Surname Means

What does your surname mean?

Short, plain-language stories about your surname.

Most surnames started as a simple label so neighbors could tell people apart. Over time those labels stuck and became family names. Almost all of them fall into one of four kinds: what someone did for work, whose child they were, where they lived, or a nickname that caught on.

Four kinds of surnames

Occupation Named for the work your ancestor did — Baker, Smith, Carpenter.

Parent’s name Named for a parent — Johnson, Fitzpatrick, and names built the same way in other languages.

Place Named for a place they lived or came from — Hill, York, da Vinci.

Nickname A trait, look, or habit that stuck to someone in your line — Short, Brown, Klein.

A few surnames to start with

Smith
Johnson
Garcia
Nguyen
Miller
Brown

All surnames on this site

Smith Occupation · rank 1
Johnson Parent’s name · rank 2
Williams Parent’s name · rank 3
Brown Nickname · rank 4
Jones Parent’s name · rank 5
Garcia Parent’s name · rank 6
Miller Occupation · rank 7
Rodriguez Parent’s name · rank 8
Davis Parent’s name · rank 9
Martinez Parent’s name · rank 10
Hernandez Parent’s name · rank 11
Lopez Parent’s name · rank 12
Gonzalez Parent’s name · rank 13
Wilson Parent’s name · rank 14
Anderson Parent’s name · rank 15
Taylor Occupation · rank 17
Moore Place · rank 18
Lee Place · rank 19
Jackson Parent’s name · rank 20
Perez Parent’s name · rank 21
White Nickname · rank 24
Clark Occupation · rank 28
Nguyen Parent’s name · rank 29
Walker Occupation · rank 32
Hall Place · rank 33
Young Nickname · rank 34
King Nickname · rank 36
Wright Occupation · rank 37
Torres Place · rank 38
Flores Nickname · rank 39
Scott Nickname · rank 40
Hill Place · rank 41
Green Nickname · rank 42
Baker Occupation · rank 45
Rivera Place · rank 46
Campbell Nickname · rank 48
Carter Occupation · rank 50
Cruz Place · rank 55
Parker Occupation · rank 58
Stewart Occupation · rank 61
Patel Occupation · rank 63
Murphy Parent’s name · rank 65
Cook Occupation · rank 66
Kim Nickname · rank 71
Cooper Occupation · rank 72
Wood Place · rank 91
Chen Place · rank 93
Wang Nickname · rank 151
Singh Nickname · rank 156
Cohen Occupation · rank 355

No match in these 50 names yet. We only publish names we’ve researched — we won’t invent a meaning.