English Last Names

This cowboy-ish surname has an equine connection — Larimer originally denoted someone who made and sold spur bits, along with other hardware needed for riding horses.

Long-used surname name that's up for promotion to greater popularity.

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.

Nichol, a Medieval English form of Nicholas, has been pretty much lost to history but survives today in the surname form of Nichols.

Sex doesn't belong in a baby name.

The 'ley' ending makes this British surname name ripe for consideration as a feminine girls' name. Brinsley joins such sisters as Kinsley and Tinsley.

A distinguished English occupational surname referring to a senior official who managed the household of a noble or monarch. The best known historical bearer is British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who was in office at the start of the Second World War.

Driver seems prime for adoption as a first name, with the rise of occupational names ranging from Archer to Ranger to Sawyer.

Notable British surname associated with fashion designer Vivienne.

Larimer is an occupational surname that originally denoted someone who made and sold spur bits, along with other equine hardware. It could be a fitting choice for a child of a horse-enthusiast.

English surname used as one of the middles for Boris Becker's son Amadeus.

Plummer might be an occupational name for someone who works with pipes -- yes, like a plumber -- or with feathers, from the Olde English (from the French) plume. Or it could indicate someone who lived near a plum tree.

Might be an honorific for novelist Saul Bellow, although bellowing is not the gentlest of sounds. Consider Saul instead.

Pittsburgh's Mellon family — founders of Mellon Financial Corporation and Carnegie Mellon University, among other things — gives their surname old money panache. They are Irish by heritage, giving their surname the meaning "descendant of Meallán", Meallán being an Irish given name from the word for "pleasant".

A unique alternative to the West- names that are suddenly everywhere — like Weston, Westley, and West itself. Westwood lends itself to two stylish nicknames, West and Woods.

It's too close to the fruit "melon" to make a good first name, but if there are Mellons on your family tree, why not put it in the middle? The English form of this surname is habitational, and at one time denoted someone from Meulan-en-Yvelines, a commune outside of Paris.

Legitimizes the newly coined Denim, as does the Scottish place-name Denholm (both pronounced DEN-um).

This artistic surname name derives from a diminutive of Laurence/Lawrence, and was famously borne by the English painter LS Lowry.