Surnames starting with C

A Spanish surname meaning “horseman” or “knight,” originally a title for a mounted warrior or nobleman.

A surname most likely from a place-name or from the older form Cabal/Cabell, though the evidence here is too thin for certainty.

A Spanish surname from cabello, meaning “hair,” likely first used as a nickname for someone with notable hair or a hairy appearance.

An English surname that likely began as a short form of Caple or Capel, and may in some cases also reflect the medieval personal name Cabel.

A surname of Iberian origin, probably linked to goats or goat-keeping, and especially well known in Portuguese and Spanish-speaking families.

A Spanish surname likely tied to goats or goat-herding, with a form that looks like a regional or pluralized offshoot of Cabral.

A Spanish surname meaning “goat herd” or “place of goats,” originally linked to goat-raising or a goat-rich place.

A surname that most likely began as a Welsh personal-name form meaning “warlike,” though in some cases it may reflect a spelling shift from Caldwell.

Likely from an old personal name, though some once linked it to the word for a small cask.

A Spanish surname from the common noun for a chain, likely first applied as a descriptive or emblematic name.

A French surname meaning “younger son” or “junior,” often used as a nickname for the younger branch of a family.

A surname that likely began as a medieval pet form of Cade, with some later Scottish and Irish forms influenced by Gaelic names.

A Roman name made famous by Julius Caesar, later adopted in England as a surname and occasionally used as a given-name-based family name.

Usually an English locational surname, probably meaning someone who lived by a cage, town cage, or prison-like enclosure.

An English-language surname most often treated as a habitational or nickname-form name, with some uncertainty about its exact source.

An Irish surname from the old personal name Cathal, meaning “battle rule” or “strong in battle.”

A surname usually treated as an Anglicized form of an Irish/Scottish Gaelic name, often linked with Colquhoun or a related Gaelic source.

An uncommon surname that may sometimes reflect a Welsh or Cornish name form, but its exact origin is not firmly established from the excerpts provided.

A surname with more than one likely source, including Irish O'Cathain/O'Kane and, in some cases, a Norman place-name from Caen.

A surname with several possible roots, including a Manx/Irish form and a possible place-name origin.

A Scottish and Irish surname that likely comes from a word for a heap of stones or a cairn.

An Italian surname meaning “a person from Calabria.”

A Scottish and northern English surname taken from places beside the river Calder, whose name was traditionally explained as meaning a stony or wooded stream.

A surname likely tied to a large metal cauldron or boiler, and in some cases to Spanish place-names built from the same word.

A surname of Spanish origin, best known from the writer Pedro Calderón de la Barca.

An Italian surname usually connected to a caldaro, a cauldron or kettle, suggesting an ancestor who made or used one.

A place-based surname meaning “cold well,” originally for someone from a locality by a cold spring.

A Scottish surname from Colquhoun, ultimately tied to a place-name meaning “hazel-tree dwelling.”

A surname and given name of classical Greek origin, ultimately linked to the name of a figure from Greek myth and to the Great Bear constellation.

A surname most likely developed as a variant of Caulkins, itself probably from a nickname or regional form built on an older personal name or byname.

An English surname that may come from the Old English word for a man, or from a shortened form of Macall/McCall in some cases.

An Irish surname from the old Gaelic personal name Ceallachán, associated with the descendants of a man called Callaghan.

An anglicized Irish surname, usually linked to O'Callaghan and meaning roughly “descendant of Callaghan.”

An Irish surname that likely comes from a Gaelic byname meaning “the noisy one” or “the clamorous one.”

Usually explained as a form of Galloway, the Scottish regional name, though some early writers treated it as a local surname of uncertain origin.

A surname with several possible roots, most often linked either to a Spanish word for a street or to a medieval head-dress called a caul/call.

A Spanish surname most likely tied to a word for a street, lane, or small road.

An occupational surname for a cloth finisher—someone who pressed and smoothed linen or other fabric.

A surname usually taken from Calais, the French port once held by England.

A likely patronymic surname meaning “son of Callie” or “son of a descendant of the Gaelic personal name Calum.”

A name likely linked to places in or near Callow/Calloway, and often treated as a variant of Galloway.

Most likely a northern English surname from an occupational nickname meaning “calf-herd,” though one line of later scholarship also connected it with a place-name or French form.

A Spanish surname probably tied to the nickname Calvo, meaning “bald,” with Calvillo as a diminutive or derivative form.

A surname often explained as a nickname for someone bald, from a Latin root meaning “bald.”

A Spanish and Italian surname originally meaning “bald,” often first used as a nickname for someone with little or no hair.

A Spanish surname from a word meaning a paved road or causeway, originally pointing to someone who lived by or came from such a road.

A Spanish surname that likely began as a nickname or byname, though its exact root is debated.

A surname with multiple possible roots, most often linked to the Spanish and Portuguese word for a chamber or room, or to a place-name meaning “field.”

A Hispanic surname most likely tied to a place-name, especially one connected with fields or cultivated land.

A surname likely taken from a Spanish place-name, especially the town and valley of Camargo in Cantabria.

A Spanish surname most likely tied to a place name or locality name built on the word for a chamber or small room.

A locational surname likely meaning “from Campden” in Gloucestershire, later linked to the antiquary William Camden.

A Scottish surname that is often explained as meaning “crooked nose,” though some lines also connect it to a place-name in Fife.

A surname that usually began as a topographic name for someone who lived or worked near a camp, field, or enclosed military site.

A surname that may point to a field, camp, or place-name origin, though the historical evidence is mixed and sometimes uncertain.

A surname of Italian origin, usually linked to a place name or to the word for “the countryside.”

An Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese surname meaning “bell,” usually from a nickname, house sign, or place-name.

A great Scottish clan surname, traditionally linked to a Gaelic phrase meaning “crooked mouth.”

A surname usually linked to an old word for a fighter, champion, or warrior.

Usually an occupational surname from a word for a fighter or champion.

A surname most likely tied to the Latin word for a field or open country, often used in place-based naming.

A common Spanish and Portuguese surname meaning “fields,” often originally a place name or a family from open country.

A Spanish surname probably meaning someone from a field or open country, though the exact place-based origin is not fully certain.

An unusual surname that likely began as a locational name, referring to someone from the place-name Canada or adopted from it later.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably a variant spelling built from an older personal or place-name form.

A surname most likely from an old Gaelic place-name or family-name tradition, later reshaped in English spelling.

A Spanish surname meaning “channels” or “watercourses,” originally a plural form of Canal.

Likely a nickname surname from a word meaning “gray-haired” or “white-haired.”

An Irish surname, probably from a Gaelic name meaning “white-headed.”

A rare surname that is most likely a nickname or occupational-name variant, though its exact origin is uncertain.

A likely Spanish-language surname, probably tied to a place name or regional nickname rather than a common English occupational root.

A surname from the feast of Candlemas, ultimately tied to candles and religious observance.

A surname from a personal name based on the Latin word for a candle or lamp, often linked to Christian devotion and the feast of Candlemas.

A surname drawn from the word for cinnamon, likely first used as a nickname or descriptive byname.

A locational surname originally referring to someone from Canfield in Essex, England.

A surname with two main roots: in England it is often locational, while in Ireland it can be a shortened form of Mac Cann.

An English- or Irish-rooted surname that likely developed as a local or family-name variant of Cannady/Cannady-type forms, though the exact origin is not securely pinned down from the excerpted evidence.

A surname that can come from an English place name, a nickname for a leader or king, or an Irish surname that was later Anglicized as Canning.

Usually a surname from canon, the church official — though in some cases it may also reflect a place-name.

A surname of Spanish origin, often linked to a nickname meaning “gray-haired” or “white-haired.”

An occupational surname for a church singer or precentor, from Latin for “one who sings.”

A locational surname taken from the famous English city and archbishopric of Canterbury in Kent.

A surname from the Latin word for a singer or church precentor.

An old surname most likely meaning “the little singer,” or possibly a nickname tied to a chanterelle or small bell.

A surname of Spanish and Italian shape, often tied to place names or regional family roots rather than a single clear meaning.

A surname most commonly explained as coming from a place name, likely Canwell in Staffordshire or another local name of similar form.

An Irish surname, most often linked to a Gaelic family name that may relate to a personal name or descriptive byname.

A surname most likely of Chinese origin in modern use, though it also appears as a romanized Irish Gaelic name in older records.

An English surname most likely from a nickname or an older personal name, though its exact origin is not securely established.

A surname most often linked to a Jewish occupational title, originally referring to a chaplain or cleric.

A surname of Italian origin, most likely from a word for a capon or cockerel, used as a nickname or descriptive byname.

A surname usually treated as a shortened or altered form of Capp, with an older explanation linking it to a cap or hood-maker.

An Italian surname usually linked to a nickname for someone with a shaved head or a conspicuous head of hair, from a word for “head.”

A Spanish surname most often linked to a horse-related nickname or byname.

An English surname that may come from a place-name or a nickname linked to caraway, the spice and seed.

A Spanish surname from a place-name, ultimately referring to an oak grove or wooded area.

A surname of Spanish and Portuguese origin, usually meaning someone from a place called Carballo or “oak tree.”

An Italian surname meaning “coal” or “charcoal,” likely first given to someone who made, sold, or worked with it.

A surname of likely Spanish origin, probably from a place name or local topographic term.

Usually a short form of Caird, a Scottish nickname for a travelling tinker or gipsy, though it was sometimes also linked to the carding trade.

A surname usually linked to places in England or Scotland, though some early forms may also connect to the older name Card/Caird.

An occupational surname for someone who carded wool or other fibers before spinning.

A surname often taken from the ecclesiastical title or used as a nickname for someone associated with a cardinal.

An Italian surname meaning “cardinal,” likely first used for someone associated with the Church office or as a nickname for someone dignified in rank or bearing.

A surname with strong Spanish and Catalan roots, originally tied to the place name Cardona in Catalonia.

A Portuguese and Spanish surname most often linked to places or features where thistles grew.

A surname of Iberian origin, probably referring to someone from or near a place called Cardozo/Cardoza.

A surname most likely from a Norman place-name, originally meaning someone from a settlement called Cardeville or a similar village name.

An old English and Irish surname that can be either a place-name name or a spelling variant of Carew.

A Scottish surname from a place in Perthshire, later also influenced by Gaelic and older forms like MacArdgill.

A surname probably linked to a Spanish nickname or kinship term, with the older form Carrillo more common.

A surname that usually points to a place-name or a descriptive nickname, and in some families may also reflect Italian or Spanish naming traditions.

A surname with two main roots: in some families it comes from the personal name Charles/Carl, while in others it reflects an older word for “man” or “rustic.”

A surname that can come from an old word for a rustic or common man, and in some cases from a place-name source such as Carlisle or a continental local name.

A place-based surname meaning someone from one of several English places called Carleton or Carlton, literally a “farmstead or settlement of free peasants.”

A surname most likely from a place-name such as Carlisle, though some older sources also connect it with a Scots nickname meaning “little man.”

A surname taken from the place name Carlisle, in northern England.

A surname with several possible roots, most often explained as a diminutive of Charles or as an Anglo-Saxon word for a man or peasant.

A locational surname taken from the city of Carlisle in Cumbria, England.

Usually a surname formed from the personal name Carlo, the Italian and broader Romance form of Charles.

A surname that usually began as a form of Charles, ultimately from the Germanic name meaning “free man” or “strong, manly.”

A Scandinavian patronymic surname meaning “son of Carl.”

A classic patronymic surname meaning “son of Carl” or “son of Karl.”

A locational surname meaning “from Carlton,” originally referring to one of several English settlements with that name.

A Scottish surname taken from the place name Carlisle, meaning someone who came from that border city.

A surname often explained as “dear son,” from Irish Gaelic elements meaning “dear” and “son.”

Usually an occupational surname for a carter or carrier, though some early instances may also come from a place-name or older personal name.

A Scottish surname taken from the place-name Carmichael in Lanarkshire, meaning “Michael’s fort” or “Michael’s castle.”

An Irish surname, usually understood as a form of the Gaelic name linked to a personal name or small place-name tradition.

A Spanish surname originally taken from the place name Carmona in Andalusia.

An Irish surname likely tied to a Gaelic place-name or topographic root meaning “rocky” or “stony.”

A surname with several possible roots, including a place-name or an older personal-name form, and sometimes treated as a spelling variant of Carne or Carney.

A surname of Irish origin, often treated as an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Cearnaigh or Mac Cearnaigh.

A surname with several possible origins, most often linked to Romance-language words meaning “dear” or “beloved,” and sometimes to a place-name.

A surname with several possible origins, most often explained as a French occupational name for a cart-maker or carter.

A surname usually understood as a Scottish or Irish variant of Caruthers, itself linked to the old place-name Carruthers in Dumfriesshire, Scotland.

An occupational surname for a woodworker who built or repaired structures, furniture, or other timber goods.

A likely surname that may have started as a shortened or altered form of Carpenter, though the historical evidence here is thin.

A Spanish surname most likely linked to place-name origins, though it is also famous from the legendary hero Bernardo del Carpio.

A name with several origins, most often tied to a rough marsh, bog, or wet land, though in some cases it may be linked to the related Scottish/Irish surname Ker/Kerr.

A surname likely tied to the Basque place name Carranza, used for someone from that valley or locality.

A Spanish surname with several possible origins, most likely tied either to holm oak scrub or to a place name built from that word.

A Spanish-language surname most likely tied to a place name or a word for a thorny shrub, with strong Puerto Rican and Caribbean usage.

A surname most likely taken from a place name or from an old personal name, with roots in medieval English and Norman naming traditions.

A surname of uncertain origin, most likely tied either to a Norman place-name or to a Gaelic name meaning something like “dear cliff.”

A surname of Spanish shape, likely a regional or patronymic form that traveled into the Americas through Spanish-speaking communities.

A surname from a Romance word for a road, track, or course—so the name can point to a place near a road or to someone associated with a route or journey.

A Spanish occupational surname meaning “cart-maker” or, more generally, someone who works with carts and wagons.

A Spanish surname most often linked to a place name or local landmark, and especially common in Spanish-speaking regions.

A Scottish and Irish surname tied to rocky places, especially a crag or the district of Carrick in Ayrshire.

A surname of likely old European origin, probably either a place-based name or a family-name variant built from a personal name.

An occupational surname originally meaning a messenger or carter—someone who carried goods or messages.

Carrigan is an Irish surname, usually understood as an Anglicized form of an older Gaelic family name.

A Spanish surname that likely began as a nickname or kinship byname, later inherited as a family name.

A surname taken from several English place-names, especially in Cheshire and Lincolnshire.

A surname with more than one possible origin, including a place-name and a nickname from the word for dead flesh.

A Spanish-language surname most likely tied to a place characterized by carrizos—reeds or canes.

An Irish surname most often derived from Ó Cearbhaill, a clan name whose older meaning is debated but is commonly linked to a personal name.

A Scottish surname usually understood as a shortened form related to Carruthers.

A Scottish locational surname from Carruthers in Dumfriesshire, carried by a long-established Border family.

Usually a patronymic surname meaning “son of Carl/Charles” or, in some cases, “son of Carr/Cair,” a nickname or place-based form.

A surname from place-names in Devon and Berkshire, meaning someone who came from or lived near a local spring or stream-side settlement.

A surname from the Spanish city of Cartagena, originally identifying someone who came from or was connected with that place.

An occupational surname meaning “cart driver” or “carter,” one of the classic English work-name surnames.

An occupational surname for a maker of carts or wagons.

An Irish surname, usually a shortened form of MacCarthy, meaning “son of Carthach.”

An Italian surname most often understood as a nickname from a word for a young man or servant, later made famous worldwide by the tenor Enrico Caruso.

A surname usually treated as a variant of Carruthers, long associated with a Scottish place-name and later spread widely in Ireland and North America.

A Spanish surname most likely tied to a place name or landscape feature, traditionally linked with oak groves or wooded ground.

A Portuguese surname meaning “oak grove” or “oak wood,” originally tied to a place name.

An occupational surname for a person who carved meat at table, though a few local-place explanations have also been proposed.

A surname with English place-name roots, most often linked to a manor near Launceston in Cornwall.

A surname for someone from a village, farmstead, or house by a manor, especially in Italian-speaking areas.

A Romance-language surname meaning “new house,” usually from a place-name or a person who lived by a newly built house.

A Spanish surname from a place-name meaning a cluster of houses or small settlement.

A Hispanic surname most likely linked to a place name built from Latin roots for a house or dwelling.

A Spanish surname meaning “houses,” usually a habitational name for someone from a house site or settlement.

An Italian surname most often linked to a place name or regional nickname, especially in southern Italy.

A surname that may come from a word meaning “chance” or “fortune,” though some bearers may also descend from other local or occupational origins.

An Italian surname that likely began as a nickname or place-based name, ultimately tied to the idea of a small house or hut.

An Irish surname most often understood as coming from a word for “vigilant” or “watchful,” though some older writers linked it to “valiant.”

A surname with several possible roots, most often explained as a Scottish place-name or a Gaelic form linked to Mac Uais.

An Irish surname most often treated as an anglicized form of an older Gaelic name, though some 19th-century scholars proposed other origins.

A surname of Romanic origin, most likely from a personal name based on Latin Cassianus.

A Spanish-language surname most likely tied to place names or a regional form related to houses or homesteads.

A Spanish surname most likely tied to small houses, huts, or cabins.

An Irish surname most likely from a Gaelic name linked to Easter or an Easter-time personal name.

A surname that most likely began as a short form or regional spelling of another family name, though in Spanish it can also be linked to words for a big container or to chestnuts.

A surname from the given name Caspar, best known as the name of one of the Three Wise Men in Christian tradition.

A surname with more than one possible origin, including an Irish Gaelic personal name and, in some cases, a shortened form of Cassandra.

An anglicized surname often tied to the Irish Ó Caiside, meaning a descendant of Caiside.

A surname usually tied to a place name, most likely from the city of Cassel/Kassel in Germany or related continental localities.

Usually an English or Irish surname tied to a castle or “the castle,” with Cassell often a shortened form of Castle/Castell.

An Irish surname from Ó Caiside, traditionally linked to a “clever” or “curly-haired” ancestor, though some old sources read it as “one who complains or accuses.”

A Spanish surname originally meaning someone from a place of chestnut trees or a chestnut grove.

A Spanish surname often referring to a chestnut tree, chestnut-colored hair, or a place named for chestnut trees.

A Spanish surname most likely tied to a place-name or topographic term related to chestnut trees.

A surname usually linked to a place-name or house-name meaning “castle.”

A surname of French origin, likely linked to a castle keeper or someone associated with a castle.

A surname meaning “Castilian” or “someone from Castile.”

A Spanish surname meaning “people from the castles” or, more loosely, “from Castile,” often marking geographic or regional origin.

An Italian surname from a word for “castle,” often originally referring to someone who lived near or worked at a castle or fortified place.

A surname of castle-related origin, meaning “of the castle” or “from the castle.”

A Spanish surname tied to places named for a castle or fortified site.

A Spanish surname meaning “castle,” usually indicating someone who lived by, worked at, or was associated with a castle.

A surname that usually began as a name for someone who lived by or worked at a castle or fortified place.

An English-style habitational surname meaning someone who lived near or came from a castle or fortified place.

A surname that likely began as a nickname from Spanish/Latin casto, meaning “chaste” or “pure.”

A mainly English surname most often tied to the parish of Caston in Norfolk, with some early confusion with castle-related names.

An uncommon surname that can come from the Roman name Castor, or less often from a place-name such as Castor in Norfolk.

A likely Spanish-language surname, probably shaped by a place-name or regional family naming pattern rather than a clearly documented single-root word.

A Spanish habitational surname, likely referring to someone from a place called Castrejón or a small fortified settlement.

A widespread surname from Latin for “castle” or “fortified place,” common in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian families.

A surname usually taken from place names meaning “cold spring” or “spring by a ridge/hill,” and sometimes linked to English localities called Caswell.

A surname based on Catalan identity or origin, originally meaning “someone from Catalonia” or “the Catalan one.”

An Italian surname meaning “Catalan” or “from Catalonia,” originally used for someone from that region or connected with its people.

An Italian surname from the personal name Cataldo, ultimately tied to an early saintly name in southern Italy.

An Italian surname taken from the Sicilian city of Catania, on the island’s east coast.

Usually a shortened or altered form of Catte/Catt, a surname linked to the cat, though some examples may reflect French or Norman influence.

An occupational surname for a caterer or provision buyer, from medieval French and English.

An English surname that most likely began as a nickname or occupational name from Middle English cates, meaning delicacies or dainties.

A Scottish habitational surname from Cathcart in Renfrewshire, originally named for the River Cart.

A surname most likely tied to Cathay, the old European name for China, and probably introduced as a nickname or locational-style byname.

A surname that most likely began as a place-based name or a nickname for someone associated with a cat-like trait or sign.

A surname from the feminine given name Catherine, meaning “little Catherine” or “child of Catherine.”

An old personal name, probably from a Germanic or Latin source, later used as a surname.

A mostly locational surname, originally meaning “from Catton,” especially the place near Norwich.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably from a place-name or a shortened medieval nickname form.

A surname of French-origin shape, most likely linked to an old personal name or nickname rather than a place or trade.

A Spanish surname derived from a word meaning “leader” or “chief,” originally a title rather than a family name.

A surname of English place-name origin, usually traced as a shortened form of Cauldwell or Caldwell.

A surname usually treated as a shortened or Anglicized form of Gaelic MacAuley / MacAuley-type names, meaning “son of Aulay” or a related Gaelic personal name.

A surname often explained as a habitational name from a lost or altered place-name, with some evidence of later anglicized or variant forms.

A surname most often derived from a causeway or raised road, referring to someone who lived by such a place.

A surname probably tied to a place-name or older surname form, most likely from a southern English or Scottish naming tradition.

A surname taken from the word for a horseman or knight, often used as a title or nickname for a gentleman soldier.

An Italian surname likely meaning “horseman” or “one associated with horses.”

A surname of Italian origin meaning “horse,” likely first used as a nickname or by someone associated with horses.

An Irish surname from a Gaelic personal name meaning “mild” or “gentle,” though some writers also linked it to fostering or companionship.

An Irish surname from Gaelic personal names meaning “handsome” or “well-shaped,” later anglicized in several spellings.

A Spanish-language surname most likely tied to a place name, especially one connected with caves or rocky hollows.

A mostly locational surname, taken from people who lived in or came from a place called Cave—especially North and South Cave in Yorkshire.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably a variant of an older European name rather than a name tied to the English word "cavender."

A surname with several possible roots, most likely from a personal name or a French place-name element rather than a single clear meaning.

An English and Scottish surname most likely built from a place-name or an older nickname form, now especially found in the United States.

A surname with several overlapping origins, most often explained as an Irish or English form related to MacAuley/Macaulay or to a local place-name.

A Spanish surname most likely connected to a place name or local feature, and especially found in Spanish-speaking communities of the Americas.

A Spanish surname most likely tied to a place-name, traditionally associated with the Ceballos lineage in medieval Spain.

A Norman surname, probably from a place-name in Normandy, later reshaped by a famous Elizabethan statesman into its modern spelling.

A Spanish surname most likely tied to cedar trees or a place marked by them.

A Spanish surname most likely derived from a place-name or a nickname built on the word for a cedar tree.

A Spanish surname most likely from a word for the eyebrow, originally a nickname or descriptive name.

A Spanish surname from the city of Celaya, in Guanajuato, Mexico.

A name from Latin meaning “heavenly,” used as a surname in some cases from an underlying given name.

A surname most often linked to Spanish or Hispanic place-name roots, especially names referring to a cellar, cave, or similar hollow place.

A Spanish-language surname, likely tied to a place name or local family line in Spain and now especially found in the Spanish-speaking world.

A Spanish surname likely referring to someone from a place associated with ash or ash pits.

A Spanish surname from the word for rye, originally likely applied to someone associated with the grain or with a rye-growing place.

A Spanish surname likely from a place-name associated with brambles or brushwood.

A Spanish surname most likely referring to a place name or to the Spanish word for bristle, depending on the family line.

A surname with multiple possible roots, including a Hispanic place-name form and an occasional confusion with older Gaelic names.

A Spanish surname most likely tied to a place name, carried by one of Spain’s greatest writers.

A Spanish surname likely tied to the name Cervantes, itself probably from a place name or older regional root.

A surname of Spanish form, likely tied to a word for wax residue or dregs, though the evidence here is thin.

A surname most likely linked to the Roman name Caesar, though in Britain it was also reinforced by immigrant and regional family lines.

A rare surname of uncertain origin, possibly a short form or an abbreviation-like survival rather than a standard medieval English family name.

A French surname probably nicknamed for the chabot, a small bullhead-like fish with a big head.

A South Asian surname and given-name surname, most often found among Christians from Kerala, ultimately linked to the biblical name Jacob.

A Spanish surname most often linked to a place name or a nickname, and sometimes associated with the word for a native leader in parts of Peru.

A surname from a place name meaning “cold well” or “spring,” most likely taken from a village or hamlet named Chadwell.

A Lancashire place-name surname meaning “the dairy farm or settlement at Chadwyke,” later spread widely from northern England.

A surname probably linked to a French word for “warm” or “heat,” though early sources also treated it as an uncertain imported name.

A surname most likely tied to the French name Caffin/Cauvin, rather than to English “chaff.”

A surname most likely derived from a nickname or from a regional spelling of a French name, especially associated with Appalachian and southern U.S. usage.

A rare surname that may come from a word for a cellar, storehouse, or other enclosed place, though some bearers may have unrelated origins.

A Spanish-language surname most likely connected to the personal name Chaid or a related regional spelling, though its precise origin is not firmly settled.

A Scottish surname usually explained as a form of Chambers, ultimately meaning “of the chamber” or “chamberlain.”

An occupational surname for a chamberlain—an officer who managed the private chambers and household affairs of a royal or noble house.

A surname that most likely began as a status or occupational name tied to a chamberlain or household chamber worker.

An English surname that usually means “of the chamber,” originally tied to a chamberlain or household officer.

A likely English surname from a place-name or field-name based on a low, enclosed meadow or clearing.

A surname most likely built from a French place name, later reshaped in English spelling and pronunciation.

A French habitational surname for someone from the province of Champagne.

An occupational surname for a fighter, contest winner, or professional champion in medieval times.

A surname with disputed roots, most often explained as a variant of Chaplin or as a name linked to open fields or low-lying land.

A surname with several possible origins, especially Chinese, though in some cases it can also be a shortened or variant form of related names in other traditions.

A surname that likely began as a nickname for someone associated with luck, hazard, or fortune.

An occupational surname for someone who worked as a chancellor or in a chancellor’s office, civil or ecclesiastical.

A surname most often taken as a spelling variant of Chauncy/Chauncey, with a possible sense of “fortunate” in some older explanations.

An occupational surname for a candle maker or seller, from medieval trade names.

A South Asian surname and given name built on the Sanskrit word for the moon.

A mostly English and French surname that often began as a locational name, especially a Norman place-name.

A surname with several independent origins, most commonly East Asian, but also found in older European and other contexts.

A surname from a water channel or artificial watercourse, essentially the older form of “channel.”

A surname with several possible roots, most often linked to Chinese or Iberian language forms, and in some cases to a word meaning "plain" or "flat ground."

A surname with several possible roots, most likely tied to a Spanish word for a metal plate or badge, though the evidence here is thin.

A Spanish surname from a nickname for someone stocky or short, literally “bushy” or “stunted.”

Usually an English surname from Chapman, originally meaning a trader or merchant.

An occupational surname meaning “chaplain” or “clergyman connected with a chapel.”

An occupational surname for a trader or merchant—literally a “shopper” or buyer-and-seller in Old English.

An occupational surname for someone connected with a chapel or, in some explanations, a singer/reciter linked to chapel services.

A surname usually linked to a chapel or chaplain, and especially common in Cornwall and other English areas.

A French surname meaning “little charcoal maker” or “little coal man,” usually tied to charcoal work or a charcoal-related nickname.

A French surname from a word for a cart or wagon, originally pointing to a cart driver or maker.

A surname taken from the personal name Charles, ultimately from a Germanic word meaning “free man.”

A surname that likely began as a place-name label for someone from Charleston, especially the English town or the American city.

Usually a diminutive of Charles, though in some cases it may also come from a place name.

A place-based surname meaning “the farm or settlement of free peasants,” taken from several English Charltons.

A surname often linked to the old French word for a cartwright or wagon-maker.

A French surname meaning “wagoner” or “carter,” originally an occupational name for someone who drove a cart or wagon.

Usually a locational surname meaning someone who lived by or came from a hunting preserve called a chase.

A surname of likely French origin, most often explained as a locational name from a place or estate name built on an old word for a chestnut tree or chestnut grove.

An American surname most likely developed from a shortened or altered form of a French-style given name or nickname, later fixed as a family name.

A locational surname from Chatham in Kent, England, originally meaning the “village of cottages” or a similar small settlement.

An American surname most likely shortened or altered from Chapman, with an occasional folk association to “cat” noted in old sources.

A short surname with several possible origins, most often tied to French names beginning with Chau- or to Asian surnames transliterated as Chau.

A South Asian surname and honorific-derived family name originally linked to a village headman or local landholder.

A French surname most likely from a nickname for someone bald or tonsured, from French chauve “bald.”

A Spanish surname most often linked to a place-name origin, especially from a Basque-rooted toponym.

A surname with several possible origins, most likely from a medieval personal name or a nickname based on an old word for a young goat or lively, restless person.

A surname usually linked to the Portuguese/Spanish place name Chaves, with some English bearers as a variant of Chave.

A surname of Spanish origin, most often linked to a place-name and widely associated with Spanish-speaking communities.

A surname of likely Spanish-language origin, probably from a place name or local nickname rather than a direct occupational meaning.

A surname with several possible roots, most often treated as a French or regional variant of a name linked to goats or a place-name element.

A rare surname whose origin is not securely established from the available excerpts, and which may be a shortened or variant spelling of another name.

A surname most likely taken from an English place-name, originally meaning someone from Cheetham or a similar settlement.

Chee is usually treated as a British and Irish surname with uncertain roots, and may in some cases reflect a nickname or a dialect word rather than a single fixed origin.

A surname that probably began as a nickname from an older short form related to Chick/Chicke, though some early writers also linked it to a place-name or to French/English words for “little.”

A nickname surname for someone with noticeable cheeks or a rosy, round face.

A common Chinese surname, most often tracing back to an ancient state name that became a family name.

A French surname, likely a regional or habitational form ultimately linked to a place-name or word for an oak grove.

A surname of Norman place-name origin, probably meaning someone from a locality named for oak trees or a similar rural feature.

A common Chinese surname, usually representing several different Chinese characters and meanings depending on the family line.

A Cornish surname meaning “new house,” from a place-name in Cornwall.

A surname that can come from a place by a cherry tree, or from French Huguenot roots in some families.

A surname with multiple possible origins, most likely from a place-name or a French family name, though the historical evidence here is thin.

A surname of Norman-French origin, most likely from a place-name associated with oak trees or a chestnut grove.

A surname for someone who lived near a notable chestnut tree or grove.

A surname most likely built from a place-name or a nickname, with roots in English and possibly Scottish naming traditions.

A surname from the city of Chester or from other places called Chester, ultimately meaning a Roman fort or walled town.

A surname that can point to a chestnut tree, or in America sometimes to an adapted form of a German Jewish name.

A Cantonese surname most often written with several different Chinese characters, including common ones meaning “to soar,” “to grow,” or “to be strong.”

A French surname meaning “knight” or “horseman,” originally an occupational or status-name for a mounted warrior.

A surname usually from a place name, especially Chew in Somerset or possibly Cheux in Normandy.

A surname found in several cultures, most often as a short form or romanization with different possible origins depending on family background.

A Chinese surname most commonly romanized from 姜, the ancient family name Jiang, though it can also reflect other Chinese names in different romanization systems.

A French-Canadian surname, most likely a patronymic form linked to an older personal name or nickname tradition.

A surname most likely linked to Spanish-language nicknames or regional naming patterns, rather than a single clear English-derived meaning.

A surname with several possible roots, most likely from a nickname meaning “the chick” or from a place-name such as Chich.

A Spanish surname from chico, meaning “small” or “young,” originally used as a nickname.

A surname of French origin, based on the word for “dog,” sometimes used as a nickname or perhaps from a place-name.

An old English surname that began as a title or nickname for a youth, noble heir, or young person of status.

A surname with several possible origins, most likely from an old place-name or an altered form of an occupational or descriptive byname.

An English surname probably related to Childers, originally pointing to a place-name or local origin rather than the modern word “child.”

A surname that usually came from the old nickname or title “child,” once used for a young person or a noble youth in training.

An English surname usually treated as a variant of Childs, ultimately from a byname meaning “the child” or “the young one.”

A habitational surname from several English places named Chilton, literally “chalk town” or “chalk hill settlement.”

Usually a shortened form of a French place-name surname such as Duchene or Du Chesne, originally meaning “(by) the oak.”

A Spanish surname taken from place names, most likely referring to the town of Chinchilla in Albacete.

Usually a surname that grew from a place-name like Chinn or Chine, with the added -g likely coming in later.

An English surname that likely began as a place-name or a nickname, with early links to Cambridgeshire.

An English surname tied to the old trade word for a buyer, seller, or merchant.

A Scottish surname from a place-name, probably referring to a gravelly river island.

Likely a shortened or altered form of Chisholm, an old Scottish surname.

A variant spelling of Chisholm, a Scottish surname tied to a place-name in the Borders.

An English-language surname most likely from a place-name, meaning someone from or near a wood associated with a person named Chit or a similar nickname.

A common Chinese surname, often linked to a place-name origin in southern China and widely found in overseas Chinese communities.

A Polish surname meaning “from the place of hops” or “of Chmiel/Chmielewo,” tied to the plant name chmiel, “hops.”

A rare surname in English-language records that may reflect a shortened or adapted form of an older continental or Norman family name, though its exact origin is uncertain.

A surname that likely began as a nickname for a fat or chubby person, though some early writers thought it might be a corruption of an animal name.

A Korean surname, usually written 최 in Hangul and most often romanized as Choe or Choi.

A Korean surname written 최, most often romanized as Choi, though the pronunciation is closer to Che or Chwe.

A name found in French records, probably a shortened or altered form of an older personal name rather than a true occupational surname.

A surname found in several East Asian naming traditions, often reflecting a place name, clan name, or a word meaning “beetle,” “strong,” or “prosperous,” depending on the language of origin.

A surname that can reflect French nickname forms built from chou, the word for “cabbage” and also a familiar term of endearment.

A South Asian surname, often a variant of Chaudhuri, originally used as an honorific or title for a local leader.

A French surname most likely built from a personal nickname or an old regional word, long associated with French-speaking families in Canada and northern France.

A surname with several possible origins, most often linked to Chinese names in modern use, but the historical evidence here is too thin to pin down one single source with confidence.

A South Asian surname and honorific title meaning a landholder or local headman, now widely used as a family name.

A surname found in several East and Southeast Asian traditions, most commonly as a romanization of Chinese names.

A surname usually treated as a short form or variant of Christman, ultimately linked to the personal name Christian.

A surname that is usually understood as a shortened form of Christopher, though some older writers also linked it to the Christian name itself.

A surname usually arising as a shortened form of Christian, ultimately from the Christian given name meaning “follower of Christ.”

A Scandinavian patronymic surname meaning “son of Christian.”

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Christen,” ultimately from the Christian personal name.

A surname from the personal name Christian, originally meaning “follower of Christ.”

A Scandinavian patronymic surname meaning “son of Christian.”

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Christian,” ultimately from the given name Christian.

A Scots and northern English surname originally from a pet form of Christopher or Christian.

A surname most likely meaning “son of Christian/Christ,” with strong German and Jewish naming connections in English-language records.

A surname that likely began as a baptismal name for a child born at Christmas.

A German surname built from “Christ,” most likely meaning “Christian” or “belonging to Christ.”

A surname from the given name Christopher, originally tied to the saint’s name meaning “Christ-bearer.”

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Christopher,” ultimately from the Greek name Christopher, “bearer of Christ.”

A surname that usually began as a pet form of Christopher or Christian, especially in Scotland and northern England.

A surname found in several cultures, most commonly associated with Chinese surnames transcribed as Chu, but also appearing in some European place-name and local-dialect contexts.

A common Chinese surname, especially in Hokkien- and Cantonese-speaking communities, usually reflecting a romanized form of several different Chinese names.

A surname likely from an old personal name, probably Welsh in origin, and later recorded in forms like Chown and Chowne.

A surname used in several East Asian naming traditions, most often linked to Chinese names romanized from sounds like Zhong or Chong.

A topographic surname for someone who lived near a church, or sometimes worked there.

A place-based surname meaning “from the church hill” or “the hill by the church.”

A Spanish-language surname probably built from a personal name or place-based family line, most common in Hispanic communities.

An Italian surname usually linked to a nickname or pet form built from Cicco, a short form of Francesco or another personal name.

A Roman surname originally linked to chickpeas or peas, later famous through the statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero.

A Spanish surname originally taken from a place name meaning “the springs” or “the fountains.”

An Italian surname, most often explained as a name for someone associated with the cumin plant or spice.

A Spanish-language surname most likely tied to a place name or regional term, especially in the Hispanic Caribbean.

A surname and given name built from the Latin word for Cyprus, originally meaning “from Cyprus” or “Cypriot.”

An Italian surname from the given name Cirillo, ultimately meaning “lordly” or “belonging to the Lord.”

A Spanish surname likely tied to the place-name Cisneros, probably meaning someone from that locality.

A surname with several possible roots, including a place-name origin and an old personal-name form.

A surname that likely began as a place-name, originally describing someone from a “clay hill” or similar landscape feature.

A surname usually tied to places named Saint-Clair in France, ultimately from Latin for “bright” or “famous.”

An Irish surname meaning “descendant of the red-haired one” or “son of Flannchaidh,” long associated with a learned Gaelic family.

A surname most likely from a place name or a family branch of an older name, rather than from a common occupation or trait.

A surname most often explained as coming from an old personal name, probably of early Danish or Anglo-Saxon origin.

A surname most likely from a nickname or occupational term connected with a clapper, such as a bell hammer or a mill-clapper.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably a later English or Irish family name shaped by local speech and spelling variation.

A surname most often tied to the old place-name Clare in Suffolk, later made famous by the powerful de Clare family.

A classic occupational surname for a clerk or learned scribe—someone who could read and write.

A surname from the medieval word for a cleric or scholar, originally meaning “the clerk.”

A patronymic surname meaning “son of the clerk” or “son of the clergyman.”

A surname with more than one possible origin, including Norman place-name and French “bright/clear” roots.

A surname drawn from the Roman name Claudius, originally a Latin family name that later spread through Italian and other European languages.

A short form of Nicholas, widely used in German and Dutch-speaking areas.

A Scandinavian and German-style patronymic surname meaning “son of Claus.”

A surname usually understood as a Scandinavian or Germanic patronymic meaning “son of Claus,” a short form of Nicholas.

A surname likely tied to the place name Claxton, especially an old English habitational form meaning “settlement on the clay land.”

A habitational surname meaning “from Claxton” or a similar clay-soil place name in England.

Usually a topographic surname for someone who lived by clay soil or a clayey place; sometimes it may reflect an occupation such as a dauber or plasterer.

A locational surname meaning “from Claypole,” the Lincolnshire place name that likely meant a muddy or clayey pool.

A surname usually taken from a place name meaning “settlement on clay soil.”

An Irish surname usually linked to Gaelic words for “clerk” or “clergyman,” with some families also connected to older forms of O'Clery.

An English surname that can mean either a woodcutter or, in older records, a mace-bearer.

A northern English surname most often linked to a place name, though some early writers also explained it as referring to a cliff or rocky slope.

A Scottish surname originally tied to the lands of Cleland in Lanarkshire.

A short form of the given name Clement, used as a surname and sometimes as a pet form of Clemence.

A surname from the Latin personal name Clemens, meaning “mild” or “gentle.”

A surname from the old personal name Clement, meaning “mild” or “merciful.”

A surname from the personal name Clemente, ultimately from Latin for “merciful” or “gentle.”

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Clement,” ultimately from the Latin personal name Clemens, “merciful” or “mild.”

A surname most likely from a medieval personal name, probably a short form of Clement.

An English surname that usually began as a patronymic form of Clement, meaning “little merciful one.”

A surname most likely developed from the given name Clement, meaning “merciful” or “mild.”

A locational surname meaning “from Cleveland,” an old place-name in Yorkshire.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably a local or altered form connected with the Cleve- group of names.

Click is most likely a short form of a place-based surname, probably referring to someone from a place called Cliff or similar.

A place-based surname meaning “from the cliff ford,” later made famous by an old noble family of Norman origin.

A surname usually from a cliff, cleft, or steep slope, sometimes treated as a variant of Cliff or Clifton.

A locational surname meaning someone from a steep settlement or cliff-side farm.

A surname with several possible roots, most often linked either to a small “cline”/slope or to Irish forms such as Kilcline.

A place-based surname, probably meaning “from Glimpton/Clinton” in Oxfordshire or, by later association, from other English places called Clinton.

An English surname from a word for an enclosed piece of land.

Usually an English surname from a place-name or topographic nickname, though in Scotland it can also reflect MacLeod.

Usually a topographic surname for someone who lived by a steep ravine or glen.

A surname most likely developed as an Americanized spelling of German names such as Klause or Klauser.

A French occupational surname meaning a nail-maker or nail-seller.

A rare surname most likely developed from a medieval personal name or a variant spelling of related British names.

Usually a variant of Clough, a topographic surname for someone who lived by a ravine or steep hollow.

A surname taken from the River Clyde or the Clyde valley in Scotland.

An English-language surname of uncertain origin, probably tied to a personal name or an old word related to climbing or clambering.

An Irish surname, probably from a Gaelic personal name or byname, though the exact original form is not fully certain.

A mainly locational surname, originally referring to someone from a place called Coates or from a cottage by the road or fields.

Usually a locational surname from someone who lived at or near cottages or a place called Coates.

An old English surname that may come from a nickname for Jacob, though the word cob also had many other meanings in medieval English.

Cobbs is most likely a surname built from the old nickname base cob, probably referring to a stout, compact man or a prominent person.

A surname found in Spanish-speaking communities, likely rooted in a place name or an older family name with regional Iberian or Hispanic origins.

A surname usually treated as a shortened form of an older place-name-based family name, probably linked to a northern English locality.

A locational surname meaning “from Koblenz,” the German city at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle.

A Spanish surname most likely tied to a place name, especially a locale called Cobos in Spain.

Usually a shortened or Anglicized form of Cockburn, a Scottish surname linked to a place name near Paisley or to "cold burn".

An Anglo-Scottish surname that most likely began as a nickname for a turned-up or prominent nose, though some early writers also linked it to a place-name.

A surname usually linked to a place name in Renfrewshire, Scotland, long associated with the Cochrane family and the earls of Dundonald.

A habitational surname taken from Cockerham, a place in Lancashire, England.

An English surname that is usually a variant of Cockerell, likely from a personal name or nickname rather than the bird itself.

A surname with several possible roots, including a nickname form related to “cock”/“cuckoo” or a Romance given-name source.

A habitational surname from places called Coddington in England, especially Nottinghamshire and Cheshire.

An Irish surname that can come from a Gaelic family name or, in some cases, from English place-name forms.

A surname that may come from a nickname for a jackdaw or an odd old fellow, and in some cases from a local place-name.

A Portuguese surname meaning “rabbit.”

Usually an Irish surname, often a shortened anglicized form of a Gaelic name such as Mac Eoin or related forms meaning “son of John.”

An English and Irish surname that likely began as a nickname or variant spelling, with several possible roots.

A surname with several possible roots, most often explained as an Irish name anglicized from O'Cobhthaigh.

An Irish surname, usually anglicized from Gaelic names based on Cobhthach, meaning “victorious,” though some forms may overlap with other Irish surnames.

An English surname with a likely nickname origin, probably from a term meaning “the bald one,” later also linked in some sources to a Devon family name.

A surname that likely began as a spelling shift of German Kaufmann, meaning “merchant” or “trader.”

A surname most likely shortened from a place name such as Cockfield, with the first element later reduced in spelling and sound.

Usually a locational surname from places called Cogan, though in Ireland it also became tied to the Norman de Cogan family.

A surname most likely tied to the Irish name Cogan/Coggan, though its exact path into Coggins is not fully certain.

An English surname from Coggeshall in Essex, originally a place-name that later softened into Cogswell.

A Jewish surname meaning “priest,” originally marking descent from the hereditary priestly class in ancient Israel.

A Jewish surname originally tied to the priestly name Cohen, later also used in German-speaking regions in shortened or variant form.

A surname usually from a Somerset place-name, and sometimes linked to a charcoal-burner.

An Italian surname most often understood as meaning “with the angel” or “of the angel,” probably from a devotional or nickname-style formation.

An old surname that likely began as a patronymic, meaning “son of Colbert,” though in some cases it may also reflect a medieval personal name.

Usually an English surname from a place-name, often explained as meaning “cold stream” or sometimes “cold spring/well.”

A habitational surname meaning “from Colby,” a place name found in England and elsewhere.

A surname with several possible roots, most often from the nickname for Nicholas or from place-names, and sometimes linked to an old personal name.

An Italian surname that likely began as a nickname or diminutive based on a personal name or a word for a small head/cabbage, depending on local dialect use.

An old English and Irish surname that can mean either “charcoal burner” or descend from the personal name Colman.

Originally a genitive form of Cole, likely meaning “of Cole” or “Cole’s,” with some historical overlap with place-name spellings.

An English surname that likely began as a nickname or short form from names like Cole or Coll, though some early writers linked it to place names or coal-related words.

An Irish surname linked in early sources to the word for a sword, suggesting an ancestor known as a swordsman or warrior.

A surname that can come from the medieval pet form of Nicholas, and in some cases from Gaelic personal-name traditions.

A Spanish surname most likely taken from collado, meaning a hill pass or elevated tract of land.

Usually a surname from a medieval personal name, likely meaning “son of Coll” or a short form of Nicholas.

A Spanish surname tied to the old medieval term for a tenant or dependent peasant bound to a lord’s estate.

A surname that likely means “little Nicholas,” though it was once also linked to an acolyte or church servant.

A French surname that likely began as a diminutive or nickname form of Cole/Coll, and in some cases may also reflect Saint Colette.

Usually a medieval pet form of Nicholas, though in some cases it may also reflect a place-name or spelling variation from Cowley/Cooley.

An occupational surname for a charcoal burner or coal seller.

A common surname with several origins, most often linked to Nicholas, but also to Col(l)in as a pet form of names like Colin or to place-based French forms in some cases.

An Irish surname often treated as a form of Cullem or Cullen, ultimately tied to the Gaelic personal name Colmán, meaning “little dove.”

An old English surname that can come from an early personal name meaning either “charcoal man” or, more likely in some cases, “helmet man.”

A surname that can mean “dove” or point to an Italian place-name, and it also appears in Norman records as a related medieval family name.

A surname with several possible roots, including a short form of Nicolas/Colin in French usage and a later American association with Columbus.

A surname usually understood as “son of Cole” or “son of Col,” with some early records also linking it to local place-name forms.

A habitational surname most likely meaning “from Colston,” especially the Nottinghamshire place, though some bearers may derive from Coulston in Wiltshire.

A surname that may come from the Irish O'Colter/Coulter line, but it can also overlap with English forms linked to a colt or a tool name.

A locational surname meaning “from Colton,” taken from several English place-names.

An Italian surname that usually began as a patronymic or family-name form built from a personal name ending in -ucci.

A Spanish surname most likely taken from the town of Colunga in Asturias, northern Spain.

An English surname that may preserve a medieval personal name, and in some lines may be connected with the place-name Colwell/Colville tradition.

Usually a habitational surname, most often explained as a shortened or altered form of Colville rather than literally “cold well.”

A mainly locational surname from a word for a small valley or hollow, often tied to places called Combe or Coombe.

A French surname, most likely from a nickname or place-name root, especially common in Acadian and Francophone communities.

A French surname, most likely a regional spelling tied to a place-name or a descriptive nickname in southern France and French Louisiana.

Usually an English occupational surname, from a wool-comber, though in some cases it may be locational.

A surname that may come from a place-name or sometimes from a nickname, with an early English record and several spelling variants.

A common English locational surname meaning someone from one of the many places called Compton, literally a “farmstead in a valley.”

A surname of uncertain origin, most likely either Dutch or English, with a well-known American family association.

A surname usually treated as an English/Irish name, but older writers also tried to link it with Welsh place-words and with the legendary name Conan.

A surname most likely of Germanic origin, with French forms that also overlap with an old word for a lewd or foolish person.

An English-Irish surname that is usually a spelling variant of Conway, with the same underlying place-based origin.

A Spanish surname taken from the devotional name Concepción, meaning “the Conception,” originally used in honor of the Immaculate Conception.

A surname usually linked to a place-name in France, especially towns called Condé, rather than to the aristocratic title itself.

An Irish surname linked to a powerful Cork sept, with the family’s territory giving its name to a barony.

An English and Irish surname with several possible roots, including a French place-name and an Irish branch of MacCone.

A surname usually derived from a nickname for a rabbit, though some bearers may descend from a Norman place-name.

An uncommon surname that may have arisen as a nickname or from a place-name, though its exact origin is uncertain.

A Cornish surname from a place name meaning “neck” or “promontory,” referring to a narrow stretch of land or hillside spur.

An English surname with a few possible origins, including a place-name connection and perhaps a nickname tied to the fish.

A surname likely meaning “son of Con,” with an old Dutch explanation behind the form.

Usually an Irish surname, often from Gaelic names beginning with Mac Con or O'Con, meaning roughly a descendant of a hound- or wolf-associated personal name.

An Irish surname most often understood as a form of Conlon, ultimately from a Gaelic personal name meaning “wolf-hound.”

An Irish surname usually explained as a form of Conlan, ultimately from a Gaelic personal name beginning with Con- (“hound” or “wolf”).

An Irish surname from a Gaelic byname meaning “wise” or “strength,” also linked to the personal name Conn.

An Irish surname that often comes from O'Connell, meaning a descendant of a name linked by some scholars to love, friendship, or strength.

An Irish surname from Mac Conghalaigh, meaning “son of Conghalach,” a personal name associated with conflict or valor.

Usually an Anglicized spelling of Connor, a surname with Irish roots, though it can also reflect other local or variant forms.

A surname with more than one likely origin, including an Irish family-name form and an older nickname or occupational form related to “conner” in medieval records.

An Irish surname that usually comes from Gaelic names meaning “descendant of Conall.”

Usually an Anglicized form of Irish O'Connor, meaning a descendant of Connor/Conchobhar.

An Irish surname, usually a pluralized form of Connor/O'Connor meaning “descendant of Conchobhar.”

An English habitational surname, probably from a place-name meaning “bank” or “shore,” later carried to America.

A Germanic surname from a personal name meaning “bold counsel” or “able advice.”

A chiefly Irish surname, usually meaning “descendant of Mulconry,” with roots in an old Gaelic learned-family name.

A surname that can mean either “steadfast” or “son of Constantine,” with some families using it as a nickname for a very regular person.

A surname that usually began as a baptismal name, ultimately from the Latin Constantinus, meaning “steady” or “firm.”

A surname from the Roman name Constantinus, meaning “steadfast” or “constant.”

A surname that can come from the French/Italian word for “count,” a place-name, or in some cases a saintly or patronymic source.

An Italian surname most often understood as meaning “count” or “earl,” though in some cases it may also point to a place-name or older nickname sense.

A Spanish surname originally from a place-name, referring to someone from Contreras or Contreras-style locales.

A surname probably nicknamed for a monastery lay-brother or for someone marked as a ‘convert’ or religious convert.

A surname with Welsh and Irish associations, often linked to the place name Conway in Wales or to Irish family lines that later claimed an English pedigree.

An Irish surname that may be an anglicized form of an older Gaelic name, though the exact source is not certain.

An old Norman surname from Coigniers in France, brought to England after the Conquest.

An occupational surname for a cook or professional food preparer.

An occupational surname meaning “cook,” originally given to someone who prepared food professionally.

An English surname most often meaning “the cook’s son” or a family descended from a cook.

An English surname most likely taken from a place-name, especially Cooksey in Worcestershire.

A surname with several possible origins, most likely from place-names in Britain or Ireland, and sometimes linked to older forms meaning “cool” or “cold.”

Usually an Anglicized Irish surname from Ó Cuile / Mac Giolla Cuile, though in some English families it was also treated as a spelling of Cowley.

A mainly English surname from a word for a valley or hollow, often originally used for someone who lived there.

Likely a spelling variant of Cope or Cooper, probably originally referring to a seller of cups or a place-name-based nickname.

A surname with several possible roots, including a nickname meaning “bold” and a place-name or descriptive origin in Gaelic and Manx areas.

An Irish surname, often treated as an Anglicized form of an older Gaelic name beginning with O' or Mac, though the exact origin can vary by family line.

A surname that may come from a bold nickname, an occupational name, or a place name, depending on the family line.

An occupational surname for a barrel, tub, or cask maker.

An English surname that may be connected to the bird-name coot, though some bearers may also reflect variants of Coot/Coote or regional spelling drift.

A surname with several possible roots, including a hilltop or shaw, a priest’s cope, or a Middle Dutch/French word for a merchant or buyer.

A place-based surname, usually from a hilltop or upland called Copeland/Coupland.

A German surname probably meaning “one from Kopenhofen/Kopenhof,” later reshaped in American spelling.

A place-name surname meaning someone from Copley, especially the hamlet in Yorkshire.

A surname most likely from a hilltop or other raised place, or from an old word for “head.”

An Italian surname most often linked to a cap or hood, likely first used for someone known for wearing or making such headgear.

A surname with Norman roots, likely originally referring to a descendant or follower of a man called Corbet.

An English surname with mixed roots: it may come from a place-name, or from a nickname or personal name meaning “crow.”

A surname most likely tied to the Norman name Corbet, with Corbitt as a later spelling variant.

An Irish surname, traditionally linked to a Gaelic name associated with the name Cork or with a personal ancestor named Cormac-like in form, though early explanations vary.

A Portuguese surname meaning “lamb,” originally a nickname or devotional name.

A surname likely tied to the French form of Cordall/Cordeaux, ultimately a name of uncertain but probably occupational or nickname-like origin.

An occupational surname most likely meaning a maker or seller of cord, rope, or twine.

A Spanish surname that usually meant “lamb,” and was also used for a maker of strings for stringed instruments.

A surname with more than one possible root, often linked either to a place-name or to words for cords/ropes.

A surname most likely from a place-name or a shortened medieval nickname, with roots in English and possibly Norman-French naming traditions.

A Spanish surname and place-name surname meaning “from Córdoba,” the historic city in Andalusia.

An old surname usually understood as coming from an ancient Celtic personal name, though in some cases it may also be tied to a place-name or Irish root words.

Coreas is most likely a patronymic or family-name form that developed in Spanish-speaking communities, with the exact origin depending on the family line.

Corey is often an anglicized Irish surname, commonly linked to Gaelic names beginning with Cor- and, in some cases, to the place-name Corry/Corry.

A surname with several possible roots, but most likely a locational name tied to the place-name Coria in Spain or, less certainly, a Romance form shaped by similar place names.

A surname with multiple possible origins, including an Irish Gaelic line and an English place-name line.

A French surname most often linked to the cornel tree—or to someone who lived near it.

An English surname that is often linked to corn trade or grain-related nicknames, though some examples may also reflect local or shortened forms.

A Spanish surname probably linked to a “horn” word or to a place name, though the older sources do not agree on a single clear origin.

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Cornelius” or “descendant of Cornelius.”

A surname taken from the Roman personal name Cornelius, later used as a baptismal name and surname across Christian Europe.

A surname with more than one possible source: it may come from the personal name Cornelius or from a local place-name such as Cornwall or Cornhill.

A surname of uncertain origin, most likely a spelling variant of Cornet or Cornell rather than a name with a single settled meaning.

A name for someone from Cornwall, originally used for people who had moved elsewhere.

A surname from English place names, first used for people from Cornwall or from places called Cornwell.

A surname from the Latin word for “crown,” sometimes used as a nickname or ornamental name.

A Spanish surname built from the idea of being “crowned,” and sometimes linked to a crowned or laureled person.

A surname that likely began as a nickname or status name from the word for a military colonel.

A rare surname from a Latin word meaning “body,” sometimes used in medieval records as a learned or religious-style name.

A Filipino surname most likely from a Hispanicized spelling of a local personal name or nickname rather than a long-established Spanish family name.

An Italian surname from the old personal name Corrado, meaning “bold counsel.”

A Spanish surname originally referring to a yard, pen, or enclosed farm enclosure.

A Spanish surname that most often means “from the corrals” or “by the animal pens.”

A surname that usually began as a nickname or occupational name for someone linked to leather straps, belts, or reins.

A Portuguese surname most often linked to a leather strap, belt, or the craft of making or using one.

Likely a shortened or altered form of a name from Karl/Carl, though the exact pathway is uncertain.

An Irish surname, usually understood as a form of Ó Corragáin, meaning a descendant of a man called Corragán or Corrán.

A surname that can be Italian, sometimes linked to Corsica or to a byname meaning “Corsican.”

A surname with more than one possible source, most often treated as a variant or development of Curzon or related place-name forms.

A surname often linked to Spanish places or courts, from a word meaning an enclosed homestead or courtly assembly.

An Italian surname that likely began as a nickname from a word meaning “courteous” or “polite.”

A Spanish surname most likely from a word meaning “courteous” or “courtly,” and also known as a spelling associated with the conqueror Cortés.

A rare surname that is most likely a variant of Quorum, or else a place-name form that later settled into surname use.

An English surname of uncertain origin, probably from a place-name or an older personal name.

A surname most often explained as local, from a place-name meaning a round hollow or winding valley.

A surname taken from the place name Cosby in Leicestershire, England.

A surname meaning “from Cosenza” — originally a marker for someone from the southern Italian city or province of that name.

A surname of Irish origin, commonly used as an Anglicized form of a Gaelic patronymic and also linked by some sources to the place-name Cosgrove in Northamptonshire.

A surname ultimately from the name of Saints Cosmas and Damian, used in several Romance-language traditions.

A surname with several possible roots, including Norman-French and place-name links, and in some cases a shortened form of longer names.

A surname meaning “coast” or “slope,” used in several Romance-language traditions.

An Italian surname from a personal name meaning “constant” or “steadfast.”

A mainly Italian surname from a personal name meaning “constant” or “steadfast.”

An Irish surname tied to the barony of Costello in County Mayo, with roots in an Anglo-Norman family name that was reshaped in Ireland.

An English surname probably formed from a place-name, most likely meaning “of Cote/Cotgrave” rather than from a personal trait.

A surname with several possible roots, including a place-based meaning in Romance and an old Roman family name.

A surname most often tied to a place-name meaning a cottage or small dwelling.

A surname most likely of Scottish or Irish origin, probably a variant spelling of a patronymic or place-based name that shifted in pronunciation over time.

A surname that is usually a spelling variant of Cotton, itself often tied to places named for “cottages” or to the Anglo-Norman word for a small dwelling.

Originally a status or occupation name for a cottager or unfree tenant, later used as a hereditary surname.

A habitational surname from English places named Cottingham, most notably in Yorkshire and Northamptonshire.

A surname most likely from a place name in Wiltshire, England, meaning someone who came from Cottle/Cottles.

A surname that is most likely a shortened or altered form of a Romance word or name, though its exact origin is uncertain.

A name most often from English or Norman place-names called Cotton or Cottun, meaning a settlement or homestead by cottages.

An English surname probably linked to a cottager or small householder, later used in forms like Cotterell and Cottrill.

An occupational surname from the medieval “cotter,” a small tenant farmer or peasant holding land under feudal obligations.

A Cornish surname most often explained as a nickname from the Welsh word for “red.”

An Irish surname, usually treated as an Anglicized form of an old Gaelic family name linked to the Coughlan/Coghlan group.

Originally a surname meaning “son of Cole,” with a strong northern English presence.

A surname that can point either to a maker or user of a plowshare, or to a Scottish place-name tied to a loch near St. Ninian’s.

A rare surname most likely arising from the word for a governing or advising council, perhaps as an occupational or status-based name.

A nickname surname for someone thought of as a “countryman” — a rustic, peasant, or person from the countryside.

A rare surname that is often explained as a title-name from “count,” though in practice it may also be a later spelling variant or anglicized form.

An Anglicized Irish surname often linked to the old Norman name de Courcy, made familiar in Ireland and later America.

A surname of French origin, probably from a place-name or from an Old French word for a short stump or branch.

An old surname that usually comes from a place name, most famously the Norman family of Courtenay in France.

A French surname usually taken from a place name, meaning someone from or near a town or village called Courville.

A surname that usually began as a nickname or kinship term, later also appearing as an Anglicized Irish form in some families.

A French surname meaning “cultivated field” or “ploughed land,” often originally a locational name.

A Spanish surname originally referring to someone from the town of Covarrubias in northern Spain.

An English surname that likely began as an occupational name for someone who covered or made coverings, though it may also be linked to places and game-preserves.

A topographic surname for someone who lived by a sheltered wood or game thicket.

An English surname most likely tied to a place-name or word for a covert, den, or sheltered spot.

A surname most likely taken from an English place-name, originally meaning the settlement linked with someone named Cofa or with cows.

A Scottish and Irish surname with more than one possible origin, often linked either to a Celtic personal name or to Gaelic forms related to smiths and other older naming traditions.

Originally an occupational name for a cowherd, later also associated with the ordinary English word for a timid person.

An English surname that likely began as a nickname for a cowherd, later simplified from older forms like Cowherd/Coward.

A surname that likely began as a place name, probably meaning someone from a settlement called Cowden or a similar “cow hill” locality.

An Anglo-Manx surname with multiple possible roots, including a Manx Gaelic patronymic and a later English local-name form.

A surname with several possible roots, including an Anglicized Irish-Gaelic form and, in some cases, an English nickname or dialect form.

Usually a surname spelling that developed from Coles/Colles through dialect pronunciation, though one old source also linked it to a monk’s hood.

A place-name surname meaning “from Cowley,” originally used for someone who came from one of several English places of that name.

An English surname usually explained as a form of Cock or as a shortened version of Cook, with the final -s / -x reflecting older spelling habits.

Coy is most likely a shortened form of MacCoy/McCoy in Irish usage, though in some cases it may also be a locational surname from a place-name spelled Quoy or Coy.

An Irish surname commonly understood as a reduced form of Mac Cumhaill, the name behind Finn MacCool.

Coyne is an Irish surname with several possible roots, most often linked to an old Gaelic personal name and sometimes to a Norman place-name.

A surname most likely representing a regional or altered form of an older name, rather than a word with a clear standalone meaning.

An English surname most likely taken from a crab-apple tree or a place marked by one.

A habitational surname meaning “at the crab-apple tree” or “by the crab-apple trees.”

An old Welsh surname from a personal name linked to Caradoc, often interpreted as “beloved” or “dear.”

A surname usually linked to Croft, meaning a small enclosed farm or field, especially in northern English usage.

A likely English surname meaning “from the craftsman’s settlement” or “from the craft farm.”

A classic Scottish place-name surname meaning someone who lived by a rock or crag.

A surname with several possible Celtic and English strands, often treated as a variant of Crain/Craan, Crane, or Irish Ó/Mac forms.

A surname with several possible roots, most likely from a trade term meaning a shopkeeper or dealer.

A surname that likely began as a German occupational name for a small merchant or trader.

An English surname most likely from a place-name or descriptive nickname, with the exact origin uncertain.

A surname of place-name origin, probably meaning “dwelling by the round or wooded valley.”

An English surname that most likely began as a nickname for a tall, thin person, though some bearers may also come from place-names with the same crane element.

A habitational surname meaning “from Cranford,” originally taken from places in England named with the ford by a crane or a crane-haunt.

An English surname most likely from a Lancashire place name, though some early authorities also linked it to the old sense “brisk, merry.”

Usually a Yorkshire place-name surname, originally from the Craven district in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

A surname most likely related to a place-name or an older family name based on Craven, a historic district in northern England.

A surname most likely formed from an occupational or nickname-based root connected with “crooking,” “curving,” or other actions rather than a single fixed family name source.

A habitational surname meaning “from Crawford,” originally referring to places in Scotland and northern England.

A surname usually taken from one of several English place-names called Crawley, meaning a person from that place.

A surname that likely began as a place-based name or as a variant spelling of a longer English surname such as Clayton.

An occupational surname for a small trader or huckster, especially one who bought and sold goods like butter and eggs.

A surname probably taken from Crécy in northern France, best known in English history for the 1346 battle there.

Usually a Cornish or West Country surname, probably from a place-name linked to a creek, barrow, or tumulus.

Usually a habitational surname from Creed in Cornwall, with a possible secondary link to the Devon river of the same name.

A topographic surname for someone who lived by a creek, inlet, or small bay.

A surname most likely linked to the word for a wicker basket or creel, probably first used as a nickname for someone associated with baskets or basket-carrying.

Usually a surname from the Scottish place-name Crichton, though in Ireland it can also reflect anglicized Gaelic forms like Creaghan or O'Criochain.

A surname most likely from an English place-name, meaning someone who lived near a crane wood or crane enclosure.

A Spanish surname meaning “curly” or “frizzy,” originally used as a nickname for someone with curly hair.

A surname that likely began as a nickname or place-name form linked to cress, the edible herb.

Usually a locational surname, originally meaning someone from a place called Crew or Crewe.

A surname that may come from a Norman place-name, though some older sources also linked it to a nickname form related to Cruse/Crease.

Cribb is most likely a nickname surname built from an old Germanic root meaning “to plunder” or “to seize,” though the evidence is not fully certain.

An English surname likely from a place-name or word for a crib, pen, or manger, later common in the United States.

An Anglo-American surname most likely developed as a variant spelling of Crider/Crider-type names, often linked to a place name or an older Germanic immigrant surname in North America.

A rare surname that may be a shortened form of names like Crimble or a regional nickname, but its exact origin is uncertain.

A surname most likely from an older Germanic or English nickname form, though its exact origin is uncertain.

Crippen is likely a variant of Cripin/Crippin, a surname formed from a nickname or pet-name tradition rather than a single clear occupation or place-name.

A Spanish and Italian surname from a saint’s epithet meaning “golden mouth,” originally a nickname for eloquence.

A shortened form of Crispin, a medieval given name that later became a surname.

A surname that likely began as a patronymic or inherited family name from the medieval personal name Crispin.

Criss is usually a shortened or altered form of a surname built on the word cross, often pointing to a sign, nickname, or religious symbol.

A surname usually taken from the medieval form of the name Christ, though some lines may also reflect continental spellings or related forms.

A Spanish surname and given name ultimately linked to Christopher, from the Greek name meaning “bearing Christ.”

A surname most likely built from a place-name element, probably meaning “the well by the cress” or a similar local landmark.

A surname of uncertain origin, likely a shortened or altered form of a European family name that became established in English-speaking countries.

An English surname probably from a place name, likely meaning someone who came from a valley or settlement called Crittenden/Croxdale-type forms.

Usually an occupational surname for a maker or seller of crocks, earthenware jars, or pots.

Usually a surname of unclear local origin, though some early writers also linked it to French and Flemish forms like Croquet and Crockaert.

A topographic surname for someone who lived by or worked on a small enclosed field or pasture.

A surname most likely taken from Cromer, the Norfolk seaside town.

An English surname usually taken from a place name, later made famous by the family of Oliver Cromwell.

A surname with several possible roots, most often treated as a nickname or as an Anglicized Irish family name.

An Irish surname most often linked to a Gaelic word for “brown” or “swarthy,” though some older sources proposed a different “little crown” explanation.

A surname with more than one possible root, but most likely a place-name form linked either to a hill word or to a “crooked” nickname element.

A mostly locational surname for someone from a place called Crook, though in some cases it may also reflect a bend, nook, or crook-shaped feature of the landscape.

A surname usually meaning “from Crook” — a place-name based on a bend, corner, or hook-shaped feature.

An English and Irish surname most likely from a nickname meaning “crooked” or from a place name.

An English occupational surname for someone who cut crops or worked as a mower or field laborer.

A habitational surname meaning “from the cross farm” or from one of several places called Crosby.

A surname usually referring to the Christian cross, often for someone living by a cross or crossroads, or for a crusading or devotional association.

A northern English surname from a place-name meaning “cross land” or land by a cross.

A Yorkshire surname that likely began as a place-name, probably meaning someone who lived near a cross or at a settlement called Crossley/Crosslee.

A surname usually understood as meaning “the cross man,” likely referring to someone associated with a cross or cross-shaped sign.

A French surname most often linked to a place-name or topographic nickname, especially in French Canada.

An Irish surname, probably from a Gaelic personal name or nickname rather than an occupation or place-name.

A topographic surname for someone who lived by a cross or crossroads.

An English surname that may have begun as a nickname, though its exact origin is uncertain.

An English surname that most often began as a nickname from the bird, or from a place-name linked to the crow.

An occupational surname for a player of the crowd, an early fiddle-like stringed instrument.

Usually a nickname surname for someone thought to resemble a crow, though in some places it may also reflect a local-place name or a Celtic word for a cross.

A mostly English habitational surname meaning “from Crowell,” the name of a place in Oxfordshire.

A surname with both English place-name and Irish Gaelic roots, best known in Ireland as an anglicized form of an old Gaelic family name.

An occupational surname for a player of the crowd, a medieval fiddle-like instrument.

A surname of likely French locational origin, usually linked to places named Croy or Crey in France, though some older writers tied it to Norman nobility.

A surname most often linked to a church crozier or pastoral staff, especially in French and Irish contexts.

An Irish surname most often linked to a Norman family that settled in Ireland, though some older sources treat it as a variant of Crewe/Crews.

A nickname surname from a word meaning “crooked” or “bent,” originally used for someone with a curved shape or gait.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably a regional or phonetic variant in the Crum-/Crumm- name family.

An old nickname surname for someone bent, crooked, or awkward in build or gait.

A locational surname meaning “from Crompton,” the Lancashire township name behind the family name.

A surname with several plausible roots, most likely from a nickname or a place-name, and sometimes linked to an old word for “merry” or “brisk.”

Likely a surname for someone connected with a cross-bearer or with a crouch/cross landmark.

An English surname likely from a place-name or field by a crutch- or fork-shaped feature.

A Spanish and Portuguese surname meaning “cross,” often referring to the Christian cross or to a place marked by a cross.

A Spanish surname most often linked to the town of Cuéllar in Segovia, so it originally pointed to someone from that place.

A Spanish surname taken from place names called Cuenca, most famously the city of Cuenca in central Spain.

A Spanish surname usually linked to a high, fortified place or a small hill/prominence.

A Spanish surname meaning “cave,” likely first used for someone who lived near or worked at a cave or hollow place.

A Spanish surname meaning “caves,” originally a place-name or topographic name for someone from a cave-filled area.

A rare surname in the US, likely brought in from a European place-name or family-name tradition, though its exact origin is not secure from the available evidence.

A surname most likely formed from a personal name, meaning “son of Culbert” or a related ancestor’s name.

A Scottish and northern English patronymic surname meaning “son of Culbert,” from an old personal name related to Colbert.

An Irish and Scottish surname that can mean “descendant of Cuileann/Cuillen” and is also linked to a Scottish place-name.

Usually an occupational surname, most likely referring to someone who culled, sorted, or selected goods, animals, or people for a job.

A surname with several possible roots, including an English place-name origin and possible Irish and French connections.

A surname that usually developed as a patronymic or variant spelling of Collins, meaning “son of Colin” or “descendant of Colin.”

Usually an English surname from Culham, Oxfordshire, though in some cases it may reflect a reduced form of a Gaelic name.

A surname most likely from a German word for “calf,” adopted as an Americanized spelling of immigrant names like Kalb.

An English surname originally built from the words for a cool or spicy herb seller, later fixed in a few spellings including Culpepper and Colepepper.

Originally a nickname for a dove or pigeon, with some related surnames pointing to a dovecote.

An English and Scottish surname that usually began as a spelling variant of Cumming, with some lines also linked to French place-name ancestry.

A surname most often linked to the old Gaelic name Comyn, though some lines were later reinterpreted or linked to Norman origins.

A surname likely related to the English place-name Cundliffe, meaning “eagle cliff” or a similar cliff-name.

A Portuguese surname meaning “wedge,” originally a topographic nickname or place-based name.

A Scottish surname from Ayrshire, originally meaning someone from the district of Cunningham.

Likely a nickname or occupational surname linked to a cup-bearer or cup maker.

An Italian surname most often linked to a personal name or nickname, especially one associated with the ancient name Curtius.

An English surname probably taken from a place-name, most likely from Courtonne in Normandy or a similar local form.

A Spanish surname most likely taken from a place name, with roots in an old toponym in Castile and León.

Likely a nickname surname from a word for curly hair, though some historical sources also treat it as a form related to Old English ceorl (“free peasant”).

Usually a nickname surname meaning “curly-haired,” though in some cases it may come from the bird name curlew or from an English/Norman place-name.

A common Irish surname, usually from an old Gaelic personal name rather than from the English word for a curry or sickle.

A Scottish surname that often comes from the place-name Currie near Edinburgh, though some bearers may derive it from Gaelic roots associated with Murchadh and MacMhuirich.

An occupational surname for a leather dresser or leather finisher.

A surname with several possible roots, including Irish Gaelic and Cornish place-name origins.

An Irish surname most often understood as a shortened form of an old Gaelic patronymic, with Manx cognates and a possible link to a nickname meaning “hunchback” or “crooked.”

A surname meaning “courteous” or “polite,” originally a nickname for a well-mannered person.

A surname usually understood as a spelling variant of Curtis, originally a nickname from a courtly or polite medieval French byname.

An Irish surname with a long, debated history, often linked either to Norman-French origins or to an old Gaelic family line.

An English surname most likely from a place-name or a related older nickname form, later carried to New England by early settlers.

An English surname likely meaning “cow man” or “cheese man,” though early explanations vary and are not fully secure.

A surname found in Irish and Scottish usage, often explained as a reduced or altered form of names like Cusack, though some writers also linked it to Gaelic place-name or clothing words.

A surname most likely from a nickname or occupational form, often linked to the medieval name Costard or to church-service terms like koster/coster.

A surname from a personal name meaning “guardian” or “keeper.”

An occupational surname for a maker or seller of knives and other cutting tools.

An occupational surname for a cutter or cutter-worker, especially one who cut cloth, though in some places it could also mean an engraver or other cutter of materials.

A surname of Saint’s-name origin, ultimately tied to Greek and Christian traditions.

An ancient name of Greek and Persian association, probably linked in older scholarship to power or to the sun, though its exact origin is uncertain.

A Polish surname usually meaning “from Czarne” or “the dark/black one,” depending on the family line behind it.

A Spanish locational surname from the historic city of Cáceres in western Spain.

A Spanish surname most likely from a place name meaning “thistle patch” or “field of thistles.”

A Spanish surname meaning “grasslands” or “lawns,” originally tied to a place name or a person living by grassy ground.

A Spanish and Jewish surname originally tied to the city of Córdoba in southern Spain.