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250+ Funny Last Names: Humorous Surnames From A to Z

Updated
Have some laughs over the best funny last names that appear all over the world.

When looking at surnames, we often think about what’s the most traditional or the most rare. It’s not often we consider what the top funny last names worldwide are. Where do you begin searching for weird last names with the most distinct and goofy meanings?

Look no further because we’ve collected 253 of the most funny surnames around. Some date back centuries, and others are more recognizable. Whether ancient or modern, occupational or a pet name, these monikers aren’t like anything else you’ve ever seen.


85 Common Funny Surnames

You may recognize these comical surnames that are still somewhat common today.

  1. Aguilar – based on the Latin “aquilare,” meaning “haunt of eagles” in Spanish.
  2. Akerregi – a Basque name meaning “goat’s hillside,” which uses the root “aker,” meaning “goat.”
  3. Auberon – means “noble” in German; on the list of funny last names, meaning “royal bear.”
  4. Ayala – refers to a “deer” or “gazelle” in Hebrew or “hillside” and “pasture” in Basque.
  5. Baal – from the Old French “baud,” meaning “joyful,” the ancient pagan god of fertility.
  6. Bader – an occupational German surname for someone who worked at a bathhouse.
  7. Bautista – the Spanish form of Baptiste, meaning “one who washes” in Greek.
  8. Beaver – in honor of the beaver known for its teeth; also means “lovely to look at.”
  9. Berger – sounds like “burger,” but comes from the Old French “bergier,” meaning “shepherd.”
  10. Bonefat – sounds stranger than its original French form of Bonenfant, meaning “good child.”
  11. Bonner – originally the Middle English nickname “bonere,” meaning “gentle” or “handsome.”
  12. Broad – a vintage euphemism for a “lady,” from the Old English “brode,” meaning “stout person.”
  13. Broadhurst – would make a strange hospital name, but it means “broad wooded hill” in Old English.
  14. Burro – another word for a “donkey” in Spanish and a nickname for someone “stubborn.”
  15. Butts – taken from the French “but,” meaning “target,” and is among the weirdest funny surnames.
  16. Caddel – comes from the Welsh “cad,” meaning “battle,” inspired by Cadell ab Urien, a 7th-century saint.
  17. Chew – refers to biting one’s food; also a Chinese and Southeast Asian surname.
  18. Connor – a popular Irish-Gaelic surname given to a “lover of wolves.”
  19. Crooks – a nickname for a “thief” or “criminal” in plural form.
  20. Daniels – not typical among weird last names except those named Jack; it means “God has judged.”
  21. Delgado – a Spanish nickname for a “thin person” based on the Latin “delicatus,” meaning “dainty.”
  22. Draven – from the Old English “drāfend,” which sounds less like “raven,” meaning “hunter.”
  23. Duck – a bird known for its bill, also associated with the German Duyck.
  24. Fang – might sound scary, but it means “square” or “four-sided” in China, ranking 67th among surnames.
  25. Fanny – a cute euphemism for someone’s backside; first used for someone living near a “marsh.”
  26. Fedorov – means “of Fyodor” (or Theodore) in Russian, denoting someone belonging to Theodore.
  27. Feo – a Spanish last name and the literal word for someone who is “ugly.”
  28. Gaywood – an Old English place name given to those who lived in Gaywood.
  29. Gentile – means “of the same stock” in Italian and describes a non-Jewish person.
  30. Gorey – the scariest of funny last names, based on the Gaelic MacGafraidh, meaning “son of Gafradh.”
  31. Greedy – means “selfish,” a terrible trait to have, including “horseman” when taken from the Gaelic Grady.
  32. Grimm – famous for Grimm’s fairy tales; refers to a “dour” or “severe” person in Old High German.
  33. Hemlock – the name of a highly poisonous plant, also called “devil’s plant” or “poison parsley.”
  34. Hickinbottom – a silly English surname for those living in “Hugg’s land” in East Cheshire.
  35. Hogg – an appropriate nickname for a “swineherd,” or a keeper of hogs.
  36. Komarov – a common-sounding Russian surname from “komar,” meaning “mosquito.”
  37. Ladrón – a less favorable Spanish occupational surname for a “thief.”
  38. Large – means “generous” in Old English and French or refers to a “big” or “heavy” person.
  39. Lawless – a straightforward English surname for someone “unruly” or “without law.”
  40. Lestrange – originally the Gaelic Mac Conchoigchríche, means “hound of the borderland.”
  41. Looney – another word for a “crazy person”; means “warrior” in Irish.
  42. Mahboobeh – a funny Arabic surname with many characters, meaning “beloved.”
  43. Maldonado – given to someone in Spain thought to be “ill-favored,” or having bad luck.
  44. Medina – named after the “city of the Prophet,” but also a nickname for Brooklyn.
  45. Mejia – an overstatement for anyone named Mejia, from the Hebrew “mashiaḥ,” meaning “messiah.”
  46. Or – hardly a name as a phonetic translation from Chinese; means “light.”
  47. Padilla – a Spanish place name that also describes a “small frying pan” or “small oven.”
  48. Panda – used by priests in Odisha, India, but known for the cuddly black and white animal.
  49. Paniagua – the most unusual of funny surnames in Spanish, meaning “bread and water.”
  50. Pentti – an odd Finnish spelling of the first name Benedict, meaning “blessed.”
  51. Pigg – from the Middle English “pigge,” meaning “young hog”; also used for a swineherd.
  52. Player – a term for a ladies’ man, but based on the Middle English “pleyen,” meaning “to play.”
  53. Poop – relates to a Chinese last name meaning “flower”; used in Taiwan.
  54. Postlethwaite – the worst surname for a bad speller that refers to a location in Cumbria, England.
  55. Pound – taken from the Middle English “pund,” meaning “enclosure for animals” and a type of currency.
  56. Recker – sounds like “wrecker,” but it is a German and Dutch form of Richard or Rijker.
  57. Register – an Old English and Old French occupational surname for a “scribe.”
  58. Rhammar – a strange-sounding Moroccan surname based on the Arabic root “rahm,” meaning “lofty.”
  59. Rojas – the Spanish equivalent of nicknaming someone “red” for their hair or ruddy complexion.
  60. Ruff – the sound a dog makes; given to someone who lives near “rough uncultivated land.”
  61. Saap – taken from the German “sabbe,” meaning “spruce tree”; associated with “sap,” slang for a “fool.”
  62. Salem – means “peaceful” and “complete” in Arabic, but mostly related to the Salem witch trials.
  63. Salinas – means “saltworks” in Spanish as derived from the Latin “salinae,” meaning “sea salt.”
  64. Schmuck – a German and Jewish term meaning “jewelry” or “cleanliness,” and a nickname for a “fool.”
  65. Segismundo – a Spanish form of the German Siegmund, meaning “protection through victory.”
  66. Sidorov – based on the Russian first name Sidor, for Isidor, meaning “gift of Isis.”
  67. Slaughter – a terrible name for a “butcher,” taken from the Middle English “slaught,” meaning “butchery.”
  68. Smalley – from the Old English “smæl,” meaning “narrow,” and “leah,” meaning “wood” or “clearing.”
  69. Smirnoff – famous for the Russian vodka; also means “quiet” and “gentle” as Smirnov.
  70. Snipe – is derived from the Old English “snaep,” meaning “dweller by the pasture.”
  71. Soto – a Spanish surname meaning “grove” or “small wood,” or those who live there.
  72. Soyla – when separated into “soy la,” it becomes the incomplete “I’m the” statement in Spanish.
  73. Sporn – a dirty-sounding version of a bacteria-ridden spore, from the Middle German “sporn,” meaning “to spur.”
  74. Stroker – from the Middle English “stroken,” meaning “to make smooth” or “sharpen.”
  75. Suparman – not a spelling error, but an Arabic name that appears in Indonesia.
  76. Swett – an Old English alternative to the Scandinavian “svet,” meaning “world.”
  77. Tingle – a goofy occupational name for someone who makes nails or pins.
  78. Valencia – not named for the orange, but instead means “brave” and “strong” in Latin.
  79. Valenzuela – similar to Venezuela, but this surname is for Spanish locations, called “little Valencia.”
  80. Villalobos – a Spanish title for a very strange location known as “wolf town.”
  81. Volkov – a super fearsome surname based on the Russian “volk,” meaning “wolf.”
  82. Wicker – an occupational surname for someone working in an outlying settlement.
  83. Woolfson – a Jewish-American form of the German Wolfsen, meaning “son of the wolf.”
  84. Zamora – also a girl’s name and locale in Spain, meaning “praised.”
  85. Zoro – a less embarrassing form of Zorro; also means “sky” in Japanese.

85 Funny Surnames Based on Personal Traits

These weird last names were nicknames primarily based on personality or physical appearance.

  1. Badman – the most literal of weird last names initially used for a “boatman.”
  2. Bane – taken from the Middle English “ban,” meaning “slayer” and “murderer.”
  3. Barrat – a unique Norman variation of Barrett, meaning “warlike” or “troublesome.”
  4. Baud – an Old French nickname given to someone “cheerful” and “sprightly.”
  5. Begg – based on the Gaelic Beag, meaning “little,” “young,” or “small of stature.”
  6. Bellagamba – a marvelous Italian last name meaning “beautiful leg,” first used as a pet name.
  7. Berg – a German and Dutch surname for someone living “in a town by a mountain.”
  8. Bierhals – one of the top German funny last names that means “beer-throat.”
  9. Black – from the Old English “blæc” used as a nickname for a “dark-haired man.”
  10. Blacklocke – a particularly Northern English last name for a person with “dark hair.”
  11. Blound – originated in Old French as a name given to a “blond” person.
  12. Body – from the Old English “bodig,” meaning “trunk”; a nickname for someone with a large build.
  13. Borgnino – a very specific Italian last name for someone “blind in one eye.”
  14. Brown – originally an English and Gaelic nickname from the Old English “brūn,” meaning “brown.”
  15. Bunyan – given to someone with a “hump,” from the Old French “bugne,” meaning “swelling.”
  16. Carr – taken from the Gaelic “gearr,” a pet name meaning “short of height.”
  17. Cienfuegos – a literal Spanish last name referring to “a hundred fires.”
  18. Cogbill – originally Cockbill, based on the Old English “cocc,” meaning “rooster,” and “bill,” meaning “beak.”
  19. Colon – relates to the Spanish Columbus; associated with Colomba, meaning “dove.”
  20. Crumpe – an English nickname for a “hunchback” from the Middle English “croumpe,” meaning “bent.”
  21. Daft – based on the Middle English “daffle,” meaning “mild” or “meek.”
  22. Doolittle – given to a “lazy” or “idle” person, meaning “do little” in Middle English.
  23. Drinkwater – a Middle English pet name from “drink(en),” meaning “to drink water.”
  24. Duff – a variation of the Gaelic “dubh,” meaning “dark black,” as given to a “dark-haired man.”
  25. Fairfax – given to someone with “beautiful long hair” based on “fairfax,” meaning “beautiful tresses.”
  26. Fairhaire – also appears as Fairhair for someone “with fair or blond hair.”
  27. Fane – means “glad” and “well disposed” from the Old English “fægen.”
  28. Fiest – a German and Jewish nickname for someone “stout”; also means “well fed.”
  29. Flatman – means “level ground plain” for someone living on a flat piece of land.
  30. Fleet – a term for a “quick runner” in English and someone residing near an estuary.
  31. Gam – a Chinese surname and Welsh nickname for someone who “squints.”
  32. Goff – a Welsh surname given to someone with “red hair,” popular in East Anglia.
  33. Gopnik – an unattractive Russian last name used for a “drunken hooligan.”
  34. Gough – taken from the Welsh “coch,” as given to someone with a “red” complexion or hair.
  35. Greathead – from the Old English “grēat hēafod” referring to someone with a large head.
  36. Greig – a Gaelic diminutive form of Gregory, originally appearing as Griogair, meaning “someone watchful.”
  37. Grissel – based on the French “grisel,” a nickname for someone with “gray hair.”
  38. Gwynne – means “blessed” in Welsh, inspired by Gwyn ap Nudd, the ruler of the Otherworld.
  39. Hale – given to someone “living in a nook,” but also means “hero” and “of the hall.”
  40. Halfpenny – an Old English surname used for a “tenant making payments in cash or kind.”
  41. Holder – refers to the “sign of an elder tree” in German for someone residing nearby.
  42. Ker – a version of the Irish Ciaran used for someone with “dark or brown hair.”
  43. Kieksyte – a very strange-looking Dutch family name that directly means “compassionate.”
  44. Lizar – a Basque nickname for someone “living near an ash tree.”
  45. Long – a term for a “tall and lanky” person from the Old English “lang.”
  46. Loser – associated with the German Lazar, from “lōsære,” meaning “hypocrite” or “redeemer of obligations.”
  47. Lovelace – dates back to the 16th-century as a cray nickname for someone obsessed with lace.
  48. Mewet – means “lip” or “seagull,” with French and Flemish origins.
  49. Michel – a very French variation of Michael used as a surname; means “Who is like God?”
  50. Moel – means “bare hill” in Welsh, but is based on the Mohel, who performs Jewish circumcisions.
  51. Morphew – a word for someone with a “club foot” as a form of Moorfoot.
  52. Muckle – an endearing pet name for a “big man” from the Old English “mycel.”
  53. Normous – means “trustworthy” and “loyal” in Swedish and doesn’t refer to a huge person.
  54. Pappalardo – an Italian nickname for a “glutton” that literally means “eats lard.”
  55. Payne – from the Old English “paien,” referring to someone “rustic” or a “countryman.”
  56. Pigot – taken from the Old English “pic,” describing a “sharply pointed hill” or someone living nearby.
  57. Poore – from the Old English “pawr” as a term for someone “poor,” relating to a “pauper.”
  58. Popplestone – from the Old English “popel,” meaning “pebble,” and “tun,” meaning “farm.”
  59. Read – not referring to a book, but another nickname for a “redhead” that’s more commonly Reed.
  60. Seisdedos – a Spanish surname for an unfortunate person “with six fingers.”
  61. Shire – a self-reflexive name given to someone “living near the meeting place of a shire.”
  62. Short – from the Old English “sceort,” as directly used for a “small person.”
  63. Silly – comes from the Old English “saelig,” meaning a “cheerful and happy person.”
  64. Silverlocke – composed of the Middle English “silver” and “lok,” as in a (gray) lock of hair.
  65. Slowrnans – uses the Old English root “slaw” and describes a “sluggish person.”
  66. Smelly – a surprising example of a funny surname from Scotland given to someone with a “nice smile.”
  67. Snell – based on the Old Norse “snjallr,” meaning a “quick” or “lively” person.
  68. Snowball – a very particular pet name for someone with a “snow‐white patch of hair.”
  69. Starkie – a cutesy surname given to an as-yet-unidentified English town in Lancashire.
  70. Stern – means “star” in Yiddish, but is a nickname for someone “strict” or “austere.”
  71. Stout – from the Middle English “stout,” meaning “daring,” and the Old French “estolt,” meaning “stubborn.”
  72. Strong – means “powerful,” based on the Old English “strang” for a badass person.
  73. Stunt – not referring to a dangerous act, but taken from the Middle English “stunt,” meaning “foolish.”
  74. Swift – a literal Old English nickname referring to a “rapid runner.”
  75. Trueman – made up of the Old English “trēow,” for a loyal or trustworthy person.
  76. Turnbull – a Scottish surname for someone who herds bulls or a “bullish” person.
  77. Vadas – from the Hungarian “vad,” meaning “wild,” as a pet name for an “unsophisticated person.”
  78. Vaughan – based on the Welsh “bychan,” a diminutive of “bach,” meaning “little.”
  79. Viejobueno – the sweetest of weird last names given to a “nice old man.”
  80. Voss – a primarily North German nickname from “vōs,” meaning “fox,” for a clever person.
  81. Wagstaff – an action-oriented term for a “beadle,” for someone who wagged a staff or rod.
  82. Weed – from the Middle English “wed(e),” meaning “mad crazy” for someone who is easily angered.
  83. Whitelocke – refers to a person with a “white lock,” describing someone with white locks of hair.
  84. Whithair – an English variation of Whittier for someone with “white hair,” also a Native American name.
  85. Young – from the Middle English “yonge,” distinguishing a father and son in one family.

83 Rare Funny Surnames

It’s hard to find anyone with these rare surnames that still proved funny to many people.

  1. Accusato – literally refers to “the accused” in a court of law in Italian.
  2. Albero – a form of Albert given to a person living near a “tree.”
  3. Allaway – a Scottish place name made up of “alla,” meaning “wild” and “mhagh,” meaning “field.”
  4. Bacon – an occupational name for a “seller of pork”; also appears as Bachun and Bacun.
  5. Bagley – a form of the Old English first name Bacga and “lēah,” meaning “woodland clearing.”
  6. Bär – a clean German pet name for someone thought to resemble a “bear.”
  7. Bich – a Vietnamese last name that means “blue-green” and “jade.”
  8. Bidelspach – describes a “herald” who makes official announcements in German using a large stick.
  9. Blunderbuss – based on the Dutch “donderbus,” meaning “thunder tin” for an antiquated firearm.
  10. Bodycomb – “from Bodiam county” in West Sussex and other English places called Bodicam and Bodicum.
  11. Bracegirdle – means “trouser belt,” from the Old English “brec,” meaning “breech,” and “girdle,” meaning “belt.”
  12. Brain – a Middle English nickname short for “brainwod,” meaning “mad in the mind, furious.”
  13. Bumgardner – an occupational German surname for a “tree gardener” like Baumgartner.
  14. Butterworth – composed of the Old English “butere,” meaning “butter,” and “worth,” meaning “enclosure.”
  15. Caporaso – an Italian nickname for someone with a “shaven (or bald) head.”
  16. Chaparala – a sing-songy Telugu-Indian name that means “mother tongue”; also an Indian place name.
  17. Cheese – an English occupational name for a cheesemonger, cheesemaker, or someone who resembles cheese.
  18. Clevenger – relates to the English Clavinger, given to a “keeper of the keys” in a household.
  19. Clutterbuck – is derived from the Dutch “kloterboeck,” referring to a “merchant’s rough account book.”
  20. Contestabile – an extra-long surname that means “questionable” and “disputable” in Italian.
  21. Cornfoot – given to those residing in or near Cornford, an English town in Durham.
  22. Cretillion – an Anglo form of the Gaelic Mac Raghnaill, meaning “son of Raghnall.”
  23. Crumpet – refers to a true English muffin, a pancake-like griddle bread.
  24. Crumplehorn – means “Maelhoern’s farm” and is named after a hamlet in Cornwall, England.
  25. Dankworth – an Anglo variant of the German Tancred, meaning “a farmstead.”
  26. Denaro – uses the Italian root “nero,” meaning “black,” as a nickname for someone with dark hair.
  27. Dierksheide – with unknown meaning other than including the German boy’s name, Dierk.
  28. Dork – the modern term for a “nerdy person,” based on the German Tederich, meaning “powerful people.”
  29. Dragon – a form of the French Daragon, a nickname for a “fiery person.”
  30. Egorov – an unusual Russian version of Gregory based on Egor, meaning “farmer” and “earthworker.”
  31. Faartz – an offbeat (and funny) German last name based on the Latin Boniface.
  32. Falaguerra – is one of the most aggressive Italian weird last names meaning “make war.”
  33. Fokker – it might sound dirty, but Fokker simply means “breeder” in Dutch.
  34. Fumagalli – means “smoked poultry” in Italian, referring to thieves who fill hen houses with smoke.
  35. Futz – may have German origins, but it is also an American term for “wasting or idling time.”
  36. Glydenbollocks – literally means “golden balls” and is one of the longest funny surnames from Germany.
  37. Gobble – an Anglo form of the German Goebel, meaning both “bright” and “famous.”
  38. Gotobed – an English last name desciring those lucky early medieval people who owned a bed.
  39. Grasso – an Italian pet name for a “stout man” from the Latin “crassus,” meaning “fat.”
  40. Kasprak – though it sounds like an insult, Kasprak is a Polish form of Kasper, meaning “treasurer.”
  41. Kimchi – a well-known Korean dish of fermented vegetables; may relate to the Hebrew Kimhi.
  42. Light – from the Old English “lioht,” meaning “agile” or “energetic”; also means “joyful.”
  43. Longbottom – an English topographical surname for someone living in a “long valley.”
  44. Luckinbill – originally the German Luginbuhl, meaning “to watch” or “lie in wait.”
  45. Malinconico – a very specific Italian family name referring to a “painter of haunting melancholy canvases.”
  46. Mezzasalma – a slightly creepy Italian surname meaning “half-cadaver” as a nickname for a “dullard.”
  47. Mikhailov – one of many Russian patronymic surnames that means “belonging to Mikhail.”
  48. Moorehead – originally given to someone living in Lanark, England; may associate with the Gaelic Muirhead.
  49. Moxie – an American term for someone with “energy,” “pep,” and “know-how.”
  50. Noodle – also appears as the German Nudel, meaning “dumpling” or “small knot.”
  51. Nutter – from the Old English “notere,” meaning “clerk” or “nothard,” for an “oxen breeder.”
  52. Onions – a literal occupational name for someone who sells or grows onions in the 13th-century.
  53. Peccati – an obscure Italian surname referring to “sins” possibly committed by a certain family.
  54. Peed – also appears as Peat, an Old English nickname for a “spoiled or pampered child.”
  55. Pelagatti – a disturbing Italian family name describing someone who “skins cats.”
  56. Perv – an Americanized surname of unknown origins that doesn’t mean “lustful.”
  57. Pickle – originally appearing as Pykedlee or Pighkeleys in Old English, meaning “pointed clearing.”
  58. Popov – a patronymic Slavic term from the Greek “pappas,” meaning “father” used for a “priest.”
  59. Quibble – also appears as Quibel in southwest France for someone working with a “vat or cask.”
  60. Quirk – an Anglo form of the Gaelic Ó Cuirc, meaning “heart” or “tuft of hair.”
  61. Rasputin – from the Russian “rasputye,” meaning “crossroads,” but better known for the infamous Grigoriy Rasputin.
  62. Rollo-Koster – a funny Dutch compound surname combining “famous wolf” with a church “sexton.”
  63. Rowbottom – also appears as “roe–bottom,” describing a “ground depression inhabited by deer.”
  64. Rump – an Estonian surname meaning “dugout” or “punt,” also a German nickname for a “round person.”
  65. Salo – a less common Italian-sounding Finnish word referring to a “forested wilderness.”
  66. Saltaformaggio – a humorous Italian last name meaning “to jump the cheese.”
  67. Semenov – relates to the Russian male name Semyon, a form of Simon meaning “belonging to Semyon.”
  68. Shufflebottom – first appeared in Lancashire, England, for those who own “lands in a valley.”
  69. Snickersnee – a Scottish surname meaning “large knife,” based on the Old Norse “snikkr.”
  70. Snodgrass – means “smooth grass” or “grass without nodes” in Middle English.
  71. Supersad – an Americanized last name of unknown origin, hopefully, happier than it sounds!
  72. Tagliabue – an obscure Italian word describing “an act in which something or someone maneuvers.”
  73. Tanaka – a common Japanese surname that specifically points to the “center of the rice paddy.”
  74. Tickle – a whimsical English surname first used for those residing in Tickhill in South Yorkshire.
  75. Uranus – an extremely rare last name honoring the Greek god of the sky and the planet.
  76. Wacko – from the Old German “wachar,” meaning one who is “awake,” “watchful,” and “vigilant.”
  77. Wanket – an American surname similar to the English “wanker,” for a “contemptible person.”
  78. Wienke – a short form of the German Wīgnand that uses the root “wini,” meaning “friend.”
  79. Wiwi – a Norse variation of Vivi, associated with being “lively” and “alive.”
  80. Yazzie – a Native American surname composed of “yázhí,” meaning “little.”
  81. You – an English spelling of the Chinese Yu, meaning “section of a river” or “to swim.”
  82. Zanyap – similar to Zanyab, an Arabic surname and girl’s name meaning “fragrant tree.”
  83. Ziggurat – refers to an ancient structure in Mesopotamia built to house the gods.

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About the Author

Maryana Vestic

Maryana Vestic is a Brooklyn-based writer, editor, and food photographer with a background in entertainment Business Affairs. She studied film at NYU, Irish Theatre Studies at Trinity College Dublin, and has an MFA in Creative Writing Nonfiction from The New School. She loves cooking, baking, hiking, and horror films, as well as running a local baking business in Brooklyn with her boyfriend.