English Last Names

An old English surname denoting either a servant of one of the Knights Templar, or a person living near or serving at a church.

Belles may look like a playful nickname to any of the stylish belle related names — and it could easily be used as such — however, it is also an occupational English surname, originally given to bell ringers, a Scottish surname meaning "handsome" or a French or Spanish word name meaning "beauties". It is currently rarely used as a given name.

Updates Lindsey for the 21st century.

Chosen by Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher as the middle name of their son Dimitri.

Dropping the H off hot surnames gets you a whole new name. The trend is multiplying: Hadley becomes Adley, Harley become Arley, Harlow becomes Arlowe, and now Halston becomes Alston.

A pretty alternative to Hadley, but perhaps a little too close to sound distinctive. Hedy would be a cool nickname, after legendary actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr.

An appealing alternative to Hayden and Hayes, perhaps in homage to Old Hollywood actress Rita Hayward.

A new crop of gender-neutral English place names have suddenly become trendy — those ending in -ton. Multi-syllabic but not dramatic, these names are rising quickly for girls and boys. Think Charleston, Lexington, and Kensington. Livingston isn't as hot as some of the others, but its time will soon come. For a girl, Livingston boasts the nickname Liv.

Skeat is a rare surname name that, like virtually every surname these days, is ripe for importation as a first.

Hunter is gaining favor among girls—for those in search of something less common, we recommend Hutton.

Familiar English surname now associated with the Abercrombie & Fitch offshoot.

A last name as a first name, Redell began to appear in England after the Norman invasion. Likely connected to the names Raymond and Radulf, it could mean "counsel, advice, decision". Another possible interpretation is that it merges the word red with the word dell to form the meaning "red valley". This could also mean it borrows from land feature in the Lake District of England, known as Red Dell.