How it works
These funny last names are all real: 99 US surnames that are also a food, an animal, a -bottom name or a phrase. 57 cards add the true origin from the name's dictionary entry, which is rarely the joke.
Read the full guide
The funniest last names have plain origins
In the -bottom names, bottom is the Old English botm, low ground or a broad valley: Rowbotham lived in an overgrown valley, and Winterbottom in a valley used only in winter. Onions is the Welsh name Einion, and Tickle comes from Tickhill, a place in England.
Sort by kind
The dropdown, Kind, keeps the 15 -bottom names, the 18 foods, the 9 animals or the 57 phrases and other surprises. Under More filters, Census band tells how rare a name is: 88 of the 99 are outside the top 5,000.
Tips
- A surname is centuries older than the joke and says nothing about anyone who carries it.
- Silly last names suit a story best with the origin beside them: Pancake is a translated German name.
Questions and answers
Are these funny last names real?
Yes. Every name is in the Census Bureau's 2020 file of last names carried by 100 people or more in the United States, and each has a surname entry in Wiktionary. Nothing is invented; only the draw is random.
What does bottom mean in a last name?
Low ground or a valley. The ending goes back to Old English botm: Sidebottom and Higginbotham are named for places in Cheshire and Lancashire, and Ramsbottom joins botm to an Old English word for a ram or for the plant ramsons.
Why do some last names sound like food?
Mostly through a trade or a change of spelling. Pease sold or grew peas and Cheeseman made cheese, but Onions is the Welsh name Einion, and Parsley is an altered form of the old family name Passelewe.
Which funny last names are phrases?
Golightly, Goodenough, Toogood and Doolittle read as phrases. So do Lightfoot, a nickname for a messenger or fast runner, and Turnbull, for someone strong enough to turn a bull.