Origin
Ship : see Shipp.
Barkman : 1: Americanized form of German Barkmann: northern form of the topographic name Bergmann.2: Americanized form of German Bergmann.3: Swedish: ornamental compound probably influenced by German formations of bark ‘bark’ + man ‘man’.4: Dutch: perhaps a topographic or habitational name referring to a house named De Barck distinguished by the image of a ‘bark’ i.e. ship (as for example a Jan Barckman who lived in such a house in Amsterdam in 1601); otherwise perhaps a variant of Berkman a topographic name with a birch as the locative object.
Buis : 1: Dutch: patronymic from the ancient Germanic personal name Buso see Bus.2: Dutch: metonymic occupational name for a fisherman on a type of ship called a buis. Compare Bice Bise and Byce.3: French: from buis ‘box (tree)’ in any of a number of possible applications. It may have been a topographic name for someone who lived by a box thicket or a metonymic occupational name for a worker in the wood.
Cajuste : Haitian:: 1: possibly a nickname from French cajuste an obsolete term denoting a bed (a cabin) in a ship.2: alternatively from the personal name Cajuste with the second element based on French juste ‘just fair’.
Capitan : 1: Spanish (Capitán): status name from capitán ‘captain’ a title denoting the master of a ship or an officer in the army from Late Latin capitaneus ‘chief’ ‘principal’ from caput ‘head’.2: Americanized form of Polish Croatian Slovenian and German Kapitan Czech and Slovak Kapitán or Kapitáň ‘captain’.3: American shortened and altered form of Greek Kapetanos ‘captain’ or of its patronymic and other derivatives (see Kapitan). Compare Captain.
Capitano : Italian (Sicily and Naples): status name from capitano ‘captain’ a title denoting the master of a ship an official of some kind or an officer in the army. Compare Captain.
Captain : Americanized form (translation into English) of French Capitaine Dutch Captein or Kaptein Italian Capitano German and Polish or other Slavic Kapitan Hungarian Kapitány and Greek Kapetanos all status names from a title meaning ‘captain’ (ultimately from Late Latin capitaneus ‘chief’ ‘principal’ from caput ‘head’) used to denote a master of a ship a high-ranking official a headman or a person of military rank. In North America the surname Captain may also be derived (shortened and translated) from various Greek patronymics and other derivatives e.g. Kapetanopoulos. Compare Capitan.
Caravella : Italian:: 1: from the female personal name Carabella composed of the elements cara ‘dear’ + bella ‘beautiful’.2: from caravella ‘caravel’ denoting the master or owner of a ship of this type.
Cogger : English: from an agent derivative of Middle English cogge ‘small ship cock boat’ Old French cogue hence an occupational name for a boat or cog builder or more likely for a sailor or master of a cog.
Cogman : from Middle English cogge ‘small ship cock boat’ (Old French cogue) + man denoting someone who built or more probably sailed cogs; compare Cogger.
Constable : 1: English (southeastern): occupational name for the law-enforcement officer of a parish from Middle English Old French conestable cunestable from Late Latin comes stabuli ‘officer of the stable’. The title was also borne by various other officials during the Middle Ages including the chief officer of a household or court or a military officer and this may in some cases be the source of the surname.2: Americanized form of Dutch Constapel an occupational name for the chief gunner aboard a ship or in the garrison of a fort.
De Schepper : 1: Flemish and Dutch: occupational name for a tailor Middle Dutch sceppre + the definite article de. Compare Schepper.2: Dutch: in some cases perhaps a variant of De Schipper an occupational name for the captain of a ship or barge (see Schipper).
Keeler : 1: English (mainly Kent): probably an occupational name from Middle English keler ‘keelman bargeman’ an agent derivative of Middle English kele ‘flat-bottomed ship barge lighter’ (from Middle Dutch kiel). The sense would seem to be ‘crewman of a keel’ rather than ‘shipwright’.2: Americanized form of German Kühler from a variant of an old personal name (see Keeling) or a variant of Kuhl.
Kofman : 1: Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Kaufman and Kaufmann. Compare Koffman 1 and Coffman 1.2: Dutch: occupational name for a captain on a kof a specific type of sailing ship. Compare Coffman 2.3: Americanized form of German Kofmann a very rare variant of Kaufmann 1. Compare 1 above.
Korab : Polish; Czech (Koráb): from korab koráb ‘boat ship’ a metonymic occupational name for someone who worked on a river boat or a ship or a topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by the sign of a ship or boat. As a Polish name it may also be from a coat of arms bearing the sign of a ship. An earlier meaning of the word was ‘old tree’ and in some cases the surname may have arisen as a topographic name from this sense.
Kraak : 1: Dutch: from Middle Dutch crake craek ‘carrack’ (a type of large merchant ship) hence a metonymic occupational name for the master or owner of such a ship. Compare Krack.2: German: habitational name from a place so named in Mecklenburg.
Krack : 1: German: topographic name from Middle Low German krack ‘underbrush’ or from Middle High German krac ‘crevice’.2: German: nickname for someone with dark hair or a harsh raucous voice from krack ‘crow’.3: Dutch: variant mostly archaic or Americanized of Krak from Middle Dutch crake craek ‘carrack’ (a type of large merchant ship) hence a metonymic occupational name for the master or owner of such a ship. Compare Kraak.
Krake : 1: North German: occupational or status name for the owner of or worker on a large trade ship from Middle Low German krake.2: German: variant of Kracke.
Ku : 1: Chinese: Mandarin form of the surname 庫 meaning ‘warehouse’ in Chinese: (i) said to be borne by the descendants of those officials in charge of warehouses in the state of Zheng during the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). (ii) mispronounced form of another Chinese surname Ku (苦). (iii) adopted as a surname by the Ku Men (庫門) and Ku Nu Guan (庫傉官) families during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 AD).2: Chinese: variant of Gu.3: Chinese: Teochew Hokkien and Taiwanese form of the surnames 邱 and 丘 see Qiu 1 and 2.4: Korean: there are three Chinese characters for the surname Ku. The most common of the three claims 32 clans but only two can be documented. The other two Ku surnames each have one clan with its own Chinese character. All four of the Ku clans immigrated from China. The clans that use the more common character came in two waves: the first settled in the Nŭngsŏng sometime before 945 and the second which settled in Ch’angwŏn arrived in 1224. The name of the immigrant who founded the first of these two clans has been lost; but the name of the second is Ku Chon-yu. Members of these two clans can be found throughout the Korean peninsula but 45 percent of them live in Kyŏngsang South province while 20 percent of them live in Seoul and Kyŏnggi province. The founder of the clan that uses the other Ku character was named Ku T’ae-rim. He was an emissary for Tang China on his way to Japan when a storm blew his ship onto the shores of Koguryŏ Korea in 663. He settled in Koguryŏ territory and subsequently held a post in that government. Koguryŏ was a Korean kingdom which existed in the northern part of the Korean peninsula from 37 BC to AD 668. Its territory was incorporated into Shilla when the peninsula was unified in 668. Most of the modern-day members of this clan live in Ch’ungch’ŏng province. Very little is known of the origins of the clan which uses the third Ku character. There are only a few families which still use this character in Korea; they live in Kyŏngsang province and Kangwŏn province. Compare Goo 3 and Koo 6.5: Southeast Asian (Hmong): variant of Kue 1.6: Amerindian (Mexico): Mayan name from ku or k'u meaning ‘god’ and ‘nest’. Compare Cu.
Nam : 1: Korean: written 남 in Chinese characters 南 meaning ‘south’. This is the only Chinese character for the surname Nam. As many as fifty-seven Nam clans are mentioned in the records but of these only four can be positively documented. The founding ancestor of the Nam clans was a man named Kim Ch’ung. He was an emissary from Tang China on his way to Japan when a southerly storm blew his ship northward and forced it aground in Shilla Korea. The Shilla king Kyŏngdŏk (742–65) noting that he had come from the south renamed the emissary Nam in 755. Compare Nahm 2.2: Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 南 see Nan 1.3: Chinese: Cantonese Teochew Hokkien and Taiwanese form of the surname 藍 see Lan 1.4: Vietnamese: probably representing the Chinese surname 南 meaning ‘south’ see Nan 1 and the name in 2 above.
Patron : 1: Spanish (Patrón): from Spanish patrón ‘master’ (from Latin patronus a derivative of pater ‘father’). The term had various senses in the Middle Ages; it was applied for example to the master of a ship and also to the former owner of a freed serf who still enjoyed certain rights over him.2: Italian: variant of Patrone.
Patrone : Italian: nickname or status name from patrone ‘master’ (from Latin patronus a derivative of pater ‘father’). The term had various senses in the Middle Ages: it was applied for example to a householder the master of a ship and also to the former owner of a freed serf who still enjoyed certain rights over him.
Pomper : German and Dutch: occupational name for someone who worked a pump especially on a ship or in the mines from an agent derivative of Middle Dutch pompe (ultimately from Spanish Portuguese bomba ‘ship's pump’).
Reder : 1: English (Kent): variant of Reader.2: North German and Dutch: from a personal name composed of the ancient Germanic elements rād ‘counsel’ + heri ‘army’.3: North German and Dutch: occupational name for an outfitter (later for a ship owner) from an agent derivative of raid- ‘prepare make ready’.4: German: nickname or occupational name for a legal advocate from Middle High German redǣre ‘speaker’.5: South German: occupational name for a miller's helper a flour sifter from Middle High German reder(er).6: Possibly an altered form of German Röder (see Roeder).
Rota : 1: Italian: from a short form of the personal name Buonarrota Buonarroto an omen or well-wishing name meaning ‘good addition’.2: Italian: from rota ‘wheel’ used as a metonymic occupational name for maker of wheels and the like or perhaps as a nickname for a short fat person.3: Italian (northern): habitational name from any of various places called with rota ‘wheel’ in particular Rota d'Imagna in Bergamo and Rota Greca in Cosenza.4: Spanish: habitational name from a place in the province of Cádiz so named from Latin rota ‘wheel’.5: Greek: feminine (and possibly also American shortened) form of Rotas from the vocabulary word rota ‘course (of a ship)’ (from Italian rotta French route) hence perhaps a metonymic occupational name for a steersman; or from Albanian rrotë ‘wheel’ hence perhaps a metonymic occupational name for a cart-driver.
Schiff : 1: German: from Middle High German schif ‘ship’ applied as a metonymic occupational name for a mariner or a topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by the sign of a ship.2: Jewish (Ashkenazic): artificial or habitational name (see 1 above) from German Schiff ‘ship’.
Schiffman : 1: Americanized form of German Schiffmann: occupational name for a shipman (see Schiffer).2: Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Schiff ‘ship’ + Mann (Yiddish man) ‘man’ an artificial name or possibly a habitational name denoting someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of a ship. Compare Shiffman.
Schnick : German: either from Middle Low German snicke ‘small ship (for fishing)’ presumably a metonymic occupational name for a sailor or from Middle High German sneck ‘snail’ a nickname for a slow person.
Seage : 1: from Sedge a lost place in Topsham (Devon) which is recorded as la Segge in the 13th century. The place-name derives from Middle English segge ‘seat ground on which a ship lies’ (Old French sege). 2: see Sedge.
Shipman : 1: English: occupational name for a boatman or mariner or perhaps for a boatbuilder from Middle English schipman ‘ship man’.2: English: occupational name for a shepherd from Middle English schep ship ‘sheep’ + -man.3: Americanized form (translation into English) of Dutch Schepman or of its already extinct variant Schipman cognates of 1 above.
Shipp : English:: 1: nickname for a mariner or perhaps a boatbuilder from Middle English schip ‘ship’. Compare Shipman.2: in addition the name may occasionally also have been topographic or habitational referring to a house or inn distinguished by the sign of a ship. Surnames derived from house and inn signs are rare in English.
Shrouder : 1: perhaps from an unrecorded Middle English *shrouder for a maker of shrouds i.e. Middle English shroud ‘a garment or article of clothing; armour; a cover shelter or awning; a ship's rope leading from the masthead’. Alternatively it may be an agent derivative of Middle English shrouden ‘to dress clothe or cover (something) ’; also ‘to rig (a ship)’ and ‘to prune (a tree or plant)’. Some of the following bearers may belong with (2). 2: anglicized spelling of German Schroeder.
Stearman : English:: 1: occupational name chiefly from Middle English stere(s)man (Old English stēor(es)mann) and Middle English stereman stireman (Old Norse stȳreman) ‘one who steers a ship skipper sea-captain’.2: occasionally perhaps an occupational name for someone responsible for tending cattle from Middle English steer (Old English stēor) ‘bullock’ + -man.
Stocker : 1: German and Swiss German (also Stöcker): topographic name for someone living by a tree stump (see Stock 3) or an occupational name for a tree cutter from Middle High German stocken ‘to clear land’.2: German and Swiss German (also Stöcker); Dutch: occupational name from Middle High German Middle Dutch stocker ‘jailer’.3: English: occupational name from Middle English stokker ‘one who sells stockfish’ (fish dried in the air without salt). This was the usual source of the name in medieval London where a bylaw of 1419 stated that no stokker should board a ship to buy fish (presumably in order to forestall the market).4: English: topographic name for someone who lived by a tree stump or a log structure such as a footbridge or at a place called Stock deriving from Middle English stok(ke) stok(e) ‘tree trunk tree stump’ (Old English stocc) + -er (see Stock 1). The topographic name is found mainly in southern England especially Sussex Surrey Kent and Hampshire but also in the South Midlands.5: English: variant of Stoker.6: Irish: from Mac an Stocaire ‘son of the trumpeter’.
Sturman : 1: English: from an unrecorded Middle English personal name Sturmin probably a diminutive in -in of the Middle English personal name Sturmi from Middle English stormi ‘stormy’ (Old French estormi) denoting a stormy temperament. Compare Storm.2: English: variant of Stearman 1 in which the main vowel of Middle English ster(e)man stir(e)man has shortened giving rise in the 17th century to the modern pronunciation variously spelled -er- -ir- and -ur-. In some cases the name may arise from the Middle English personal name Stireman Stereman (Old Norse Stȳreman originally a nickname from the Old Danish word for a helmsman or skipper); see Stearman 1.3: Americanized form of North German Sturmann or Stuhrmann and of Dutch Stuurman: occupational name for a helmsman from Middle Low German stūren ‘to steer’ + man ‘man’.4: Slovenian Croatian Czech and Slovak (Šturman): nickname from šturm an (obsolete) word meaning ‘storm’ also ‘uproar’ (see Sturm 2) + the suffix -man ‘man’ both of German origin.5: Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): possibly an artificial name from Polish szturman ‘mate (of a ship)’.
More
Source : FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain, ©2021, University of the West of England
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