Bird Last Names

Press for five real last names that are birds, or mean a bird in another language, each with its origin.

Bird Last Names

  1. RaabeBorrowed from German Rabe (“raven”).
  2. GreweEnglish and Irish surname from Old French grue (“crane”).
  3. EagleFrom the name of the bird as a byname.
  4. LarkFrom lark as a byname or for a catcher and seller of larks.
  5. KarvelisLithuanian. From karvelis (“dove”).

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How it works

These 70 bird last names are real surnames in the US census file. Some are spelled like the bird, such as Crane, Wren and Swan; others mean a bird in another language, as Orel is Czech for eagle.

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Last names that are birds, by kind

The dropdown under the button, Kind of bird, keeps the 27 songbirds and crows (Wren, Finch, Sparrow), the 16 water birds (Crane, Heron, Swan), the 10 birds of prey (Hawk, Falcon, Eagle), the 14 game and farm birds (Partridge, Dove, Peacock) or the 3 names from a word for a bird.

English and other languages

Under More filters, Language keeps the 54 names with an English dictionary entry or the 16 entered under another language, such as Italian Quaglia (quail), Polish Bocian (stork) and Lithuanian Karvelis (dove).

Tips
  • Kray, Krey and Cray can all go back to a German or Dutch word for a crow.
  • “Spelled like the bird” means the dictionary’s entry does not tie the surname to the bird.

Questions and answers

What last names are birds?

Crane, Finch, Wren, Heron, Swan, Sparrow, Starling, Nightingale, Partridge, Drake, Hawk, Falcon, Eagle, Dove, Peacock, Raven, Robin, Lark, Jay, Kite, Quail, Swallow, Crow, Duck, Goose and Teal are all bird words and real surnames in the US census file.

What last names mean bird?

Bird itself is one. Ptacek comes from Czech pták, bird, and one origin of Heenan is an Irish personal name built on éan, bird.

What last name means eagle?

Orel is the Czech word for an eagle and Aguiar goes back to Latin aquila, eagle. Eagle is the English word itself. Armagost comes from a Germanic personal name built on a word for an eagle.

Are these real last names?

Yes. Each has a surname entry in English Wiktionary and stands in the US Census Bureau’s file of last names reported 100 or more times in 2020. An origin is the dictionary’s, for the name in general.

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All 70 last names

Songbirds and crows 27

  • Cray As a Dutch surname, variant of Kraai, from kraai (“crow”).
  • Crow From Middle English Crowe, as an Old English surname, related to crow.
  • Drain As an Irish surname, from Ó Dreáin (“descendant of Dreán”), probably from dreán (“wren, songbird”).
  • Finch From finch as a byname or for a catcher and seller of finches.
  • Finco Italian. From Venetian finco (“finch”), probably used as a nickname.
  • Jay From Old French jai (“jay (bird)”), a nickname for a chatty or showy person.
  • Kosek Borrowed from Czech and Polish Kosek: from a diminutive of kos (“blackbird”); also a diminutive of kosa (“scythe”).
  • Kray From the German surname, from the noun Krähe (“crow”).
  • Krey From the German surname, from Krähe (“crow”). Also from a German borrowing of French crier (“to cry”).
  • Lark From lark as a byname or for a catcher and seller of larks.
  • Nightingale Spelled like the bird.
  • Raabe Borrowed from German Rabe (“raven”).
  • Ramus One of two main origins: borrowed from Dutch Ramus, from a personal name composed of the Proto-Germanic elements hrabnaz (“raven”) and waldą (“might, power, force”).
  • Raven Spelled like the bird.
  • Robin Spelled like the bird; the dictionary traces the name to Middle English Robin, a diminutive of Robert.
  • Rondinelli Italian. A nickname from a diminutive of rondine (“swallow”).
  • Ruck As an English surname, variant of Rook, itself from the noun rook (“type of crow”).
  • Slowik From Polish Słowik (“nightingale”).
  • Solloway From Ukrainian соловей (“nightingale”).
  • Soloway From Ukrainian соловей (“nightingale”).
  • Soroka From Ukrainian Сорока, from сорока (“magpie”).
  • Soroko From Russian or Ukrainian сорока (“magpie”).
  • Sparrow Spelled like the bird; the dictionary traces the name to Middle English Sparow.
  • Starling From a nickname for a gregarious person.
  • Swallow As an English surname, from the noun swallow.
  • Vrabec Czech. From vrabec (“sparrow”).
  • Wren Originally a nickname, from Middle English wrenne (“wren”).

Water birds 16

  • Anatra Italian. From anatra (“duck”), probably used as a nickname.
  • Bata One of various origins: from Arabic بَطَّة (“duck”), probably used as a nickname.
  • Bocian Polish. From bocian (“stork”).
  • Crane As an English surname, from the noun crane.
  • Drake As an English surname, from both senses of the noun drake, meaning "male duck" and "dragon."
  • Duck The surname is originally a nickname from Middle English doke (“duck”).
  • Ganser From the German surname for a breeder of geese, from Gans (“goose”).
  • Goose Spelled like the bird.
  • Grewe English and Irish surname from Old French grue (“crane”).
  • Hern Spelled like the bird.
  • Heron As an English and French surname, from heron.
  • Kaczka Polish. From kaczka (“duck”).
  • Krahn From the German surname of Low German origin, from Middle Low German krane (“crane”).
  • Paparella Borrowed from Italian Paparella and/or from the Italianization of Sicilian Papareḍḍa (“little duck”).
  • Swan From swan, the bird.
  • Teal From teal, a nickname given to someone considered to resemble this duck.

Birds of prey 10

  • Aguiar Portuguese. From Latin aquilāris (“place inhabited by eagles”), from aquila (“eagle”).
  • Armagost Ultimately from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements arô (“eagle”) and gastiz (“stranger, guest”).
  • Eagle From the name of the bird as a byname.
  • Falcon From Spanish Falcón, or a calque from Amerindian languages, for the bird falcon.
  • Hawk As an English surname, occupational surname for a hawker. This may have been inherited from Middle English hauek (“hawk”), from Old English hafoc.
  • Kite As an English surname, from the noun kite (“bird of prey”).
  • Kulich Czech. From kulich (“little owl”).
  • Orel Czech. From orel (“eagle”).
  • Pugach From Ukrainian or Russian Пугач, or from Polish Puchacz; literally “owl”.
  • Sowul Polish. From sowa (“owl”).

Game and farm birds 14

  • Balodis Latvian. From balodis (“pigeon”).
  • Barbagallo Italian. From barba (“beard”) + gallo (“rooster”).
  • Dove As an English surname, from the noun dove.
  • Golomb From Polish Gołąb/Gołomb, from Polish gołąb (“dove / pigeon”).
  • Karvelis Lithuanian. From karvelis (“dove”).
  • Kogut From Polish kogut (“rooster”).
  • Partridge Spelled like the bird.
  • Peacock From peacock, a nickname.
  • Pernice Italian. From pernice (“partridge”), probably a nickname.
  • Piccione From Italian piccione (“pigeon”).
  • Pituch Polish. From pituch (“rooster”).
  • Quaglia Italian. A nickname from quaglia (“quail”).
  • Quail From a Manx form of McPhail. Also an English nickname from the quail bird.
  • Tauber Borrowed from German Tauber, an occupational surname for a pigeon breeder, from Taube (“pigeon”) + -er.

A word for a bird 3

  • Bird As an English and Scottish surname, from the noun bird.
  • Heenan One of two main origins: reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó hÉanáin (“descendant of Éanán”), a personal name derived from a diminutive form of éan (“bird”).
  • Ptacek From Czech Ptáček, diminutive of pták (“bird”).
How this list was compiled

A list by a written rule, built on 3 October 2026. A surname is listed when three things hold. One: it has a surname entry in English Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org, CC BY-SA 4.0, read that day). Two: either it is spelled as the English name of a bird, or the etymology of its entry glosses the name with a bird (bird, eagle, falcon, hawk, owl, crow, raven, sparrow, lark, finch, nightingale, swallow, thrush, magpie, woodpecker, swan, heron, crane, goose, duck, stork, dove, pigeon, partridge, quail, peacock, rooster and their like). Three: the spelling is in the US Census Bureau's file of last names reported 100 or more times in the 2020 Census (https://www2.census.gov/topics/genealogy/2020surnames/Names2020_LastNames_RaceHispanic.xlsx, public domain), so every card is a last name people carry; no rank or count is printed. Each card gives the dictionary's own words for the origin, cut to the clause that names the bird, with the language of the entry in front when it is not English; 'Spelled like the bird' means the dictionary's entry does not tie the surname to the bird: it gives no etymology (Goose, Hern, Nightingale, Partridge, Raven) or another one, which the card then states (Robin, Sparrow). Where an entry lists several origins and the bird is not the first, the card says so ('One of two main origins', 'Also'). Names tied only to a place, unkind glosses and entries whose whole etymology is uncertain were left out; a hedge the dictionary prints ('probably', 'may') stays on the card. 150 names passed the rule. This site's rule is that at most 40 in 100 names of a list may also stand on its other lists: 17 names were left out because a list that already holds them has no room (among them: Daw, Spink, Speight, Titmus, Laverick, Coote, Sheldrake), and 63 more to keep this list under the cap. That leaves 70 names, 27 of them shared (38.6 in 100), counted on 3 October 2026. Kinds: 27 songbirds and crows, 16 water birds, 10 birds of prey, 14 game and farm birds, 3 from a word for a bird. An origin is what the dictionary records for the surname in general, not for any family. Licence: Drawn from English Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); the census file is a work of the US government and in the public domain. The selection and the grouping are our own work.