Family name etymology

This is a collection of family name etymologies. For German names, see German family name etymology.

• Aaronovitch, Aronowitz, etc. son of Aaron. Jewish surname.\n*Anders(s)on: son of Anders/Andrew. Scandinavian and English surname.\n*Boyer: when German, can be a modification of "Bauer," farmer.\n*Balshemnik, Balshemennik, Bolshemennikov: from Baal Shem: Wizard. A Jewish surname from Belarus.\n*Holmberg: "Holm" comes from "holme", which means islet. "Berg" means hill or mountain. Scandinavian surname.\n*Huber: the German name is derived from Huober, a farmer holding a fief. It has also been explained as an abbreviation of Hubert or as a derivation of Heber, the Hebrew Patriarch. It may occur in the following variations: Hiver, Hivar, Hubbar, Hupper, Huper, Hobar, Hibber, Kuber, Cooper, Kubri, Kivri, Heber, Eber, Hever, Ever.\n*Johans(s)on, Johns(s)on, Jons(s)on: son of Johan/John. Scandinavian and English surnames.\n*Karls(s)on, Carls(s)on, Karlsen, Carlsen: son of Karl. Scaninavian surname.\n*Kolikov: son of Kolek. Russian surname.\n*Lars(s)on, Larsen: Son of Lars (Lawrence). Scandinavian surname.\n*Lindberg\': "Lind" means lime/linden and "berg" means hill or mountain. Scandinavian surname.\n*MacLachlan: Gaelic, "son of Norway." Variously spelled.\n*McDonald, MacDonald, O'Donald: son of Donald.\n*Moreau: From dark or black horse. [1] has the etymology as "French, derived from the nickname for the dark-skinned man, perhaps a Moor."\n*Pers(s)on, Petters(s)on: son of Per/Petter (Peter). Scaninavian surname. \n*Plotkin: from Plotki. Jewish surname from Belarus.\n*Rabinowitz, Rabinovitch, Rabinowich: Son of a rabbi. Jewish surname. (This surname has the owitz ending, meaning "son of"). Poland, Russian Empire, other Eastern European countries. \n*Rambo. "Raven's nest". Swedish-American surname from New Sweden taken by a settler from Ramberget (Raven's Hill) near Gothenburg.\n*Spector': From the Russian Spectorski, meaning inspector. Jews who registered as inspectors with the Russian or Ukraine governments received a favored status with respect to travel, although those who collected taxes were generally resented in the stetls (Jewish ghettos).