Surname Dictionaries

Barber, Henry. British Family Names, Their Origin and Meaning, with Lists of Scandinavian, Frisian, Anglo-Saxon, and Norman Names. 2d ed., enlarged. London: Elliot Stock, 1903.

Includes over 10,000 names as well as lists of landholders, tenants, and undertenants listed in the Domesday Book.

Brechenmacher, Josef Karhann. Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen familiennamen. 2d ed. Limburg an der Lahn: C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-63. 2 vols.

The most comprehensive dictionary of German family names, including more than 28,500 entries.

Dauzat, Albert. Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de famille et prénoms de France. Ed. rev. et aug. Paris : Larousse, c1980.

Explains French surnames, given names, and geographic names; lists variant spellings.

Kelly, Patrick. Irish family names : with origins, meanings, clans, arms, crests, and mottoes. 1st ed. Detroit : Gale Research Co., 1976, c1939.

Pama, C. British families in South Africa : their surnames and origins. 1st ed. Cape Town : Human & Rousseau, 1992.

Reaney, P. H. A Dictionary of British Surnames. 2d ed. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1976.

Meanings and origins of British surnames with historical references to original uses. Variants given.

Sims, Clifford Stanley. The Origin and Signification of Scottish Surnames, with a Vocabulary of Christian Names. Albany, 1862; Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1968.

Short annotations explaining meanings of Scottish surnames.

Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Philadelphia: Chilton Book Co., 1969.

Discusses origins and classifications of names in general.

Smith, Elsdon C. New dictionary of American family names. New York: Harper and Row, 1973.

Lists most common American surnames, particularly those of European origin. Provides brief descriptions of origin of name and designates nationality.