Surnames Starting with F

Fabbri Italian
From Italian fabbro meaning "blacksmith", ultimately from Latin faber.

Fabbro Italian
Variant of Fabbri.

Fabel German
Derived from a diminutive of the given name Fabian.

Fábián Hungarian
Derived from the given name Fábián.

Fabian German, English, Polish
Derived from the given name Fabian.

Fabien French
Derived from the given name Fabien.

Fabre Occitan, French
Occitan form of Fèvre.

Fabron French
Diminutive form of Fabre.

Faerber German
Variant of Färber.

Fairbairn Scottish, English
Means "beautiful child" in Middle English and Scots.

Fairburn English
From a place name meaning "fern stream", from Old English fearn "fern" and burna "stream".

Fairchild English
Means "beautiful child" in Middle English.

Fairclough English
From a place name meaning "fair ravine, fair cliff" in Old English.

Falco Italian
Derived from Italian falco "falcon". The name was used to denote a falconer or a person who resembled a falcon in some way.

Falconer English, Scottish
Variant of Faulkner.

Falk Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, German
From Old Norse falki or Old High German falco meaning "falcon".

Falkenrath German
Derived from Middle High German falke "falcon" and rat "counsel, advice".

Falkner English, German
English variant and German cognate of Faulkner.

Fallon Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Fallamháin meaning "descendant of Fallamhán", a given name meaning "leader".

Falstaff Literature
The name of a buffoonish character, John Falstaff, appearing in four of William Shakespeare's plays. He is the central character in The Merry Wives of Windsor (1602). Shakespeare probably adapted it from the surname of John Fastolf, a 15th-century knight. The medieval surname Fastolf, no longer in use, was derived from the Norse given name Fastúlfr.

Fan Chinese
From Chinese 范 (fàn) meaning "bee".

Fannon Irish
From the Irish Ó Fionnáin meaning "descendant of Fionn".

Faragó Hungarian
An occupational name meaning "woodcutter", from Hungarian farag meaning "carve, cut".

Faraldo Italian
From a given name, ultimately the Germanic name Faroald.

Färber German
Occupational name meaning "dyer", derived from German Farbe "colour".

Farina Italian
Occupational name for a miller, derived from Italian farina "flour".

Farkas Hungarian
Means "wolf" in Hungarian.

Farmer English
Occupational name for a tax collector, from Middle English ferme "rent, revenue, provision", from medieval Latin firma, ultimately from Old English feorm. This word did not acquire its modern meaning until the 17th century.

Farnham English
Indicated a person from any of the various towns named Farnham in England, notably in Surrey. Their names are from Old English fearn "fern" and ham "home, settlement" or ham "water meadow, enclosure".

Faron French
From the given name Faron.

Farran English
Derived from Old French ferrant meaning "iron grey".

Farrell Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Fearghail meaning "descendant of Fearghal".

Farro Italian
Derived from the name of a place on Sicily, Italy, derived from Latin far meaning "wheat, spelt".

Fashingbauer German
From Fasching, a German carnival (Fastnacht meaning "eve of the beginning of the fast", or the time before Lent) celebrated in Austria and Bavaria, and bauer meaning "farmer".

Fattore Italian
Means "land agent, bailiff, steward, farmer" in Italian.

Faucher French
Occupational name meaning "mower" in French, ultimately from Latin falx meaning "sickle, scythe".

Faucheux French
Variant of Faucher.

Faulkner English, Scottish
Occupational name meaning "keeper of falcons", from Middle English and Scots faulcon, from Late Latin falco, of Germanic origin.

Faure Occitan, French
Occitan form of Fèvre.

Faust German
Derived from the given name Faust, a form of Faustus.

Fausti Italian
From the given name Fausto.

Fava Italian
From Italian fava referring to a type of broad bean.

Favager French
Possibly indicated a person from the town of Faverges in eastern France, derived from Old French faverge meaning "forge".

Favero Italian
Variant of Fabbri.

Favre French
Southern French variant of Fèvre.

Favreau French
Diminutive of Favre.

Fay 1 French, English
Referred to a person who came from various places named Fay or Faye in northern France, derived from Old French fau "beech tree", from Latin fagus.

Fay 2 English
From a nickname for a person who was thought to have magical qualities, from Middle English faie meaning "magical, enchanted".

Fazekas Hungarian
Occupational name meaning "potter" in Hungarian.

Fear English
Derived from Middle English feare meaning "friend, comrade".

Fedorov m Russian
Alternate transcription of Russian Фёдоров (see Fyodorov).

Fedorova f Russian
Alternate transcription of Russian Фёдорова (see Fyodorova).

Fehér Hungarian
Means "white" in Hungarian, originally referring to a person with white hair or complexion.

Feigenbaum German, Jewish
Means "fig tree" in German.

Fejes Hungarian
Derived from Hungarian fej meaning "head", originally a nickname applied to a stubborn person.

Fekete Hungarian
Means "black" in Hungarian, originally a nickname for a person with dark hair or a dark complexion.

Feld German, Jewish
Means "field" in German. The name was originally given to someone who lived on land cleared of forest.

Feldt German, Danish, Swedish
North German, Danish and Swedish variant of Feld.

Feliciano Portuguese, Spanish
From the given name Feliciano.

Felipe Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian)
From the given name Felipe.

Félix French, Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Felix.

Feng 1 Chinese
From Chinese 冯 (féng), which referred to an ancient city in Henan province.

Feng 2 Chinese
From Chinese 凤 (fèng) meaning "phoenix, fire bird, fenghuang".

Fenn English
From a name for someone who dwelt near a marsh, from Old English fenn meaning "fen, swamp, bog".

Fenstermacher German
Means "window maker" in German.

Fenwick English
From an English place name, derived from Old English fenn "fen, swamp, bog" and wic "village, town".

Ferber German
Variant of Färber.

Ferguson Irish, Scottish
Means "son of Fergus".

Fermi Italian
Originally indicated a person from the town of Fermo in the Marche region of Italy, originally called Firmum in Latin meaning "strong, steady, firm".

Fernandes Portuguese
Means "son of Fernando".

Fernández Spanish
Means "son of Fernando". This is among the most common surnames in Spain.

Fernandez Spanish
Unaccented variant of Fernández.

Ferrara Italian
Italian form of Ferreira.

Ferrari Italian
Occupational name for a metalworker or smith, derived from Latin ferrarius, a derivative of ferrum meaning "iron".

Ferraro Italian
Variant of Ferrari.

Ferreira Portuguese, Galician
Denoted a person from a town named because it was near an iron mine, from Latin ferrum meaning "iron".

Ferreiro Galician
Galician cognate of Ferrari.

Ferrer Catalan
Catalan cognate of Ferrari.

Ferrero Italian
Regional variant of Ferrari. It is typical of the area around Turin.

Ferreyra Portuguese, Galician
Variant of Ferreira.

Ferri Italian
Variant of Ferro.

Ferro Italian, Spanish
Means "iron", ultimately from Latin ferrum. This was an occupational name for one who worked with iron.

Fertig German
Means "ready, prepared" in German.

Fèvre French
Occupational name meaning "blacksmith" in Old French, derived from Latin faber.

Fiala m Czech
Means "violet" in Czech, referring to the flower. It may have originally referred to a person who lived near a sign bearing violets, or it may have been given to a person who lived in a place where violets grew.

Fialová f Czech
Feminine form of Fiala.

Fiddler English
English form of Fiedler.

Fiedler German
Means "fiddler" in German.

Field English
Variant of Fields.

Fields English
Name for a person who lived on or near a field or pasture, from Old English feld.

Fierro Spanish, Italian
Variant of Ferro.

Figueroa Spanish
From places named for Galician figueira meaning "fig tree".

Filep Hungarian
From the given name Fülöp.

Filip u & m Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak
Derived from the given name Filip.

Filipek Polish
Derived from a diminutive of the given name Filip.

Filipov m Bulgarian, Macedonian
Means "son of Filip".

Filipova f Bulgarian, Macedonian
Feminine form of Filipov.

Filipová f Czech, Slovak
Czech and Slovak feminine form of Filip.

Filipović Serbian, Croatian
Means "son of Filip".

Filipowska f Polish
Feminine form of Filipowski.

Filipowski m Polish
Either a patronymic from the given name Filip, or a habitational name denoting a person from the Polish town of Filipów (also derived from the given name).

Filippi Italian
Derived from the given name Filippo.

Filippov m Russian
Means "son of Filip".

Filippova f Russian
Feminine form of Filippov.

Finch English, Literature
From the name of the bird, from Old English finc. It was used by Harper Lee for the surname of lawyer Atticus Finch and his children in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960).

Findlay Scottish
Anglicized form of MacFhionnlaigh.

Fini Italian
Derived from given names ending in fino, such as Serafino.

Finlay Scottish
Anglicized form of MacFhionnlaigh.

Finley Scottish
Anglicized (typically American) form of MacFhionnlaigh.

Finn Irish
Derived from the given name Fionn.

Finnegan Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Fionnagáin meaning "descendant of Fionnagán". The given name Fionnagán is a diminutive of Fionn.

Finnin Irish
Diminutive form of Finn.

Fiore Italian
Derived from the given name Fiore.

Firmin English, French
From the given name Firmin.

Fiscella Italian
Derived from Italian fiscella, which was a basket used to conserve cheese. The name was probably used to denote a person who made cheese.

Fischer German
Occupational name meaning "fisherman" in German.

Fisher English, Jewish
Cognate of Fischer.

Fishman English
Occupational name for a fisherman.

Fisker Danish
Means "fisherman" in Danish.

Fitzgerald Irish
Means "son of Gerald" in Anglo-Norman French. It was brought to Ireland with William the Conqueror. A famous bearer was Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), an American jazz singer.

Fitzpatrick Irish
Means "son of Patrick" in Anglo-Norman, usually adopted as an Anglicization of Mac Giolla Phádraig.

Fitzroy English
Means "son of the king" in Anglo-Norman French, from French roi meaning "king". This name has been bestowed upon illegitimate children of kings.

Fitzsimmons Irish
Means "son of Simon 1" in Anglo-Norman French.

Fitzwilliam Irish
Means "son of William" in Anglo-Norman French.

Flanagan Irish
From Irish Ó Flannagáin meaning "descendant of Flannagán". Flannagán is a given name meaning "blood red". From County Roscommon in Ireland, it has many other spellings.

Flanagon Irish
Variant of Flanagan.

Flannery Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Flannghaile meaning "descendant of Flannghal", a given name meaning "red valour".

Flater German
Means "reed bed" in German.

Fleischer German
Occupational name meaning "butcher" in German.

Fleming English
Given to a person who was a Fleming, that is a person who was from Flanders in the Netherlands.

Fletcher English
Occupational name for a fletcher, someone who attached feathers to the shaft of an arrow. It is derived from Old French fleche meaning "arrow".

Flintstone Popular Culture
From the English words flint and stone, created by Hanna-Barbera Productions for the caveman family (Fred, Wilma and Pebbles) in their animated television show The Flintstones, which ran from 1960 to 1966.

Flipse Dutch
Variant of Flipsen.

Flipsen Dutch
Means "son of Flip".

Florea Romanian
From the given name Florea.

Flores Spanish
Means "son of Floro" in Spanish.

Floros m Greek
From Greek φλώρος (floros) meaning "greenfinch", derived from classical Greek χλωρός (chloros) meaning "green".

Florou f Greek
Feminine form of Floros.

Flower English
From Middle English flour meaning "flower, blossom", derived from Old French flur, Latin flos. This was a nickname given to a sweet person. In other cases it could be a metonymic occupational name for a maker of flour (a word derived from the same source).

Flowers English
Variant of Flower.

Floyd Welsh
Variant of Lloyd.

Flynn Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Floinn meaning "descendant of Flann".

Fodor Hungarian
From Hungarian fodor meaning "curly, wavy", referring to a person with curly or wavy hair.

Foerstner German
Variant of Förstner.

Foley Irish
From Irish Ó Foghladha meaning "descendant of Foghlaidh". The byname Foghlaidh meant "pirate, marauder, plunderer".

Fonda Italian
Of Italian origin, possibly from a place derived from fondo meaning "deep". The family of Henry Fonda (1905-1982) came from the Netherlands, but they were of Genoese origin.

Fonseca Spanish, Portuguese
Originally belonged to a person who lived near a dry spring, from Latin fons "well, spring" and siccus "dry".

Fontaine French
Derived from Old French fontane meaning "well, fountain", a derivative of Latin fons.

Fontana Italian, Spanish
Italian and Spanish cognate of Fontaine.

Ford English
Name given to someone who lived by a ford, possibly the official who maintained it. A famous bearer was the American industrialist Henry Ford (1863-1947).

Forest English, French
Originally belonged to a person who lived near or in a forest. It was probably originally derived, via Old French forest, from Latin forestam (silva) meaning "outer (wood)".

Forester English
Denoted a keeper or one in charge of a forest, or one who has charge of growing timber in a forest (see Forest).

Forestier French
French cognate of Forester.

Forney German
Name for someone who lived near ferns, from Old High German farn "fern".

Forrest English
Variant of Forest.

Forsberg Swedish
Derived from Swedish fors meaning "waterfall" and berg meaning "mountain".

Forst German
Derived from Old High German forst "forest". Probably unrelated to the Old French word forest, which was derived from Latin, Old High German forst was derived from foraha meaning "fir tree".

Förstner German
Denoted a keeper or one in charge of a forest (see Forst).

Fortier French
Derived from Old French fort "stronghold", indicating a person who lived near or worked at such a place.

Fortuin Dutch
Dutch cognate of Fortune.

Fortunato Italian
From the given name Fortunato.

Fortune English
From Middle English, ultimately from Latin fortuna meaning "fortune, luck, chance". This was possibly a nickname for a gambler.

Fortuyn Dutch
Dutch cognate of Fortune.

Foss English
Variant of Fosse.

Fosse English, French
Derived from Old French fosse "ditch".

Foster 1 English
Variant of Forester.

Foster 2 English
Occupational name for a scissor maker, derived from Old French forcetier.

Foster 3 English
Occupational name for a maker of saddle trees, derived from Old French fustier.

Foster 4 English
Nickname given to a person who was a foster child or foster parent.

Foth Low German
From a nickname meaning "foot" in Low German.

Fournier French
Occupational name for a baker, from French fourneau meaning "oven".

Fowler English
Occupational name for a fowler or birdcatcher, ultimately derived from Old English fugol meaning "bird".

Fox English
From the name of the animal. It was originally a nickname for a person with red hair or a crafty person.

Francis English
Derived from the given name Francis.

Francisco Portuguese, Spanish
Derived from the given name Francisco.

Franco Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
Cognate of Frank 1. This name was borne by the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco (1892-1975).

François French
Derived from the given name François.

Franić Croatian
Variant of Franjić.

Franjić Croatian
Means "son of Franjo".

Frank 1 English
Derived from the given name Frank.

Frank 2 English
From Old English franc meaning "free".

Frank 3 German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian
Name for a person from Franconia in Germany, so called because it was settled by the Frankish people. A notable bearer was the German-Jewish diarist Anne Frank (1929-1945), a victim of the Holocaust.

Franke German, Dutch
Variant of Frank 3.

Frankenstein German, Literature
From any of the various minor places by this name in Germany, meaning "stone of the Franks" in German. It was used by the author Mary Shelley in her novel Frankenstein (1818) for the character of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who creates a monster and brings it to life. The monster, nameless in the novel, is sometimes informally or erroneously called Frankenstein in modern speech.

Franklin English
Derived from Middle English frankelin meaning "freeman". It denoted a landowner of free but not noble birth, from Old French franc meaning "free". Famous bearers include American statesman Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and American singer Aretha Franklin (1942-2018).

Franklyn English
Variant of Franklin.

Fransson Swedish
Means "son of Frans".

Franz German
Derived from the given name Franz.

Franzese Italian
From a nickname that indicated a person who came from France. It is typical of the area around Naples.

Fraser Scottish
Meaning unknown, originally Norman French de Fresel, possibly from a lost place name in France.

Frazier Scottish
Variant of Fraser.

Frederiksen Danish
Means "son of Frederik".

Fredriksen Norwegian
Means "son of Fredrik".

Fredriksson Swedish
Means "son of Fredrik".

Freeman English
Referred to a person who was born free, or in other words was not a serf.

Frei German
Means "free" in German, probably referring to someone outside the feudal system.

Freitas Portuguese
Means "broken" in Portuguese, a name for one who lived on broken, stony ground.

French English
Originally denoted a French person, from Middle English Frensch, Old English Frencisc.

Freud German, Jewish
Means "joy" in German, a nickname for a cheerful person. A famous bearer was the psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939).

Freudenberger German, Jewish
Ornamental name from old German freud meaning "joy" and berg meaning "mountain".

Freund German
From Middle High German vriunt, modern German Freund meaning "friend".

Fried German
Derived from the given name Friedrich.

Friedrich German
Derived from the given name Friedrich.

Friel Irish
From the Irish Ó Frighil meaning "descendant of Fearghal".

Fries German
Denoted someone from Frisia, an area along the coastal region of the North Sea stretching from Netherlands to Germany.

Friis Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Scandinavian (mostly Danish) form of Fries.

Friseal Scottish Gaelic
Gaelic form of Fraser.

Frisk Swedish
From Swedish frisk "healthy", which was derived from the Middle Low German word vrisch "fresh, young, frisky".

Fromm German
From a nickname derived from Middle High German vrume meaning "noble, honourable".

Frost English, German
From Old English and Old High German meaning "frost", a nickname for a person who had a cold personality or a white beard.

Fry English
From Old English frig (a variant of freo) meaning "free".

Frye English
Variant of Fry.

Fuchs German
From Old High German fuhs meaning "fox". It was originally a nickname for a person with red hair.

Fuentes Spanish
Means "spring, well" in Spanish, derived from Latin fons.

Fuhrmann German
Derived from Middle High German vuorman meaning "cartwright".

Fujimori Japanese
From Japanese 藤 (fuji) meaning "wisteria" and 森 (mori) meaning "forest".

Fujimoto Japanese
From Japanese 藤 (fuji) meaning "wisteria" and 本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin".

Fujimura Japanese
From Japanese 藤 (fuji) meaning "wisteria" and 村 (mura) meaning "town, village".

Fujioka Japanese
From Japanese 藤 (fuji) meaning "wisteria" and 岡 (oka) meaning "hill, ridge".

Fujisawa Japanese
From Japanese 藤 (fuji) meaning "wisteria" and 沢 or 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh".

Fujita Japanese
From Japanese 藤 (fuji) meaning "wisteria" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".

Fujiwara Japanese
From Japanese 藤 (fuji) meaning "wisteria" and 原 (wara) meaning "field, plain".

Fukui Japanese
Denoted a person who was from Fukui prefecture in Japan.

Fukuzawa Japanese
From Japanese 福 (fuku) meaning "happiness, good fortune, blessing" and 沢 or 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh".

Fuller English
Occupational name for a fuller, a person who thickened and cleaned coarse cloth by pounding it. It is derived via Middle English from Latin fullo.

Fülöp Hungarian
Derived from the given name Fülöp.

Fulton English
From the name of the English town of Foulden, Norfolk, meaning "bird hill" in Old English.

Funar Romanian
Means "rope maker" in Romanian.

Furlan Italian, Slovene
From the name of the Italian region of Friuli, in the northeast of Italy, which is derived from the name of the Roman town of Forum Iulii meaning "forum of Julius".

Furnadjiev m Bulgarian
Alternate transcription of Bulgarian Фурнаджиев (see Furnadzhiev).

Furnadjieva f Bulgarian
Alternate transcription of Bulgarian Фурнаджиева (see Furnadzhieva).

Furnadzhiev m Bulgarian
Occupational name for a baker, derived from Bulgarian фурна (furna) meaning "oven" (of Latin origin).

Furnadzhieva f Bulgarian
Feminine form of Furnadzhiev.

Fürst German
From a nickname meaning "(sovereign) prince" in German. The word fürst itself is derived from Old High German furisto "first".

Furukawa Japanese
From Japanese 古 (furu) meaning "old" and 川 (kawa) or 河 (kawa) both meaning "river, stream".

Fusco Italian
From Italian fosco meaning "dark", from Latin fuscus. This was a nickname for a person with dark features.

Fux German
Variant of Fuchs.

Fylan Irish
Variant of Whelan.

Fyodorov m Russian
Means "son of Fyodor".

Fyodorova f Russian
Feminine form of Fyodorov.