tykki's Personal Name List
Zhu
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 朱(Chinese)
Pronounced: CHOO
From Chinese
朱 (zhū) meaning
"vermilion red, cinnabar" and also referring to the ancient state of Zhu, which existed in what is now Shandong province. This was the surname of the emperors of the Ming dynasty.
Zhou
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 周(Chinese)
Pronounced: CHO
From Chinese
周 (zhōu) referring to the Zhou dynasty, which held power from 1046 to 771 BC, continuing for a few more centuries as figureheads.
Zamora
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: tha-MO-ra(Spanish) sa-MO-ra(Spanish) zə-MAW-rə(English)
Habitational name from
Zamora, a city in northwestern Spain, of uncertain etymology. Possibly derived from Berber
azemur "wild olive tree".
Xie
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 谢(Chinese) 謝(Traditional Chinese)
Pronounced: SHYEH
From Chinese
谢 (xiè) referring to the minor state of Xie, which existed in what is now Hubei province.
Xiao
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 蕭(Chinese)
Pronounced: SHYOW
From Chinese
蕭 (xiāo) referring to the fiefdom or territory of Xiao (in present-day Anhui province) that existed during the Zhou dynasty.
Winter
Usage: English, German, Swedish
Pronounced: WIN-tər(English) VIN-tu(German)
From Old English winter or Old High German wintar meaning "winter". This was a nickname for a person with a cold personality.
Wattana
Usage: Thai
Other Scripts: วัฒนา(Thai)
Pronounced: wat-ta-NA
From Thai
วัฒน (wathan) meaning
"culture".
Watanabe
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 渡辺(Japanese Kanji) わたなべ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: WA-TA-NA-BEH
From Japanese
渡 (wata) meaning "cross, ferry" and
辺 (nabe) meaning "area, place".
Vương
Usage: Vietnamese
Pronounced: VWUNG, YWUNG
Vietnamese form of
Wang 1, from Sino-Vietnamese 王
(vương).
Vũ
Usage: Vietnamese
Pronounced: VOO, VUW
Vietnamese form of
Wu 2, from Sino-Vietnamese
武 (vũ).
Von Brandt
Means "from the area cleared by fire", from Middle High German brant.
Vinh
A royal Vietnamese surname created by the
Nguyen Dynasty.
Verity
Usage: English
Pronounced: VEHR-i-tee
From a nickname meaning "truth", perhaps given originally to a truthful person.
Vaughn
Usage: Welsh
Pronounced: VAWN(English)
Tremaine
Usage: Cornish
Pronounced: TREH-mayn(English)
Variant of
Tremayne. A famous fictional bearer is Lady Tremaine, the main antagonist of Disney's
Cinderella (1950).
Trelawny
A habitational surname that originated in Cornwall.
Summers 1
Usage: English
Pronounced: SUM-ərz
Summerfield
Originally indicated the bearer was from a town of this name, derived from Old English sumor "summer" and feld "field".
Summer
Usage: English, German
Pronounced: SUM-ər(English)
From Middle English sum(m)er, Middle High German sumer "summer", hence a nickname for someone of a warm or sunny disposition, or for someone associated with the season of summer in some other way.
Stoica
Usage: Romanian
Pronounced: STOI-ka
From Romanian stoic meaning "stoic, impassive".
Soun
Usage: Khmer
Other Scripts: សួន(Khmer)
Means "garden" in Khmer.
Singh
Usage: Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Punjabi, Indian (Sikh)
Other Scripts: सिंह(Hindi, Marathi, Nepali) ਸਿੰਘ(Gurmukhi)
Pronounced: SINGG(Hindi)
From Sanskrit
सिंह (siṃha) meaning
"lion". In 1699 Guru Gobind Singh gave all his Sikh male followers the surname
Singh and all females
Kaur. It is among the most common surnames in India.
Sinclair
Usage: English
Pronounced: sin-KLEHR
Derived from a Norman French town called "
Saint Clair".
Rowe 1
Usage: English
Pronounced: RO
Means "row" in Middle English, indicating a dweller by a row of hedges or houses.
Rosa
Usage: Italian, Catalan
Pronounced: RAW-za(Italian) RAW-zə(Catalan)
Italian and Catalan form of
Rose 1.
Romero
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: ro-MEH-ro
Derived from Spanish
romero meaning
"pilgrim to Rome".
Quintanilla
Usage: Spanish (Latin American)
Petit
Usage: French, Catalan, English
Pronounced: PU-TEE(French) pə-TEET(Catalan)
Means "small, little" derived from Old French and Catalan petit. It was perhaps used for a short, small person or to denote the younger of two individuals.
Penhaligon
Originally meant "person from Penhaligon", Cornwall ("willow-tree hill"). It is borne by Susan Penhaligon (1950-), a British actress.
Penaluna
A surname with somewhat uncertain origins, though many agree it is locational. Potentially from pen-lyn, the head of a pond or pool.
Pascoe
Usage: Cornish
Pronounced: PAS-co
Cornish form of Pascal, meaning "easter", with the Cornish patronymic suffix, -o.
Oyakawa
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 親川(Japanese Kanji)
Pronounced: OH-YAH-KAH-WAH
From the Japanese 親 (oya) "parent" and 川 (kawa) "river."
Orchard
English: topographic name for someone who lived by an orchard, or a metonymic occupational name for a fruit grower, from Middle English
orchard.
English: habitational name from any of the places called Orchard. Those in Devon and Somerset are named from Old English
ortgeard,
orceard (a compound of
wort,
wyrt ‘plant’ (later associated with Latin
hortus ‘garden’) +
geard ‘yard’, ‘enclosure’), while East and West Orchard near Shaftesbury in Dorset have a different origin, ‘(place) beside the wood’, from Celtic
ar +
ced.
Scottish: English surname adopted as equivalent of
Urquhart.
Opie
From the medieval personal name
Oppy or
Obby, a diminutive of such names as
Osbert,
Osborn, and
Osbald. Bearers of this surname include British portrait and history painter John Opie (1761-1807) and British authors and folklorists Peter Opie (1918-82) and his wife Iona Opie (née Archibald; 1923-).
Ono
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 小野(Japanese Kanji) おの(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: O-NO
From Japanese
小 (o) meaning "small" and
野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness".
Nightingale
Usage: English (American)
Nancarrow
Means "person from Nancarrow", Cornwall (either "valley frequented by deer" or "rough valley"). It was borne by US composer Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997).
Mori
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 森(Japanese Kanji) もり(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: MO-REE
From Japanese
森 (mori) meaning
"forest".
Moore 3
Usage: English
Pronounced: MUWR
Nickname for a person of dark complexion, from Old French more, Latin maurus, meaning "Moorish".
Moon 2
Usage: English
Pronounced: MOON
Originally indicated a person from the town of Moyon in Normandy.
Monroe
Anglicized (typically American) form of
Munro. It was borne by the American actress Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962).
Minh
Usage: Vietnamese
Pronounced: MING, MIN
Vietnamese form of
Ming, from Sino-Vietnamese 明
(minh).
Menear
Usage: Cornish, English (British)
English (Devon; of Cornish origin): topographic name for someone who lived by a menhir, i.e. a tall standing stone erected in prehistoric times (Cornish men ‘stone’ + hir ‘long’). In the United States, it is a common surname in Pennsylvania & West Virginia.
Meadows
Usage: English
Pronounced: MEHD-oz
Referred to one who lived in a meadow, from Old English mædwe.
Martinez
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: mar-TEE-neth(European Spanish) mar-TEE-nehs(Latin American Spanish)
Lykke
Means "happiness" in Danish.
Lý
Usage: Vietnamese
Pronounced: LEE
Vietnamese form of
Li 1, from Sino-Vietnamese 李
(lý).
Lương
Usage: Vietnamese
Pronounced: LWUNG
Vietnamese form of
Liang, from Sino-Vietnamese 梁
(lương).
Luna
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: LOO-na
From various places in Spain meaning "moon".
Lin
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 林(Chinese)
Pronounced: LEEN
From Chinese
林 (lín) meaning
"forest".
Lam
Usage: Chinese (Cantonese)
Other Scripts: 林(Chinese)
Pronounced: LUM
Cantonese romanization of
Lin.
Lacey
Usage: English
Pronounced: LAY-see
Derived from Lassy, the name of a town in Normandy. The name of the town was Gaulish in origin, perhaps deriving from a personal name that was Latinized as Lascius.
Kuromiya
Usage: Japanese
Pronounced: KOO-RO-MEE-YA
Kuro means "Black" and Miya means "Shrine".
A notable bearer is Kiyoshi Kuromiya (1943-200), an author and human rights activist.
Keo
Usage: Khmer
Other Scripts: កែវ(Khmer)
Means "glass" in Khmer.
Kennedy
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: KEHN-ə-dee(English)
From the Irish name
Ó Cinnéidigh meaning
"descendant of Cennétig". This surname was borne by assassinated American president John F. Kennedy (1917-1963).
Karamazov
Usage: Literature
Other Scripts: Карамазов(Russian)
Created by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky for his novel
The Brothers Karamazov (1879), about three brothers and their murdered father. Dostoyevsky may have based it on Tartar/Turkic
кара (kara) meaning "black" and Russian
мазать (mazat) meaning "stain"
[1]. The connection to black is implied in the novel when one of the brothers is accidentally addressed as Mr.
Черномазов (Chernomazov), as if based on Russian
чёрный meaning "black"
[2].
Kaneko
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 金子(Japanese Kanji) かねこ(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KA-NEH-KO
From Japanese
金 (kane) meaning "gold, metal, money" and
子 (ko) meaning "child".
Kanagusuku
Usage: Okinawan
Other Scripts: 金城(Japanese Kanji)
The Okinawan language reading of its kanji, meaning "golden castle".
Kamiya
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 神谷(Japanese Kanji) かみや(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: KA-MEE-YA
From Japanese
神 (kami) meaning "god" and
谷 (ya) meaning "valley".
Jenkins
Usage: English
Pronounced: JENG-kinz
From the given name
Jenkin, a
diminutive of
Jen, itself a Middle English form of
John.
Hyde
Usage: English
Pronounced: HIED
From Middle English hide, a unit of land, approximately the size necessary to support a household.
Hunt
Usage: English
Pronounced: HUNT
Huerta
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: WEHR-ta
Means "garden, orchard" in Spanish, ultimately from Latin hortus.
Huang
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 黄(Chinese) 黃(Traditional Chinese)
Pronounced: KHWANG
From Chinese
黄 (huáng) meaning
"yellow".
Howell
From the Welsh given name
Hywel.
Hoshino
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 星野(Japanese Kanji) ほしの(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: HO-SHEE-NO
From Japanese
星 (hoshi) meaning "star" and
野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness".
Holub
Usage: Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Голуб(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: HAW-luwb(Ukrainian)
Means "dove, pigeon" in Czech, Slovak and Ukrainian.
Holloway
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHL-ə-way
From the name of various English places, derived from Old English
hol "hollow, sunken, deep" and
weg "path, way".
Hoa
Usage: Chinese (Hokkien, Rare)
Other Scripts: 化(Chinese)
Pronounced: hooa(Hokkien)
Hepburn
From northern English place names meaning "high burial mound" in Old English. It was borne by Mary Queen of Scot's infamous third husband, James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwall. Other famous bearers include the actresses Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003) and Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).
Hayes 3
Matronymic name derived from the given name
Chaya.
Harper
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-pər
Originally belonged to a person who played the harp or who made harps.
Harlow
Usage: English
Pronounced: HAHR-lo
Habitational name derived from a number of locations named Harlow, from Old English
hær "rock, heap of stones" or
here "army", combined with
hlaw "hill".
Hagihara
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 萩原(Japanese Kanji) はぎはら(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: HA-GYEE-HA-RA
From Japanese
萩 (hagi) meaning "bush clover" and
原 (hara) meaning "field, plain".
Hà
Usage: Vietnamese
Pronounced: HA
Vietnamese form of
He, from Sino-Vietnamese 何
(hà).
Hạ
Usage: Vietnamese
Pronounced: HA
Vietnamese form of
He, from Sino-Vietnamese 賀
(hạ).
Goldsworthy
Means "field of feast," from the Cornish gol-erewy.
Gatsby
Usage: English (Rare), Literature
Rare variant of
Gadsby. This name was used by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald for the central character in his novel
The Great Gatsby (1925). In the book, James Gatz renames himself as Jay Gatsby at age 17 because he believes it sounds more sophisticated.
Frankenstein
Usage: German, Literature
From any of the various minor places by this name in Germany, meaning "stone of the Franks" in German. It was used by the author Mary Shelley in her novel Frankenstein (1818) for the character of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who creates a monster and brings it to life. The monster, nameless in the novel, is sometimes informally or erroneously called Frankenstein in modern speech.
Fox
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAHKS
From the name of the animal. It was originally a nickname for a person with red hair or a crafty person.
Flynn
Usage: Irish
Pronounced: FLIN(English)
Anglicized form of Irish
Ó Floinn meaning
"descendant of Flann".
Flores
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: FLO-rehs
Means
"son of Floro" in Spanish.
Flannery
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Flannghaile meaning "descendant of Flannghal", a given name meaning "red valour".
Finch
Usage: English, Literature
Pronounced: FINCH(English)
From the name of the bird, from Old English finc. It was used by Harper Lee for the surname of lawyer Atticus Finch and his children in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960).
Edevane
A rare Welsh surname, believed to be of Cornish origin. This surname is made up of two elements. ‘Ed’ is not a shortened form of Edward, but derives from the ancient (Old English?) ‘ead’ meaning ‘prosperity’ and/or ‘happiness’. This also gave rise to names like Edmund (‘prosperity protector’), Edward, (meaning ‘prosperity guardian’) and Edwin (‘prosperity friend’). The second element, ‘vean’ or ‘vane’ means ‘little’ or ‘the younger’. The Cornish ‘byghan’ became mutated in the same way as the Welsh ‘bychan’ became ‘fychan’ (i.e. ‘vychan’) when added to a personal name, and performed the same service of distinguishing between father and son where they had the same name. In Wales, this ultimately led to the well-known surname Vaughan. Edevane and variants, therefore, would seem to have the sense ‘the younger happy one’ or ‘the younger prosperous one’.
Delacroix
Usage: French
Pronounced: DEH-LA-KRWA
Means "of the cross" in French. It denoted one who lived near a cross symbol or near a crossroads. A notable bearer was the French painter Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863).
Day
Usage: English
Pronounced: DAY
Curnow
Ethnic name for someone from Cornwall.
Corleone
Usage: Sicilian, Literature
From the name of the town of Corleone in Sicily, which is of uncertain meaning. This surname is well known from the novel The Godfather (1969) by Mario Puzo, as well as the films based on his characters. The story tells how Vito Andolini comes to America from Sicily, receiving the new surname Corleone at Ellis Island, and starts a criminal empire based in New York.
Copperfield
Created from the English words copper and field by the author Charles Dickens, who used it for the title character in his novel David Copperfield (1850).
Colombo
Usage: Italian
Pronounced: ko-LOM-bo
Either from Italian
colomba "dove" indicating a dove keeper, or from the given name
Colombo, which is derived from the same word. This was the Italian surname of the 15th-century explorer Christopher Columbus.
Chayka
Usage: Ukrainian
Other Scripts: Чайка(Ukrainian)
Pronounced: CHIE-ku
Means "seagull" in Ukrainian.
Chance
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHANS
From a nickname for a lucky person or a gambler.
Chan
Usage: Chinese (Cantonese)
Other Scripts: 陈(Chinese) 陳(Traditional Chinese)
Pronounced: TSUN
Cantonese romanization of
Chen.
Castro
Usage: Spanish, Portuguese
Pronounced: KAS-tro(Spanish) KASH-troo(European Portuguese) KAS-troo(Brazilian Portuguese)
Means "castle" in Spanish and Portuguese, referring to one who lived near a castle. A famous bearer was Fidel Castro (1926-2016), revolutionary and president of Cuba.
Bowen
From Welsh
ap Owain meaning
"son of Owain".
Botello
Occupational name for a maker of bottles, from Galician bottela meaning "bottle".
Blythe
Usage: English
Pronounced: BLIEDH
From Old English meaning "happy, joyous, blithe".
Blanchard
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: BLAHN-SHAR(French) BLAN-chərd(English)
Blair
From any one of several places of this name in Scotland, which derive from Gaelic blàr meaning "plain, field, battlefield".
Berry
Usage: English
Pronounced: BEHR-ee
Derived from a place name, which was derived from Old English burh "fortification".
Belmonte
From various place names in Italy and Spain meaning "beautiful mountain".
Beaumont
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: BO-MAWN(French) BO-mahnt(English)
From French place names derived from beau "beautiful" and mont "mountain".
Bai
Usage: Chinese
Other Scripts: 白(Chinese)
Pronounced: PIE
From Chinese
白 (bái) meaning
"white".
Astor
Derived from Occitan astur meaning "hawk". The wealthy and influential Astor family, prominent in British and American society, originated in the Italian Alps.
Arias
Usage: Spanish
Pronounced: A-ryas
Possibly derived from a medieval given name of Germanic origin.
Alma
Means
"son of Ale 2", the suffix
-ma indicating that it is of Frisian origin.
Alamilla
From Spanish alamillo meaning "poplar, aspen".
Akiyama
Usage: Japanese
Other Scripts: 秋山(Japanese Kanji) あきやま(Japanese Hiragana)
Pronounced: A-KYEE-YA-MA
From Japanese
秋 (aki) meaning "autumn" and
山 (yama) meaning "mountain, hill".
Aiza
From Basque aitz meaning "rock, stone".
Ainsley
From a place name: either Annesley in Nottinghamshire or Ansley in Warwickshire. The place names themselves derive from Old English
anne "alone, solitary" or
ansetl "hermitage" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Addams
Usage: English
Pronounced: AD-əmz
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