. Examples such as Aluuinus Boi (Domesday Book) and Ivo le Boye (Lincolnshire 1232) support the view that it was a byname or even an occupational name; examples such as Stephanus filius Boie (Northumbria 1202) suggest that it was in use as a personal name in the Middle English period. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Buadhaigh (see Bogue). Anglicized spelling of French Bois, cognate with 1.

Southern English: topographic name for someone who lived in an area of downland (the rolling chalk hills of Sussex, Surrey, and Kent), from Old English dun ‘down’, ‘low hill’ (of Celtic origin) + the suffix -er, denoting an inhabitant. Dun is a common element of English place names. Irish: variant of Dooner 2.

English: patronymic from the personal name Roger.

Northern English: variant of Scottish Archibald. This form of the name is especially common in Northumberland.

English (common in Devon and Cornwall), Spanish (Julián), and German: from a personal name, Latin Iulianus, a derivative of Iulius (see Julius), which was borne by a number of early saints. In Middle English the name was borne in the same form by women, whence the modern girl’s name Gillian.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: habitational name from Camero (Camero Viejo, Camero Nuevo), a mountainous area in the Rioja region.

Galician, Asturian-Leonese, and Portuguese: habitational name from any of numerous places called Parada, predominantly in Galicia, but also in Asturies, Lleón, and northern Portugal.

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.

English: topographic name for someone who lived by a copse or thicket, Middle English s(c)hage, s(c)hawe (Old English sceaga), or a habitational name from any of the numerous minor places named with this word. The English surname was also established in Ireland in the 17th century. Scottish and Irish: adopted as an English form of any of various Gaelic surnames derived from the personal name Sitheach ‘wolf’. Americanized form of some like-sounding Ashkenazic Jewish surname. Chinese : variant of Shao.

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.

Chinese : from the name of the state of Liu, which was granted to a descendant of the model emperor Yao (2357–2257 bc). Chinese : variant of Liao. Chinese : from the name of an area called Liu Xia in the state of Lu (in present-day Shanxi province). During the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 bc), this was granted to a counselor famous for his high moral character. His descendants adopted the name of this area as their surname.

Spanish: nickname from abad ‘priest’ (from Late Latin abbas ‘priest’, genitive abbatis, from the Aramaic word meaning ‘father’). The application is uncertain: it could be a nickname, an occupational name for the servant of a priest, or denote an (illegitimate) son of a priest. Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ?Abbad ‘devoted worshiper’ or ‘servant’. The banu (tribe) ?Abbad claims descent from the ancient Lakhmid kings of al-?Hirah. The founder of the ?Abbadids of Seville was Muhammad bin ?Abbad (1023–42), whose son ?Abbad succeeded his father as chamberlain to the pretended khalif, but was soon ruling in his own right under the honorific title al-Muta??did ‘petitioner for justice (from Allah)’.

English, French, and German: from the personal name Austin, a vernacular form of Latin Augustinus, a derivative of Augustus. This was an extremely common personal name in every part of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, owing its popularity chiefly to St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430), whose influence on Christianity is generally considered to be second only to that of St. Paul. Various religious orders came to be formed following rules named in his honor, including the ‘Austin canons’, established in the 11th century, and the ‘Austin friars’, a mendicant order dating from the 13th century. The popularity of the personal name in England was further increased by the fact that it was borne by St. Augustine of Canterbury (died c. 605), an Italian Benedictine monk known as ‘the Apostle of the English’, who brought Christianity to England in 597 and founded the see of Canterbury. German: from a reduced form of the personal name Augustin.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish: habitational name probably from Escalona in Toledo province; otherwise from Escalona del Prado in Soria.

Scottish and northern English: from Middle English belle ‘bell’, in various applications; most probably a metonymic occupational name for a bell ringer or bell maker, or a topographic name for someone living ‘at the bell’ (as attested by 14th-century forms such as John atte Belle). This indicates either residence by an actual bell (e.g. a town’s bell in a bell tower, centrally placed to summon meetings, sound the alarm, etc.) or ‘at the sign of the bell’, i.e. a house or inn sign (although surnames derived from house and inn signs are rare in Scots and English). Scottish and northern English: from the medieval personal name Bel. As a man’s name this is from Old French beu, bel ‘handsome’, which was also used as a nickname. As a female name it represents a short form of Isobel, a form of Elizabeth. Scottish: Americanized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Mhaoil ‘son of the servant of the devotee’ (see Mullen 1). Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames. Norwegian: habitational name from a farmstead in western Norway named Bell, the origin of which is unexplained. Scandinavian: of English or German origin; in German as a habitational name for someone from Bell in Rhineland, Germany, or possibly from Belle in Westphalia. Americanized spelling of German Böhl or Böll (see Boehle, Boll).

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: patronymic from a pet form of Daw 1.

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname from Spanish and Portuguese lobo ‘wolf’ (Latin lupus). This name is also found in western India, where it was taken by Portuguese colonists.

Spanish and Portuguese: from Spanish and Portuguese amor ‘love’, used to denote an illegitimate child, also as a nickname for a philanderer. Spanish, Portuguese, and English: from the medieval personal name Amor (Latin amor ‘love’), which was popular in Spain, Italy, and France, and introduced into England by the Normans. There was a St. Amor, of obscure history and unknown date, whose relics were preserved and venerated at the village of St. Amour in Burgundy.

Scottish and northern English: patronymic from a pet form of Pate, a short form of Patrick. Irish: in Ulster of English or Scottish origin; in County Galway, a surname taken by bearers of Gaelic Ó Caisín ‘descendant of the little curly-headed one’ (from Gaelic casán), which is usually Anglicized as Cussane.

Spanish: possibly a variant of Cosio.

Parishes, &c. in cos. Kent, Somerset, and Sussex.

Spanish (Alcázar): habitational name from any of various places, for example in the provinces of Ciudad Real, Cuenca, and Granada, named with the word alcázar ‘citadel’ or ‘palace’ (from Arabic al ‘the’ + qa?sr ‘fortress’, a borrowing of Latin castrum; compare Castro).

English: habitational name from Worrall in South Yorkshire, named with Old English wir ‘bog myrtle’ + halh ‘nook’, ‘recess’. The Wirral peninsula in Cheshire has the same origin and may well be the source of the surname in some cases.

Basque: Castilianized variant of Basque Zaldibar, a habitational name from a place so named in Biscay province. The place name is of uncertain derivation: it may be from zaldu ‘wood’, ‘copse’ or from zaldi ‘horse’ + ibar ‘water meadow’, ‘fertile plain’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

English: occupational name for a dresser of cloth, Old English fullere (from Latin fullo, with the addition of the English agent suffix). The Middle English successor of this word had also been reinforced by Old French fouleor, foleur, of similar origin. The work of the fuller was to scour and thicken the raw cloth by beating and trampling it in water. This surname is found mostly in southeast England and East Anglia. See also Tucker and Walker. In a few cases the name may be of German origin with the same form and meaning as 1 (from Latin fullare). Americanized version of French Fournier.

English: patronymic from Hind. Irish: variant of Heyne.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Chinese : from the name of the ancient state of Wu in what is now Jiangsu province. In the 13th century bc, the state of Zhou was ruled by Tai Wang, who had three sons: Tai Bo, Zhong Yong, and Ji Li. The eldest sons, Tai Bo and Zhong Yong, believing that their father wished the youngest son, Ji Li, to inherit the reins of power, left the Zhou homeland with a group of followers and traveled southeastward to east-central China, where they established the state of Wu. Their descendants eventually adopted Wu as their surname. Ji Li stayed on to rule the Zhou and became the father of the famed virtuous duke Wu Wang, to whom those named Zhou (see Chow) trace their ancestry. Thus, the surnames Wu and Zhou are traced to the same ancestor, Tai Wang. Chinese : Cantonese variant of Hu. Chinese : from the name of Ji Wu, a son of Ping Wang (770–719 bc), the first king of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. His descendants adopted the given name Wu as their surname. Chinese : from the name of Wu Can, an official of the state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 bc). At one time, the states of Chu and Jin were at war. The general of Chu viewed the strong position of the Jin and recommended retreat. However, a minor official, Wu Can, performed an analysis of the situation which concluded that an attack would be better. The prince of Chu agreed with Wu Can, which resulted in a victory over the Jin. Wu Can then became a senior official and used part of his given name, Wu, as his new surname. Chinese : from the name of Wu Peng, doctor of the legendary emperor Huang Di (2697–2595 bc).

French and English: from the Old French, Norman, and Middle English personal name A(i)llard. This is of Germanic origin, being found in the continental form Adelard and in Old English as Æ{dh}elheard, both meaning ‘noble hardy’.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

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.

The meaning of this surname is not listed.

Spanish, Portuguese, and French: from the personal name Cosmé (see Cosma).

Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Huerta, from huerta ‘vegetable garden’ (Latin hortus). This is also a Sephardic Jewish surname.

English: occupational name for a watchman or guard, from Old English weard ‘guard’ (used as both an agent noun and an abstract noun). Irish: reduced form of McWard, an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Bhaird ‘son of the poet’. The surname occurs throughout Ireland, where three different branches of the family are known as professional poets. Surname adopted by bearers of the Jewish surname Warshawski, Warshawsky or some other Jewish name bearing some similarity to the English name. Americanized form of French Guerin.