Origin
Gray : 1: English Scottish and Irish (especially Eastern Ulster; of Norman origin): habitational name from Graye in Calvados France named from the Gallo-Roman personal name Graec(i)us meaning ‘Greek’ + the locative suffix -acum. This is probably the chief source of the surname in Britain.2: English: nickname for someone with gray hair or a gray beard from Middle English grey (Old English grǣg grēg) ‘gray’. In Ireland it has been used as a translation of various Gaelic surnames derived from riabhach ‘brindled gray’ including Mac Giolla Riabhaigh; see McGreevy. In North America this surname has assimilated names with similar meaning from other languages.3: French: habitational name from Gray in Haute-Saône or Le Gray in Seine-Maritime.
Angwin : Cornish: nickname for someone with white hair or a pale complexion from the definite article an ‘the’ + gwynn ‘white (pale gray or blond)’.
Argento : Italian:: 1: from argento ‘silver’ perhaps sometimes applied as a nickname for someone with silvery gray hair but more often a metonymic occupational name for a silversmith.2: from the personal name Argento of the same etymology as 1 above.
Barna : 1: Hungarian: from a short form of the personal name Barnabás (see Barnaby 1) or a nickname from barna ‘brown’. Compare Barno.2: Polish and Slovak: from a derivative of local forms of the personal name Bernard or possibly a nickname from Polish dialect barna ‘harrow’. The Slovak name may also be of Hungarian origin (see 1 above compare 3 below).3: Ukrainian Rusyn Serbian and Croatian: nickname from barna a loanword from Hungarian denoting an ox (in Serbian and Croatian also a horse) of dark reddish brown or dark gray color or a surname of direct Hungarian origin (see 1 above).4: Italian: from the ancient Germanic personal name Barna or possibly from a short form of the personal name Barnaba (see Barnaby 1).
Biggio : Italian: nickname from bigio ‘dull gray’ hence a nickname for someone with mousy gray hair or beard or for someone who habitually dressed in drab colors.
Bonta : 1: Hungarian: from bonta ‘multicolored; brindled (having dark and light patches)’ hence a nickname for someone with patchy gray and dark beard or hair.2: Czech: from the personal names Bonifác (see Boniface) or Bonaventura.
Burik : 1: Ukrainian and Rusyn (standard transliteration Buryk): nickname derived from buryy ‘dark brown’.2: Slovak (mainly Burík and Búrik) and Rusyn (from Slovakia; also Burík): nickname from the archaic Slovak name burík for a (dark) gray horse or derived directly from an adjective meaning ‘(dark) gray’ (in Slovak) or ‘dark brown’ (in Rusyn; compare 1 above).3: Czech (Buřík): variant of Buřič (see Buric 1). Compare Burick.
Cano : 1: Spanish: nickname for an old man or someone with prematurely white hair from cano ‘white or gray haired old worthy’ (from Latin canus).2: Portuguese or Spanish (Caño): topographic name from any of numerous brooks and paths in Portugal (Cano) and Spain (Caño) named with a derivative of Latin canna ‘reed’ also as ‘sewer drain’.
De Graw : Dutch: from Middle Dutch gra(u)we ‘gray’ with the addition of the definite article de ‘the’ hence a nickname for someone with gray hair or a gray beard or possibly for someone who habitually wore gray clothes.
Ferrand : 2: French: from the personal name Ferrand a variant of Ferdinand.1: French: nickname for someone with gray hair from Old French ferrand ‘iron gray’.3: Catalan: from a regional variant of the personal name Fernando ‘Ferdinand’.4: English: variant of Farrand.
Ferrando : Italian:: 1: nickname for someone with gray hair or for a person who dressed in gray from an Italianized form of Old French ferrand ‘iron gray’.2: from a Late Latin personal name Ferrandus which was either a variant of Ferdinand or a byname meaning ‘gray’.
Grabert : German:: 1: (also Gräbert): variant of Graber.2: nickname for someone with gray hair from Middle High German grā(w) Middle Low German grāw.
Gragert : North German: nickname for someone with gray hair from a derivative of Middle Low German grāge ‘gray’. The term later came to denote a ‘gray monk’ or an old horse and it is possible that the nickname arose from either of these meanings.
Grau : 1: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with gray hair or a gray beard from German grau ‘gray’. This surname is also found in France (Alsace and Lorraine).2: Catalan and southern French: from a shortened form of the medieval personal name Guerau a cognate of Gerald.3: Catalan and southern French: topographic name for someone who lived near a canal giving access to the sea from Catalan and Occitan grau ‘step’ (from Latin gradus).4: French: habitational name from Le Grau-du Roi (Gard) or Le Grau d'Agde (Hérault) places called with grau ‘step’ (see 3 above).
Graubard : Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with a gray beard from German grau ‘gray’ + Bart ‘beard’.
Grauer : German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with gray hair or a gray beard from an inflected form of German grau ‘gray’.
Graumann : German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with gray hair or a gray beard (see Grau).
Gravel : 1: English and Welsh (of Norman origin): probably a habitational name from La Gravelle in La Mayenne and Saint-Hilaire-la-Gravelle in Loir-et-Cher France.2: French: topographic name from a diminutive of Old French grave ‘gravel’ (see Grave).3: North German: nickname for someone with gray hair or a gray beard from Low German grāw.
Grisel : French and Swiss French: from the Old French adjective grisel a variant of gris ‘gray’ hence a nickname for a man with gray hair a gray complexion or who habitually wore gray. Compare Grizzle 1.
Grisez : French (eastern): nickname for a man with gray hair a gray complexion or perhaps one who habitually wore gray from a derivative of Old French gris ‘gray’.
Grison : French: nickname for a man with gray hair a gray complexion or perhaps one who habitually wore gray from a derivative of Old French gris ‘gray’.
Grivas : Greek: nickname for a man with graying hair or who owned a gray horse from grivas ‘gray horse’ a derivative of Bulgarian griv' ‘gray speckled with blue’ or Aromanian griv ‘gray’.
Hacquoil : from an Old Scandinavian personal name *Askúlfr from askr ‘ash spear ship’ + úlfr ‘wolf’ perhaps confounded with Hǫskuldr which Cleasby-Vigfusson reelates to Hös-kollr ‘the gray Coll’. The traditional Jersey Norman French form of the surname is Hâcou.
Haselhuhn : German: nickname for someone with gray hair from Middle High German haselhuon Middle Low German haselhōn ‘hazel grouse’ a game bird with gray plumage.
Horey : English: nickname for someone with at least one gray eye from Middle English hor(e) ‘gray’ + eie egh(e) ‘eye’ (Old English hār + ēage).
Hurlock : English (Hampshire): nickname for someone with a distinctive lock of gray hair from Middle English hare hor ‘hoar gray’ + lok ‘lock’ (Old English hār + locc).
Kreiling : German: probably a variant of Greuling a nickname for a man with gray hair a gray beard or a gray robe (i.e. a monk) from a derivative of Middle High German grā ‘gray’.
Legris : French:: 1: nickname with fused masculine definite article le from gris ‘gray’ denoting a man with gray hair a gray complexion or who habitually wore gray.2: habitational name from Le Gris the name of several places in various parts of France. Compare Lagree and Legree.
Lunar : Spanish (mainly southern): nickname from lunar ‘mole’ (a spot or blemish on the human skin) ‘also patch of gray hair’.
Murra : 1: Italian (Sicily): topographic name from Sicilian murra ‘large rock mass of rocks’ or a habitational name from a place called with this word.2: East Frisian: unexplained.3: Albanian: nickname from murrë (definite form murra) ‘dark gray cow’.4: In some cases possibly also an altered form of Scottish Murray.
Reach : 1: Scottish: nickname for someone with streaks of gray or white hair from Gaelic riabhach ‘brindled grayish’.2: English and Scottish: habitational name from either of two places called Reach in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire recorded as Reche in medieval documents from Old English rǣc ‘raised strip of land or other linear feature’ (in the case of the Cambridgeshire name specifically referring to Devil's Dyke a post-Roman earthwork). In some instances the name may be topographic denoting residence by such a feature from Middle English reche.
Schimmel : 1: German and Dutch: nickname for a man with gray or white hair from Middle High German Middle Dutch schimel a term used to denote both mildew and a white or dapple gray horse. Old High German forms are not found and the semantic development is not entirely clear.2: Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Schimmel ‘mildew’ imposed by a non-Jewish government official.3: Jewish (Ashkenazic): from a pet form of the personal name Shimon (see Simon).
Schimming : North German: nickname for a person with gray or white hair from Middle Low German schimmink ‘gray or white horse’.
Sirak : 1: Ethiopian: from the personal name Sirak Ethiopian form of Hebrew Sirach the name borne by the author of one of the Biblical books. — Note: Since Ethiopians do not have hereditary surnames this name was registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.2: Ukrainian: nickname for someone with gray hair from a derivative of the adjective siryy ‘gray’.3: Polish: variant of Sirek.
Surina : 1: Slovak (Šurina): derivative of šúr ‘marsh morass’ used as a topographic name for someone who lived near such place.2: Slovenian and Croatian: nickname derived from sur ‘ashen gray’ or based on surina ‘men's suit made from gray cloth’.3: Russian: feminine form (denoting ‘the daughter or wife of’) of Surin.
Szarek : Polish:: 1: nickname for someone with gray hair or a grayish complexion from a derivative of szary ‘gray’.2: possibly also an unflattering nickname from Old Polish szarek ‘whipper-snapper’.
Vecchio : Italian (mainly Sicily): from vecchio ‘old aged’ applied as a status name for the older or oldest son or as a nickname possibly for someone who was prematurely gray bent or wrinkled. Compare Lo Vecchio see also Del Vecchio.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
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