Surnames starting with G

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

A surname usually understood as a shortened or altered form of Gabriel, meaning “God is my strength.”

Most likely a shortened or altered form of Gabriel, though some writers also linked it to a word meaning “fork” or “gable.”

A surname taken from the given name Gabriel, the biblical archangel's name, sometimes also used as a nickname.

A surname with several possible roots, most often treated as a spelling variant of a name like Gadd or Gaddy.

A surname with a few possible roots, but most likely a variant built from the old personal name Gadd or a related medieval nickname form.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably a variant or corruption of Gadsden rather than a clearly separate family name.

An Italian place-name surname meaning “from Gaeta,” the historic coastal town in southern Italy.

An Irish surname most often treated as an anglicized form of an older Gaelic name, though early references show some uncertainty in the exact original form.

An English surname that may come from a nickname or office connected with measuring, though one old family line was later claimed to be Norman in origin.

An Italian surname most likely tied to a place name, originally identifying someone from or near a settlement called Gagliano.

An Italian surname from a word meaning “brave,” “spirited,” or “lively.”

A French surname probably tied to gain or earning, often explained as a nickname or byname built on words for “to win” or “to earn.”

A French surname most likely linked to gain, earning, or cultivated land.

A surname that likely began as a place-name or, in some cases, as a spelling variant influenced by similar-sounding names.

A surname with several possible roots, most likely a variant of Gayner/Gaynor or a corruption of Gain/Gaynor in older English records.

A surname most often explained as a variant of Gain or a related Norman-French place-name form, rather than a word with one single clear origin.

Likely a surname from the same old root as Gain and Gaines, though the exact derivation is uncertain.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably a regional spelling variant of Gaiter or a related name.

A Spanish surname most often linked to the place-name Gaitán, ultimately pointing to a family from that locality.

A surname of several possible origins, most often linked to a descriptive word for a handsome, gallant, or well-bred man.

A surname of Romance origin meaning “courteous,” “elegant,” or “chivalrous.”

A Spanish surname, especially common in Basque-influenced areas, probably tied to a place-name or landscape feature rather than a job or personal trait.

A Spanish-language surname likely tied to a place name or regional family line in the Iberian world.

A Scottish surname traditionally understood as meaning “foreign Briton” or “Briton among the Gaels.”

A Scottish surname, likely a variant of Galbraith, originally tied to the Gaelic personal byname meaning “foreign Briton.”

A Hispanic surname, likely of Spanish-language origin, probably tied to a place name or family line ending in -ez.

Usually a surname from a place-name or local feature, though in some cases it may also reflect Gaelic or Scottish roots.

Usually a surname for someone from Wales, though a few old writers also thought it might point to Calais.

A surname taken from the name of the historic region of Galicia in northwestern Spain.

A surname of medieval Spanish use, likely from a personal name that spread widely in Iberia.

A surname that began as an old personal name, probably linked to early saints named Gall.

An Irish surname meaning “descendant of Gallchobhar,” traditionally understood as a brave or valiant man.

An Irish surname, usually a simplified spelling of Gallagher, from Gaelic roots tied to “foreign help” or “foreign ally.”

A surname from an old word for a brave, courteous, or noble person.

A Spanish surname built from a word meaning “brave,” “gallant,” or “handsome,” often used as a compliment or nickname.

A Spanish surname meaning “Galician” or “from Galicia,” originally used to identify someone from the northwest region of Spain.

A Spanish surname meaning “from Galicia” or “a Galician,” originally used for someone from the northwest region of Spain.

An Italian and other continental surname often tied to “the Frenchman/Gaul” or to a nickname based on a cock, though some forms are also patronymic in later records.

An Irish surname usually explained as meaning “descendant of the stranger” or from a Gaelic word for “white.”

A surname likely formed from an old Germanic personal name, later established in England and especially associated with Cheshire.

A surname with several possible roots, most often from a nickname meaning “cockerel” or from an ethnic name connected with Gaul or the French.

A Scottish locational surname meaning someone from Galloway, the southwest corner of Scotland.

An uncommon surname that may be a shortened or altered form of a German name linked by early writers to Gottlieb, meaning “God’s love” or “God’s praise.”

A surname with several possible roots, including an Irish form of O'Gáibhin/Gallivan and a likely Spanish occupational link to a tax collector or levy man.

An Irish surname usually understood as meaning “little stranger” or “friend of the stranger,” depending on which old Gaelic form is followed.

A surname that can reflect a place name in Normandy or a Spanish/Portuguese name form, best known from Vasco da Gama.

A surname of French origin, likely from a nickname or older Germanic personal-name source, later established in French-speaking regions.

A surname most likely developed from a nickname or old personal name, with English and Germanic-style forms possible.

An Italian surname most likely built from a personal name rather than a place or trade.

A surname that most likely began as a nickname-based patronymic, from the old personal name Gamel, meaning “old.”

A Basque surname tied to a place-name, best known from a prominent noble lineage in Gipuzkoa.

A surname most likely arising from a medieval personal name, though the exact origin is uncertain.

A surname most likely of Spanish origin, probably from a personal name or a place-based form with the Italianate-looking ending -ino.

A surname with several competing origins, including an old Gaelic explanation and a possible English-French surname line.

A Spanish-language surname most likely tied to a place name or local geographic feature.

An Indian surname most famously associated with Mahatma Gandhi, often linked to a word for a grocer or spice seller in Gujarati or related Indo-Aryan usage.

An old surname that may come either from an Old Norse word for “wolf” or from a place-name, depending on the family line.

A surname found in Irish, Germanic, and English records, often treated as a short form of a longer name rather than a single fixed origin.

An Irish surname most often connected with Mac Fhionnáin, meaning “son of Fionnán,” though some older sources also link it to other Gaelic forms.

An old surname that can point to someone from Ghent or serve as a short form of Gaunt, with roots in medieval English and French records.

Likely a shortened or altered form of an older surname such as Gant, often linked to a nickname or occupational root.

A common Chinese surname, also found in a few unrelated European forms.

A Spanish surname, most often understood as a place-based name from the Basque and Spanish-speaking world.

A surname of likely Basque origin, probably tied to a high place or upland homestead.

A surname often linked to German names built on the old root for “spear,” though in some cases it may simply be a spelling variant of Gerber.

A Spanish surname usually tracing back to a medieval personal name related to García.

A major Spanish surname, originally a personal name used before it became one of the most common family names in the Hispanic world.

A surname of French origin meaning “guard” or “watchman,” often equivalent to English Ward.

A likely Spanish surname, probably from a place-name or a word for a guarded or protected place.

An occupational surname meaning “gardener,” with Gardiner often treated as a more formal or French-looking spelling than Gardner.

An occupational surname meaning “the gardener,” originally for someone who tended gardens or worked with plants.

A surname of Spanish origin, probably from a place-name or descriptive nickname built from garden-related roots.

An English surname likely from a place-name meaning “open or prepared field,” though some early sources linked it to a more speculative sense of “furnished field.”

A surname of Basque origin, most likely from a place-name ending in -bay or -ibai, suggesting a river or valley setting.

Usually an English surname from a place-name or from an old personal name, later associated with the word for a wreath or bouquet.

An old surname with several likely roots, most often explained as meaning “spear-man” or as a form of an ancient Germanic personal name.

A surname with several possible roots, most likely a regional or patronymic form that developed as a spelling variant of older European names.

A surname with two main roots: either an occupational name for a granary keeper, or a variant of the medieval given name Garner/Warin.

A name that likely began as a nickname from the gem garnet, or possibly as a variant of an older Germanic personal name.

A Spanish surname likely linked to the place-name Guernica/Gernika in the Basque Country.

An Italian surname most likely linked to the word for a clove or clove pink, and by extension to a place, nickname, or house sign.

A surname usually treated as a spelling variant of Gerard, meaning “spear-hard” or “brave with the spear.”

A surname that most likely developed from a personal name or local-place form, rather than from a common modern English word.

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Garrett,” with Garrett itself a medieval form of Gerard.

A surname with several overlapping origins, most commonly a form of Gerard or Gerald, though it can also be locational in some cases.

A Spanish surname from a nickname meaning “handsome,” “fine,” or “well-groomed.”

Likely an Anglicized surname with several possible roots, including a connection to the name Garrison or another Garrison-like form.

Likely a surname built from a place-name, later also associated by some writers with a military garrison.

An Anglicized Irish surname usually linked to Mac/Ó forms behind names like Garity and McGarrity.

A surname that can be either Irish or Scottish, often linked to a personal name in one tradition and to a place-name in another.

A German occupational surname meaning “gardener” or “one who works in a garden.”

A habitational surname meaning “from Garton,” from places in Yorkshire.

A German occupational surname meaning “tanner” or “leather dresser,” often an Americanized form of Gerber.

An Irish surname usually linked to a Gaelic nickname meaning “the warlike one.”

A surname that likely began as a medieval personal name meaning “spear-friend,” though in Ireland it can also reflect native Gaelic forms.

Likely an English surname meaning either “spear-wood” or “garth wood,” with both place-name and descriptive explanations in the record.

A surname usually linked to the English place-name Cary, and sometimes treated as a variant of Carey.

A Spanish surname that likely began as a nickname, probably referring to a heron or to someone seen as lean or graceful.

A surname from Spanish garzón, meaning a young man or servant-like attendant.

A surname of likely Iberian origin, probably tied to a place-name or regional label in Spain.

A name probably related to the Cheshire/Lancashire surname Gaskell, with the same likely roots in a place-name or an old northern English form.

A surname originally linked to Gascony in southwest France, often appearing in medieval records in forms like Gaskoin and Gascoyne.

A surname commonly explained as meaning “from Gascony,” the old French region in southwestern France.

A surname and given name linked to the traditional name of one of the Three Kings, often treated as meaning “treasure master.”

A continental baptismal surname from the name of one of the Magi, later used in French and other European languages.

A surname usually traced to the given name Gaspard/Gaspar, ultimately associated with one of the traditional Three Kings.

A surname that can be German, often tied to a lane or street, though some bearers may have other origins.

A surname that can come from an old word for “guest” or, in some cases, from shortened or altered longer names.

A surname of Spanish-language origin, likely tied to a place name or regional form rather than a common occupation or nickname.

A surname with several possible roots, most likely from a place-name or, in French usage, from the personal name Gaston.

Usually a topographic surname for someone who lived by a gate or town gate.

A surname built from the words “gate” and “wood,” likely originally pointing to someone who lived by a gate near a wood or a wooded gateway.

An English surname probably built from the older name Catlin or Gatelyn, with the exact origin uncertain.

An Italian surname from a word for a cat, probably first used as a nickname for a quick, sly, or cat-like person.

A French surname most likely from a form of the old word gaud, meaning “merry” or “cheerful.”

An Irish surname, often linked to a Gaelic family name beginning with Mag- or O'-, with the exact original form not always certain.

A surname with several possible roots, most often linked to the old name for France or to a Gaelic/foreign-people term.

A surname with several possible roots, most often treated as a variant of Gaunt or as a nickname from an old word for a boar pig.

A surname with several possible roots, but most likely an old Germanic nickname or personal-name form that spread into modern German and English usage.

A classic French surname from the old Germanic name Walter, later worn by saints, nobles, and many ordinary families.

A surname that usually points back to the medieval personal name Gavin, best known from the Arthurian name Gawain.

A surname that usually began as a nickname for someone cheerful, merry, or pleasant.

Usually a spelling variant of Gale, a surname that can come from a place-name or from Old English and French words meaning cheerful, pleasant, or a foreigner.

An occupational surname most likely meaning “gaoler” — a keeper of prisoners.

An old nickname surname for a cheerful or bold person, though some writers also linked it to Norman place-names.

An Irish surname often explained as a form of Guinevere or a related Arthurian name, though some scholars treated it as uncertain.

A surname most often linked to a Spanish place-name or regional name, especially in Hispanic usage.

An Americanized German surname, usually a variant of Gerhard or Gebhard.

A surname with more than one origin: in English records it appears as an old personal-name surname, while in Irish use it can reflect Gaelic forms such as Ó Gadhra/related names or MacGeary traditions.

A German surname from an old personal name meaning roughly “brave in battle.”

A German surname from a personal name meaning roughly “generous” or “liberal” plus “strong/hardy.”

A Scottish surname most often taken from place names in Nairnshire, though some early writers also thought it may descend from an old personal name.

An Irish and English surname that can come from Gaelic Mac Gee or from a place-name in Cheshire, especially Gee Cross.

An old English surname that may come from a personal name, though some sources also connect it with gear or a Cornish place-name.

A German surname most likely built from an old personal name stem related to a spear- or war-associated name, with the ending -ing indicating descent or association.

A North German surname, likely a short pet-form built from old Germanic names beginning with Ger- or Gehr-.

A German surname often derived from the word for a vulture or hawk, likely first used as a nickname.

A German occupational surname meaning a violin player or fiddler.

A surname with likely Germanic roots, probably tied to an old personal name built from the element gīs/gis, “spear” or “warrior.”

A German surname that likely began as a nickname, occupational name, or regional name tied to a medieval word for a spirited or lively person, or to a place name.

A German surname probably tied to the old heroic name Giselher, with a long history of spelling and pronunciation shifts.

A German surname from the word for “spirit” or “ghost,” sometimes also influenced by related place-names.

A surname with several possible Germanic and Jewish roots, often linked to a place name or to a word meaning “white” or “bright.”

A French surname most likely tied to a place name or regional form, rather than a direct modern-English meaning.

An Italian surname meaning “from Genoa,” originally used for someone who came from that city or region.

A surname from a Latin word meaning “member of a clan” or, later, “non-Jewish” in medieval Latin and Romance use.

A surname probably from a social label for a gentleman or gentry-class man, though some families may have taken it as a local or descriptive name.

A common surname taken straight from the given name George, ultimately meaning “farmer” or “earth-worker.”

A surname that usually comes from the given name George, sometimes with a French patronymic ending or from a place-name tied to St. George.

An Italian surname most likely taken from the place name Geraci, especially Geraci Siculo in Sicily.

An Irish surname, usually anglicized from a Gaelic clan name, with several historical spellings including Gearty and Gerrity.

A surname from the personal name Gerald, often indicating descent from an ancestor named Gerald.

A Norman surname from a personal name meaning “spear-hard” or “brave with the spear,” later linked with the related name Gerald.

A German occupational surname meaning “tanner” or “leather worker.”

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Gerhard” or “Gerard,” with especially strong North German and Frisian roots.

A German surname from an old personal name built from words meaning “spear” and “hardy/strong.”

A Germanic surname built from old personal-name elements meaning “spear” and “strong/brave.”

A German surname most often understood as a short form of names beginning with Ger-, especially Gerhard.

A German surname from an old personal name built on elements meaning “spear” and “play” or “movement,” though some later explanations are less certain.

A surname usually meaning “German” or “a person from Germany,” with some families also taking it from Saint-Germain place names.

A surname that usually began as a nickname for someone from Germany, though in some cases it came from the old word for a close kinsman.

A surname that usually points to an ancestor identified as German or from Germany.

A surname from the Italian form of Saint Jerome’s name, ultimately meaning “sacred name.”

A French surname from the saint’s name Gervasius, later also seen in English forms like Jarvis and Jervis.

A surname that is most likely a spelling variant of Germanic or English names built from a similar-sounding root, rather than a widely established standalone name with one fixed origin.

Getz is usually a German surname, often a spelling of Goetz, ultimately from a name based on Gottfried or a similar Germanic personal name.

A German surname from the word for “vulture,” often originally a nickname or a house/sign name.

A common Bengali surname originally tied to a clan or occupational name connected with herding, cattle, or the recitation tradition.

An Italian surname meaning “descendants of Gianni,” a pet form of Giovanni (John).

An Italian surname most likely linked to a garden or cultivated enclosure.

A short form of Gilbert, meaning “bright pledge” in origin.

Usually an English and Irish surname meaning “son of Gilbert,” with Gibb as the short form behind it.

A surname most often derived from the medieval personal name Gilbert, meaning “bright pledge” or “shining oath.”

A very common surname meaning “son of Gib,” with Gib being a short form of Gilbert.

A surname most likely from the English place-name Gidding, meaning someone who came from that locality.

An English surname most likely meaning “from Gidding,” a place-name in Huntingdonshire or Suffolk.

A surname that usually comes from the biblical personal name Gideon, sometimes through a patronymic or later Jewish adoption.

A German surname likely arising from a short form of older names built on Gis- or Giso-, with possible links to an old word for a hostage or pledge.

A surname with several likely roots, including an old personal name and possible links to names like Gibbon or Giffard.

A surname of Norman French or English place-name origin, often traced to the medieval personal name Giffard and meaning something like “gift-liberal” or “broad-faced,” depending on which old explanation you follow.

An Italian surname from the word for a lily, often linked to the flower as a symbol or place-name.

An Italian surname likely meaning “little lily” or “descendant of Giglio,” with roots in a name built from the word for lily.

A short surname with several possible roots, most often treated as a clipped or nickname form rather than a single fixed family name.

A classic surname from the Norman personal name Gislebert, later shortened into many familiar English surname forms.

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Gilbert.”

A surname most likely from the same family of names as Gilbert and Gilchrist, with roots in medieval personal names built on the element gil-.

A Gaelic surname meaning “servant of Christ,” originally formed as a devotional personal name or byname.

A surname from the medieval personal name Giles, ultimately from the Greek name Aegidius, meaning “young goat” or “goat-skin shield.”

A surname most likely built on the medieval name Gil- with an added suffix, though its exact origin is not firmly established.

A surname that can mean either “servant of Gilbert” or someone living by a ravine-like gill or brook.

A surname usually tied to the name William, with some early forms also reflecting French Guillaume.

A surname with more than one possible root, most often explained as a form of William or as a nickname from “gallant.”

An Irish surname usually understood as a shortened form of Mac Giolla Ín or a related Gaelic name meaning “servant of John.”

A French surname from the name of St. Giles, ultimately from Latin Aegidius.

A Scottish and Irish surname from Gaelic names meaning “servant of the bishop,” later also used as a personal name.

A surname usually understood as a French diminutive of Gilles, the French form of Giles, though some English families may have separate baptismal origins.

A French surname that began as a feminine diminutive of a given name, later becoming a family name.

A surname with overlapping Cornish and Gaelic-looking roots, sometimes tied to place-names and sometimes to names built from “gille” meaning “servant” or “lad.”

A surname ultimately derived from William, often appearing in forms influenced by Gill- or Guillaume.

A surname often treated as a French form, probably brought into English usage by Huguenot immigrants.

An Irish surname most often understood as a form of an older Gaelic personal-name family, likely tied to a diminutive nickname for a fair-haired or bright-headed ancestor.

A Scottish and Irish surname most likely built from a Gaelic personal name plus a place- or land-related element, with several close spelling variants in historical records.

A surname that usually comes from the medieval personal name Giles, ultimately from Latin Aegidius.

A Scottish and Irish surname that likely developed as a spelling variant of Gillespie, meaning “servant of St. Cessair” or “servant of the bishop.”

A surname with more than one possible source, most likely from a personal name such as Gillemin/Gilmyn or from place-name forms like Gillingham.

Gillum is usually an English surname that began as a form of the personal name William, or less often as a related nickname-based variant.

A surname most often traced to a medieval diminutive of Guillaume, the French form of William.

A surname most likely from a medieval Germanic personal name, later associated in English with the Gilbert/Gilbert-derived name family.

An Irish and Scottish surname meaning “servant of Mary” or, in some traditions, “great servant.”

A surname most often explained as a Northern English form related to Gilbert, though some sources also treat it as a local name.

A Scottish-leaning surname whose form suggests a place-name or descriptive Gaelic origin, though its exact source is not firmly established.

A Gaelic surname usually understood as meaning “red servant” or “red-haired youth’s son,” though older writers offered several competing explanations.

A surname that usually means “son of Gill,” with Gill often used as a short form of Gilbert or a feminine nickname in some records.

An English-looking surname often explained as a place-name form ending in a reduced version of -thorpe or -trap, though its exact origin is not certain.

A surname of Germanic origin, likely a Mennonite/Anabaptist name that developed from a personal name or a place-based family form.

A surname of Germanic origin, likely from a place-name or older German family-name element, best known in the United States through Pennsylvania German communities.

A surname with more than one possible origin, including Irish Mac Ginn and English forms related to Genn or Ginner.

A surname of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, most likely meaning “from Ginzburg” or a related place-name form.

A German surname often treated as a shortened or altered form of names built on older Germanic roots.

An Italian surname from the personal name Giordano, ultimately linked to the River Jordan and used widely in medieval Italy.

A surname usually treated as a spelling variant of Gibson, meaning “son of Gib” or “son of Gilbert.”

A surname of old Germanic origin, likely built on the idea of a strong or powerful spear.

A French surname from the medieval given name Girard, meaning “spear-brave” or “brave with the spear.”

A surname with several possible roots, most likely tied to a medieval personal name rather than a single clear occupational meaning.

A surname with French roots, likely from a medieval Germanic personal name, though some early forms were later linked to regional saints’ names.

A surname of uncertain origin, best treated as a rare name with no securely documented derivation in the excerpted sources.

An old nickname surname from a word meaning “guest” or “stranger,” and in some cases possibly from a Scandinavian-looking term for a hostage or pledge.

A rare surname that was likely first used as a nickname or a shortened form of a personal name meaning “gift” or “given.”

A surname that likely began as a short form of Given, ultimately from the medieval personal name Gavin or a related nickname form.

A cheerful English surname from a word meaning “glad” or “joyful,” often treated as a nickname-style name.

A surname most likely from a place-name, originally referring to someone from or near a glen or valley.

An occupational surname for a glazier or glassworker.

A locational surname for someone from the Scottish city of Glasgow.

Usually a surname from glass-making, though in some cases it may come from a place name in Scotland.

A Scottish surname probably from a place-name, likely referring to stones or rocks associated with kites, though some English local-name confusion also appears in early sources.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably developed from a place-name or from a related Germanic/Scottish surname form.

An occupational surname for someone connected with making or working with glass.

A surname with Cornish roots, probably meaning “green” or “green land,” though some sources also connect it with brightness or gloss.

An occupational surname for a glazier—someone who fitted or worked with glass.

An occupational surname for a maker or installer of glass windows.

A surname found in English and Irish lines, often treated as either a place-based English name or an Anglicized Irish surname linked to purity/brightness.

A surname most likely from a place-name or from the word for a narrow valley, with strong Irish and Scottish associations.

An Irish surname, often treated as a form of an old Gaelic name linked to Glen- and Glenn- variants.

A surname of likely Yiddish/Jewish origin, often linked to ideas of luck or good fortune.

An English surname most likely from a place-name or a habitational form, though the exact origin is not firmly established.

An English surname probably formed from a place-name meaning “the well associated with a kite (the bird),” though the exact origin is not entirely certain.

An English surname that likely began as a patronymic or variant form of a medieval personal name such as Giles or Gillison.

A rare surname likely taken from the Latin word for “glory,” used as an honorific or devotional name.

An occupational surname for a maker or seller of gloves.

A German and Jewish surname from the word for “luck” or “good fortune.”

An Irish and Cornish surname, most often from a place-name meaning a wooded valley.

A short surname that can arise from several Asian naming traditions, especially in Chinese and Korean contexts.

A surname that may come from an old word for a goad or spear, though some early writers also treated it as a form of Good.

Likely a surname of Germanic origin, probably a reduced or variant form related to names like Gobert or similar forms built on the old personal name Godbert.

A surname usually traced to a shortened medieval personal name built from the element meaning “God,” later fixed as an English family name.

An old English surname from a medieval personal name meaning roughly “God-strong” or “God’s strength.”

A medieval personal-name surname meaning “God’s peace” or “God’s favor,” later used as a family name.

A surname usually linked to the old personal name Godwin, though some bearers may also come from French forms or related medieval variants.

A surname of uncertain but likely Spanish place-name origin, with early forms tied to old Iberian toponyms.

An English surname most likely built from a personal name, meaning “son or descendant of God’s-name” rather than a literal reference to God.

An old English surname from a personal name meaning “good friend” or “battle friend.”

A Spanish surname most likely meaning “son of Godino” or “little Godino,” from a medieval personal name.

A German surname most often from a diminutive of a personal name, especially one related to Godfrey/Goibert forms.

A German surname that usually began as a shortened form of a given name built on the element for “God,” especially forms like Gottfried.

A surname with several roots, most often linked to Welsh/Irish Gough or to a Celtic word for ‘smith.’

An English surname likely formed from the phrase “go forth,” originally functioning as a descriptive nickname or byname.

A likely surname variant that may have developed from a personal name or an older spelling of a similar-sounding family name.

An English surname most likely from the same source as Going, with the final -s possibly added as a family or patronymic form.

An uncommon surname that may reflect a French saint’s name, a French family name, or an older Germanic name tradition.

An English surname that began as a personal name meaning simply “gold.”

A German and Ashkenazi Jewish surname meaning “gold hill” or “gold mountain.”

A surname most likely linked to the word gold, used as a nickname or a descriptive name for someone associated with golden color or shine.

A German and Jewish surname meaning “gold mountain” or “gold hill,” likely formed as a decorative or toponymic name.

A Jewish ornamental surname built from German words for “gold” and “color/dye.”

Usually an English surname that developed as a form of Gold or Goldwin, with the -ing ending arising through old nickname and spelling changes.

A surname meaning “gold man,” most often understood as from the personal name Gold plus the suffix -man.

An occupational surname for a maker or seller of gold items, from medieval English for a gold worker.

A German surname meaning “gold stone,” often linked to the gem chrysolite and, in some cases, to ornamental Jewish naming traditions.

A common Iberian surname that usually began as a patronymic, meaning “son of Gome” or “son of Gomo.”

A very common Spanish surname, originally meaning “son of Gome” or “son of Gomo.”

A surname that can reflect an East Asian name, especially Chinese, and in English contexts is also an occasional transferred or nickname-based form from the word for a gong.

A Portuguese and Spanish surname meaning “son of Gonzalo,” ultimately tied to a Germanic personal name.

A Spanish surname from the personal name Gonzalo, ultimately meaning “battle” or “war.”

A very common Spanish surname meaning “son of Gonzalo.”

A Spanish surname meaning “son of Gonzalo,” ultimately tied to an old Germanic personal name.

A Portuguese patronymic surname meaning “son of Gonçalo.”

An English surname that likely began as a pet form of an old personal name, later branching into spellings like Gutch, Goodge, and Gudge.

A straightforward surname from a word meaning “good,” likely first used as a nickname for a good-natured or upright person.

A surname most likely built from the phrase “good hall,” originally referring to someone who lived by or worked at a notable hall or house.

A surname usually from Middle English “good,” likely first applied as a nickname for a good or worthy person.

An English surname that likely began as a diminutive form of Good, meaning “good” or “the good one.”

An English surname that most likely began as a spelling variant of Goodwin or a related “good” name, later settling into its own form.

A surname that likely began as a regional or pet-form spelling related to Goodman or Gooding, though its exact origin is not firmly settled.

An English surname most likely from the old personal name Godwin or a related Germanic baptismal name.

A surname that can mean either “son of Gudmund” or “good man,” and was also used as a respectful form of address.

An English-language surname that likely began as a friendly nickname or greeting-based byname, literally “good night.”

A surname from the parish of Goodrich in Herefordshire, ultimately tied to the old personal name Godric.

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Good” or, more likely in many cases, a spelling variant of Godson.

An old English surname meaning “good friend,” from an ancient personal name built from the words for “good” and “friend.”

An English surname most likely built from a place-name ending in -by, meaning a village or farmstead.

A Spanish surname from a nickname based on gordo, originally referring to someone sturdy or plump.

A Scottish surname most likely taken from the parish of Gordon in Berwickshire, though older writers proposed several more exotic origins.

A surname that is most often a pet form of George or another G- initial given name, though in some cases it may also reflect a place-based or nickname origin.

A surname from a narrow strip or wedge-shaped piece of land, especially a corner or spur of ground.

A surname most likely tied to a place-name, originally meaning someone from Gorham or a similar local settlement name.

A surname with several possible roots, most often treated as a descendant of an Irish ancestor-name meaning “son of Gorman,” though some English and Scottish forms may be linked to older personal names or nicknames.

An Irish surname, usually understood as a form tied to the name Gorm or a related Gaelic family name.

A surname that is most likely a regional or nickname-based name, with origins in older English naming patterns.

A Polish surname meaning “from the hill” or “of the hill.”

A habitational surname from places named Gorton, especially the district in Manchester, meaning a settlement on or near a muddy or goat-associated stream or enclosure, depending on the place-name root.

A surname most likely from an old place-name, probably meaning a “goose plain” or similarly named locality.

A surname with multiple possible roots, most often explained as a form of the old personal name Gos/Josse, though some sources also connect it with goose-related nicknames or place-names.

A surname of Norman French origin, likely going back to an old Germanic personal name rather than the word for “goose.”

A surname that may be a diminutive of Goss, often explained as “little goose,” though some writers linked it to other names instead.

An old Germanic personal name that later appears in some surnames, originally tied to the root of the name Gott- or Goth-.

An old English surname that may come from a personal name meaning “good” or, in some cases, from a place by a water-channel.

A German surname and given name meaning “God’s love” or “God’s beloved.”

A German surname meaning “God’s servant,” from an old personal name built on a word for God and a word for servant.

A Welsh surname meaning “red” or “ruddy,” originally a nickname for someone with a reddish complexion or hair.

A surname usually taken as a spelling variant of Gold, often originally a nickname for a golden-haired or gold-related person.

A French surname usually from a word for the throat, narrow passage, or small channel, and sometimes from a nickname tied to the mouth or appetite.

A surname that may be linked to a place-name in Scotland or, in some Irish families, to Gaelic names anglicized in different ways.

A surname of Portuguese association, likely taken from a place-name or local designation and later found in scholarly and academic circles.

A surname that is usually locational, linked to a place-name form such as Gore or Goher, though some older writers also connected it with an Anglo-Saxon Yorkshire family line.

A French surname most likely from a diminutive form of a given name, later carried to North America by French-speaking families.

A German surname that likely began as a regional or occupational name, with some sources linking it to related forms like Graber/Gräber and Graber as a variant of other German names.

An English and German-style surname that likely began as a nickname or altered place-based name.

A Polish surname meaning “from Grabów/Grabowo,” originally used for someone from a place named with the name of the hornbeam tree.

Usually a surname that grew from a nickname or from the French/Gascon form of “Gros/Le Gras,” meaning “big” or “stout.”

A surname from the word for “grace,” often originally a devotional or descriptive name tied to favor, charm, or divine grace.

An anglicized Irish surname from O'Grady, meaning a descendant of Gráda or a similar Gaelic personal name.

A surname from the German word for an earl or count, originally a title of rank.

A surname most often linked to the German word for “count” or “earl,” though in some places it may also reflect older forms of Graf.

A locational surname meaning “from Grafton,” originally denoting someone who came from one of several English places of that name.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably a variant spelling that developed from another English or Scottish family name.

A Scottish surname that most likely began as a place name from Lincolnshire, later becoming one of Scotland’s best-known family names.

An occupational surname for someone who looked after a grange, granary, or farm estate.

A Spanish-language surname likely tied to a place name or local geographic term, probably from the Iberian or Hispanic naming tradition.

An occupational surname originally used for a grammar teacher or grammarian.

A rare surname that may have been adopted from a word meaning “fierce” or “angry,” though its history is uncertain.

A Spanish surname most likely taken from the granado, the pomegranate tree.

A Spanish surname that most often points to a place called Granada or to groves of pomegranates.

A surname from the word for “great” or “large,” often originally used as a descriptive nickname or a place-based name.

An occupational surname for someone who managed a grange or granary — in effect, a farm steward or farmer.

A Spanish surname that likely began as a nickname or descriptive name from granillo, “little grain” or “small granule.”

A surname with several debated origins, most famously linked to the Norman-French word for “tall” or “large,” though Scottish and Gaelic explanations also exist.

A locational surname meaning “from Grantham,” the Lincolnshire town.

A surname that can mean either “the fat, stout one” or someone who lived by a patch of grass or meadow.

An Italian surname meaning “fat,” “thick,” or “stout,” originally a nickname for a stocky person.

A surname usually linked to the German word for “gray,” originally a nickname for someone with gray hair, a gray beard, or a grayish appearance.

An English surname that most often began as a form of Grave, linked to a grove, a boundary, or a place-name rather than an actual burial ground.

A very common surname that can be a spelling of Grey, or sometimes a nickname/occupation name tied to gray hair or a grammar teacher.

An American surname that most likely grew out of Germanic name-shifting, with Graybill as an Anglicized form of earlier spellings such as Grebill and Grabill.

Usually an English surname meaning “son of the grieve” — the local steward or overseer on a medieval estate.

An Italian surname from the Latin personal name Gratianus, meaning “favourable” or “gracious.”

An English-style ornamental surname meaning literally “great house,” likely first used for someone living by or working at a distinguished house or estate.

A surname usually linked to a place-name meaning a grove, glade, or woodland opening.

An Italian surname meaning “the Greek” or “the Greek man.”

A likely local surname, probably meaning “from the grey meadow.”

A very common surname originally used for someone who lived near a village green or other open grassy space.

A Jewish surname meaning “green mountain,” often adopted or adapted in Central and Eastern Europe.

A spelling of Green meaning someone who lived by a village green or other grassy open space.

A topographic surname for someone who lived by or came from a green field.

Probably a nickname or character-name surname, though some 19th-century writers also suggested an Old English or local-place origin.

A surname most likely tied to a place-name or to the color green, with spellings that overlap with Greenlees and related forms.

A surname meaning “green wood” or “green forest,” usually linked to a place name or a dwelling by a wooded area.

A surname most often understood as a locational or descriptive name for someone living by, or on, a green road or way.

A habitational surname from a place called Greenwell, literally “green well” or “green spring.”

A topographic surname for someone who lived by or in a green wood or wooded place.

Usually a shortened form of McGregor, with roots in the Scottish clan name Gregory/Gregor.

A mainly English and Scottish surname that is usually a short form of Gregory, though some Scottish lines may reflect MacGregor connections.

A Scottish surname linked to the personal name Gregor and, in some families, to the old Clan Gregor or MacGregor line.

A surname from the Latin personal name Gregorius, meaning “watchful” or “vigilant.”

A surname from the medieval personal name Gregory, meaning “watchful” or “vigilant,” later spreading into several related forms.

A German surname originally used for a grumbler, weeper, or quarrelsome person.

A French surname originally meaning a granary, loft, or grain store, often linked to someone who kept or lived by such a place.

A habitational surname from places named Gresham, especially in Norfolk, meaning “gravelly homestead” or “homestead by gravel.”

An uncommon surname with several possible roots, most likely from a place-name or a medieval nickname rather than a single clear source.

A Sikh Punjabi surname that usually marks clan or lineage identity rather than a literal occupation or place name.

A surname with two main roots: a nickname for someone with grey hair or complexion, and, in some noble lines, a locational name tied to Grey's Thurrock in Essex.

An English surname most likely from the old personal name Grimbald, though a Devon place-name source has also been suggested.

A surname that likely began as a nickname for a pig or hog, with some later confusion from the personal name Gregory.

A surname most likely related to German Kreider/Kreider variants, later Anglicized in spelling and pronunciation.

An Italian surname meaning “Greek” or “from Greece,” originally used for someone of Greek origin or association.

A surname meaning “Greek” or “the Greek,” likely first used for someone identified by Greek origin or association.

A Scottish surname that is usually a shortened form of Gregor or Gregory.

A surname usually treated as a spelling variant of Griffin or Griffith, ultimately from a personal name meaning “gryphon” or “strong/lordly one.”

A surname that usually comes from the old Welsh personal name Gruffudd/Griffin, meaning a strong or proud leader.

A surname usually treated as a spelling variant of Griffin, ultimately linked to the Welsh personal name Gruffudd.

A classic Welsh surname from an old personal name meaning roughly “strong lord” or “prince.”

A Welsh surname meaning “son of Griffith,” with Griffith itself coming from an old Welsh personal name.

Usually a surname from the medieval given name Gregory, with Grigg representing a shortened, familiar form.

Usually a surname from the personal name Gregory, meaning “son of Greg” or “son of Gregory.”

A surname of uncertain but likely English locational origin, probably from a place-name ending in -by.

A Spanish surname most likely tied to a place name, probably referring to someone from or near the Grijalva area or river region.

A surname with several possible roots, including a nickname or an altered form of a Germanic or French name.

A surname usually understood as a nickname from the Spanish and Italian word for a cricket, or from a related descriptive meaning such as quick, restless, or grayish.

A surname from an old Norse personal name meaning “fierce” or “stern,” later also used as a nickname.

An Italian surname likely from a Germanic personal name meaning “grim” or “fierce,” later made famous by the Genoese Grimaldi family.

A surname of Germanic origin, historically used in medieval Italy and Spain and associated with the great Genoese Grimaldi family.

A surname usually meaning "son of Grim," from an old nickname or given name meaning stern or fierce.

A surname from an old nickname meaning stern, fierce, or grim-looking.

A surname usually taken as a diminutive of the old name Grim, with the ending suggesting “little Grim” or “son of Grim” in form.

A surname that likely began as a place-name or variant form built on the old English personal name Grim.

A surname likely built from the word for a grinding tool or implement, with an old English occupational or nickname flavor.

A surname most likely linked to the German name Greiner, often associated with a grumbler or crier.

A surname with uncertain roots, probably an old English place-name or nickname formation that later settled into a family name.

A name most likely from an older place-name or a lost local form, rather than a clear occupational or descriptive nickname.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably a variant spelling that developed in Britain and later became fixed in America.

An English place-based surname, probably from a field or plain associated with the name Gris- or Gris-wood/wold.

A surname that likely began as a nickname or pet form connected with the old personal name Griselda/Grisell.

A surname usually linked to a nickname for someone considered “big” or “large,” though some bearers may share it with variants of Grose/Gross.

A Pennsylvania-German surname usually tied to German Graf, meaning a count or lord, with spelling shaped by English and dialect pronunciation.

An Irish surname most likely from a Gaelic personal name or nickname, with a long history in Ireland.

A German surname usually linked to a word for “big” or, in some interpretations, “coarse” or “clumsy.”

A surname from an attendant or servant, especially one in charge of horses, chambers, or a household office.

A surname that most likely began as an occupational name for a groom or servant working with horses or in a noble household.

A surname most likely from a place-name or a nickname based on “grove,” suggesting someone who lived near or worked in a grove.

A surname from French gros, meaning “big” or “thick,” originally a nickname for a large or stout person.

A nickname surname from a word meaning “big,” “thick,” or “heavy.”

A surname that most likely began as a residence name for someone living by a cross or roadside cross.

A surname from Romance-language roots, often linked to “big” or “thick,” and also found as an Italian place- or family-name form.

A surname likely from Dutch or Low German groot, meaning “big” or “tall.”

A surname from a German word for “big” or “great,” often used as a descriptive nickname.

A topographic surname for someone who lived by or near a grove of trees.

A surname usually meaning “dweller by a grove” or “from the grove,” with a secondary occupational explanation in some older sources.

A mainly English surname that usually came from someone living by a grove of trees.

Likely a nickname or descriptive surname for someone associated with growth, greenness, or vigorous growth, though the exact origin is not firmly established from the excerpts.

A surname with several likely roots, most often explained as a nickname for a rough, stout, or grub-like person, though some early forms point to other local or linguistic origins.

A surname that most likely began as a patronymic or nickname-based form of Grubb, meaning someone descended from or associated with a person called Grubb.

A surname usually linked to German and related names meaning “pit,” “ditch,” or a place in or by a hollow or excavation.

A German surname meaning someone from a pit, quarry, or hollow place.

A surname most likely of Spanish-language origin, probably built from a nickname or local word now obscured by later spelling and pronunciation changes.

A surname probably from an old Germanic personal name, with some evidence also linking it to the old nickname-name Gundred/Gundry.

A French surname from the personal name Gregory, ultimately meaning “watchful” or “vigilant.”

A short surname that often comes from several unrelated Chinese and East Asian family names, depending on the characters and language involved.

A name taken from a revered Marian place-name in Spain and Mexico, later used as a given name and sometimes as a surname.

A Spanish locational surname taken from the place-name Guadarrama, best known as a mountain range and town near Madrid.

A Spanish-language surname most likely tied to a place name or local family line in the Spanish-speaking world.

A surname most often found in the Andes, especially Ecuador, likely reflecting an indigenous or Hispanicized local family name.

A surname found in several cultures, most commonly a romanization of Chinese family names with meanings that depend on the specific character.

A Spanish surname likely based on a past participle meaning “kept” or “protected,” originally describing someone guarded or someone connected with safekeeping.

An Italian surname that likely began as a Germanic personal name meaning “spear friend” or “spear companion.”

A surname with several possible roots, most likely from a French place-name or from a shortened old Germanic personal name.

A Spanish surname that likely began as a family name tied to a place-name or to a regional form of a given name.

A German surname meaning “warrior” or “battle man,” from the old personal name Günther.

A surname of French origin, often explained as coming from an old Germanic personal name meaning “warrior” or “marching in battle.”

A surname from the word for “war,” often first used as a nickname or byname for a warrior or someone linked to conflict.

A Spanish surname meaning “warrior” or “soldier,” originally a nickname for someone seen as warlike or brave.

A French surname meaning “warrior” or “soldier,” originally a nickname or descriptive byname.

A surname that most likely began as a reduced form of Guest.

An old nickname or byname meaning “guest” or “stranger,” later fixed as a surname.

A Spanish surname most often tied to the Basque place-name Guevara in Álava, later famous in noble and compound forms like Ladrón de Guevara.

A surname most likely from a nickname or a regional variant of older Gaelic or English forms, though its exact origin is uncertain.

A surname that usually comes from the medieval personal name Guido, the Latinized form of Guy/Wido.

A Cajun surname that most likely reflects a French family name brought to Louisiana.

A French surname originally from the given name Guillaume, the French form of William.

A Spanish and French surname from a medieval form of William, ultimately meaning “resolute protection.”

A Spanish-language surname derived from the given name Guillermo, itself the Spanish form of William.

A surname most likely of French origin, probably from a medieval personal name related to William or a similar Germanic name.

A French surname that usually comes from a diminutive of Guillaume, and sometimes from Gilles or another old Germanic given name.

A surname with several plausible roots, most often linked to Irish or Welsh names that sound like “Gwynn.”

A surname of likely Dutch origin, probably a form of a personal-name or place-name spelling that was later anglicized in North America.

A rare surname probably from an English place-name, likely meaning someone who came from or lived near Gulledge/Golledge in Sussex.

A surname probably shortened from a medieval nickname or personal-name form, most likely tied to the old name Goliard/Gullard.

Usually a surname that likely grew from a Norman or Scandinavian personal name later reshaped in England.

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Gunder,” from an old personal name of Germanic origin.

A surname that can come from an old personal name built on the element for “war” or from the shortened name Gawen in some families.

A surname that likely began as a Norse personal-name form, later shaped in English records into its modern spelling.

An old surname from an early Germanic personal name, later also influenced by the medieval given name Gunter/Gunther.

A surname from an old Germanic personal name meaning roughly "battle army" or "warrior."

A very common Chinese surname, most often written 郭, with a long history of use in China.

A classic Indian surname, originally tied to the Sanskrit idea of protection or guardianship.

A surname most likely from a place-name, probably an English locational name that later spread as a family name.

An English surname most often traced to a Norman place name, Gournay or Gueures, brought to England after the Conquest.

A Spanish surname, likely from a place name or local geographic feature.

A surname most likely from a Spanish place-name tradition, especially associated with New Mexico and northern New Spain.

A Nepali ethnic surname identifying people of the Gurung community of the Himalayas.

A surname with several possible origins, often linked to Spanish or Germanic personal-name roots.

A surname that likely began as a nickname or trade name connected with appetites, taste, or a gusty word-form.

A Scandinavian patronymic surname meaning “son of Gustaf.”

Usually a shortened form of Augustine or Augustin, with some older sources also linking it to a Germanic name base.

A surname with several possible roots, most likely from a short Gaelic or Germanic personal-name element rather than a common occupation or place-name.

A Scottish locational surname taken from Guthrie in Forfarshire (Angus), a place-name long associated with the family ‘of that Ilk.’

A Spanish patronymic surname meaning “son of Gutierre,” a medieval personal name related to Gothic-style names beginning with Gut-.

A surname that began as a medieval personal name, ultimately from Latin and possibly linked to meanings like “guide” or “battle.”

Likely an occupational or descriptive surname from an Old French word for a guide or leader.

A surname that likely began as a variant of Guy, ultimately from the old personal name meaning “guide” or “leader.”

A Spanish surname long associated with nobility, famously borne by Saint Dominic’s family name, with origins that are probably Germanic but not fully settled.

A Cornish and Welsh surname that likely comes from a word for “white” or “fair.”

A Welsh surname from a word meaning “white” or “fair,” related to Gwyn, Gwynn, and Gwynne.

A Welsh and Cornish surname from gwyn, meaning “white,” “fair,” or “blessed.”

A Spanish surname that likely began as a place-based or family-name form in medieval Iberia.

A Spanish surname, usually understood as a patronymic form related to the medieval personal name Gamo or Gama.