Surname Means

What does your surname mean?

Short, plain-language stories about your surname.

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

The four main types of surnames

A few surnames to start with

• Smith
• Johnson
• Garcia
• Nguyen
• Miller
• Brown

All surnames on this site

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

No match in these 50 names yet. We only publish names we’ve researched — we won’t invent a meaning. Request yours and we’ll get to work on it.