Surnames starting with N

A surname most likely from a place-name form of Nabors, a spelling variant tied to neighboring or local geographic names.

A rare surname whose origin is uncertain, though it may reflect a nickname, a shortened form, or a regional name that later became hereditary.

A French surname most likely from a personal name, widely found in French-speaking Canada and the northeastern United States.

A German and Dutch surname meaning “nail” or “spike,” sometimes also arising from a place name.

A surname with mixed English, German, French, and Irish streams, often tied to the word for a “nail” or to Irish forms such as Nangle.

A common Hungarian surname meaning “big” or “great.”

Nail is a surname most likely formed from a house or place name, though some lines of evidence also point to a link with the word for a nail or spike.

A mainly Scottish Gaelic surname with several possible Gaelic explanations, including “son of the heir” and “son of the abbot,” with local branches traced in historical records.

A surname most often connected to an Arabic word for a carpenter or woodworker, though some families may have inherited it through regional or spelling variants.

A Spanish surname most likely tied to the place name Nájera in La Rioja, Spain.

A common Japanese surname meaning “middle village” or “central village.”

Usually an English surname from “at the hall,” originally marking someone who lived or worked at a hall.

A surname most likely from a place-name or a shortened form of an older personal name, with English and Irish possibilities.

A rare surname that may sometimes be a shortened or altered form of a place-name surname ending in -ham, though the evidence is thin.

A Cornish surname meaning “valley,” often from a place-name or local estate in Cornwall.

A Scottish and English occupational surname for a keeper of napery, or household linen and tablecloths.

An Italian surname meaning “from Naples,” originally marking someone who came from the city of Napoli.

An Italian surname meaning “from Naples” or “Neapolitan.”

A Louisiana surname most likely reflecting a French family name, probably a regional or patronymic form that was carried to North America through French-speaking settlement.

A Spanish surname from the word for an orange tree, originally used for someone living near or associated with such a tree.

A Spanish surname from a place-name, originally meaning someone from Narváez or a similarly named locality.

A classic English surname meaning “at the ash tree,” though some place-name uses also belong to localities called Nash.

A surname most likely from a shortened form of a personal name, though its exact origin is not certain.

A surname of Arabic origin, often understood as a name of victory or help.

A surname of Arabic origin, most likely built from a personal name meaning “helper” or “victorious.”

An Italian surname meaning “Christmas” or, more literally, “birthday,” from Latin natalis.

A Hebrew surname and given name meaning “given” or “gift,” especially associated with Jewish families.

A rare surname usually explained as a nickname for someone seen as a foreigner, outsider, or representative of a “nation.”

A rare surname that most likely began as a nickname or descriptive byname connected with “the nations” or “foreign peoples,” rather than as a place name.

A Spanish surname from a religious word meaning “Nativity,” referring to the birth of Christ or, in some contexts, the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.

An Irish and Scottish surname, often a shortened or anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Neachtain, linked to a personal name meaning “pure.”

A surname that likely developed as a spelling variant of an older name such as Nagle or Naile, with no single certain origin.

A surname that is usually a spelling variant of Naumann or Newman, often pointing to a “new man” or newcomer ancestor.

A German surname meaning “new man,” originally a form of Neumann.

A surname with multiple possible origins, most likely from a place name or from a British/Cornish word meaning an office or servant-like role.

A Spanish surname taken from place names called Navarrete, most famously the town in La Rioja, Spain.

A surname of Spanish origin, most likely referring to someone from Navarre or a related place-name form.

A Spanish surname meaning “from Navarre” or “a Navarrese person.”

A Spanish surname that most likely began as a place-name, from the plural of a word for a marshy flat or meadow.

A surname with several possible roots, most likely from a place-name or a descriptive term used in different families.

A short surname that is most likely from a Norman place-name, though some bearers may reflect a Celtic MacNay/MacNee form.

An occupational surname meaning “maker or seller of nails.”

A surname from a personal name associated with Nazareth, ultimately pointing to “the Nazorean” or “of Nazareth.”

A common English and Irish surname that can mean “son of Neil,” and in some cases may reflect the Norman name Nigel.

A surname usually from the old personal name Neil, meaning “champion” or “cloud,” with spelling influenced by English usage.

Nealy is usually a surname formed from Neal, itself an old given name and surname meaning “champion” or “cloud,” with a common English-Irish spelling shape.

An Irish surname most often linked to a Gaelic byname meaning “happy” or “fortunate.”

A habitational surname meaning “someone from Needham,” a place-name found in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Derbyshire.

A surname tied mainly to the old Norman name Neel, ultimately a form of Nigel/Neil.

An Irish surname meaning “descendant of Niall/Neill,” later also used as a spelling variant of Neely.

An Irish and Scottish surname usually meaning “descendant or son of Niall,” with some forms also linked to MacConghaol.

An English-language surname with several possible origins, most likely from a nickname or local feature, and sometimes linked to the old word for “niece.”

A surname with several possible origins, including a German short form and a French name meaning “naive” or “candid.”

A surname most likely linked to the Spanish word for “black” or “dark,” with possible ties to a nickname, place-name, or family line.

A Spanish surname likely from a nickname based on "negro," meaning "black" or a dark-complexioned person.

A surname that began as a nickname for someone known as a neighbor or fellow resident.

A surname from the ancient Gaelic personal name Niall, often interpreted as “champion.”

An Irish and Scottish surname from the old Gaelic personal name Niall, often understood as meaning “champion.”

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Neil,” ultimately from the old Gaelic personal name Niall.

A surname of multiple possible origins, often linked to German or Jewish naming traditions and sometimes understood as “new man” or a regional variant of similar names.

An English surname usually explained as a shortened form of Nelson, or sometimes as a variant of Nelmes.

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Niels” or “son of Nelson,” especially common in Scandinavian and Anglicized forms.

A classic patronymic surname meaning “son of Neil” or, in some cases, “son of Nell.”

An Italian surname that often began as a descriptive nickname for a dark-haired or dark-complexioned person.

A rare surname that may simply preserve the Roman name Nero, traditionally linked to strength or vigor in Latin.

A locational surname from places in northern England, probably meaning “marshland by a spur” or a similar landscape feature.

A habitational surname from places called Nesbit in northern England, probably meaning a settlement by marshy or damp ground.

A Scottish surname that is likely a variant of Nasmith, ultimately linked to a place by a headland or promontory.

A surname for someone who lived by a headland or promontory, and sometimes by low marshy ground.

A surname with several possible roots, most often treated as a variant of Nestor or as a name shaped by older forms of Nesbitt/Nisbet.

A surname that can come from the classical name Nestor, or in Irish use from a Gaelic byname later Anglicized to Nestor.

A surname that usually began as a reference to nettles or a place marked by them.

A short surname from the German word for “new,” often applied as a nickname or from a new settlement/name form.

A German surname meaning “new peasant” or “new farmer,” originally used for someone newly established on a farm or in a settlement.

A German surname meaning “new field,” originally describing someone who lived by or came from newly cleared land.

A surname meaning “new man,” originally used for a newcomer or immigrant to a place.

A German surname meaning “new man,” originally a nickname or label for a newcomer.

A Spanish-language surname most likely formed from a place name or older personal name ending in -ez, the classic Iberian patronymic suffix.

A surname with uncertain origins, probably developed as a regional or patronymic form of an older name such as Nevel or Nevill.

A surname that likely began as a patronymic, meaning “Neve’s son” or “descendant of Neve.”

A surname meaning “new town,” from places called Neuville in Normandy and related French localities.

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Nevin,” with Nevin itself an old personal name of uncertain origin.

A simple English surname from a nickname for a newcomer, fresh arrival, or “new” person.

A habitational surname meaning “from Newbury,” the Berkshire town name that underlies the common spelling Newberry.

A habitational surname meaning “from the new dwelling,” originally taken from places called Newbold.

A habitational surname from places called Newby, meaning “new farmstead” or “new settlement.”

A surname meaning “newly arrived” or “newly settled,” originally a nickname for a newcomer to a village.

An English surname meaning “new arrival” or “stranger,” originally used for a newcomer to a place or community.

A surname usually linked to a place-name meaning “at the new hall,” though some writers also suggested French place-name origins.

A surname originally given to someone who lived by or came from a new house or newly built dwelling.

A habitational surname meaning “new church,” referring to someone who lived near or came from a place with that name.

A habitational surname meaning “from Newland,” originally referring to a newly reclaimed or newly cleared piece of land.

A Cornish surname linked to Newlyn, most likely meaning “from Newlyn” or “of Newlyn.”

A straightforward English surname meaning “the new man” or “newcomer,” also sometimes adopted as an English form of German Neumann.

A habitational surname for someone from one of the many places called Newport, literally a “new town” or “new port.”

An English locational surname meaning “dweller at the new houses” or from a place called Newsholme/Newsham.

An English habitational surname meaning “dweller at the new houses.”

Usually an English surname meaning “New’s son” or “son of New,” though some early writers also connected it with Newsom/Newsome forms.

A place-name surname meaning “new farmstead” or “new settlement,” found at many sites across Britain.

A rare surname that is most likely a shortened or altered form of a local name ending in -ney, meaning “island,” “river meadow,” or “wet land.”

A rare surname probably linked to a nickname for someone with a distinctive nose or facial profile.

A common Chinese surname, especially associated with Cantonese spellings of names pronounced closer to Ng, Ng, or Eng in different dialects.

A Vietnamese surname, common in East and Southeast Asian diaspora communities, whose exact origin is older and less certain in older European surname books.

A very common Vietnamese surname, most famously tied to Vietnam’s long dynastic history.

A short surname found in several cultures, most commonly as a Chinese family name.

A surname most likely from a nickname for someone regarded as neat, fastidious, or “nice” in the old sense.

A rare English surname that most likely began as a nickname from the adverb “nicely,” meaning neat, proper, or pleasingly done.

A short form of Nicholas, ultimately meaning “victory of the people.”

A surname from the given name Nicholas, ultimately meaning “victory of the people.”

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Nicholas.”

A patronymic surname meaning "son of Nicholas," from the medieval personal name Nicholas.

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Nicholas.”

A short surname that usually began as a pet form of Nicholas.

A German surname that usually began as a short form of Nicholas.

A surname that likely began as a variant of Nicholas, meaning “victory of the people.”

A surname generally treated as a variant of Nicholas, and in some sources as a shortened or altered form of Nickinson/Nicholson.

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Nickel,” a pet form of Nicholas.

A surname usually taken as a patronymic form of Nick, originally meaning “son or descendant of Nick.”

A surname usually understood as “son of Nick,” shaped by English and French nickname forms of Nicholas.

A surname most likely from Nicholas, meaning “Nicholas’s son” or a shortened Nick-family form.

A surname most often understood as a short patronymic meaning “son of Nicholas,” built from the nickname Nick.

A surname that usually comes from Nicholas, and in Scotland can also be linked with the old Gaelic clan name Nicol.

A French form of Nicholas, ultimately from Greek words meaning “victory” and “people.”

A German surname meaning “new house,” originally a name for someone who lived by or came from a newly built house.

A classic Danish and North German patronymic meaning “son of Niels.”

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Niel” or “son of Neil,” from a medieval personal name ultimately associated with Neil/Neal.

A surname of German origin, usually understood as a reduced form of Neumann, meaning “new man” or “newcomer.”

A German surname usually understood as meaning “new man” or “newcomer.”

A German surname meaning “new farmer” or “new settler,” formed from words for “new” and “farmer.”

A Finnish surname meaning “a promontory” or “a cape,” originally referring to someone who lived by a point of land.

A Spanish surname meaning “grandson,” originally used for a descendant identified through the family line.

A surname from Spanish and Portuguese words for “snow,” often originally a religious name linked to Our Lady of the Snows.

An English surname originally bestowed as a nickname for someone with a sweet, birdlike singing voice.

An Italian surname meaning “black” or “dark,” usually a nickname for someone with dark hair, complexion, or clothing.

An English surname often explained as a shortened form of a place-name like Atten Nyles or Nayland, though some bearers may also descend from the given name Niles/Neil.

A Scandinavian patronymic surname meaning “son of Nils.”

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Nils,” with Nils being a Scandinavian form of Nicholas.

A surname with several possible roots, most likely from a personal name or nickname in Romance-language traditions.

An English surname that may come from a nickname or an occupational byname, but its exact origin is not certain.

A common North German and Danish surname, most often a patronymic meaning “son of Nisse.”

A short surname most often taken as a form of Nicholas or Nick, meaning “Nick’s son” in origin.

Originally meaning “Nicholas’s son,” Nixon is a patronymic surname built from the pet form Nick.

A biblical surname and given name from Hebrew meaning “rest” or “consolation.”

A surname that usually began as a nickname for someone of noble bearing, status, or appearance.

An English surname most likely from the word “noble,” originally a status or nickname name for someone of high rank or noble bearing.

A surname usually linked to the biblical name Noah, though in some cases it may reflect Norman/French place-name or dialect forms.

A surname from the French word for Christmas, originally given to people born at that season.

An Irish surname from O Nualláin, traditionally understood as meaning “descendant of Nuallán,” a name linked with nobility or fame.

A surname usually treated as a later form of Nolan, itself from an Irish Gaelic family name.

A Spanish and Portuguese surname originally taken from the given name Nolasco, best known from a medieval saint’s name.

An Irish surname usually treated as a variant of Nolan, meaning “descendant of Nuallán” or “descendant of Noell” in older explanations.

A surname that usually began as a nickname for Oliver, though in some cases it may also reflect a form of Knoll.

A surname likely shortened from the old personal name Arnold, with roots in medieval Dutch and German naming.

A German surname that most likely began as a shortened form of a place-based name, probably meaning “at the grove” or “at the holt.”

An Irish surname that likely comes from Gaelic words meaning “new” or “fresh,” though some English lines may also have influenced it.

An Irish surname, most commonly linked to a Gaelic clan name from Munster, especially Cork.

A surname that usually points to northern origin or a person from the north.

A Scandinavian surname meaning “north stream” or “river in the north.”

A surname most likely from a place name or older nickname form built on “north” plus “fleet” or a similar English element.

A Spanish surname most often tied to a place name, usually meaning someone from or near a rough, narrow hillside path or track.

A surname meaning “Northman,” originally a name for Scandinavians—especially Norsemen or Danes—and later a personal name in England.

A surname meaning “the Norman” or “northman,” used for someone from Normandy or, more broadly, from the north.

A surname with more than one possible root, most often linked to “northern” people or Norman/Norse origins, and sometimes confused historically with forms meaning “nurse.”

A compass-point surname usually given to someone who came from the north or lived north of a settlement.

A surname usually derived from a northern place-name, meaning “from the north cottage” or a similar northern settlement.

A surname for someone who was a northerner or came from the north.

An English habitational surname meaning “north village” or “north hamlet,” from a place name built from north + thorpe.

A surname from a northern place name, likely meaning someone from the north farm or village.

A habitational surname meaning “the north settlement,” originally given to people from one of many places called Norton.

A surname most likely connected to a place-name in Normandy, though some sources also treat it as a variant of a personal-name form.

A habitational surname for someone who came from or lived near a north wood or from one of several English places called Norwood.

A surname found in Italy and elsewhere, likely from a personal name rather than a place or trade.

A habitational surname from the city of Nottingham, meaning “the homestead or settlement of the Snotingas,” an early Anglo-Saxon group.

A common Slavic surname meaning “new” or “newcomer,” originally a nickname for a recent arrival.

A Spanish surname most often linked to a place-name meaning “new land” or “new farm.”

A Czech and Slovak surname meaning “new man” or “newcomer,” from the Slavic root for “new.”

A common Slavic surname meaning “new man” or “newcomer.”

A Polish surname meaning “of Nowak,” originally pointing to a newcomer or someone with the byname Nowak.

A surname usually treated as a spelling of Noel, originally linked to Christmas or to a place-name like Noyers/Nowers in France or England.

A Polish surname meaning “of Nowy/Nowa” or “from the new place,” often formed from a place-name beginning with nowy (“new”).

A surname that likely began as a regional or patronymic variant of names like Nolan or Knowlton, later fixed in English-speaking countries.

Originally a place-based surname, likely meaning someone from Noyon or a similar Norman place-name linked to a walnut tree.

A likely Hispanic surname, probably tied to a place name rather than a personal trait or occupation.

An Irish and English surname ultimately taken from French place-names called Nogent, meaning a pleasant place by wet land or a stream.

A surname with a stark, negative sense, likely from the Latin word for “none” or “nothing.”

A Portuguese and Jewish surname meaning “son of Nuno,” ultimately from a personal name of uncertain origin.

A surname likely built from the name Nun or a related place-name, with a patronymic or diminutive feel.

Usually from an old personal name or a word for a nun, with possible links to a pious nickname or a monastic connection.

A surname most likely derived from a place-name or older family name rather than a common occupation or nickname.

A surname from a medieval personal name, ultimately linked to the old Spanish and Portuguese forename Nuno.

A short German surname usually linked to the word for “nut,” often marking someone who lived by nut trees or sold nuts.

A German surname meaning “nut tree” or “walnut tree,” originally a name taken from a tree or place name.

Usually a surname from the old Scandinavian personal name Canute/Knut, though in some cases it may also have described someone living by a nut tree.

An English surname from a place name meaning “nut hill” or a similar nut-tree locality.

Probably an occupational surname for a seller or dealer in nuts, though some sources also connect it with place-names or the personal name Cnut.

A Swedish surname meaning "new mountain" or "new hill."

An English surname that may come from a place-name meaning “at the island” or from a shortened form of a word for “new.”

A surname of Scandinavian origin, most likely built from words meaning “nest” and “stream.”

A Hungarian surname meaning “German” or “of German origin.”

A Spanish surname meaning “son of Nuño,” from an old personal name probably linked to a Latin nickname for “grandfather” or “elder.”