Origin
Azuma : Japanese: from an archaic word used to mean ‘east’ originally applied to the fifteen northern and eastern provinces of Japan. The name is most commonly written with the character for ‘east’ 東 (higashi) but some families write it 吾妻 which literally means ‘my wife’. The pronunciation Azuma is found mostly in western Japan and the Ryūkyū Islands while the name Higashi is more common along the southeastern seaboard.
Clerc : French: occupational or status name for a member of a minor religious order or for a scholar Old French clerc from Late Latin clericus from Greek klērikos a derivative of klēros ‘inheritance legacy’ with reference to the priestly tribe of Levites (see Levy) ‘whose inheritance was the Lord’. In medieval Christian Europe clergy in minor orders were permitted to marry and so found families; thus the surname could become established. In the Middle Ages it was virtually only members of religious orders who learned to read and write so that the term clerc later came to denote any literate man a scholar (hence its modern meaning ‘scribe secretary’ or ‘clerk’). Compare Leclerc.
Deak : 1: Hungarian (Deák): occupational or status name for a scribe or a cleric or someone (else) who could write in medieval Latin from deák ‘scholar learned man’ (vocabulary variant is diák; see Diak) and ultimately from Greek diakonos ‘deacon’. This surname is also found in Slovakia.2: Scottish (Glasgow): variant of Deek itself a variant of Dick with lowering and lengthening of the vowel.
Dichter : 1: South German: from Middle High German diechter ‘grandchild’ probably from Middle High German dīhen ‘to thrive’.2: German: ostensibly an occupational name for a minstrel or poet from an agent derivative of Middle High German tichten ‘to write or compose’ (from Latin dicere ‘to recite’).3: Jewish (from Germany and Poland): nickname from either German Dichter ‘poet’ or an inflected form of German dicht ‘thick’.4: Jewish (from Ukraine): occupational name from a Yiddishized form of Ukrainian dikhtyar ‘tar worker’.
Konda : 1: Indian (Andhra Pradesh): topographic name from Telugu konda ‘hill’.2: Japanese: written 今田 ‘the present rice paddy’; this form of the name is found mostly in eastern Japan. In western Japan it is pronounced Imata or Imada. Other ways to write the first element include 誉 ‘praise’ and 根 ‘root’.3: Slovenian: from a short form of the personal name Kondrad an old variant of Konrad.
Porteous : English and Scottish: nickname from Middle English and Older Scots port(e)hors portas porte(i)s portos portus porthous porteus portewas ‘portable breviary prayer book’. It is a borrowing of Old French porte-hors Anglo-Norman French porteose porteho(r)s port(h)eus literally something ‘carried out of doors’. The surname may have been given to someone who habitually carried such a book or for a scribe employed to write them. In modern times it is chiefly a Scottish surname which probably accounts for its presence in northern England but the name is also well evidenced in southeastern England in the medieval period and in northern Lincolnshire since the 17th century. The Scottish surname became established in Ireland by the mid 16th century.
Seta : 1: Italian: from seta ‘silk’ used as a metonymic occupational name for a silk weaver or merchant.2: Spanish (mainly Navarre): nickname from seta ‘fungus’ or ‘pig bristle’.3: Japanese: written: the meaning is probably 瀬田 ‘rice paddy located on the rapids’ though others write it phonetically 勢田 or 世田 the first elements of these meaning ‘power’ and ‘world’. This name is not common in Japan.
Sho : Japanese (Shō): written 荘 ‘villa’ a shortening of the word shōen 荘園 ‘estate’; there are several ways to write it. In Okinawa Shō 尚 is the ancient royal family's surname.
Wriedt : 1: North German: nickname from Middle Low German wrēt wrede ‘fierce evil angry’ (cognate with English wrath).2: North German and Danish (of German origin): topographic name from Low German write ‘entangled roots’ denoting someone who lived in an overgrown area.
Wright : English and Scottish: occupational name for a craftsman or maker of machinery mostly in wood of any of a wide range of kinds from Middle English and Older Scots wriht wright wricht writh write (Old English wyrhta wryhta) ‘craftsman’ especially ‘carpenter joiner’. The term is found in various combinations (for example Cartwright and Wainwright) but when used in isolation it often referred to a builder of windmills or watermills. This surname is also very common among African Americans.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
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