Origin
Carolina : 1: African American: probably an adoption of the name of the US states as a surname (compare Maryland 2 and Missouri); however compare also West Indian name in 2 below. The Carolinas (i.e. North Carolina and South Carolina) at that time a British colony received their name (originally Carolana) in honor of the king Charles I of England who in 1629 granted a patent for the lands south of 36 degrees and north of 31 degrees.2: West Indian (Dutch Caribbean): from the female personal name Carolina feminine form of Carolus. It is one of the surnames (compare Martina) that reflect the partially mother-oriented name culture of the formerly enslaved people in the West Indies.
Choe : 1: Korean (Ch’oe): written 최 in Chinese characters 崔 meaning ‘high’ or ‘precipitous’. This is the only Chinese character for the surname Ch’oe. Of the 326 Ch’oe clans listed in some sources only 43 distinct clans can be documented. The oldest Choi clan the Kyŏngju Choi was established some eight hundred years later by Choi Chi-wŏn (崔 致遠) a famous tenth century Korean official. Ch’oe is the fourth most common surname in Korea. The common Romanization Choi (see Choi 7) represents a French transliteration of the surname which is actually pronounced more like Ch’wae. The first Ch’oe Sobŏldori was one of the six elders of pre-Shilla Korea; he received his surname from the Shilla King Yuri Isagŭm in AD 32.2: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 曹 see Cao 1.3: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 徐 see Xu 1.
Chong : 1: Korean (Chŏng): written 정 in Chinese characters 鄭 丁 and 程. There are actually eight Chinese characters used to represent the surname Chŏng which is one of the most common Korean surnames but the clans that use five of these characters are extremely small. The characters 丁 and 程 are mainly found in Chŏlla province. (i) The clan which uses the Chinese character 丁 is descended from a Chinese Tang Dynasty minister named Tŏk-sŏng (徳盛) who immigrated to Korea and settled on Aphae Island in Shinan county Chŏlla South Province. (ii) The clan bearing the surname 程 is believed to be descended from Chinese immigrants but further details are not known. The founding ancestor of the Han San Chŏng clan was called Chŏng Hoe (程 淮). (iii) The most common of the three more numerous clans which uses the Chinese character 鄭 is the oldest and is widely distributed throughout the peninsula. It is probably of Chinese origin too. Some sources indicate that there are 215 separate Chŏng clans but only 32 of them can be documented. The earliest and largest Chŏng clan began in 32 AD when Chibaekho one of the six ruling elders of pre-Shilla Korea received the surname of Chŏng from the Shilla King Yuri Isagŭm (24–57 AD). Compare Cheong 5 Choung 1 Chung 11 Jeong 1 Jong 1 Joung Jun 1 and Jung 10.2: Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 崇: from Chong (崇) the name of an ancient state (located in Songxian in Henan province) during the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC).3: Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 种 adopted in place of another Chinese surname Zhong (仲) by the descendants of Zhong Shanfu (仲山甫) an official during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou (reigned 827–782 BC) in order to escape from the feud.4: Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 莊 see Zhuang.5: Chinese: variant Cantonese form of the surnames 鐘 and 仲 see Zhong 1 and 2.6: Chinese: variant Cantonese form of the surname 宗 see Zong.7: Chinese: variant Cantonese form of the surname 叢 see Cong 1.8: Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 臧 see Zang.9: Chinese: Hakka form of the Chinese surnames 張 and 章 see Zhang 1 and 2. Hakka Chinese is spoken in southern China and certain other parts of Southeast Asia.10: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 蔣 see Jiang 2.11: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 鄭 see Zheng 1.12: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 曾 see Zeng.13: Chinese: Cantonese form of the surnames 蒼 and 倉 see Cang.
Gnadt : 1: South German: topographic name for someone living on an incline from Old High German gināda ‘incline slope’ or a nickname or status name for someone who received a fief (feudal property) 'by grace' from Middle High German genāde ‘grace pity compassion trust support protection’.2: German: from Middle High German genāde ‘inclination to help grace favor’ probably a nickname for someone who enjoyed the favor of his feudal lord.
Gutheil : German: from the expression gutes Heil ‘good blessing or success’ probably a nickname for someone who was well received by the community or who habitually used the expression.
Innocenti : Italian:: 1: patronymic or plural form of the personal name Innocente (see Innocent and 2 below).2: from innocente ‘innocent’ (from Latin innocens literally ‘not harming’). This was used as a nickname for a simpleton following the Christian notion that simpletons like children were incapable of doing evil. This surname is found principally in Tuscany and neighboring regions and is extremely common in Florence where it was given as a surname to the foundlings received into the Spedale degli Innocenti an orphanage established in the 15th century.
Mohapatra : Indian (Odisha): Brahmin name from Sanskrit maha ‘great’ + patra ‘gratitude’ a reference to alms received for performing the last rites a traditional occupation of bearers of this name.
Richmond : English:: 1: habitational name from Richmond (North Yorkshire). The placename was probably transferred after the Norman Conquest from any of numerous places in France named with Old French riche ‘mighty strong’ + munt mont ‘mountain hill’. Richmond in southwest London received this name only in the reign of Henry VII in honor of the king who had been Earl of Richmond until he came to the throne and is unlikely to be the source of this surname.2: occasionally a variant of Richman with excrescent -d. The two names were probably often confused.
Sinai : 1: Jewish: name bestowed with reference to Mount Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God (Exodus 20). It can be either artificial name or derived from the identical male personal name which in turn is derived from the name of the Mount.2: Muslim: from the name of Mount Sinai mentioned in the Koran as saynā’.
Skate : 1: the Norfolk name is probably a variant of Skeet. 2: perhaps from Middle English scate a name for the sea-water fish the common European skate.perhaps from Middle English scathe scate (Old Scandinavian skaðe) ‘harm injury’ applied to someone who has received harm or who might do harm to others; see Skeath.
Zhou : Chinese:: 1: Mandarin form of the surname 周 meaning ‘surrounding’ or ‘whole’ in Chinese: (i) from Zhou (周) originally the name of a fief (located in present-day Qishan in Shaanxi Province) where Zhou Wen Wang (1152–1056 BC; ‘King Wen of Zhou’) resided. Zhou was famous for his virtue and good nature. He had eighteen sons almost all of whom received fiefdoms. He is regarded as the founder of the Western Zhou dynasty although it was in fact his son King Wu of Zhou (c. 1087–1043 BC) who overthrew the Shang dynasty. The Zhou dynasty lasted until 256 BC when it was annexed by the state of Qin. At that time Zhou was acquired as a surname. (ii) borne by descendants of Zhou Lie (周烈) son of King Ping of Zhou (died 720 BC) who was granted the fief Ru Nan (located in present-day Henan province). (iii) said to be borne by descendants of Zhou Chang (周昌) a general during the reign of the legendary Huang Di the ‘Yellow Emperor’ (c. 27th century BC). (iv) said to be borne by descendants of Zhou Ren (周任) an official during the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC). (v) adopted in place of the Chinese surname Ji (姬) during the reign of the emperor Li Long Ji also known as Emperor Ming of Tang or Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (685-762 AD) because the surname Ji (姬) happened to have the same pronunciation as part of the personal name of the emperor which was taboo in ancient China. (vi) adopted as a surname by the Pu (普) and He Lu (賀魯) families from the Xianbei ethnic group in northern China during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 AD). (vii) adopted as a surname by Pu Nai Yao (also called Zhou Yao 周摇 519 - 602 AD) a general during the Northern Zhou dynasty (557–581 AD). (viii) borne by descendants of Cheng Na who was endowed with the surname Zhou (周) during the Later Liang Dynasty (907–923 AD). (ix) borne by descendants of an official called Ji Zuo who was endowed with the surname Zhou (周) by Emperor Suzong of Tang (reigned 756–762 AD). (x) adopted as a Han Chinese surname by other ethnic groups in ancient China.2: variant Romanization of the surname 鄒 see Zou.
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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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