English, Scottish, Irish, Scandinavian and German. In the UK telephone directory it would rank in the top twenty most common surnames.
German, Austrian, and French. It is actually a city close to the French/German border. Not telling what side it is on.
my name came to north america from England and Ireland but it came to the British Isles with William the Conqueror in 1066 and before that from the Norse.
According to Wikipedia, mine has several origins... Starting with a Welsh given name. It then spread to Ireland and Scotland. It also traces its origin to a powerful Welsh family established c. 1330... And means "great kingdom" or "great hundred". Ultimately, though, the origins are Celtic. Hm, interesting. :icon_bigg EDIT: Oooh, some other site says its meaning is "sea chief" or "sea defender" and says loads of other different things about its origin. :lol:
My last name's origins are German, Swedish, and English. It's kind of a common last name that can be used as a first name. But technically my real last name's orgin is Italian - my dad is completely Italian, but his last name was changed when my grandmother remarried. Glad it changed though because my dad's original name sounds kind of weird ha ha.
Basque (Spanish), as well. I've known of its meaning for a while, as it refers to a noun in Spanish. Somewhat common surname.
It's a Chinese surname that has many different variations in different languages such as Vietnamese, Hokkien, and Cantonese I'll give you a hint, it's related to Feng Shui.... My last name originated in mainland China and belonged to a very prominent family who were scholars.
Scottish, from a clan with a turbulent history that are fondly called "children of the mist". A few years ago for a wedding, I wore a kilt with the clan tartan
German. Or swiss. Depending on the borderline present at the time. If you had implied to my great great grandpa that he was Swiss, however, he would have decked you. Apparently he had done that several times.
This won't be a big surprise to most, but it's Scottish. In Gaelic it translates to "son of a sea raider"...so our origins are probably as much Norse as Scottish due to the forced attentions of some Viking upon some unwilling Scottish lass...and auspicious beginning, don't you think?
Mine is English/Irish. And my it really describes my personality. My maternal heritage is Scottish. So Scottish and Irish. That explains my drinking and lets get the bastards attitude.
Mine is French/English and it's pretty rare. Most people assume from my name that I'm French, which can be embarrassing when they speak to me in French and expect me to be able to reply fluently.
English variant of a Scottish name possibly deriving from a Middle English word meaning to drink. Cool.
Turkish, eventhough our family had been speaking solely Arabic for at least the last 4 generations. It means black sheep.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but peasant families would sometimes take ruling/landed dynasty names to look prestigious.