Pascal

en-proper noun

Pascal (countable and uncountable, plural Pascals)

From Latin Paschālis, from paschālis (“Paschal; of or pertaining to Easter”), from pascha (“Easter”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives), for birth on Easter, or in honor of the 9th-century pope Paschal I (died 824). Doublet of Paschal. The programming language was named after French mathematician, philosopher and physicist Blaise Pascal (1623–1662).

(countable) A surname transferred from the given name.

The French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal (1623–1662).


Route

Borrowed from French Route, or a variant spelling of Routt.


Parma

Borrowed from Italian Parma, from Latin Parma, from Etruscan.


Rein

* As a German surname, borrowed from German Rein, comparable to the first element of several surnames such as Reinhardt, Reinbold, etc., from Proto-Germanic *raginą.
* As an English surname, variant of Rain. Possibly also a habitational surname related to Rhine.


Pula

Various origins:
* Borrowed from Polish Pula, perhaps a nickname from pula (“shirttail, coattail”) or from pola (“tasteless soup”).
* Borrowed from Italian Pula, a variant of Pola.
* Borrowed from Telugu పులా (pulā). This surname is predominantly found in Andhra Pradesh.


Rice

Rice (countable and uncountable, plural Rices)

* As a Welsh surname, borrowed from Welsh Rhys, an Anglicization. Compare Reese, Price, and Preece.
* As an English surname, from Old English hris (“brushwood, shrubbery”).
* Also as an English surname, from a nickname through Middle English and Anglo-Norman from French ris (“smile, laughter”).
* Also as an occupational English surname, from the noun rice.
* As as German surname, Americanized from Reis (“shoot, twig”), related to the Old English word above. Compare Ries.

der

A surname from Welsh [in turn originating as a patronymic].


Rob

(rare compared to the pet form) A surname transferred from the given name, derived from Robert.


Reading

From Old English Rēadingas, the name of a tribe or clan of early Anglo-Saxon England whose capital was at Reading.


Bible

From a Middle English diminutive of the given name Isabel.


Shah

Two main origins:
* Borrowed from Persian شاه (“shah, king”), a Persian surname which is widespread in Iran and in the subcontinent.
* Borrowed from Gujarati સાહ (sāh, “merchant”), an occupational surname from Sanskrit साधु (sādhu, “merchant; jeweller; money-lender”).


Kim

Centring on the tension between the Kims, a basement-dwelling family of “dirt spoons” in Seoul, and the Parks, a family at the opposite end of the social spectrum, Parasite’s plot is predicated on the widening gap between the haves and the have nots in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.

2020 February 16, Justin McCurry, Nemo Kim, “Parasite: how Oscar triumph has exposed South Korea’s social divide”, in The Observer:


Ring

A surname originating as an occupation for a maker of rings as jewelry or as in harness.


Sage

en-proper-noun

Sage (countable and uncountable, plural Sages)

* As an English and French surname, from sage, a nickname for a wise person. The given name, in general use since the 1990s, is also associated with the sage plant. Compare Desage, Lesage.
* As an Irish surname, variant of Savage.
* As a German surname, from a placename derived from the noun sege (“sedge”) (see sedge).

A surname transferred from the nickname.


Lea

An English surname from Middle English, a variant of Lee.


Benjamin

en-proper noun

Benjamin (countable and uncountable, plural Benjamins)

From Late Latin Benjamin, from Ancient Greek Βενιαμίν (Beniamín), from Biblical Hebrew בִּנְיָמִין (binyamīn, literally “son of the right/south or son of days”). Authorities differ on the meaning of the original Hebrew. Philo of Alexandria, the Samaritan Pentateuch The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs and Midrash Leḳaḥ-Ṭob understand יָמִין to mean "days" (a meaning attested in Daniel 12:13) understanding the name to mean "son of days (i.e. old age)" (compare to the direct translations into Arabic بِنْ يَومِين (bin yawmīn) "son of the days" and Arabic بِنْ يَمِين (bin yamīn) "son of the right hand"), a formula paraphrased in Genesis 40:22 where Benjamin is described as a child of Jacob's old age. Rashi in his commentary on Genesis also gives this as a possible meaning but favors an understanding of יָמִין to mean "right" in the sense of "the south", noting that Benjamin was the only son of Jacob born in the south. Jerome understood the name to mean "son of the right hand" and Gesenius speculated that this expression might have meant "son of good fortune".

cog

بِنْ يَومِين

Arabic بِنْ يَومِين

A surname transferred from the given name.


Moor

An English surname transferred from the given name.


Rush

en-proper noun

Rush (countable and uncountable, plural Rushs or Rushes)

* As an English surname, from the noun rush (“waterside plant, plant in marshes”).
* Also as an English surname, from the archaic noun rush (“beehive”), from French ruche.
* As an Irish surname, from Ó Ruis (“descendant of Ros”), a name from ros (“wood”). Sometimes also translated from Ó Luachra due to confusion with luachair (“rushes”), see Loughrey.
* Also as an Irish surname, translated/Anglicized from Ó Fuada (“descendant of Fuada”), compare Foody, from the noun fuad (“haste”).
* As a German surname, Americanized from Rüsch, Ruesch, Rusch.

An English surname originating as an occupation for someone who made things from rushes.


Shaw

Shaw (countable and uncountable, plural Shaws)

→ Translingual: shawii

An English topographic surname for someone who lived by a small wood or copse.


Silver

As a surname, anglicised from the German Jewish ornamental surname Silber.

An English surname originating as an occupation for a silversmith or a rich man, or for someone having silvery gray hair or living by a silvery brook.


Ruse

* As an English surname, variant of Rouse, Rowse.
* As a German surname, variant of Reuss, Reusse.
* As a Czech surname, Americanized from Rus (“Russian”).


Rauch

Possibly from German Rauch ("smoke, fume")?


Sisko

Borrowed from Serbo-Croatian Šiško or Slovene Šiško.


Som

Two main origins:
* Borrowed from Khmer សោម (saom), a surname of unclear origin.
* Borrowed from Bengali সোম (śōm), a Hindu surname from Sanskrit सोम (soma, “moon”).


Speed

From Middle English sped (“good fortune”).


Ralph

From Middle English Radulf, from Old English Rǣdwulf (also as Raulf), from Proto-West Germanic *Rādawulf, from Proto-Germanic *Rēdawulfaz. Reinforced by similar forms brought to England, e.g. Old Norse Ráðúlfr, then in the Norman form Old French Radulf, Radulph. For the sense relating to vomiting, see ralph.

talk to Ralph on the big white telephone


Recht

From Scots or Dutch wrecht (“worker”), both cognate to English Wright and ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *wurhtijō. See below for German derivation.


Spruce

For Prussia, an alteration of Pruce; see that entry and spruce for more.


Starling

When we had all laughed and applauded till we were faint, Starling, not to be outdone, favoured us with a more modern saltatory entertainment in the Lancashire clog manner — to the best of my belief, the longest dance ever performed […]

1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House:

An English surname transferred from the nickname from a nickname for a gregarious person.


Sitar

Borrowed from Slovene Sitar, Czech Sitař and Slovak Sitár, occupational surname from síto (“sieve, net”).


Span

* As a Slovene surname, from župan (“head of a district”), from župa (“district”); compare Zupan.
* As a German surname, variant of Spahn; also Spann.
* As a Jewish surname from Span (“chip”) (probably through Yiddish).


Skala

Borrowed from Czech Skála and Polish Skała.


Ruby

The female name derives from ruby in the 19th century.


Otto

en-prop

Otto (countable and uncountable, plural Ottos or Ottoes)

Translingual: Ottoia, Ottoiidae

From German Otto, from Old High German, short form of compound names beginning with Proto-West Germanic *aud, from Proto-Germanic *audaz (“wealth, riches”) (cognate of English Ed- in Edgar, Edmund, Edward, Edith, etc.).


Steward

en-proper noun

Steward (countable and uncountable, plural Stewards)

An English surname originating as an occupation, a variant of Stewart.


Madeira

From Portuguese Madeira, from Portuguese madeira (“wood”), from Latin materia, from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr (“mother”). Doublet of matter.


Post

Post (countable and uncountable, plural Posts)


Roe

Roe (countable and uncountable, plural Roes)

From a Middle English nickname meaning a roe.


Rock

* As an English surname, from the noun rock. Compare Roach.
* Also as an English surname, misdivision of Middle English atter oke (“at the oak”). Compare Nock.
* As an English occupational surname, from Old Norse rokkr (“distaff”). Compare Rocker.
* As an Irish surname, translated from names like Mac Conchairge (“son of the hound of the rock”), from cú + carraig, see also McHarg.
* As a German surname Röck, variant of the personal name Rocco, see Roche.
* Also as a German surname, from the noun Rock (“skirt gown”).
* As a French surname, shortened from Roquebrune, Rocquebrune (see Rocque) or Larock.
Compare Roch.

A topographic surname from Middle English for someone living near a rock or an oak ( atter + oke ).


Southern

English surname, from the adjective southern. Often used as a northern English nickname for someone from the south of the country, or as a Scottish nickname for an Englishman.


Spike

From spike, perhaps a nickname for a tall, thin person.


Kaiser

Inherited from Middle English kayser, from Old High German keisar (“emperor”), from Proto-West Germanic *kaisar, from Proto-Germanic *kaisaraz. The native Old English descendant of that Proto-Germanic word was cāser (“emperor”), but the shape of Middle English kayser (“emperor”) (versus the expected *caser, *coser) suggests it was borrowed from another Germanic language rather than inherited, and the modern English spelling and sense seem to be modified after modern German rather than a direct continuation of Middle English. Compare tsar, which was borrowed from Slavic.
Doublet of Caesar and tsar.


Ng

From various Chinese surnames, including:
* Hokkien 黃／黄 (N̂g)
* Cantonese 吳／吴 (ng⁴) and 伍 (ng⁵)
The Philippine pronunciation is influenced by Tagalog ng.

A surname from Chinese.
A surname from Hokkien

A surname from Chinese.
A surname from Cantonese


Mann

As a German surname, from the root of man.


Speck

* As a German surname, from the noun Speck (“bacon”).
* As an English surname, variant of Speake, and perhaps a variant of Peck with an initial -s.


Swift

A surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname for a swift or quick person.


South

South (countable and uncountable, plural Souths)

English surname, from the adjective south. Compare Southern.


Prince

Prince (countable and uncountable, plural Princes)

A surname transferred from the nickname for someone who acted like a prince, or played the part in a pageant, or served in the household of a prince.


Oz

A surname from Turkish, notable borne by Dr. Oz


Pass

* As an English surname, from a pet form of the medieval name Passe, itself probably a pet form of Pascal.
* As a German surname, from the noun Pass (“pass, passageway”).
* As a Jewish surname, from Polish pas (“belt, girdle”).
* Also as an English surname, from Middle English passe, referring to passages. Compare Passage.


Taff

* As an Irish and Welsh surname, variant of Taaffe.
* The river is from Welsh Taf


Phoenix

From Latin phoenīx, from Ancient Greek φοῖνῐξ (phoînix), Φοῖνῐξ (Phoînix).


Ray

* As an English surname, from pet forms derived from the root of Raymond.
* Also as an English surname, from Old French rei (“king”). Compare Roy, King.
* Also as an English surname, from Old English rā (“roe deer”). Compare Roe.
* Also as an English surname, variant of Wray and Rye.
* As a Scottish Gaelic surname, shortened from McRae.
* As a French surname, from the verb raier (“to gush out, flow, radiate”). Compare Leray.
* As a Polish and Slovene surname, Americanized from Raj, from raj (“paradise”).
* As an Indian surname, variant of Rai.


Teach

A surname. Most commonly associated with the pirate Blackbeard, who gave his real name as Edward Teach, Thatch, or Tack.


Terry

A surname originating as a patronymic from the medieval Norman given name Thierry, a cognate of the English Derek.


Start

Topographic surname, from Old English steort (“tail, promontory”).


Nice

From French Nice, from Latin Nīcaea, from Ancient Greek Νῑ́καια (Nī́kaia), named for a 4th-century BC victory of its colonizing Phocaean Greeks over local Ligurians, probably the Vediantii, from νῑ́κη (nī́kē, “victory”) + -ῐᾰ (-ia, “-ia: forming place names”). Doublet of Iznik and Nicaea.

A surname. (pronounced /ni:s/ or /naɪs/)


Tanner

A surname originating as an occupation for a tanner.


Thorpe

Thorpe (usually uncountable, plural Thorpes)

Various places in England, from Old English þorp. See also thorpe.

A common habitational surname from Old English.


Son

As a surname, from:
*Korean 손 (son)
*Khmer ស៊ន (sɔɔn) or Khmer សឺន (səɨn)


To

Borrowed from Cantonese 杜 (dou6), 陶 (tou4), 塗／涂 (tou4), 屠 (tou4), etc.


Stan

Stan (countable and uncountable, plural Stans)


Tine

Various origins:
* Borrowed from Italian Tinè, a surname predominantly found in Sicily.
* An English surname, variant of Tyne.
* An Americanized spelling of the German surname Thein.


Spur

English surname, variant of Spurr. Compare the noun spur.

An occupational surname from Middle English


Single

From Old English sengel (“brushwood; burnt clearing”), a topographic surname for someone who lived by a brushwood.


Sten

From North Germanic (Danish Sten, Swedish Sten, Norwegian Sten).

A surname from the North Germanic languages, equivalent to English Stone, equivalent of Peter or Peters (Petros - stone, rock)


Tucker

en-proper noun

Tucker (countable and uncountable, plural Tuckers)

A south-western English surname originating as an occupation; equivalent to Fuller.


Swan

Swan (countable and uncountable, plural Swans)

From swan, the bird.
* (surname): An English nickname from the swan bird.

A surname transferred from the nickname.


Salina

Borrowed from Spanish and Italian Salina.


Tango

Two main origins:
* Borrowed from Italian Tango, probably a patronymic surname from a Germanic personal name.
* Borrowed from Japanese 丹後 (Tango), the name of an old province of central Japan.


Sy

Philippine Hokkien
Philippine Spanish
Seyfert galaxies

From Philippine Spanish Sy, from Philippine Hokkien 施 (Si). Doublet of See, Sze, Siy, and Shi.

A Chinese Filipino surname from Spanish [in turn from Hokkien]


Tilly

Habitational surname from places in France named Tilly, brought to England by the Normans. The surname may also have other origins, including a matronymic from Matilda.


Strand

Strand (countable and uncountable, plural Strands)

So called after the north strand (i.e. shore) of the river Thames.


Singer

The sewing machines were named after the company founder, I. M. Singer.


Toby

The Middle English vernacular form of Tobias.


Trunk

Borrowed from German Trunk, also a Jewish Ashkenazi surname.


Tan

From Hokkien 陳／陈 (Tân). Doublet of Chen.


Rand

From Afrikaans, from English rand; compare English rand.


Wilde

A surname from Middle English. A variant of Wild.


Wen

A common surname from Chinese of east Asian derivation.


Vince

An English surname originating as a patronymic.


Trias

Borrowed from Catalan Trias. This surname is mostly found in Venezuela.


Wile

From Middle English wile, an occupational surname for a trapper or a nickname for a wily person.


Thorn

A topographic surname from Middle English for someone living near a thorn bush.


Till

Till (countable and uncountable, plural Tills)

* As an English surname, reduced from a pet form of Matilda.
* As a north German surname, spelling variant of Thiel.


Martin

Martin (countable and uncountable, plural Martins)

From Middle English Martin, from Latin Mārtīnus (“of or like Mars” or “little Mars”), Mārs, Mārtis + -īnus (diminutive suffix). See Mārs for further etymology.

af

A surname
A surname originating as a patronymic.

An English habitational surname from Middle English for someone who lived near a mere.


Wild

A surname from Middle English originally referring to a wild person, or for someone living in uncultivated land.


Steen

* As a general Germanic surname, from Dutch Steen, West Flemish van der steen, Danish Steen, Swedish Steen, Norwegian Steen. Doublet of Stone and Stein. Compare Staines.
* As a Scottish surname, shortened from Stephen.
* As an Irish and Scottish Gaelic surname, shortened from mac Stiamhna (“son of Stephen”), usually Anglicized as McStephen, McStein.

A surname from Germanic, equivalent to English Stone, equivalent of Peter or Peters (Petros - stone, rock)


Woods

en-proper noun

Woods (countable and uncountable, plural Woodses)

A topographic surname from Middle English, variant of Wood. Possibly patronymic.


Jack

Jack (countable and uncountable, plural Jacks)

→ Danish: Jack

→ Swedish: Jack

From Middle English Jackin, Jankin, a popular pet form of John; rarely also an anglicized form of French Jacques (equivalent of Jacob and James). It can be also used as nickname for Jacob. Though the name was originally a pet form, it has become more of an independent name. Equivalent to John + -kin, Jake or Jacques. See also Middle French Hennequin, Jannequin and Middle Dutch Janneken.


Ware

Ware (countable and uncountable, plural Wares)


Star

* As a German and Jewish surname, from Star (“starling”).
* Also as a German and Jewish surname, semantic loan from German Stern (“star”).
* As a Dutch surname, from star (“stiff, rigid”).
* As a Slovene surname, from star (“old”).
* As an English given name, from star, sometimes originating as a nickname.


Uno

Borrowed from Japanese 宇野 (Uno) or うの (Uno).


Tower

en-proper noun

Tower (countable and uncountable, plural Towers)

(countable) A habitational surname.; Alternative form of Towers


Zar

Borrowed both from Czech Žár and Arabic زر.


Wright

Wright (countable and uncountable, plural Wrights)

Translingual: Wright Mons

English and Scottish occupational surname, from the archaic noun wright (“builder, maker”). Found as the second element of compounds such as Wainwright, Cartwright, etc.

A British surname originating as an occupation from a maker of machinery; found in many combinations such as Cartwright.

An American surname from French; also a confused anglicization of the French le droit.


Whetstone

The benchmark is named after the Whetstone compiler built at a English Electric Company division in Whetstone, Leicestershire.


Stare

Fredrick John Stare (1910–2002), American nutritionist

Ward Stare (born 1982), American conductor


Turner

Turner (countable and uncountable, plural Turners)

From Middle English Turner, Turnur, Turnure, Turnour, from Middle English turner, turnare, tornere, an occupational surname for a turner or tumbler.

An English and Scottish surname originating as an occupation.


Toon

(in Newcastle) Geordie pronunciation spelling of town.


Stock

Stock (countable and uncountable, plural Stocks)


Ye

Romanization of the Chinese surname 葉／叶 (Yè).


Ward

Ward (countable and uncountable, plural Wards)

* As an English surname, from the noun ward and related cognates such as warden, guard etc.
* As an Irish surname, reduced from McWard, from mac an bard (“son of the poet”).
* As a Jewish surname, adapted from Warshawski, named after Warsaw. Comparable to Warszawski.
* As a French surname, Americanized from Guerin.

(countable) An English surname originating as an occupation for a guard or watchman.


Wood

Wood (countable and uncountable, plural Woods)

A surname originating as an occupation for a woodsman.


Walker

Walker (countable and uncountable, plural Walkers)

A northern English surname originating as an occupation from the occupation of treating cloth by "walking" it.


Wang

* Borrowed from Manipuri ꯋꯥꯡ (waang)
* (Chinese surname): From Mandarin 王 (Wáng) or 汪 (Wāng). Doublet of Wong and Vuong
** As a Korean surname, from 왕 (wang), from the above.
* (Danish surname): From Danish Vang
* As a German and Dutch surname, from wang (“cheek”) and obsolete derivatives of Proto-Germanic *wangaz (“field, meadow”).
* As a Jewish surname, from the German sense, and also a nickname for someone from Hungary (compare Russian Венгрия (Vengrija)).
* As a North Germanic surname, spelling variant of Vang.

der

A surname from Chinese, derived from a common Chinese surname.

A surname from Danish; variation of Vang.


Young

en-proper noun

Young (countable and uncountable, plural Youngs)

* As an English, Scottish, and northern Irish surname, from the adjective young, used to distinguish a younger brother or son. This sense is comparable to the surnames le Yunge, German Jong and Junk, Dutch Jong and de Jongh, French Lejeune and LaJeunesse, assimilated from Dion and Guyon.
* As a Chinese surname, from the following:
** Cantonese 楊／杨 (joeng⁴). Doublet of Yeung.
** Hokkien 楊／杨 (iông / iâng). Doublet of Yu, Yeo, Yeoh.
** Mandarin 楊／杨 (yáng). Doublet of Yang.

A British distinguishing surname transferred from the nickname for the younger of two people having the same given name.

A surname.
A surname from Chinese.
A Chinese surname from Cantonese.

A surname.
A surname from Chinese.
A Chinese surname from Hokkien.

A surname.
A surname from Chinese.
A Chinese surname from Mandarin.


Tai

From Mandarin 戴 (Dài) Wade–Giles romanization: Tai⁴, Cantonese: daai³.

The company on Nov. 3 last year asked an employee surnamed Tai (戴) to deliver 10 barrels of silane — a flammable alkaline substance — from Pingtung County’s Chaojhou Township (潮州) to Sinyuan Township (新園) without telling him what the cargo would be, Tseng said at a news conference on behalf of Tai, adding that the company did not even have a license to deliver the dangerous substance.

2017 November 7, Lin Chia-nan, “Kerry logistics accused of work-related injury cover-up”, in Taipei Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2017-11-06, Taiwan News, page 3:

Katherine Tai, President Biden’s pick for United States trade representative, promised lawmakers during her confirmation hearing on Thursday that she would work with Congress to help reinvigorate the economy and aggressively enforce American trade rules against China, Mexico and other trading partners.
Ms. Tai, in testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, said her background challenging China’s unfair trade practices in the Obama administration had given her knowledge of “the opportunities and limitations in our existing toolbox.”

2021 February 25, Ana Swanson, “Biden’s Pick for Trade Representative Promises Break With Past Policy”, in The New York Times, sourced from Washington, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-02-28, Economy:


Violet

A 19th century flower name from violet, sometimes as an anglicisation of the earlier French Violette.


White

White (countable and uncountable, plural Whites)

* As an English surname, from Middle English White, as a nickname for someone with white hair or pale complexion; in some cases from a personal name of the same meaning. See the modern adjective white.
* Also as an English surname, from Old English *wiht (“bend”), found only in placenames, a derivative of the verb wican (“to yield, bend”); compare Wight.
* As a Scottish Gaelic and Irish surname, used as a translation of several Gaelic names containing the element bán and geal, including Mac Giolla bháin (McElwain, Kilbane), Ó Gealagáin (Galligan), Bán (Bane), and Ó Banáin (Bannon).
* Also as a Scottish and Irish surname, an Anglicization of Irish de Faoite, itself from Anglo-Norman le White, le Whyte, from the same source as the English surname.

White (disambiguation)#Places in the United States

A common British and Irish surname transferred from the nickname.


Smith

Smith (countable and uncountable, plural Smiths)

⇒ Translingual: smithi, smithii

From smith or Middle English Smith (“a surname”), alternative form of Smyth, itself from smyth (“smith”). Doublet of Schmidt, Smid, and Smit.

Nallbani

surnames derived from the equivalents of “smith”

Patingham selmonger, who, as it was reported, reneuced the Arians opinion before he dyed. The xvi. daye were burned [at the stake], at Staines. Robert Smith[,] painter, who in the tyme of his imprisonment, wrate byuers thinges in Metre, which were after put in print. At Stortford Stephan Harwoode Alebruer. And at Ware Thomas Fuſſe Jerkenmaker.

1559, Thomas Lanquet, Thomas Cooper, Robert Crowley, An Epitome of Cronicles, London: Thomas Marshe:

This ſyſtem, as it was much eſteemed by many antient fathers of the chriſtian church, ſo after the reformation it was adopted by feveral divines of the moſt eminent piety and learning and of the moſt amiable manners; particularly, by Dr. Ralph Cudworth, by Dr. Henry More, and by Mr. John Smith of Cambridge.

1759, Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, pages 360–361:

John is a most excellent name, and Smith is a surname which is worthy of respect and honor, but wo to the man on whom they are conjoined! For John Smith to aspire to senatorial dignities or to the laurel of a poet is simply ridiculous. Who is John Smith? He is lost in the multitude of John Smiths, and individual fame is impossible.

1852 August 14, D. H. Jacques, “A Chapter on Names”, in The Knickerbocker, or, New-York Monthly Magazine, volume XL, page 114:

[Smith is] Common to every village in England, north, south, east, and west. There are 300,000 Smiths in England.

1901, Charles Wareing Bardsley, “Smith”, in A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances, London: Henry Frowde, page 699:

Clearly the more numerous the holders of a surname, the more likely it is to be polygenic – that is, having arisen in many different places. In no case discovered, however, is a name evenly distributed among the population, though Smith comes close to it.

2024, Colin Rogers, The Surname Detective: Investigating Surname Distribution in England Since 1086, Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 71:

An English surname originating as an occupation (the most common in Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand).


Robin

* (masculine given name): From Middle English Robin, from Old French, diminutive of Robert
* (feminine given name): From the bird, robin
* (given name): From Germanic

(rare compared to given name) A surname originating as a patronymic.


Tee

From Hokkien 鄭／郑 (Tīⁿ). Doublet of Chung.


Stern

* As a German and Jewish surname, from the noun Stern (“star”). This was also borrowed into various Slavic languages such as Serbo-Crotian and Slovenian.
* As an English surname, from the adjective stern.


Roger

From Old French Rogier, from the Frankish equivalent of Old English Hrōþgār (see Hroðgar), from Proto-Germanic *Hrōþigaizaz (“fame-spear”). Compare also Rutger.


Wand

Various origins:
* A nickname for a shy or short-sighted person, from Old English wand (“mole”).
* Borrowed from German Wand, a metonymic occupational surname for a weaver or cloth cutter, from Middle High German gewant (“cloth, garment”) (representing modern Gewand (“garment”)).
* Borrowed from Dutch Wand, a metonymic occupational surname for a glove maker, from Middle Dutch want (“glove”).


Piers

A Middle English vernacular form of Peter, from Old French Piers, from Latin Petrus. Doublet of Pedro, Peter, and Boutros.

A surname transferred from the given name.


Warren

en-prop

Warren (countable and uncountable, plural Warrens)

From the Anglo-Norman surname (de) Warenne, a reference to a place called Varenne, a hamlet near Arques-la-Bataille, along the river Varenne in Normandy, from Medieval Latin Warinna, a hydronym of Celtic/Gaulish origin, from *var-, *ver- (“river, water”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wer- (“water, rain, flow”); see also the Latin river Avara. Phonetic Germanic influence is shown by the [v] > [w].


Virgin

From virgin, q.v. The sense of Mary, mother of Jesus, comes from the Christian belief in Jesus's virgin birth and Mary's freedom from sin. The river sense derives from the name of Thomas Virgin, a member of the first American party to see the river, led by Jedediah Smith in 1826. The town sense derives from the name of the river, along which it is located.


Winter

en-proper noun

Winter (countable and uncountable, plural Winters)

(countable) A surname from the Germanic languages.


Watt

An English and Scottish surname originating as a patronymic.


Yap

From Hokkien 葉／叶 (Ia̍p) and Hakka 葉／叶 (Ya̍p).


Rose

* As an English, Scottish, French, Walloon, Danish, Jewish (Yiddish רויז (royz)), and German surname, all from the noun rose. Also adapted from foreign forms of the same meaning such as Hungarian Rózsa, Rozsa, Slovak Róža, Czech Roza, etc. Compare Larose. The surname may be matronymic, but more probably topographic from residence by rose bushes or the sign of a rose, or a nickname from rosy complexion.
* Also as an English surname, from a Norman name of Germanic origins, likely made up of Proto-Germanic *hrod (“fame”) and *heid (“kind, sort, type”), ultimately evolved from *hrōþiz. Introduced to England in the form Roese or Rohese.
* As an English and Scottish surname, variant of Ross.
* As a Slovene surname, Americanized or Italianized from Rože, from a short form of Erazem (from Latin Erasmus), compare Rozman.


Wall

Wall (disambiguation)#Places
Wall (surname)

Wall (countable and uncountable, plural Walls)

Of various origins, principally from Old English wælisc etc. ("non-Germanic speaker, stranger") from Proto-Germanic *walhaz (“foreigner, stranger”), the source of numerous other surnames such as Walsh and Wales and from Middle English wall, from Old English weall (“wall, dike, rampart”), from Proto-Germanic *wallaz or *wallą (“wall, rampart”), from Latin vallum (“wall, rampart, palisade”), from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to turn, wind, roll”). Also from transcribed foreign surnames such as German Wahl and Swedish Wahlberg.


Wolf

From Middle English and German short forms of given names containing the Germanic element "wolf".


Will

Shortened from William or, less often, from other given names beginning with Wil-, such as Wilfred or Willard.


Riga

Borrowed from Italian Riga and Greek Ρήγα (Ríga).


Urban

en-proper noun

Urban (countable and uncountable, plural Urbans)

Latin Urbānus, name of eight early popes, from urbānus (“of the town or city, urbane”). Doublet of Orban.


Stein

Borrowed from German Stein. Doublet of Stone and Steen.

A surname originating as a patronymic from a Scots diminutive of Stephen.


March

March (usually uncountable, plural Marches)

Bislama: maj

→ Bengali: মার্চ (marco)

→ Burmese: မတ် (mat)

→ Chichewa: Malichi

→ Dari: مارچ (mârč)

→ Hausa: Maris

→ Hawaiian: Malaki

→ Hindi: मार्च (mārc)

→ Malay: Mac

→ Maori: Māehe

→ Marshallese: M̧aaj

→ Tokelauan: Māti

→ Tongan: Maʻasi

From Middle English March, Marche, borrowed from Anglo-Norman marche, from Old French marz, from Latin mensis Mārtius (“the Martian month”), from earlier Mavors.

der

A surname from Middle English for someone born in March, or for someone living near a boundary (marche).

a bushel of March dust is worth a king's ransom

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb


Wind

* As an English surname, from wind (both senses). This surname also appears in Dutch, Danish, Swedish, and German with the same senses, such as Wint. Compare De Wind.
* Also as a German surname, variant of Wendt.


Yi

Borrowed from Korean 이 (I) (based on the South Korean spelling), hanja: 李, also spelled 리 (Ri), especially in North Korea.

A surname from Korean. Equivalent to Chinese 李 (Lǐ)


Xi

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 習／习 (Xí).

Vice President Xi (pronounced “Shee”), expected to succeed Hu Jintao as president from early 2013, will inherit responsibility for his nation’s far-reaching and sometimes troublesome relationship with the United States.

2011 August 17, Jeff Mason, Chris Buckley, “China, U.S. seek to boost confidence as Biden visits”, in Brian Rhoads, Alex Richardson, editors, Reuters, archived from the original on 2023-06-29:

Across the water, which is 110 miles wide, is Fujian province, where Xi spent 17 years climbing the political ladder before making the leap to the national stage.

2022 November 5, Philip Sherwell, “We don’t think China will invade Taiwan. But if they do we’ll fight them”, in The Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-05:

Chinese Communist Party
Chinese Communist Party

Xi Jinping, current General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (2012–present).


Valentine

en-proper noun

Valentine (countable and uncountable, plural Valentines)

From Latin Valentinus, from valeō (“I am strong, healthy”).

An English and Scottish surname derived from the male given name.


Weber

A surname from German [in turn originating as an occupation] from Weber (“weaver”).


Reich

Borrowed from German Reich (“empire, realm”). Doublet of Raj.


Moon

* A variant of Mohan, from Irish.
* A habitational name of Norman origin from Moyon in La Manche. Compare Mounce.
* Americanized form of German Mohn or a similar surname.
* A variant of Mun, from Korean.
* A variant Romanization of Chinese 文 (Wén), 萬／万 (Wàn), and 滿／满 (Mǎn).
* Possibly from Cantonese 滿／满 (mun⁵, “full; complete”).


West

West (countable and uncountable, plural Wests)

* In most senses and as an English surname, from west, the direction.
* As a Finnish surname, Americanized from Vesterinen.

(countable) A surname from Middle English for a newcomer from the west, or someone who lived to the west of a village.


August

In some cases a month name from English. In other cases inspired by the common German given name August, from Latin Augustus.


May

May (countable and uncountable, plural Mays)

Bislama: mei

Pitcairn-Norfolk: Mieh

Tok Pisin: Mei

→ Bengali: মে (me)

→ Burmese: မေ (me)

→ Chichewa: Meyi

→ Dari: می (mey)

→ Hausa: Mayu

→ Hawaiian: Mei

→ Hindi: मई (maī)

→ Marshallese: Māe

→ Maori: Mei

→ Swahili: Mei

→ Tokelauan: Me

→ Tongan: Mē, Me

From Middle English May, Mai, from Old French mai, from Latin Maius (“Maia's month”), from Maia, a Roman earth goddess.


May

The surname is converged from several origins:
* As an English surname, from Middle English May, a pet form of Matthew (see Mayhew).
* As an English, Dutch, German, Polish, and Jewish surname, from the name of the month.
* Also as an English surname, occasionally a pet form of Mary or Margaret.
* Also as an English surname, from the obsolete noun may (“kinsman”), from Old English maga (“son, relative”).
* Also as an English surname, from obsolete Middle English mei (“physician”), a borrowing from Old English mege, from Latin medicus. See Mee.
* As an Irish surname, Anglicized from Ó Miadhaigh (“descendant of Miadhach”), a name derived from miadh (“honor”).
* As a French surname, shortened from Lemay, Dumay.
* Also as a French surname, from a derivative of Latin Marius, similar to Mario.
* As a Jewish surname, from the town Mayen in Germany.
* As a Chinese surname, from 麥／麦 (see Mai) and 梅 (méi)) (see Mei).
* As an Amerindian (Mexico) surname of Mayan origin, from maay (“cloven hoof”), originally "young deer."


York

Etymology tree
Proto-Celtic *eburos
Proto-Brythonic *eβur
Proto-Celtic *-ākos
Proto-Brythonic *-ọg
Proto-Brythonic *Eβrọgbor.
Latin Eborācumder.
Old English Eoforwīċder.
Old Norse Jórvíkbor.
Middle English Ȝork
English York
From Middle English York, Ȝork, from Old Norse Jórk, Jórvík, from Old English Eoforwīċ, from Latin Eborācum, ultimately from Proto-Brythonic *Eβrọg (compare Welsh Efrog, from Old Welsh Caer Ebrauc, from Proto-Brythonic *Eβrọg), from *eburos (“yew”) + *-ākom (positive suffix). Doublet of Évora.

suffix

A habitational surname from Old English from the city or the county; See also Yorke.


Morse

A surname transferred from the given name, variant of Morris, from the given name Maurice.


Sharon

Biblical place name, Hebrew שָׁרוֹן (šārōn, “the Sharon plain”).


Mack

(In sense one) From either the male name Mack or mack, itself from mackerel, which comes from Old French maquerel, from Dutch makelaar. Compare French mec.


Crystal

In this exhilarating and often hilarious book, David Crystal examines why we devote so much time and energy to language games, how professionals make a career of them, and how young children instinctively take to them.


Dunbar

en-proper noun

Dunbar (countable and uncountable, plural Dunbars)

Historically Dynbaer. From Cumbric *din (“fort”) + *barr (“hill-crest, summit, top”).

A Scottish surname from Scottish Gaelic.


Noah

From Biblical Hebrew נֹחַ (nóakh, nṓaḥ).


Mark

Mark (countable and uncountable, plural Marks)

Translingual: markmitchelli

From Middle English Mark, from the Latin praenomen (i.e. first name) Mārcus, derived from Mārs, the Roman god of war, originally Māvors, from Proto-Italic *Māwortis.


Virgo

From Latin virgō (“maiden, virgin”). Doublet of virgin.


Aas

* The place in France is from Occitan Aas, from Basque/Aquitanian aitz (“ridge, rocky point”).
* As a Norwegian and Swedish surname, from the noun ås (“ridge”).


Leo

From Latin leō (“lion”), from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn). Doublet of Leon, leu, lev, lion, and Lyon.


Clifford

From Old English clif (“cliff”) + ford (“ford”).

Proud northern lord, Clifford of Cumberland, / Warwick is hoarse with calling thee to arms.

A habitational surname from Old English.


Lord

en-proper noun

Lord (countable and uncountable, plural Lords)

See lord.
In reference to the God of the Jewish Tanakh and Christian Bible, originally a translation (attested from the late Old English form hlāford) of the Vulgate Latin Dominus (“master of a house; lord”), translating the New Testament and the Septuagint's Ancient Greek ὁ κύριος or Κύριος (ó kýrios, "the supreme one; Lord, Kyrios"), both in reference to Hebrew אֲדֹנָי (ʾdny, "my lord; my Lord, Adonai") from אדון (ʾdwn, "lord, patron; Lord") + י- (-y, "my"), cognate with Phoenician 𐤀𐤃𐤍 (ʾdn, "lord; Lord, Adon"). Adonai appears in the Tanakh both directly and as a euphemism read aloud during occurrences of the Tetragrammaton יהוה (YHWH, "I Am that I Am; Jehovah"). See the usage notes below. Displaced the earlier term Drighten.

der

An English surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname for someone who either acted as if he were a lord or had worked in a lord's household.


E

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 鄂 (È).


John

→ Arabic: جُون (jōn)

→ Cebuano: John

→ French: John

→ Italian: John

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-John.wav

From Middle English John, Johan, Johannes, from Anglo-Norman Jehan, Johan, and also Old English Iohannes, both from Late Latin Iōhannēs, variant of Latin Iōannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Biblical Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yôḥānān), perhaps contracted from a former יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān, “God is gracious”).
Doublet of Jack, Jon, Johan, Johann, Johannes, Jean, Sean, Shane, Shaun, Ian, Ivan, Evan, Juan, Giovanni, and Yahya.


Dalton

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Dalton.wav

From Old English dæl (“valley”) + tun (“settlement”). Equivalent to dale + town.


Rounds

A surname transferred from the nickname for a descendant of a round or fat person.


Sun

From Mandarin 孫／孙 (Sūn), Wade-Giles romanization: Sun¹.


Wills

A surname originating as a patronymic, meaning "son of Will".


Latin

Metonymic occupational surname for a Latinist, a clerk or keeper of Latin records, from Middle English Latyn. Compare Latimer.


Falk

en-prop

Falk (countable and uncountable, plural Falks)

* As a German, Jewish and Scandinavian/North Germanic surname, from the nouns Falke, Yiddish פֿאַלקאַן (falkan), falk (“falcon”). Compare Valk.
* As an English surname, variant of Faulks.


Joyce

Medieval (Middle English) given name from Old French Josse, name of a seventh century saint Latinized as Iodocus, from Breton Iodoc, diminutive of iudh (“lord”), from Proto-Celtic *youdos.

An English and Irish surname originating as a patronymic.


Roman

From Old French Romain, from Latin Rōmānus. In reference to the Byzantine Empire, via the Byzantine Greek endonym Ῥωμαῖος (Rhōmaîos). By surface analysis, Rome + -an. Doublet of Romano.


Breeden

en-proper noun

Breeden (countable and uncountable, plural Breedens)


Christie

A surname originating as a patronymic derived from Christopher or Christian.


Dearborn

Dearborn (countable and uncountable, plural Dearborns)

From Middle English Daborne, Dabernoun, from Old Northern French d'Arborn (literally “of Arbornon”).


O

Korean 오(伍) (O) or 오(吳) (O). Doublet of Wu.


O

From Mandarin 鄂 (È) Wade–Giles romanization: O⁴.


Hanif

From Arabic حَنِيف (ḥanīf, “true believer, righteous (person)”).


Abel

From Middle English Abel, from Old English Ābel, from Latin Abel, from Ancient Greek Ἅβελ (Hábel), from Biblical Hebrew הֶבֶל (Héḇel, “Abel”), possibly from the homonymous word הֶבֶל (heḇel, “breath, vapor; vanity”) or from Akkadian 𒌉𒍑 (ablu, “son”).


Rabb

From a medieval diminutive form of the given name Robert.

An English surname originating as a patronymic.


Hassan

From Hebrew חַזָּן (khazán, “cantor”), possibly via Ladino hassan.


Husayn

Transliteration of Arabic حُسَيْن (ḥusayn), from the root ح س ن (ḥ-s-n).

translit

A Muslim surname from Arabic derived from the Arabic given name.


Berkeley

From Old English beorc (“birch”) + leah (“meadow, leigh”). Equivalent to birch + -ley (“lea”).


Horlicks

“But how can this be, for Mr. Horlicks suffered from such a painful back condition that he could hardly walk?” she informed Hodgekiss. “Not anymore!” said Hodgekiss with a twinkle in his eye.

2012 April 11, Tricia Bennett, Polly Brown: A Modern-Day Oliver With a Twist, Charisma Media, →ISBN:

... causing Mr Horlicks to think, in several worried thought bubbles, that She's not the girl I married. She then goes on to take tea in a café with a wise woman friend. Both Mrs Horlicks and her wise friend are always depicted[…]

2017 March 21, Barbara Trapido, Frankie & Stankie, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, →ISBN:

And this will go on and on in that way until they are invited to Buckingham Palace to dine with the queen, who they are absolutely sure is the center, and will drop this bit of information when they meet the Horlickses at a reception,[…]

2018 January 9, David Plante, American Stranger: A Novel, Open Road Media, →ISBN:

The Crown Prince went to the Horlickses. I have hardly seen him and am quietly, tactfully freezing him off. Sent off long letter to the Regent, my child, and to Peter. I feel somehow that the New Year will benefit me and bring[…]

2021 September 9, Chips Channon, Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 2): 1938-43, Random House, →ISBN:


Moran

* As an Irish surname, from Ó Móráin (“descendant of Mórán”), from mór (“large, great”).
* Also as an Irish surname, from Ó Moghráin, Mughróin (“descendant of Mughrón”), personal name from mogh (“slave”) + rón (“seal”). Sometimes also shortened from McMorran, of the same meaning.
* As an English surname, variant of Morrin.
* As a Spanish surname, variant of Morán.
* As a French surname, variant of Morin.
* Variant of the English and French surname Morant.

A surname from Old French of Old French origin.


Graf

en-proper noun

Graf (countable and uncountable, plural Grafs)

* As a German and Jewish surname, from graf (“count”).
* As a Dutch surname, spelling variant of Graef.

(countable) A surname.
A surname from German.

(countable) A surname.
A surname from Dutch.


Gau

Two main origins:
* Borrowed from German Gau, a habitational surname.
* A variant of Gao, a surname of Chinese origin.


Ashley

Ashley (countable and uncountable, plural Ashleys)

From Old English *Æsċlēah, composed of æsċ (“ash tree”) + lēah (“wood, clearing”). Equivalent to Ash + -ley.

A surname from Old English derived from the places in England.


Derek

Borrowed in the Middle Ages from a Middle Low German variant of Theodoric, and revived in the nineteenth century. Not related to Hebrew דֶּרֶךְ (déreḵ, “road”).


Gaw

From Scottish Gaelic gall (“foreigner or stranger”), meaning:
* (Ireland) a person from Wales or England who immigrated after the Norman invasion, or
* (Scotland) a person from Scandinavia or the English-speaking lowlands.


Kramer

en-proper noun

Kramer (countable and uncountable, plural Kramers)

→ Translingual: Krameria

Borrowed from Dutch Kramer and German Krämer.


Cooper

en-prop

Cooper (countable and uncountable, plural Coopers)

The young lady, who made her firſt appearance in Lady Bab Lardoon, at the Haymarket on Monday night laſt, is a Miſs Prideaux, and lineally deſcended from one of the daughters and co-heireſſes of the Right Hon. John Wilmot, the witty Earl of Rocheſter, and conſequently related to the Sandwiches, Pomfrets, Coopers, and many other noble families.

1788 July 10, “Friday’s Post”, in The Ipswich Journal, number 3026, Ipswich, Suffolk, published 1788 July 12, page [2], column 1:

(countable) An English surname originating as an occupation derived from cooper.


Stuart

en-proper noun

Stuart (countable and uncountable, plural Stuarts)

A Scottish surname originating as an occupation, a variant of Stewart.


Duchesne

From Old French du + chesne (“oak (tree)”); French du chêne (“oak (tree)”).


Whitehall

Whitehall (countable and uncountable, plural Whitehalls)

From Middle English whit (“white”) + halgh (“corner, nook; hall”).


Nat

Nat (countable and uncountable, plural Nats)


Aust

* As a German surname, from Aust, shortened from August and Augustin.
* As an English surname, from the placename in England (see Etymology 2 above).


Voltaire

Voltaire (countable and uncountable, plural Voltaires)

Borrowed from French Voltaire. The surname is mostly found in Haiti.


Rudolph

From German Rudolph, Rudolf (compare Proto-Germanic *Hrōþiwulfaz).


Thu

Two main origins:
* Borrowed from Vietnamese Thư, the local romanization of the Chinese surname 舒 (Shū).
* Borrowed from Norwegian Thu, a surname predominantly found in Western Norway.


Gutenberg

/ˈɡutn̩ˌbɝɡ/

/ˈɡuːtn̩ˌbɜːɡ/


Medina

* The province and city in Saudi Arabia is derived from Arabic اَلْمَدِينَة (al-madīna, “the city”). Doublet of Mdina.
* The river and former borough on the Isle of Wight are derived from Old English Meðune (“the middle one”).
* The river and county in Texas are derived from the Spanish surname Medina.

bor

اَلْمَدِينَة


Disney

English surname of Norman origin, from Old French de (“of, from”) + Isigny (a place in Calvados). For the placename, see Isigny-sur-Mer. In modern use, it is also derived from the name of Walt Disney, whose surname has the aforementioned origin.


Hase

From the German surname, from Middle High German and Middle Low German hase (“hare”), from Old High German haso.


Hauer

Occupational surname borrowed from German Hauer (“hewer, miner”).


Motte

* As a French, Walloon, and West Flemish surname, from Old French mot, motte (“embankment, hill, mound”), from Medieval Latin mota (“fortified height”), which could be of Celtic origin and from Gaulish *mutt, *mutta (compare Welsh mwd (“vault, arch, canopy”), Irish móta (“moat”), though this itself could have been borrowed from the English) or otherwise of Germanic origin and from the root of mud. Compare Delamotte, Demotte, Lamotte.
* As an English surname, variant of Mott.
* As a German surname, perhaps from Motten in Bavaria, first attested 837, from the personal name Moto (compare *mōd (“courage, bravery”)).


Mangan

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Mongáin (“descendant of Mongán”), a personal name derived from a diminutive form of mongach (“maned, long-haired”).


Brom

Spelling variant of Brohm and Brahm; also a variant of Bromm, Brumm.


Dover

From Old English Dofras, from Latin Dubris, from Brythonic Dubras (“the waters”), from Proto-Celtic *dubros (“water”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰubrós (“dark”), from *dʰewb- (“deep”). Compare Tauber.
The village in Nova Scotia is likely named after the town in England.


Zink

* As a German surname, from an obsolete derivative of Proto-Germanic *tindaz (“peak, spike, tooth”).
* As a surname derived from various Romance languages, from Jacinctus, derived from the saint's name Hyacinthus. Comparable to Spanish Jacinto, Italian Giacinto.


Kyle

en-proper noun

Kyle (countable and uncountable, plural Kyles)

From several places in Scotland and Northern Ireland, derived from Gaelic caol (“narrows”).

(countable) A habitational surname from Scottish Gaelic.


Schneider

A surname from German [in turn originating as an occupation] meaning "tailor".


Bauer

* As a German and Jewish surname, from German Bauer (“farmer”). Compare Bower.
* Also as a German and Jewish surname, from the obsolete Middle High German noun (ge)būr (“neighbour”), from Old High German bur (“dwelling”).


Lorenz

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Lorenz.wav


Bett

* As an English surname, from personal names based on pet forms of Beatrice or Elizabeth, also masculine pet forms of Bertram and Bartholomew.
* As a German surname from the noun Bett.


Handel

Handel's masterpiece, Messiah, is one of the incontrovertible masterpieces of the Western canon, a work whose place in the musical life of the nation looks, with the benefit of hindsight, to have been assured since its first performance in 1742.

2014 April 17, Tom Service, “Handel's Messiah: the sound of our better selves”, in The Guardian:

A surname from German; (music) used specifically of George Frideric Handel (1685–1759), a German-British Baroque composer.


Knaggs

With regard to the statement made by Mr. Knaggs, that he was the author of the process, and designer of the factory, Mr. Anderson had already expressed his regret that, in curtailing the Paper for reading, the introductory paragraphs, in which Mr. Knaggs' name was mentioned, were omitted.

1873, Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers:

George Knaggs, a former ski racer...

1990, Susan Eastman, “Say Goodbye to Push-Pull Shifting”, in Snow Country, page 74:

The ... man for [this] was Robert C. Knaggs.

2021, Buying and Selling Civil War Memory in Gilded Age America, page 23:

A Northern English surname from North Germanic.


Mackenzie

Spelling pronunciation of Scots MacKenȝie with the letter yogh confused with Z. Ultimately from Scottish Gaelic MacCoinnich, itself from mac (“son, descendant”) + Coinnich (“of Coinneach”).

compound

A surname from Scottish Gaelic of Scottish origin.


Wheatley

en-proper noun

Wheatley (countable and uncountable, plural Wheatleys)

From Old English hwǣte (“wheat”) + lēah (“clearing”). Equivalent to wheat + -ley (“lea”). Identical to Whatley.

(countable) An English surname from Old English. Derived from the place name


Schiff

A Jewish surname from Yiddish [in turn from German]

A surname from German
A Jewish surname from Yiddish


Barbar

From the Arabic surname of unexplained origin; this surname is mainly found in Syria and Lebanon.


Lv

From a modified form of the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 呂／吕 (Lǚ); connected with the practice of using the letter v as a substitute for ü in pinyin keyboard input schemes.

The development in tourism industry also promoted regional economic transformation and development. Located in Qinling-Bashan Mountains, Ningshaan County in Ankang has 28 tourism projects under construction at present with total investment of RMB 38 billion yuan. “In the past decade, the proportion of tourism revenue to GDP in Ningqiang County has increased from less than 3% to more than 20% and tourism industry has become a pillar industry.” said Lv Xuanqiang, Director of Tourism Administration of NingShaan County.

2017 May 12, “Shaanxi “Happiness Industry” as a New Way to Enrich the People and Develop the Province”, in The Government Website of Shaanxi Province, archived from the original on 2022-09-08:

Vice president & chief risk officer Lv Tianjun shall perform duties of president until new president appointed

2017 October 27, “Harbin Bank Co says Zhang Qiguang resigns as president and CFO”, in Reuters, archived from the original on 2024-10-06, Markets:


Heim

* As a south German surname, from the noun Heim (“home”).
* As a Norwegian surname, from farmsteads named with, or directly from, the Old Norse noun heimr (“home”), related to the above.
* As a Jewish surname, from the Yiddish name חיים (Khayem). Doublet of Chaim.


Waage

Borrowed from German, Icelandic or Norwegian Waage.


Mixer

unk

Unexplained


Evan

Anglicization of Welsh Ifan, ultimately from Latin Jōhannēs, variant of Iōannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (yōḥānān, yokhanán, literally “God is gracious”). Doublet of Giovanni, Ian, Ivan, Jack, Jean, Johan, Johann, Johannes, John, Sean, Shane, Shaun, and Shawn.


Hahn

From Korean 한(韓) (han). Cognate with English Han (from Mandarin).


Troy

A surname from Old French derived from the city Troyes in France.


Adams

en-proper noun

Adams (countable and uncountable, plural Adamses)

→ Translingual: Adams

⇒ Translingual: adamsii

A surname originating as a patronymic derived from Adam.


Droge

Two possible origins:
* Borrowed from German Dröge, a nickname of uncertain derivation.
* Borrowed from Dutch Droge, a nickname from Middle Dutch drôge (“dry, boring, unfriendly”).


Lucy

Lucy
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Saint Lucy

From Middle English Lucy, from Old French Lucie (notably after the Christian martyr Lucia of Syracuse), from Latin Lucia (feminine of Lucius, a Roman praenomen), from lux (“light”).
The name of the Australopithecus skeleton came from the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", which was being played repeatedly at the dig site camp at the time of the discovery. The slang term for LSD also derives from the song name, which many believe is essentially a reference to the drug.

Here is Sir William Lucy, who with me / Set from our o'ermatch'd forces forth for aid.

A surname from Old French derived from place names in Normandy based on a male personal name, from Latin Lucius.


Edgar

From Old English Ēadgār, the name of early English kings, from Old English ēad (“rich”) + gār (“spear”). Compare Icelandic Auðgeir.


Messer

Two main origins:
* Borrowed from German Messer (“knife”), a metonymic occupational surname for a cutler.
* An English occupational surname for someone who kept watch over harvested crops, from Old French messier (“harvest warden”).


Leslie

From a placename in Aberdeenshire, originally Lesslyn, Scottish Gaelic lios cuileann (“garden of hollies”).

A Scottish surname from Scottish Gaelic.


Johansson

From Swedish Johansson. Doublet of Johnson.


Thames

From Middle English Temese, from Old English Temes, Temese (compare Welsh Tafwys), from Latin Tamesis, Tamesas. Variant spellings with h arose in Middle English due to the mistaken assumption of a Greek etymology.
The Latin name is from Proto-Brythonic *Tamesis, from Proto-Celtic *tamesās (“river, waters”, literally “darkness”), a masculine ā-stem of *tames, Proto-Indo-European *tm̥Hes-, zero-grade of *témHes-, *témHos- (“darkness”), an s-stem from the root *temH- (“dark”). Related to Proto-Celtic *temeslos (“darkness”), *temos (“dark”). A parallel in Proto-Celtic of "dark, darkness" taking on the figurative meaning of "water" can also be found in Proto-Celtic *dubros (“water, dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰubrós (“dark”), yielding Welsh dŵr (“water”), Irish dobhar (“water, sea, dark, gloomy”). Hydronyms with their origin in this term also occur elsewhere in Europe, for example Portugal's Douro.
Alternatively from Proto-Celtic *tā-, *tāyo- (“to melt, flow”), from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂- (“to melt”), or from unknown non-Indo-European root.
Possible cognates include the names of rivers and tributaries such as:
* Taff, Tamar (from Latin Tamarus), Tame, Tavy, Team, Teifi (from Welsh Teifi, from Old Welsh Tebi, Teibi), Teme, and Teviot (Latin Tefius, Teifius) in Great Britain
* Tambre (from Latin Tamaris), Támega (in Galician, Portuguese Tâmega, Latin Tamice), Támoga or Támboga (Latin Tamega), and Tamuxe, all of them flowing through Galicia (Spain) and northern Portugal
* Tamaran in France
* Tammaro (from Latin Tamarus) in Italy
* Demer in Belgium
* Tamyras in Phoenicia
* Tiberis (Tiber)
* Tons, Tamasa (from Sanskrit तमसा (tamasā)) in India
More at Thames.


Norden

A loanword from Scandinavian languages, referring to the Nordic countries or to northern Europe.


Shannon

A surname from Irish of Irish origin, variant of Shanahan, anglicised from Ó Seanaigh (“descendant of a person named Old”).


Severn

From Middle English Severne, from Old English Sæfern, ultimately from Proto-Celtic *Sabrinā (compare Welsh Hafren), perhaps from *samaros (“summer fallow”). Doublet of Sabrina.


Rogen

From the Irish/Scottish Gaelic surname, Anglicized from Ruaghagain, from ruadh (“red”).


Nadel

German and Jewish surname, borrowed from German Nadel (“needle”).


Hudson

en-proper noun

Hudson (countable and uncountable, plural Hudsons)

(countable) An English surname originating as a patronymic.


Fischer

A surname from German [in turn originating as an occupation].


Neave

Neave (countable and uncountable, plural Neaves)

Two main origins:
* A variant of the English surname Neve.
* Variant of Nevay, a Scottish habitational surname.


Montague

Montague (countable and uncountable, plural Montagues)

A surname from Old French, variant of Montagu.


Percy

From the Norman baronial surname from a place in Normandy (Percy-en-Auge), Old French Perci, Late Latin Persiacum, from the Gallo-Roman personal name Persius.

Hotspur. My name is Harry Percy.
Prince. Why, then, I see / A very valiant rebel of that name. / I am the Prince of Wales; and think not, Percy, / To share with me in glory any more.

c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]:


Meredith

Meredith (countable and uncountable, plural Merediths)

A surname from Welsh [in turn originating as a patronymic].


Wells

An English topographic surname from Middle English for someone living near a well or a spring.


Poindexter

From Jersey Norman Poingdestre (literally “right fist”). The sense “bookish or socially unskilled person” is from the character of the same name in the cartoon Felix the Cat. Its first use appears c. 1981 in the publication University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Slang.


Julia

From Latin Iūlia, feminine form of the Roman gens name Iūlius. Further popularized by early Christian saints. Doublet of Julie.

89 Julia
Julia
Julia (programming language)


Raleigh

From Old English rā, rāha (“roe deer”) + lēah (“woodland, clearing”). Equivalent to roe + -ley (“lea”).

An English habitational surname from the manor in England.


Angus

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Aonghas, perhaps literally "one choice".


Isabel

From Spanish Isabel, from Old Occitan Elisabel, from Latin Elisabeth, from Ancient Greek Ἐλισάβετ (Elisábet), from Hebrew אֱלִישֶׁבַע (Elishéva, “my God is an oath”). Doublet of Elizabeth.

der

(rare) A surname originating as a matronymic.


Gilbert

en-proper noun

Gilbert (countable and uncountable, plural Gilberts)

From Old French Gislebert, from Proto-Germanic *Gīslaberhtaz, from *gīslaz (“pledge”) + *berhtaz (“bright, famous”), from Proto-Celtic *Gēstloberxtos.


Hugo

From Old French Hugo, of Germanic origin, from Frankish *hugi (“thought, mind, spirit”).


Bruno

en-proper noun

Bruno (countable and uncountable, plural Brunos or Brunoes)

From Italian, German etc continental European Bruno, name of medieval Italian and German saints and royalty, Latinized form of Old High German brūn (“brown”), from Proto-West Germanic *brūn. The surname is mostly borrowed from Italian Bruno. Doublet of Brown.


Preston

Preston (countable and uncountable, plural Prestons)

From Old English prēost (“priest”) + tūn (“settlement”). Doublet of Prestatyn.

A habitational surname from Old English.


Bellingham

Bellingham (countable and uncountable, plural Bellinghams)

Two origins:
* The suburb of London is named with the Old English personal name Bera, a byname from bera (“bear”), + -ing (“belonging to”) + hām (“homestead”).
* The village in Northumberland is named with Old English belle (“bell”), in reference to a bell-shaped hill, + -ing (“belonging to”) + hām (“homestead”)


Fawcett

Fawcett (countable and uncountable, plural Fawcetts)

A surname from Old English from places in England derived from Old English words for “colourful slope”.


Alfonso

From Spanish Alfonso and Italian Alfonso. Doublet of Alphonse.


Corbin

An Anglo-Norman nickname from corb (“crow”), or shortened from the Corbinian, the name of a Frankish eighth-century saint, probably from Latin corvus (“crow, raven”).


Solomon

Solomon (countable and uncountable, plural Solomons)

From Latin Solomōn (variant of Salomon), from Ancient Greek Σολομών (Solomṓn), from Biblical Hebrew שְׁלֹמֹה (šĕlōmōʰ), from שָׁלוֹם (šālōm, “peace”). Doublet of Shlomo and Suleiman.


Irwin

Irwin (countable and uncountable, plural Irwins)

From a medieval given name Erwin, Old English eofor (“boar”) + wine (“friend”), the latter of which is from Proto-West Germanic *wini.

A Scottish or Irish surname originating as a patronymic.


Ging

From a shortened Anglicized form of Irish Mac Fhionn, whence McGinn.


Winchester

From Middle English Wynchester, Winchestre, from Old English Wintanċeaster, from Latin Venta Belgārum (literally “Venta of the Belgae”), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Celtic *wentā (“town, place”), Proto-Indo-European *h₁wen- (“place (?)”) + Old English ċeaster, from Latin castra (“camp”).
The bottle is named for the former customary units of the English city. The rifle is named named after American businessman Oliver Winchester (1810–1880). The computer disk is named for the rifle.


Hamar

* As a Hungarian surname, a nickname from hamar (“fast”).
* As a Norwegian, surname, a habitational surname from hamar (“hammer; stone, cliff, crag”).
* As an English surname, variant of Hamer.


Fleming

From Middle English flameng, from late Old English Flæmingi, from Old Norse Flǽmingr, Middle Dutch Vlaminc, Vleminc, from Old Frisian (unattested) (compare West Frisian Flaming), from Proto-Germanic *flaumaz (“flowing, current (water)”) and the patronymic suffix *-ingaz (“belonging to, descended from”). More at Flanders.

der

Ian Fleming, English writer.

Sir Alexander Fleming, Scottish bacteriologist.

An English surname transferred from the nickname.


Joel

/ˈd͡ʒəʊ(ə)l/

From Hebrew יוֹאֵל (yo'él, “Yahweh (is) God”). As a medieval French and English given name, it is also from Breton Judicaël (related to Joyce and Jocelyn). Cf. Elijah.


Lucas

From Latin Lucas, from Ancient Greek Λουκᾶς (Loukâs). See the Greek entry for more.


Fergus

From Irish or Scottish Gaelic Fearghas. The first element may be related to modern fìor (“true”) or fear (“man”) (cf. Fearchar). The second element has been understood to mean 'choice' (cf. Angus). Thus the name means either "most chosen one" or "chosen man".


Scarborough

en-proper noun

Scarborough (countable and uncountable, plural Scarboroughs)

/ˈskɑɹbəɹoʊ/

From the Old Norse personal name Skarði + borg (“fortress”).


Cicero

Cicero (usually uncountable, plural Ciceros or Cicerones)

Borrowed from Latin Cicerō, a cognomen in reference to warts (cicer (“chickpea”)). The Latinate form, based on the nominative, displaced Middle English Ciceroun, based on the oblique stem.

Our two Cicerones [son Marcus Tullius Cicero Minor and nephew Quintus Tullius Cicero Minor] are with Dejotarus, but if there ſhould be Occaſion, they can be conveyed to Rhodes. […] ON the 2d of February my Wife and Daughter came to Formiæ, and inform’d me of al your very obliging Behaviour, and good Offices in their Behalf. I am willing they ſhould continue at Formiæ, together with the two young Cicerones, until we know whether we are to embrace a ſcandalous Peace or a deſtructive War.

1752, Cicero, translated by William Guthrie, Cicero’s Epistles to Atticus. With Notes Historical, Explanatory, and Critical. […], volume I, London: […] T[homas] Waller, […], pages 274 (book V, epistle XVIII) and 406 (book VII, epistle XVIII):

He [Marcus Pomponius Dionysius] was tutor to the two young Cicerones [son and nephew of Cicero]. […] The two young Cicerones accompanied their parents, and were placed under the charge of Deiotarus.

1867, E[dward] St. John Parry, Ciceronis Epistolarum Delectus: A Selection from Cicero’s Letters Illustrating the Contemporary History of Rome. With Notes and Introductions., London: Longmans, Green, and Co., page 271:

All in all, he [Titus Pomponius Atticus] reflected, the two Cicerones [Cicero and brother Quintus Tullius Cicero] had not had happy marriages; they had been obliged to marry for money, to heiresses. […] The pity of it was that both women loved their Cicerones; they just didn’t know how to show it, and were, besides, frugal women who deplored the Ciceronian tendency to spend money.

2002, Colleen McCullough, “The Cracks Appear: From Intercalaris of 46 b.c. until September of 45 b.c.”, in The October Horse (Masters of Rome; 6), London: Century, →ISBN, section 3, pages 384–385:


Gibson

Gibson (countable and uncountable, plural Gibsons)

An English and Scottish surname originating as a patronymic.


Eden

From Hebrew עֵדֶן (eden), perhaps from Sumerian 𒂔 (edin, “steppe, garden”).

It was no good. I felt beyond all question that I was indeed Eden, not Elvesham. But Eden in Elvesham's body!

1896, H G Wells, The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham:

An English surname, probably derived from a place name.


Keynes

Alteration of Anglo-Norman Kahaignae, Chaiines (“Cahagnes, now a commune in Normandy”).


Kare

Morley Richard Kare (1922–1990), Canadian biologist and physiologist; father of Susan Kare and Jordin T. Kare

Susan Kare (born 1954), American artist and graphic designer; daughter of Morley Richard Kare and sister of Jordin T. Kare

Jordin T. Kare (1956–2017), American physicist and aerospace engineer; son of Morley Richard Kare and brother of Susan Kare


Kare

Ramnath Govind Kare (born 1934), Goan industrialist, educationist, and philanthropist

Lata Bhagwan Kare (born circa 1960?), celebrated Indian marathon-runner and Marathi actress


MacArthur

MacArthur (countable and uncountable, plural MacArthurs)

/məˈkɑː(ɹ)θə(ɹ)/


Brock

An English and Scottish surname from Middle English, a variant of Brook, or originally a nickname for someone thought to resemble a badger (Middle English broc(k)).


Knox

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic cnoc (“round hill”).

bor+

A Scottish surname from Scottish Gaelic.


Burdett

An English surname from French derived from the French surnames Burdette, Bourdette, and back to Bourdet.


Krum

Jewish and German surname, variant of Krumm.


Armstrong

The rural municipality in Manitoba is named after politician James William Armstrong (1860 - 1928).

An English surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname for someone with strong arms.


Vang

* As a North Germanic surname, from derivatives of Old Norse vangr (“field”) (such as modern Swedish vång).
* As a Jewish surname, spelling variant of Wang.
* As a Hmong surname, from White Hmong Vaj, White Hmong Vaaj, or Khmer វ៉ាង (vaang).

A Hmong surname from the Hmong languages of Chinese origin.


Miguel

Borrowed from Spanish and Portuguese Miguel. Doublet of Michael.


Luster

Borrowed from German Luster or, possibly, a variant of Lester.


Darius

Borrowed from Latin Dārīus, from Ancient Greek Δᾱρεῖος (Dāreîos), from Old Persian 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎢𐏁 (Dārayauš), shortened form of 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 (Dārayavaʰuš), see it for more.


Lund

en-proper noun

Lund (countable and uncountable, plural Lunds)

Dithmarschen
en:Lund
en:Lund (surname)
en:Lund, East Riding of Yorkshire

* As an English, German, and North Germanic surname, from Old Norse lundr (“grove”).
* Also as a German surname, from Lunden in Dithmarschen, itself possibly borrowed from Danish lund (“little forest”) or lunn (“survey”).


Clive

A topographic surname from Old English - someone who lived near a cliff (Old English clif).


Timothy

From Middle French Timothée, from Latin Tīmotheus, from Ancient Greek Τῑμόθεος (Tīmótheos), from τῑμάω (tīmáō, “I honour”) + θεός (theós, “god”).

A rare English surname originating as a patronymic.

A surname from Irish, a rare adopted anglicization for Mac Tomaltaigh (“son of Tomaltach”) (Tumulty).


Vega

Vega (countable and uncountable, plural Vegas)

From Spanish vega (“meadow, fertile lowland”).


Reuben

en-proper noun

Reuben (countable and uncountable, plural Reubens)

* From Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (r'uvén), from רְאוּ (r'ú, “see [masculine plural imperative]”) + בֵּן (ben, “son”); its literal meaning is therefore roughly, "See, all: a son!"
* There are several unconfirmed etymologies for the name of the sandwich.

A surname transferred from the given name


Homer

From Middle English [Term?], an occupational name for a helmet maker, or a variant of Holme.


Wiles

A surname transferred from the nickname. A patronymic form of Wile.


Batista

From Romance (Spanish Batista and Portuguese Batista).

A surname from the Romance languages, Spanish, or Portuguese.


Barclay

Barclay (countable and uncountable, plural Barclays)


Atatürk

A surname from Turkish, borne only by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey


Darrell

Derived from d'Airel, name of a Norman family that came from a place called Airelle in Calvados.


Oakley

From Old English āc (“oak”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”), thus a clearing in an oak forest; equivalent to oak + -ley (“lea”). Compare Ackley, Akeley and Oakleigh, which have the same origin.

A surname from Old English derived from the place names in England.


Kenny

A surname transferred from the given name.


Dani

* As an Italian, Slovak (Dáni), Romanian, and German surname, from diminutives of the given name Daniel.
* As an Albanian surname, from Dan, a short form of the Islamic name Ramadan.
* As an Indian surname, borrowed from Gujarati દાણી (dāṇī), from Sanskrit दानिन् (dānin, “giving, generous”).


Trapp

An English surname originating as an occupation derived from the occupation of trapper.

A surname from German, either from Trappe (bustard) or Treppe (flight of stairs).


Marshall

* As an English surname, from the noun marshal.
* As a French surname, variant of Mercier.
* As a German surname, variant of Marschall.

An English and Scottish status surname from Middle English for someone who was in charge of the horses of a royal household, or an occupational surname for someone who looked after horses, or was responsible for the custody of prisoners.


Craig

en-proper noun

Craig (countable and uncountable, plural Craigs)

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic creag (“rock”).

bor+

A Scottish habitational surname from Scottish Gaelic from Scottish Gaelic creag, originally meaning someone who lived near a crag.

An Irish surname of Hiberno-Norman origin, an anglicization of de Craig, de Creag (“of the crag”).

An Irish surname, a variant anglicization of de Carraig (Carrick).


Welch

Inherited from Middle English Welich, variant of Walsch, from Old English welisc, wīelisċ, from Proto-West Germanic *walhisk, from Proto-Germanic *walhiskaz.

A British and Irish surname transferred from the nickname, a variant of Walsh.


Michener

James A. Michener was an American writer.


Byron

Habitational surname from Old English byrum (“at the byre or cattleshed”).

inh

Lord Byron, George Gordon (Noel) Byron, 6th Baron Byron (January 22, 1788–April 19, 1824), a famous English poet and leading figure in romanticism.


Ellingham

en-proper noun

Ellingham (countable and uncountable, plural Ellinghams)

From the Old English personal name Ella or Edla + -ing (“belonging to”) + hām (“homestead”).

A habitational surname from Old English.


Chevrolet

/ˌʃəvɹoʊˈleɪ/

From French Chevrolet. The car company was named after its founder Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941).


Adelman

A surname from German of Jewish (Ashkenazic) ancestry.


Leidy

An American surname from German, variant of Swiss German Leidig.


Theobald

/ˈθiːoʊbɔɫd/

From Old English Þēodbald and later Old French Theobald, Tibaut; both ultimately derived from Proto-Germanic *Þeudōbalþaz. Common in the Middle Ages under various spellings in the archaic pronunciation. After it became obsolete a spelling pronunciation took over. Doublet of Theudebald.


Winston

Originally only a place name, then also a family name, later also a given name in the Churchill family. Likely from Old English wine (“friend”) + stān (“stone”), or from wines (“friend's”) + tun (“town”).


Silvia

Feminine form of Silvius, from Latin silva (“forest”). In myths, Rhea Silvia was the mother of famous twins Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. 6th-century saint Silvia was the mother of the pope Gregory the Great.


McQuarrie

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac Guaire.


Mainer

From a Germanic personal name composed of the elements *maginą (“power, might”) and *harjaz (“army”).


Burrows

An English topographical surname, a variant of Burroughs.


Burroughs

An English topographical surname from Middle English, from Old English beorg (“hill”) or burg (“fort”), for someone who lived near a hill or fort.


Butte

en-proper noun

Butte (countable and uncountable, plural Buttes)


Julian

An English surname originating as a patronymic.

A French surname originating as a patronymic, a variant of Julien.


Brighton

(place): From Old English Beorthelmstone (“Beorthelm's farm”)
: (surname): From Breighton in Yorkshire.


Bradford

* Various place names in England, from Old English brād (“broad”) + ford (“ford”).
* (shaken martini)


Cody

A surname from Irish anglicized from Ó Cuidighthigh (“descendant of Cuidightheach”). Cuidightheach is a byname meaning “helpful”.

A surname from Irish anglicized from Mac Óda (“son of Odo”).


Holton

en-proper noun

Holton (countable and uncountable, plural Holtons)

The first element has a wide variety of possible origins, among which Old English hōh (“promontory, hill-spur”), healh (“corner, nook”), holh (“hollow, depression”) or holt (“small wood”). The second element is tūn (“enclosure; settlement”).


Rutgers

Dutch patronymic surname from the given name Rutger, the same as Roger and Rodgarus.


Columbus

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Columbus.wav

From Latin columbus (“a dove”). Doublet of Colombo. The verb is a reference to the Italian explorer.


Jasmine

en-proper noun

Jasmine (countable and uncountable, plural Jasmines)

From French jasmin, from Arabic يَاسَمِين (yāsamīn), from Classical Persian یاسمین (yāsamīn), from earlier یاسمن (yāsaman), from Middle Persian yʾsmn' (yāsaman).


Roth

The surname reflects several origins; see Roth.

A surname from Middle English of English origin.

A surname from German of German and Ashkenazi origin.


Prichard

A surname from Welsh [in turn originating as a patronymic].


Alison

Alison (countable and uncountable, plural Alisons)

From Old French Alison, brought to England by the Normans (from Anglo-Norman Alison, from Norman Alison), diminutive of Aliz, equivalent to English Alice, from Old High German Adalhaid (“of noble kind”). Became Middle English Alisoun.


Faries

A surname transferred from the given name originating from Scotland. First found in Aberdeenshire, Scotland where they held a family seat from very early times.


Rodney

From Old English placename Hrōdanīeġ, Hrōdanīġ (literally “Hroda's island”), from Proto-Germanic *hrōþiz (“fame”) and *awjō (“island”).


Weymouth

In England, from Wey + mouth, referring to that river's mouth. The village in Nova Scotia is named after the city in Massachusetts.


Wareham

en-proper noun

Wareham (countable and uncountable, plural Warehams)

From Old English wer (“weir”) + hām (“homestead”) or hamm (“water meadow”).

(countable) A habitational surname from Old English.


Chichester

/ˈt͡ʃɪt͡ʃɪstə/

Chichester
Chichester (disambiguation)
Cissa of Sussex

Reputedly from Old English Cissa + ceaster (“fort, manor, town”).


Poole

Poole (countable and uncountable, plural Pooles)


Nichole

A surname originating as a patronymic derived from Nicholas.


Pavlov

From Russian Па́влов (Pávlov), itself from Па́вел (Pável).

A male surname from Russian, feminine equivalent Pavlova.


Pavlova

Borrowed from Russian Па́влова (Pávlova), feminine form of Па́влов (Pávlov).

A female surname from Russian, masculine equivalent Pavlov.


Descartes

Descartes (countable and uncountable, plural Descarteses)


Thomson

Thomson (countable and uncountable, plural Thomsons)

From Tom + -son, originally meaning "son of Thomas". Being derived from Thomas ultimately gives this surname an Aramaic derivation - teoma 'twin'.
* Calque of Scottish Gaelic MacTamhais (“MacTavish”); Also an anglicisation of the Gaelic name MacTamhais, meaning "son of Thomas". Many with the name MacTavish changed their name to Thomson and Thompson after Culloden.

calque

(countable) A British surname transferred from the given name.

A Scottish surname from Scottish Gaelic.


Stacey

An English surname transferred from the given name derived from a medieval diminutive of Eustace.


Thompson

en-proper noun

Thompson (countable and uncountable, plural Thompsons)

Variant of Thomson, from Tom + -son, originally meaning "son of Thomas".
* Calque of Scottish Gaelic MacTamhais (“McTavish”); also an anglicisation of the Gaelic name MacTamhais, meaning "son of Thomas".


Courier

en-proper noun

Courier (countable and uncountable, plural Couriers)

(countable) A surname originating as an occupation.


Davy

A surname originating as a patronymic derived from David.


Engram

A surname transferred from the given name, a rare variant of Ingram.


Garrett

A medieval English and Irish form of the Germanic given names Gerard and Gerald. Of Old High German origin.

Alternative form: Garrod


Garcia

Garcia (countable and uncountable, plural Garcias)

A surname from Spanish of Spanish and Portuguese origin.


Ingram

From a Middle English given name, from Proto-Germanic *Ingwaz (“a Germanic god”) + *hrabnaz (“raven”). The places are named after persons with the surname.


Davies

A Welsh and English surname originating as a patronymic derived from the given name Davy/Davey/Davie or David.


Jacobs

An English surname originating as a patronymic derived from Jacob.


Desmond

A surname from Irish, anglicised from Ó Deasmhumhnaigh, meaning "a man from South Munster".


Enos

From Hebrew אֱנוֹשׁ (enósh, “mortal man”).


Evans

en-proper noun

Evans (countable and uncountable, plural Evanses or Evans)

(countable) A surname from Welsh [in turn originating as a patronymic] common in Wales, derived from the given name Evan (or Ifan in Welsh).


Faraday

Faraday (countable and uncountable, plural Faradays)


Probert

From Welsh ap + Roppert (“son of Robert”).

A Welsh surname originating as a patronymic.


Edwards

en-prop

Edwards (countable and uncountable, plural Edwardses)

An English and Welsh surname originating as a patronymic.


Roberts

en-proper noun

Roberts (countable and uncountable, plural Robertses)

(countable) An English and Welsh surname originating as a patronymic from the given name Robert.


Griffiths

⇒ Translingual: Griffithsia

A surname from Welsh [in turn originating as a patronymic] derived from the given name Griffith


Patel

Borrowed from Gujarati પટેલ (paṭel, “village headman”), which is from Sanskrit पट्टकिल (paṭṭakila).


Plowright

An English surname originating as an occupation for someone who made plows or ploughs.


Clarke

en-proper noun

Clarke (countable and uncountable, plural Clarkes)

From Clark, from Old English clerc (“cleric, clerk”).

(countable) An English surname originating as an occupation, variant of Clark.


Griffith

Griffith (countable and uncountable, plural Griffiths)

A surname from Welsh [in turn originating as a patronymic].


Wheelwright

A comparatively rare English surname originating as an occupation for someone who made wooden wheels.


Sherman

/ˈʃɜː(ɹ)mən/

Sense 1: From Middle English schereman, scherman; equivalent to shear + -man.

An English surname originating as an occupation for a sheep-shearer.

An American surname from German derived from the German Schuermann.


Phillips

Phillips (countable and uncountable, plural Phillipses)

A surname originating as a patronymic derived from Philip.


Bennett

Bennett (countable and uncountable, plural Bennetts)

An English surname originating as a patronymic from a medieval form of Benedict.


Cartwright

Cartwright (countable and uncountable, plural Cartwrights)

English surname, from the nouns cart + wright (“maker, crafter”). As a Dutch surname, variant of Courtwright.
The settlement in Labrador was named by British military officer, entrepreneur and author George Cartwright (1739/1740 – 1819), who established a fish and fur trading business at the location of the settlement.

From 1615 to 1954, when the last squire, Richard Cartwright, and his son were killed in a motor accident, the Cartwrights lived in Aynho Park.

1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 43:

(countable) An English surname originating as an occupation for someone who made carts.


Wainwright

From Old English wægnwyrhta, equivalent to wain (“large wagon for farm use”) + wright (“worker; maker”).
The Canadian town is named after William Wainwright, the second vice-president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway along which the town was built.

An English surname originating as an occupation


Fremantle

Fremantle (countable and uncountable, plural Fremantles)

The surname is a variant of Freemantle. The Australian seaport is named after Captain (later Admiral) Charles Howe Fremantle, who pronounced British possession of Western Australia and established a camp at the site of the now port.


Harrison

Harrison (countable and uncountable, plural Harrisons)

A northern English surname originating as a patronymic.


Parker

Parker (countable and uncountable, plural Parkers)

A surname originating as an occupation for a gamekeeper.


Harris

Harris (countable and uncountable, plural Harrises)

From Harry + -s (“patronymic suffix”). From Harry, a male given name derived from a Middle English pronunciation of Old French Henri.

On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” and in a lighthearted moment, explained — as she did during the last presidential election cycle — that in her blended family, her stepchildren affectionately call her Momala.

2024 May 1, Charles M. Blow, “Kamala Harris Isn’t Americans’ ‘Momala.’ She’s Our Vice President.”, in The New York Times:

(countable) An English and Welsh surname originating as a patronymic.


Malayan

Borrowed from Armenian Մալայան (Malayan).


Mitchell

Mitchell (countable and uncountable, plural Mitchells)

Translingual: markmitchelli

From a Middle English vernacular form of the Old French given name Michel (“Michael”), or in some cases from a Middle English nickname muchel (“big”).

(countable) A surname transferred from the given name.


Rogerson

Rogerson (countable and uncountable, plural Rogersons)

An English surname originating as a patronymic.


Richardson

Richardson (countable and uncountable, plural Richardsons)

/ˈɹɪt͡ʃɚdsən/


Wilkin

* As an English surname, from the Middle English personal name Wilkin, a pet form of William.
* As a north/Low German surname, variant of Wilken.


Schwendiman

A surname from German of Swiss German derivation, variant of Schwendeman.


Webb

An English and Scottish surname originating as an occupation for a weaver.


Machen

Occupational surname for a stonemason, from Anglo-Norman machun, dialectal Norman variant of Old French maçon. Compare Mason.

An English surname from Anglo-Norman [in turn originating as an occupation].


Carter

As an English name, from the occupation carter. As an Irish name, from Irish Mac Artúir (literally “son of Arthur”).

der

A surname originating as an occupation for someone who was a carter.


Schwendeman

Variant of German Schwendemann, a topographic or habitational surname for someone who lived in a forest clearing, or in a place called Schwende.


Soave

en-proper noun

Soave (countable and uncountable, plural Soaves)


Ellis

Ellis (countable and uncountable, plural Ellises)

* As an English surname, from the Middle English personal name Elis, an Old French form of Elias. Compare Elijah, Lias, Ely. Also sometimes from the Elice, a pet form of Elizabeth.
* As a Welsh surname, shortened from the personal name Elisse, Elisedd, from the archaic elus (“benevolent, kind”).

An English surname originating as a patronymic from Elis, the Middle English form of Elijah.

A surname from Welsh [in turn originating as a patronymic] and a male given name from Welsh, an anglicization of Elisedd.


Chapman

From Middle English chapman, chepman, equivalent to cheap (noun) + man. Doublet of Kaufman and Koopman.

An English surname originating as an occupation for a merchant.


Wilkinson

Wilkinson (countable and uncountable, plural Wilkinsons)


Powell

Powell (countable and uncountable, plural Powells)

The anglicized form of Welsh ap Hywel (“son of Hywel”). Related to Howell and Huell. Sometimes also associated with Paul by folk etymology.

(countable) An English and Welsh surname from Welsh.


Rogers

Rogers (countable and uncountable, plural Rogerses)

From Roger + -'s, equivalent to Rogerson. Doublet of Rutgers.

(countable) A surname; an English patronymic surname.


Simpson

Simpson (countable and uncountable, plural Simpsons)

From Middle English Sympson, equivalent to Sim, the short form of Simon, + -son.

A Scottish and northern English patronymic surname derived from Sim, the short form of Simon.

An English habitational surname for someone who lived in any of several places in Devon.


Collins

Collins (countable and uncountable, plural Collinses)

* As an English surname, variant of Colin.
* As an Irish and Manx surname, from Ó Coileáin, see Cullen, McQuillan, and McCallion.
* As a French surname, Americanized from Collin and Colette.
* As a Slovene surname, Americanized from Kolenc, from koleno (“knee”) and the obsolete kolenc (“nipplewort”).

"But your own name too sounds funny," Tampio said. "Your names are repeated. Only you have spelt one wrongly. How could you call yourself Colin Collins? Here in Cameroon, we only know about Collins."

2011, Colin Diyen, Ring Road Safari, African Books Collective, →ISBN, page 5:

An English surname originating as a patronymic from the given name Colin.

A surname from Irish, anglicized from Irish Ó Coileáin.


Singh

From Hindi सिंघ (siṅgh, “lion”) or Punjabi ਸਿੰਘ (siṅgh, “lion”). Doublet of Sinha.


Murphy

From Irish Ó Murchadha (“descendant of Murrough”), Mac Murchaidh (“Son of Murrough”), etc. See Muircath.

der

After a long talk between these two, and a little broken English from the Frenchmen, our visitors took leave; but Father Murphy had hardly gone a dozen rods when back he came, inquiring whether we were in want of anything.

1847 March 30, Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:

A common surname from Irish, the anglicized form of Irish Ó Murchadha


Forster

* As an English surname, from the noun forester.
* Also as an English surname, borrowed from French fustrier (“blockmaker”), from fustre (“baulk of timber”).
* As a French and Norman surname, from Old French forcetier (“cutter”), from forcettes (“scissors”).
* As a German surname, spelling variant of Förster and Först (both related to Forst (“forest”)).

An occupational or topographic surname originating as an occupation for someone who worked or lived in a forest.


Miller

en-proper noun

Miller (countable and uncountable, plural Millers)

French: Miller

Translingual: Mill.

English surname, capitalization of miller. Doublet of Muller. Also compare Milner, Millward, Müller, Mueller, Mulder, Molenaar, Muenier, Molinaro, Molinero, Molnár, Mlinar, Mlynarczyk.

(countable) An English and Scottish surname originating as an occupation for a miller.


Sim

From Middle English Sym, diminutive of Simeon and Simon.

A Scottish surname transferred from the given name derived from the given name.


Sim

Borrowed from Hokkien 沈 (Sím) or Teochew 沈 (sim2).


Calvin

Latinization of Norman-Picard Cauvin, a nickname for a chauve (“bald”) person.

A surname from French or Spanish, notably borne by John Calvin, French Protestant theologian.


Paola

Paola (countable and uncountable, plural Paolas)


Anderson

Anderson (countable and uncountable, plural Andersons)

From Middle English Ander (“Andrew”) + -son, after Saint Andrew, patron saint of Scotland. In the United States, sometimes an anglicization of Danish and Norwegian Andersen or Swedish Andersson.

(countable) A Scottish surname originating as a patronymic.


Stanford

Various place names from Old English stān (“stone”) + ford (“ford”).

Stanford (disambiguation)
Stanford University

A habitational surname from Old English.


Chen

From Mandarin 陳／陈 (Chén). Doublet of Tan, Chan, and Tran.

Chen’s lawyer, Zheng Jianwei, said the court in Suining, a city in Sichuan province, found Chen guilty of the charge of “inciting subversion of state power” by writing essays critical of the government.

2011 December 23, Sui-Lee Wee, Chris Buckley, “China dissident jailed for 9 years for "subversive" essays”, in Ron Popeski, Ed Lane, editors, Reuters, archived from the original on 2022-08-19, World News:


Erzya

Erzya (countable and uncountable, plural Erzyas)


Hodgkin

From Hodge, a Middle English diminutive of the given name Roger + -kin.


Hodge

Hodge (countable and uncountable, plural Hodges)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Hodge.wav

From a Middle English diminutive of the given name Roger. The substitution of H for R is common in English words derived from Norman French.


Hilbert

From a Middle English given name of Proto-Germanic origin, from Old English hild (“battle”) + beorht (“bright”) (Proto-Germanic *Hildiberhtaz).


Pulitzer

En-us-Joseph Pulitzer from U.S. pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg


Clare

A surname from Old English derived from Old English clǣġ (“clay”) as an occupational name for a worker in clay.


Huntington

An English habitational surname for someone who lived at any of several places whose name is derived from Old English hunta, hunter, especially from Huntingdon.


Luchsinger

Borrowed from German Luchsinger. Originating from Switzerland.


Tinker

A northern English surname originating as an occupation for someone who mends pots and pans.


Pinkerton

Habitational surname from a place near Dunbar, from an unexplained first element + Old English tūn (“enclosure”). This surname is well established in Scotland and Northern Ireland.


Ade

The surname derives from medieval forms of Adam or Adrian.

A surname transferred from the given name.


Philemon

Philemon (countable and uncountable, plural Philemons)

From Ancient Greek Φιλήμων (Philḗmōn), from φιλήμων (philḗmōn, “kindly, affectionate”), from φιλέω (philéō, “I love”).


Connel

Connel (countable and uncountable, plural Connels)

A surname from Irish of Irish origin, anglicized form of Ó Conaill.


Spalding

An English and Scottish habitational surname.


Spaulding

Spaulding (countable and uncountable, plural Spauldings)


Hellen

* As a Swedish surname, from häll (“flat rock”) + adjectival suffix -en. Also found in Finland.
* As an English surname, variant of Ellen, sometimes confused with Helen.
* As an English surname of Norman origin, from the placename Helléan in France, from Middle French Helien, named after Hellean, a Brythonic/Celtic figure of ancient Britain, which could ultimately be related to the source of Ellis.


Beavis

A surname from Old French, a variant of Bevis.


Titus

Borrowed from Latin Titus, a Roman and Sabine praenomen meaning either "honorable" or "strong; of the giants".


Yuan

From Mandarin 袁 (Yuán). Doublet of Yuen.


McGovern

McGovern (countable and uncountable, plural McGoverns)

Anglicized form of Irish and Scottish Gaelic Mac Samhradháin (“son of Samhradhán”), diminutive of samhradh (“summer”).


Bolton

From Middle English Bodeltone (in the Domesday Book) etc., ultimately from Old English bolt, bold, botl, etc. (“home, hall, manor”) + -tun (“-ton: enclosure, town”).


Chandler

/ˈt͡ʃændləɹ/

An English surname originating as an occupation for a chandler (“maker or seller of candles”).


Rios

A surname from Spanish. An Anglicisation of a Spanish habitational surname from Riós in Galicia


Duval

A topographic surname from French of French origin, for someone who lived in a valley.


Stalin

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Stalin.wav

Borrowed from Russian Ста́лин (Stálin), from сталь (stalʹ, “steel”) + -ин (-in, possessive suffix), from German Stahl (“steel”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *stahlą (“steel”).

suf

A surname from Russian; usually referring to the Russian [empire, republic] revolutionary and Soviet Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU(b) Joseph Stalin.


Mooney

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Maonaigh (“descendant of Maonach”), a personal name derived from maoineach (“rich, wealthy; precious, beloved”).


Snowdon

en-proper noun

Snowdon (countable and uncountable, plural Snowdons)

From Old English snaw+dun, Literally, “snow hill”.

m-g

<i class="Latn mention" lang="en">snow hill</i>

An English habitational surname from toponymy [in turn from Old English] for someone who lived in any of these places.


Gautama

A surname from Sanskrit of Indian origin.


Tracey

A surname from Old French, a spelling variant of Tracy.


Matthews

en-proper noun

Matthews (countable and uncountable, plural Matthewses)

An English surname originating as a patronymic derived from the given name Matthew.


Braxton

Braxton (countable and uncountable, plural Braxtons)

Perhaps a habitational surname from the village of Branxton, in Northumberland.


Emanuel

Variant of Emmanuel, borrowed from Spanish and from various other European languages.


Hamm

* As an English and German surname, from hamm (“enclosure, land by a stream”).
* Also as a German surname, from Hamm in Westphalia, itself from a Low German derivative of Proto-Germanic *hammō (“corner, hollow, bend”), used in the sense "river bend," similar to Hamburg.

der

An English topographic surname for someone who lived in an area of flat land near a river; or a habitational name from several places with the same name in southern England.


Holmes

A northern English surname from Middle English, variant of Holme.


Aberg

An American surname from Swedish derived from the Scandinavian Åberg or Aaberg.


Charlton

From Old English ċeorl (“freeman”) and tūn (“town”). Doublet of Carlton.

A surname from Old English derived from the English place name.


Palmer

en-proper noun

Palmer (countable and uncountable, plural Palmers)

From Middle English palmer (“a pilgrim from the Holy Land”), from Old French.

der

(countable) An English surname transferred from the nickname.


Maxwell

From an earlier form Mackeswell, meaning "Mack's well or spring", from Old English welle (“well”).

A Scottish habitational surname from Mackeswell near Melrose.


Skillings

An English surname that originated in Norfolk, of unknown derivation.


Donaher

A surname from Irish, Alternative spelling of Danaher


Samuelson

An English and Ashkenazic Jewish surname originating as a patronymic derived from the given name Samuel.


Landry

en-proper noun

Landry (countable and uncountable, plural Landrys)

French, from the Germanic land, from Proto-Germanic *landą (“land”), + ric, from Proto-Germanic *rīkijaz (“mighty”).
Cognate to the Spanish given name Landerico, Landrigo.


Cameron

Cameron (countable and uncountable, plural Camerons)

From Scottish Gaelic Camshròn, from cam (“crooked, bent”) + sròn (“nose”). Compare Campbell, from Scottish Gaelic cam (“crooked”) + beul (“mouth”).

A Scottish surname from Scottish Gaelic, see above.

A surname from Irish, an anglicization of Ó Cumaráin, Ó Cumráin (“descendant of *Cumrán”).


Laurence

From the name of a third century Roman martyr, Latin Laurentius, "a person from Laurentum", the place name possibly derived from laurus (“laurel”) .


Elliott

Elliott (countable and uncountable, plural Elliotts)

French: Éliot, Éliott, Élliot, Élliott

Swedish: Elliot

English surname derived from a Middle English diminutive of Elie, Old French form of Elias or Elijah, meaning "my God is Yahweh". As a Scottish surname it may also represent Gaelic Elloch from a word meaning a dam or bank.

A surname transferred from the given name. from Hebrew given name

(countable) A surname.
A surname. from Scottish


Brandon

From Middle English Brandon, Brampdon, Bramdun, Bremedon, Bromdun, from Old English brōmdūn, from brōm (“broom shrub”) + dūn (“hill, dune”). Doublet of English Branton.

Sir William Brandon, you shall bear my standard.

c. 1593, William Shakespeare, Richard III, act V, scene III:

An English habitational surname from Old English from any of several places of that name.


Brandon

From Irish Mac Breandáin (“son of Breandán”). Doublet of Brendan.

A surname from Irish [in turn originating as a patronymic] from the Gaelic Mac Breandáin.


Ratner

A Yiddish occupational surname from rat, council.


Fulcher

From a medieval English given name of Germanic origin, cognate to modern German Volker.

A surname transferred from the given name, most common in East Anglia.


Amos

From Biblical Hebrew עמוס (Amos, “to carry; a burden”).


Riley

en-proper noun

Riley (countable and uncountable, plural Rileys)

* From Ryley in Lancashire, from Old English ryge (“rye”) + leah (“clearing, meadow”). Equivalent to rye + -ley (“lea”).
* Variant of Reilly, from Irish Ó Raghallaigh (see O'Reilly).

A surname from Irish of Irish origin, variant of Reilly.

An English habitational surname from Old English, from Ryley in Lancashire (see Etymology above).


Morrison

From the given name Maurice or Morris + -son.

A Scottish surname originating as a patronymic.


Tiffany

From Old French Tifinie, Tiphanie, from Latin Theophania (“Epiphany”), from Ancient Greek θεό- (theó-, “god”) (combining form of θεός (theós, “god”)) + φαίνω (phaínō, “I shine, appear”). Doublet of theophany.
The given name (from circa 12th century) was usually given to girls born at Epiphany. The surname (from late 13th century) is a dialectal variant of the surname Tiffin, which derives from the given name variant Tiffania.
In modern times, the given name has been (re)popularized by the surname borne by Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of jewelry company Tiffany & Co.


Goth

From Middle English Gothes, Gotes (both plural). In turn partly from Old English Gotan, singular Gota, and partly from Late Latin Gothi. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gutô, perhaps from *geutaną (“to pour”). Compare Old Norse Goti (“Gotlander, Goth”), and related also to Gutnish, Gotland.


Marlowe

/ˈmɑː(ɹ)ləʊ/

A habitational surname from Old English from the English place name Marlow.