English Last Names

A fairly common surname, with little appeal but a profit motive as a first name.

Spirited and sassy, Lively could be a feminine leaning counterpart to the trending boy name Wilder. A modern virtue of sorts, it has more energy that Patience, Prudence, and Temperance, and is far less popular than Hope or Grace.

In British slang, a "prat" is an idiot -- enough said.

Unique name for the son of a woodworker.

More common as a surname, a handful of boys get this bovine equivalent of Shepherd each year in the US. It may gain more exposure as one of the occupational names that are one of the most popular classes of English names for boys.

Two-syllable place-names are stylish, and this one is attached to a British city noted for its white chalk cliffs, but there are a couple of minuses: associated with the fish, Dover sole, and also rhymes with the doggy Rover.

If you prefer the woods to the ocean, you'll want to name your son (or daughter) Beech instead of Beach.

Sweet and southern-feeling, maybe thanks to Horton Foote, author of Tender Mercies and The Trip to Bountiful, not to mention the Dr. Seuss connection.

A well-to-do London neighborhood, English surname, and potential route to the nickname May. Mayfair has everything going for it, and yet it couldn't be rarer.

Sparks was originally used as a nickname in Medieval England, typically as a pet name for a lively person (or in an ironic sense, for one who was not). It was also likely used as a nickname for blacksmiths and other professionals whose work created literal fiery sparks.

Forever the upstairs neighbor on The Honeymooners.

A self-explanatory occupational name. With Baker hotter than ever, Cook could be a distinct possibility. A famous bearer is gallerist Cooke Maroney, husband of Jennifer Lawrence.

The surname of humorist Ring is a new entry in the trendy occupational class -- but watch the lard.

Paterson is a surname-name to continue a line of Peters and also the name of a city in New Jersey, hometown of poets William Carlos Williams and Allen Ginsberg.

Stevens edges out Stephens for the more popular form of this surname in the US and the UK.

A surname not often heard as a first, except in the case of English Gardner, the American track and field Olympian.