Home > Just for Kids > What's In a Name? > What Does Your Last Name Mean?

Is your surname in the list below? Even if it isnít, you can still try to figure out the meaning of your name if you can deduce the ìroot wordî in your name. To do this, look for the possible ìrootî word in your name, such as ìman,î ìfield,î ìwood,î or ìwater.î Are any of the names below similar to yours in their root?

While itís hard to know if exactly what a name means (sometimes there can be more than one meaning), itís fascinating to think that our names meant something to our ancestors, and can still to us today. Names based on a place especially, or names based on what a person did for work, can often give you clues to other similar names. See if your name (or one similar to yours) is in the list below:

Altman: old man	Lloyd: gray-haired man
Anderson: son of Andrew	Mason: stone mason or stone cutter
Ash: home by an ash tree	Messerschmidt: sword or knife maker
Ashburn: ash tree brook	Metzger: butcher
Atwood: home by the forest	Miller: one who operates a mill (sawmill, grist or grain mill, etc.)
Badger: grain dealer	Moody: brave and proud
Baldwin: bold friend	Moseley: home by a marshy meadow
Bannister: basket maker	Newton: newly planned farmstead
Barker: stripper of bark	Norton: village to the north
Baum: tree	Ogden: valley of oak trees
Baxter: village bread baker	Perkins: young Peter
Davis: son of David	Peterson: son of Peter
Fuller: shrinker of cloth	Petty: short or small man
Gallup: small boat owner	Redford: red-soil river crossing
Gamble: wise old man	Reid: red-haired man
Goldsmith: gold craftsman	Robertson: son of Robert
Gould: golden haired	Schwerdtfeger: sword maker or cleaner
Hallowell: holy spring	Smith: wood, stone or metal worker
Hardwick: cattle pasture	Tanner: tanner of leather
Hardy: bold and daring	Taylor: maker or sewer of clothes
Harper: harp player	Thorpe: farming village
Heald: sloping land	Thwaite: to carve
Hodgkins: son of young Rodger	Tinker: traveling seller of pots and pans
Holt: small forest	Todd: fox
Inman: Inn keeper	Tyler: maker of roofing tiles
Johnson: son of John	Udall: yew tree valley
Jones: sone of John	Wagner: wagon maker or driver
Kaufman: merchant	Weaver: cloth weaver
Kelly: hill or grove	Wheeler: wheel or cart maker
Kerr: marshy land	Williams: son of William
Kirk: house by the church	Wilson: son of William
Lamont: man of the law	Woodward: keeper of the forest
Livingston: stone fortress	Wright: carpenter, wheel maker, or cart maker

Other ìrootî words having to do with location that you might find in your name are:

burn= brook or stream	lin= lake
cole= water or river	pen= hill
dale= valley	shaw= forest
field= open cleared land	stein= rock or stone
ley= wooded area	ville= town