Robert A. Fornal / Surnames



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Surnames beginning with B | Back to TOP

Bert

English and French: from the Germanic personal name Berto, a short form of the various compound personal names formed with berht 'bright'.

Surnames beginning with C | Back to TOP

Costabile

  1. Occupational name from medieval Greek kontostables 'chamberlain', from medieval Latin comes stabuli, literally 'count of the stable' (see Constable).
  2. From the southern Italian personal name Costabile, from Late Latin Constabilis meaning 'determined', 'resolute'.
Surnames beginning with D | Back to TOP

De Luca

Italian: patronymic from the personal name Luca, from Latin Lucas.

Duda

  1. Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, and Slovak: nickname for a player of the bagpipes, from Slavic duda 'bagpipe'.
  2. Czech: nickname for someone thought to resemble a hoopoe (dudek).
  3. Hungarian: from the old secular personal name Duda, or in some cases possibly a shortened form of Dudas.
Surnames beginning with F | Back to TOP

Finn

  1. Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic 'descendant of Fionn', a byname meaning 'white' or 'fair-haired'. This name is borne by several families in the west of Ireland.
  2. English: from the Old Norse personal name Finnr 'Finn', used both as a byname and as a short form of various compound names with this first element.
  3. German: ethnic name for someone from Finland.
Fornal

Polish: occupational name from fornal 'stable boy'.

Frake

English: unexplained.

Surnames beginning with G | Back to TOP

Gallion

French: from a diminutive of Old French galier 'man with a cheerful disposition'.

Grau

  1. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with gray hair or a gray beard, from German grau 'gray'.
  2. Southern French: topographic name for someone who lived near a canal giving access to the sea, Occitan grau (Latin gradus 'step').
  3. French: from Old French grau denoting a type of agricultural fork with curved tines (apparently of Germanic origin), hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker, seller, or user of such implements.
  4. Catalan: topographic name from grau (Latin gradum).
  5. Catalan: from a reduced form of the common medieval personal name Guerau.
Surnames beginning with K | Back to TOP

Keller

  1. German: from Middle High German kellaere 'cellarman', 'cellar master' (Latin cellarius, denoting the keeper of the cella 'store chamber', 'pantry'). Hence an occupational name for the overseer of the stores, accounts, or household in general in, for example, a monastery or castle. Kellers were important as trusted stewards in a great household, and in some cases were promoted to ministerial rank. The surname is widespread throughout central Europe.
  2. English: either an occupational name for a maker of caps or cauls, from Middle English kellere, or an occupational name for an executioner, from Old English cwellere.
  3. Irish: reduced form of Kelleher.
  4. Scottish: variant of Keillor.
Surnames beginning with M | Back to TOP

Manno

Italian: from a personal name Manno, medieval Latin Mannus, a short form of names ending in -manno, such as Ermanno, Riccomanno, or directly from the Germanic personal name Manni.

Murtha

Irish (mainly County Meath): variant of Murtagh.

Surnames beginning with Z | Back to TOP

Zundel

German: from a diminutive of Zunder, a metonymic occupational name for a seller of kindling wood, from Middle High German zunder 'tinder'.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4