Surnames starting with K

A Polish surname originally referring to a tavern-keeper, innkeeper, or chamberlain-like attendant.

A German surname meaning “bald,” originally a nickname for someone with little hair.

A German surname most likely built from a root meaning “bald” or “bare,” with the suffix -er often marking a person from a place or associated with a trait.

A surname most often linked to the Hebrew word for a priestly line, and also found as a Germanized spelling of related forms.

A surname with multiple possible roots, most commonly either a spelling of Kane/Cain or a locational name linked to Caen, Normandy.

A German surname from the word for “emperor,” ultimately borrowed from Latin Caesar.

A surname that usually began as a nickname for a bald or bare-headed person, though in some cases it may also be local in origin.

A Polish surname meaning “from Kalinów” or “from the place of kalina,” the viburnum shrub.

A surname of Baltic and eastern European use, most likely tied to a word for a shore, bank, or slope.

A surname that may come from an old personal name, with possible Scandinavian, Gaelic, or Frankish roots.

A rare surname with several possible roots, including place-name origins and, in some cases, a link to the Norman name de Camsey/Cammesey.

A West African surname often linked to a traditional title or office, especially in Mande-speaking naming traditions.

A Slavic surname meaning “man from Kammin” or a similar place-name form.

A Polish surname meaning someone from a place called Kamień or Kaminka, ultimately from the word for “stone” or “rock.”

A German occupational surname originally meaning an official in charge of a chamber or treasury.

A German surname originally referring to a field, enclosure, or battle-fight, depending on which older source you follow.

A surname with several linked Irish and Manx forms, most often tied to O'Kane / O'Cahan.

A common Korean surname, also found in other communities in East and South Asia, with several unrelated historical origins.

A Finnish surname meaning “from the shore” or “from the river bank.”

A surname most likely from a Slavic word for a kite or hawk, or from a nickname based on that bird.

A surname with several possible Germanic roots, most likely connected to a chanter, singer, or possibly a related occupational name.

A name for a church singer or choirmaster, from the same root as Latin and German words for a cantor.

A surname with several possible roots, most likely an East Asian name in modern use, but the historical excerpts here do not explain its origin.

A surname with Jewish roots, often linked to the word for “chaplain” or “clergyman,” especially in Ashkenazi tradition.

A South Asian surname best known as a Punjabi and North Indian family name, often linked to the Khatri community.

A German surname often linked to a cap or hood, though some bearers may reflect other short-name forms.

A surname of Middle Eastern origin, often from a personal name meaning “generous” or “noble.”

A surname with several possible roots, most often linked to Slavic or Greek words for “crow,” “black,” or related nickname forms.

A German surname most likely linked to a cart, wagon, or related work—though the exact derivation is not firmly established in the excerpts provided.

A surname and given name from Arabic meaning “generous” or “noble.”

A surname from a personal name meaning “Charles” in several European languages, and sometimes also linked to older words for “man” or “churl.”

An old surname that may be connected either with a place-name or with a word for combs, though the evidence is not firm.

A surname with several possible roots, most likely a variant of a German or English name built from a personal name or place-name element.

A surname found in German-speaking areas, likely a shortened or altered form of an older personal name rather than a direct occupational label.

A surname usually treated as a spelling of Carr, originally from a place or feature name for low-lying, marshy ground.

A surname from the given name Kasper, the common continental form of Caspar.

A surname with several possible roots, most often treated as a short form or spelling variant related to similar names like Cass.

Usually a German surname, often explained as a short form of Christian names like Karsten or Christian.

A German occupational surname originally for someone who managed a grain chest or storehouse, later also an estate or monastery steward.

Kates is most likely a variant of Kay or Kate, often a surname that began as a nickname or patronymic form.

A surname found in several cultures, especially in Japan, often written from a name meaning “add” or “increase.”

A German and Jewish surname meaning “cat,” sometimes also a shortened form of names or linked to place-names.

A German surname meaning “buyer” or “merchant,” often a spelling variant of Kaufmann.

A German surname meaning “merchant” or “trader.”

A German occupational surname meaning “merchant” or “trader.”

A surname of several likely Indian and Germanic origins, most often linked to Kashmiri Pandit or other North Indian family names, and sometimes to a German place-name or nickname tradition.

A Sikh and Punjabi feminine given-name element that has also become a surname, originally meaning “princess” or “noble lady.”

A German surname most likely formed from a short nickname base, with links in older scholarship to forms like Kauz/Kautsch and possibly to a personal-name or nickname origin.

An Irish surname from Gaelic roots, traditionally linked to a byname meaning “mild” or “gentle,” and also associated with the medieval Kavanagh dynasty of Leinster.

An anglicized Irish surname from Gaelic names meaning “descendant of Cavanagh,” with roots likely tied to a personal name or a word for a hound-like figure.

A surname with several possible roots, including a place-name for a quay or a contraction of MacKay in Manx and Scottish usage.

Usually a spelling of Kay, a surname that most likely began as a nickname or as a place-based name near a quay or quay-side.

A surname probably derived from an occupational or nickname form, likely related to an older word for a key-maker or keeper of keys.

A German surname from a word meaning “emperor,” originally a title and later a family name.

Kean is a surname with two main origins: a nickname meaning “keen, sharp” or a place-name link to St Keyne in Cornwall, and in Irish use it can also reflect a Mac Kean form meaning “son of Keen.”

An Irish surname that usually comes from Gaelic names meaning either “descendant of Cian” or a form of the word for “sharp” or “keen.”

An Irish surname with more than one possible Gaelic source, most often linked to a name meaning “victorious” or “stone-pile.”

An Irish surname usually linked to a Gaelic name meaning “little church” or sometimes treated as a variant of Cairns.

An Irish surname usually linked to an old Gaelic personal name, later also used by Anglo-Norman families in Ireland.

A surname that likely began as a place name or a variant of older English surnames such as Ketton or Keyton.

A surname with several possible roots, most likely a Germanic nickname or a short form of an older personal name.

A short surname with several possible roots, especially as a reduced form of MacKee/MacKay in Manx and Scottish usage.

An Irish surname, usually treated as a shortened or anglicized form of Ó Caoimh or a related Gaelic name meaning “gentle” or “kind.”

A surname that usually comes from an old German nickname or from a Germanic personal name, often linked to similar names like Kiefer or Kiefer-style forms.

An Irish surname, most often explained as a form of Ó Ceagáin, meaning a descendant of Ceagán.

Usually a locational surname from places called Keele or Keal, with a secondary occupational sense tied to a keel-barge sailor.

Usually a locational surname meaning “from Keele,” especially the parish in Staffordshire.

Usually an occupational surname for someone who worked with a keel or barges, especially a boatman or bargeman.

A surname most likely taken from the English place name Keighley in Yorkshire, often spelled in ways that mirror local pronunciation.

Usually an English surname tied to a fish name or a lost local place-name, especially in northern England.

A surname that can mean “sharp” or “eager,” and in some cases may be an anglicized Irish name or a local name from St. Keyne in Cornwall.

A surname of Irish origin, often linked to a Gaelic personal name meaning “ancient” or “little ancient one.”

An English surname that can come from a nickname for someone sharp or keen, or from places called St Keyne/Keyne in Cornwall.

An English-language surname that likely began as a nickname for someone sharp, shrewd, or keen-witted.

An Irish surname most likely related to names like Keane and Keenan, with the spelling shaped by anglicization and dialect.

An English-style surname most likely developed as a variant of Keese, itself from a nickname, place name, or older spelling tradition.

A habitational surname most likely meaning “from Ketton,” a place-name in England.

A surname most likely from an Anglicized Gaelic form, probably linked to a Mac- name or an older Irish family spelling.

A surname that is most likely a Germanic variant of names like Kiefer or Kefer, often connected to a person’s occupation, nickname, or local dialect form.

An Irish surname most likely representing a local spelling of Quigley/O’Quigley, shaped by regional pronunciation.

An Irish surname most commonly traced to Mac Eochaidh, meaning “son of Eochaidh,” with the personal name linked to “horseman” or a horse-related root.

A surname with several possible roots, including a nickname from a personal name and locational forms tied to Celtic and German place-names.

A surname with several possible roots, most often linked to a German personal name or nickname, and sometimes to place-name forms in German-speaking areas.

A variant spelling of Kaiser, a surname meaning “emperor,” often used as a nickname or symbolic name.

A surname most likely from a Germanic personal name or a regional spelling of a similar-sounding name, later carried into English-speaking countries.

A Scottish surname from a place name, probably tied to an old Celtic word meaning “narrow” or “confined.”

A surname with several possible origins, including a Norman place-name, a nickname from Charles/Karl, or a shortened form of older names with Kell- elements.

A surname most likely meaning “from Kelham,” a place-name in Nottinghamshire.

A surname probably linked to an ancestral “cellarer” or wine-steward, especially in Scottish Gaelic form.

An Irish surname, usually understood as a reduced Anglicized form of an older Gaelic name.

A surname with several roots, most often from German for a cellarer or tavern keeper.

A surname most likely linked to a place-name or occupational label involving a cellar or rock-stone feature, with several possible European roots.

A surname most likely taken from a place-name in Lancashire, originally meaning someone from Kellett.

A surname with multiple roots: in England and Cornwall it can be locational, while in Ireland it is often an anglicized form of Ó Ceallaigh.

A German occupational surname meaning a cellarer, tavern keeper, or waiter.

A surname that likely began as a colorful medieval nickname, probably tied to a boar- or hog-related insult or joke.

Kellum is most likely a surname that grew from a place-name or an older family-name form, though its exact origin is not firmly established.

A very common Irish surname, also found in England and Scotland, originally tied to a place-name and later widely used as an Irish family name.

A mainly English surname that most often points to a place-name, especially in Lincolnshire or Cheshire.

A Scottish locational surname from the town of Kelso in Roxburghshire.

An old surname for a champion or warrior, later also linked to strength and spirited striving.

A surname with two main roots: either from a fighter or champion, or from an occupation meaning wool-comber.

A German surname meaning “fighter” or “champion,” originally a nickname for a warrior or combative person.

An English place-based surname most likely meaning “from Kempston” or another camp-town settlement.

A surname usually linked to Kendal in Westmorland, England, meaning “the valley of the River Kent.”

Usually a spelling variant of Kenrick, itself an old personal-name surname, though some families may also reflect older local-name or scribal forms.

An Irish surname, often a shortened form related to Mac Kenna or linked to Gaelic names meaning “descendant of the hound” or similar.

An English surname with more than one proposed source, most often treated as a place-based name and sometimes linked to older Celtic forms meaning “chief” or “leader.”

An old Celtic surname traditionally linked to an Irish personal name and, in Scotland, to the powerful Kennedy clan of Carrick.

An Irish surname, usually from an old Gaelic family name meaning a descendant of a person with a strong, probably personal-name based identity.

A surname that usually began as a place-name or an occupational byname, depending on the family line.

Most likely a locational surname from a place-name, probably referring to someone who came from Kennet or a similar settlement.

A surname with several roots: it can be Irish, English locational, or Norman/French in origin.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably a variant of Kennan/Kennan or related Irish forms.

Usually an Irish surname from the Gaelic name Coinneach or Canice, later used in several related spellings and branches.

A surname that most often means “from Kent,” the historic English county.

A northern English surname probably meaning “Ken’s farm or settlement,” though the exact first element is uncertain.

A Lancashire surname meaning “from Kenyon,” a township in Winwick parish, with an older place-name origin behind it.

An Irish surname usually linked to Gaelic forms behind Keogh and MacKeough, though older sources were not fully agreed on the exact original name.

A surname most likely from the German personal name Gebhard, later reshaped in American spelling and pronunciation.

A surname most likely from a German word for a leather worker or one who prepares hides.

Usually a spelling variant of Kirby, a place-based surname meaning “from Kirkby.”

An English and Irish surname with multiple possible origins, including a place-name source and an Irish Gaelic surname form.

A surname that can come from German and related words meaning “core,” “kernel,” or “essence,” with some bearers also tied to other local or nickname origins.

An Irish surname that likely began as a reduced form of an older Gaelic family name, often linked with names like Kiernan or MacKernan.

A surname with several possible roots, most often connected to a corn or grain grower, a place name, or a Germanic personal-name form.

A surname that may be a variant of Kearns/Cairns, though its exact origin is not fully certain.

A chiefly Scottish and northern English surname most often explained as a place-name meaning a low, wet meadow or marshy clearing.

An Irish surname, usually treated as a reduced Anglicized form of an older Gaelic name such as Ó Ciaragáin or a related Ciarán-based form.

A surname taken from the Suffolk parish of Kersey, originally meaning someone who came from that place.

A mainly English place-based surname, probably meaning someone from a “shaw” or wood associated with a man named Kerr or similar.

A surname most likely of Germanic origin, often taken as an Americanized spelling of a name like Kirschner or Kerschner.

A German and Dutch surname that usually comes from a short form of Christian, meaning “follower of Christ.”

A surname most often treated as a variant of Curwen, with old English and northern British roots.

A surname most likely from a German occupational name, related to Kessler, meaning a maker or seller of kettles or cauldrons.

Usually a German surname from the word for a cauldron, kettle, or basin-shaped vessel.

A surname of likely German origin, probably from a place-name or a shortened form built on a Germanic personal name.

A common German occupational surname meaning “kettle maker” or, in some contexts, a person connected with kettles or cauldrons.

A surname that is often a shortened form of Christopher, though in some cases it may also have local or other origins.

An American surname most likely developed as a spelling variant of Ketchum, with roots in an older English personal or place-name form.

An American surname whose exact origin is unclear, but it is most likely a variant of Ketcham or a name shaped by old English surname patterns.

A German surname most likely meaning a maker or seller of kettles, or more broadly a metalworker connected with kettles and pots.

An English and Manx surname that is usually treated as a form of Kay, though some Manx writers linked it to MacKay.

A surname that can point either to keys as an occupational sign or, in some cases, to St. Peter’s keys as a religious emblem.

An English surname that likely began as a name for someone connected with keys, a key-bearer, or an inn or sign called the Cross Keys.

A surname usually meaning “emperor,” often a German or Dutch form related to Kaiser/Caesar.

A surname taken from the Arabic personal name Khalil, meaning “friend” or “intimate companion.”

A title of Central and South Asian nobility and authority that later became a widespread surname among Muslim families.

A surname found in several Asian naming traditions, often reflecting a family name carried across Vietnamese and Chinese communities.

A surname from a word meaning “priest,” widely used among Arabic-speaking Christians and some others of the Levant.

A surname most likely from a German occupational or habitational name, often explained as a variant related to kiln work or a place-name source.

A surname with more than one possible origin, most commonly from the word for a young goat, and sometimes from a nickname or older personal name.

An English occupational surname for a huckster or peddler—someone who carried goods about for sale.

An English surname most likely from a Welsh personal name, especially Cadwal or Cadwallon, rather than from a place-name ending in -well.

A German surname that can mean “fir tree” or, in some areas, “jaws,” with some branches also linked to the occupation of cooper.

A German surname that usually comes from a word for “pine” or “fir,” and in some cases may reflect the trade of a cooper or barrel-maker.

A German surname most often linked to the city of Kiel in northern Germany.

An Irish surname usually taken as a form of MacKiernan, meaning “son of Kieran/Ciarán.”

A surname of likely German or Dutch origin, probably arising as a nickname or regional name that was later carried into English-speaking countries.

An English surname likely representing a spelling variant of Kite, and possibly in some cases a form of Haite or Keyt.

A place-based surname meaning “someone from Kilburn,” especially the Middlesex place-name near London.

A surname usually taken from the village of Kilby in Leicestershire, though some bearers may reflect related local-name forms like Kilbey or Gilbey.

A surname with several possible roots, most often treated as a variant of names like Kyle or Kile, especially in English-speaking areas.

Kiley is most often an Irish surname, generally understood as a form of Kiely, from an old Gaelic personal name.

An Irish and Scottish surname probably linked to a place-name with the element for “church,” though its exact origin is uncertain.

An Irish surname usually linked to Gaelic personal names like Cillín or related forms, later appearing as an anglicized family name.

A surname often linked to the Irish name Cillian or, in some cases, to the German saint’s name Kilian.

A rare English surname that was probably taken from a place-name, with early spellings showing confusion with related forms like Chillingworth and Shillingsworth.

An Irish surname most likely connected to the Gaelic name element behind Killen and Killian.

A German surname that likely began as a shortened form of an old personal name built from elements meaning “hostage” and “army,” though the evidence is thin.

A Scottish place-based surname meaning “of Kilpatrick,” originally tied to parishes in Dumbartonshire and Stirling.

A Korean surname meaning “gold,” and also an unrelated medieval English nickname surname in some historical records.

An English surname from an old personal name meaning roughly “royal bold one,” later also attached to places in England.

An English surname that likely began as a nickname for a wool-comber, though a local origin from South Kimber in Cornwall is also possible.

A surname usually taken from places called Kimble in Buckinghamshire, England.

A surname with likely English roots, probably a regional or variant form built from an older place-name or personal-name element.

An English surname most likely from a place-name, later carried to North America in altered spelling.

A surname of German origin, likely linked to the spice caraway or cumin, though some historical writers also treated it as a variant of similar German names.

A common Japanese surname meaning “tree village” or “woodland village.”

A surname most likely of medieval French or English origin, probably developing from a place name or nickname rather than a single clear root.

A Scottish surname from a place-name, long associated with the Kincaid family of that Ilk in Fife.

A surname most likely taken from a place in Derbyshire, England, with occasional later confusion with older words for kin or child-related forms.

An English surname that likely began as a nickname or occupational name connected with lighting, tending, or making a fire.

An uncommon surname that may have begun as a nickname or as a shortened form of an old personal name linked to kinship or noble counsel.

Usually a nickname or status name for someone who played the kingly part in appearance, bearing, or local reputation—not necessarily royal by blood.

A rare surname of uncertain origin, likely an altered or patronymic form built on the personal name King.

A surname from places named Kingsbury, literally “the king’s burh” or fortified settlement.

A surname of place origin meaning “from Kingsley,” originally linked to a Cheshire estate and township.

A place-based surname meaning “from the king’s town” or a town called Kingston.

A Gaelic surname meaning “MacKinley’s son” or more literally “son of Cinfaoladh,” often explained as “wolf-head.”

A short surname with several possible roots, including a form related to Kinn and a possible variant of Kinney.

An Irish surname most often taken as a form of Kenny, ultimately from Gaelic names meaning “kindred” or linked to the name Cionnaith.

An Irish surname, most likely from an old Gaelic personal name or clan designation, later established as a hereditary family name.

A surname most likely developed as a spelling variant of a German name, especially one related to Kinz- / Kind- forms.

An English surname with several possible origins, most likely from a place name and in some cases from an old personal name meaning “royal victory.”

A surname formed from the everyday word for a relative or close family connection.

A surname with several possible origins, including a German word for a steep place and a possible nickname source in older English records.

A common English surname meaning “church settlement” or “village by a church.”

A German surname meaning “churchman” or “one associated with a church.”

An occupational surname for a church sexton or sacristan, from German words connected with the church.

A Scottish and northern English surname meaning simply “church,” often from someone who lived by the church.

A habitational surname meaning someone from a place called Kirkham, literally a “church village.”

A locational surname meaning someone from a place called Kirkland, literally “church land.”

An English surname meaning “church keeper” or “man of the kirk,” originally for someone who guarded or worked at a church.

A Scottish surname meaning “Patrick’s church,” originally taken from a place-name in Dumfriesshire.

Kirksey is most likely a locational surname, probably meaning someone from a place near a church or chapel.

A habitational surname meaning “church wood” or “the wood by the church.”

A German surname meaning “cherry,” often applied as a nickname or ornamental name.

A German occupational surname meaning a maker or seller of fur garments.

A surname with several plausible roots, most often treated as a Germanic name related to “Kaiser” or a Germanic word for an emperor.

Probably an occupational surname related to making or fitting cuisses, the thigh-armor worn in medieval dress and warfare.

A surname most likely tied to a place name, family name, or altered form of a similar-sounding Germanic surname.

An English surname often explained as a shortened or altered form of names ending in -kins, rather than from the word “kiss.”

A surname probably from a short Germanic nickname or a place-name form, with the exact origin not fully certain.

A German surname that most likely began as a place-based name for someone from a place called Kissingen or a similarly named locality.

A German occupational surname for a maker of boxes or chests.

An occupational surname for someone who worked in a noble household kitchen, often a cook’s servant or kitchen worker.

An English surname most likely linked to a cook or kitchen servant, ultimately from the word for a kitchen or cookery work.

Likely a nickname surname from the bird kite, perhaps used for someone thought swift, sharp-eyed, or hawk-like.

A surname most likely from Kettle, an old nickname or baptismal form that produced several spelling variants.

A surname probably of English origin, likely from a place-name or an older personal name that was later reshaped in spelling.

Usually a patronymic surname meaning “son of Kit,” with Kit as a short form of Christopher.

A surname that usually developed as an Americanized spelling of a German or Dutch name sounding like Kaiser, with the sense of “emperor” or a related nickname form.

A surname most likely referring to “the clan or children of Klaas,” with Klaas being a northern Dutch/German short form of Nicholas.

A German surname likely from a nickname or a short form of a personal name, rather than from a place or trade.

A Germanic short form of Nicholas, later used as a surname and patronymic.

A German and Dutch surname meaning “small” or “little,” often originally a nickname for a short person or the younger/smaller member of a family.

A mostly Ashkenazi surname meaning “little man” or “small man,” built from German/Yiddish words for “small” and “man.”

A Polish surname usually formed from the given name Klemens or Klim, meaning something like “son or descendant of Klim/Klemens.”

A common Americanized German and Dutch surname, usually from a word meaning “small” or “little.”

A German surname that can come from a sword or blade, or from a word for a rushing stream.

A rare surname likely built from German elements meaning a metalworker’s or smith’s name, later fixed in American spelling.

A surname from the German word for someone connected with ringing, tinkling, or a bell-like sound.

A German surname most likely referring to a bell-ringer or church sexton associated with ringing bells.

A surname of Germanic origin, probably from a nickname or word for a click, clink, or sharp sound, though the evidence is not fully certain.

A German surname that originally came from a nickname for a stocky, heavy, or clumsy person.

A German surname from a word meaning “wise” or “clever.”

Usually a nickname or occupational surname from an old word for a boy, servant, or young man; in some places it may also reflect a hilltop or knob-shaped place-name.

A German surname meaning “servant” or “manservant,” from a medieval word for a household or retainer role.

A surname usually treated as a Germanic nickname or variant form, often linked to a word for a lump, bend, or knoll.

A surname most likely from a German occupational or nickname form related to a knapper, maker, or worker.

An English surname that originally meant a servant, youth, or military retainer—and later also served as a nickname for someone thought to have knightly status.

An English surname most likely built from Knight, with a suffix that may have been added in later family usage or spelling development.

A locational surname meaning “from Knighton,” referring to one of several English places of that name.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably a spelling variant that developed from an older Germanic or English name form.

A surname for someone who lived by or on a small hill or knoll.

A surname usually traced to a German word for a bud, knob, or small rounded bump, often linked to a nickname or a place-name.

A German surname likely from a nickname for someone stout, knotty, or rough in manner or build.

A surname that can come from a place on a rocky summit, from the personal name Canute/Cnut, or from a nickname linked to “knot.”

A surname most likely from a nickname or clipped form related to “knott,” meaning a shorn or closely cropped head.

A surname originally meaning “at the knoll” — someone who lived by a small hill or hilltop.

A locational surname meaning “from Knowlton,” originally taken from a parish place-name in Kent.

A Scottish surname from a place-name tied to a round-topped hill, later borne by one of Scotland’s best-known Reformation figures.

A Danish and North German patronymic surname meaning “son of Knud” (the Danish form of Canute).

A Scandinavian patronymic surname meaning “son of Knud,” a traditional given name related to Canute.

A surname of Germanic origin, likely from an old nickname or personal-name root related to a knot, lump, or knob.

A Scandinavian patronymic surname meaning “son of Knut.”

A short surname that can arise from several independent linguistic traditions, especially East Asian and Slavic ones.

A common Japanese surname meaning “small forest” or “little grove.”

A German occupational surname meaning “cook.”

A German surname most likely built from the root for “cook,” though in some cases it may reflect a place-name or another Germanic source.

A German surname tied to a maker of pots or charcoal, or sometimes to the place-name element for a kiln or charcoal pit.

A German surname, likely a shortened form of a name built on the personal name Konrad or a similar Germanic root.

A German surname meaning “king,” often originally a nickname, status name, or house sign.

A German surname usually meaning a grain dealer or someone connected with grain.

A German surname that likely began as a nickname or occupational name, often connected with a church sexton or custodian.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably a medieval Norman or English place-based name rather than a modern occupational one.

A surname with several possible origins, most commonly found in Asia and sometimes used as a shortened or variant form in European records.

A German surname meaning “cabbage,” usually arising as a nickname or occupational name for someone associated with cabbages or gardening.

A German occupational surname meaning “charcoal burner.”

A surname of Jewish origin, commonly a German form of Cohen, meaning a priestly lineage.

A Central and Eastern European surname usually linked to a maker of wheels or wagons.

A German surname whose origin is uncertain, though it is often linked either to a word for “bald” or to a shortened form of names beginning with Kol- or Kal-.

A German surname most often tied to charcoal-making, with some early sources also linking it to a collar or cowl-maker.

Usually a Chinese surname, especially common among families whose names were romanized from southern Chinese varieties.

An old English surname that likely began as a nickname from a word for the jackdaw or another bird.

A surname that is often a shortened or altered form of names like Kuhn or Kuntz, though in some cases it may be unrelated or local in origin.

A surname probably from a shortened German form of Konrad or a related name, later spelled in various Americanized ways.

An Americanized spelling of a German surname ultimately tied to Kuntz, a short form of Konrad.

A German surname that likely began as a short form of a personal name before settling into its modern spelling in America.

A surname with several Germanic roots, most often linked to “head” or used as a short form of Jakob.

A surname with uncertain origins, possibly a variant of Norman-origin names or a form influenced by old personal names beginning with Korm- or Corn-.

A surname that most often comes from the German word for grain or from related words for corn, rye, or a grain dealer.

A surname of likely Germanic origin, probably reflecting an old place-name or surname element rather than an English occupational meaning.

A surname that likely began as a descriptive nickname for someone of short stature, or as a related continental German/Dutch family name.

A Finnish surname usually linked to a rapid, rapids, or waterfall feature in the landscape.

A surname with multiple possible roots, including a German form related to Goose/Goss and a Scottish family name connected with Ross.

A surname with several possible roots, most likely from a short Germanic nickname or a name shortened from older forms like Kost-/Gost-.

A Dutch occupational surname meaning “sexton” or church caretaker.

A Slavic occupational surname meaning “smith,” originally given to someone who worked iron into tools, horseshoes, or weapons.

A Hungarian surname meaning “smith,” originally an occupational name for a metalworker.

A Slavic surname meaning “smith” or “metalworker.”

A Polish surname meaning “blacksmith,” originally identifying someone by trade.

A Polish surname meaning “son of the blacksmith” or “little blacksmith,” built from the root for blacksmithing.

A common Polish surname meaning “son of the blacksmith” or “of the blacksmith.”

A Slavic surname usually meaning “Cossack,” often used as an ethnic nickname or byname.

A Polish surname meaning “from Kozłów” or “descendant of the goat-nicknamed one.”

An occupational surname for a shopkeeper or small dealer, from German words for a retail merchant.

A German surname meaning “strength” or “power,” usually taken from the German noun Kraft.

A Polish surname meaning “from the royal estate” or “from the countryside,” originally marking a person’s place of origin.

A German surname likely from a nickname or related to a descriptive word, often linked with a curled, claw-like, or otherwise hooked form.

An occupational surname meaning “shopkeeper” or “small trader,” from German and related Dutch words for retail trade.

A German surname that can mean either “garland/wreath” or point to a place-name origin.

A German surname most often from the word for a wreath, garland, or crown.

A German surname often linked to a nickname for someone scratchy, prickly, or otherwise “raspy” in manner or appearance.

A German surname that most likely began as a nickname or occupational name tied to scratching, scraping, or rough work.

A German nickname surname meaning “curly” or “curly-headed.”

A German nickname surname meaning “curly-haired” or “curly,” from a word for frizzy or crisp hair.

A German surname meaning “curly-haired” or “frizzy-haired.”

A Polish surname meaning “son of the tailor” or, more broadly, one connected to tailoring.

A German surname meaning “crab,” originally a nickname or house sign, sometimes also linked to a place name.

A surname with German roots, likely from a maker’s or place-based name that was later Anglicized in spelling.

A German surname, probably a spelling variant shaped by dialect and immigration, rather than a name with a single fixed English meaning.

An occupational surname meaning a shopkeeper or small trader, especially one who sold goods in a market or from a cart.

A surname with German roots, most likely from a nickname or short form built on words for “cress” or “sharpness,” and sometimes found in German-speaking place-based forms.

A surname likely from a nickname or place-name related to a curved or curled form, often linked by older writers to Welsh crick.

A German surname from the word for “war,” likely first used as a nickname or as part of an older warrior-name tradition.

A German surname meaning “warrior” or “soldier.”

An Indian surname and given-name-based family name built from the personal name Krishna, often meaning “belonging to Krishna” or “descendant/devotee of Krishna.”

A German surname usually meaning “crook” or “hunchback,” from a nickname based on a bent shape or posture.

A German surname most often linked to the word for “crown,” suggesting a nickname or symbolic byname.

An old surname probably nicknamed for a curly-haired person.

A German surname that likely began as a nickname for someone with curly or frizzy hair.

A German surname meaning “crown,” usually from the word for a crown or as a name for someone associated with a sign, emblem, or house bearing a crown.

A German surname that likely began as a short form of an old name with the element Hrod- meaning “fame.”

A likely German surname that often developed as a nickname or variant form related to a personal characteristic or older regional naming tradition.

A German occupational surname meaning “farmer” or “tiller of the soil.”

A German surname meaning “jug” or “pitcher,” often originally a sign-name or nickname connected with a jug-maker, inn, or tavern.

A German occupational surname for a tavern-keeper, publican, or pot-maker, from the word for a jug or pitcher.

A nickname surname most likely referring to curly hair or a curly-haired person.

A Slavic surname usually linked to a word for grain, groats, or pebbly grit.

A German surname most often linked to a nickname for curly hair, and sometimes to a pot or mug word in Low German.

A short surname that can come from several different East Asian family-name traditions, most often written with characters whose meanings vary by lineage.

A Chinese surname, most often romanizing a name pronounced roughly “kwahng” in Mandarin.

A Polish surname meaning a descendant of Kubiak-like given-name forms, often tied to a pet form of Kuba (Jacob).

A German surname most often linked to the word for “cool” or “calm,” and sometimes to a nickname for a quiet or reserved person.

A German surname usually derived from a nickname meaning “bold” or “brave.”

A German surname most likely related to a word for moving or rolling, though older sources are cautious and not fully certain.

A German surname usually linked to a pit, hollow, or pool, and sometimes to a place-name built from that word.

A surname from German or Dutch roots meaning “cool man,” likely a nickname or descriptive name.

A German surname usually meaning “bold” or “keen,” and sometimes a short form of older names like Conrad.

A German and Pennsylvania German surname that likely developed from a nickname or shortened form related to Kuhn, a common German family name.

A traditional Marathi administrative surname, originally linked to village record-keeping and clerical office.

A surname likely from a German nickname or occupational root, often linked to forms like Kalb or related German names.

A common South Asian surname and given-name element originally meaning “boy,” “prince,” or “young man.”

A German surname that likely began as a personal name meaning “fame of the family” rather than “sorrow.”

A German surname with several possible roots, including a short form of older personal names and, in some cases, a nickname or occupational link.

A surname likely developed as a regional spelling of a German name such as Kunkel or Kunkel, often tied to a personal name or a descriptive nickname.

A German surname usually from the short form of Conrad, meaning “bold counsel.”

A German surname that usually began as a short form of Konrad, later spreading widely as a hereditary family name.

A German surname usually treated as a short form of Kunz, ultimately linked to the old name Konrad.

A Chinese surname most often representing the Mandarin pronunciation of several different Chinese family names written with different characters.

A German surname that most likely began as a short form of a personal name, especially one related to Konrad.

A German surname usually coming from a nickname for someone short or brief.

A German surname meaning “short,” often first applied as a nickname for a small or slight person.

A surname that usually points to an ancestor who worked with fur or leather, especially as a furrier or maker of fur clothing.

A surname often understood as a shortened or anglicized form of the German name Kuntz, itself a pet form of Konrad.

An American surname that likely began as a Dutch or Low German place-based name and became fixed in English spelling after immigration and settlement.

A Czech surname likely first used for someone known for a curly head of hair.

A Dutch surname from a bird name, originally a nickname for someone linked to a heron or similar wading bird.

A surname most often associated with Chinese names, usually reflecting a character pronounced like Guan/Kwan in different romanization systems.

A Polish surname meaning “of Kwiatków” or “belonging to Kwiatk(o),” built from a root associated with flowers or bloom.

A Chinese surname most often representing Cantonese spellings of names written 郭 or, less commonly, other similar-sounding characters.

A Korean surname, most often written in modern romanization as Kwon, from a Chinese character meaning “authority” or “power.”

A Chinese surname commonly representing several Cantonese pronunciations of characters often rendered in Mandarin as Huang or Kuang.

A Scottish and English surname usually taken from a place name, especially the district of Kyle in Ayrshire.

A Scottish surname most likely from Kyle, the old district name in southwest Scotland.