Rich Last Names

These rich last names are real surnames that sound wealthy, polished or aristocratic, from stately English place names to French and Dutch family names. Each is listed A to Z with its meaning and origin, ideal for characters, pen names and brainstorming.

244 real surnames with meanings, A to Z.

A

Agnelli

Italian, little lambs; Turin industrial family

Italian
Ainsley

Possibly hermitage clearing or Ān's clearing, Old English

English
Ainsworth

Ægen's enclosure, Lancashire place name

English
Alcott

Old cottage, Old English

English
Aldrich

Old English Aldric, old ruler

English
Aldridge

From Aldridge in Staffordshire, dwelling among alders

English
Van Alstyne

Dutch, probably a place name; old Kinderhook family

Dutch
Appleton

Apple orchard farm, Old English; Boston merchant family

English
Ashbury

Fort by the ash trees, Old English

English
Ashby

Ash tree farm, Old Norse

English
Ashcroft

Small field by ash trees

English
Ashford

Ford by the ash trees, English place name

English
Ashley

Ash tree clearing, Old English

English
Ashton

Ash tree settlement, Old English

English
Ashworth

Enclosure by ash trees, Lancashire place name

English
Asquith

Ash ford, Old Norse

English
Astor

Possibly Occitan astur, goshawk; Gilded Age New York fortune

German

B

Bancroft

Bean field, Old English

English
Barrington

Settlement of Bara's people, Old English

English
Beauchamp

Norman French, beautiful field

English
Beaumont

Norman French, beautiful mountain

French
Beekman

Dutch, man by the brook; old New York family

Dutch
Belgrave

Leicestershire place, marten grove renamed beautiful grove

English
Bellamy

French bel ami, handsome friend

French
Belmont

French, beautiful hill; Gilded Age New York banker

French
Beresford

Beaver ford, Staffordshire place name

English
Bettencourt

Norman place name, Betto's farmstead

French
Biddle

Old English bydel, beadle; Philadelphia banking family

English
Bingham

Homestead in a hollow, Nottinghamshire; Earls of Lucan

English
Birla

Marwari merchant surname from Rajasthan; industrial house

Indian
Blackwell

Dark spring or stream, Old English

English
Blakemore

Black moor, Old English

English
Bradford

Broad ford, Old English

English
Brighton

Beorhthelm's farm, Sussex resort town

English
Buckingham

Bucca's riverside meadow; English dukes

English
Van Buren

Dutch, from Buren in Gelderland

Dutch
Burlington

From Bridlington, Yorkshire; Earls of Burlington

English
Busch

German, bush or thicket; St. Louis brewing family

German

C

Cabot

Norman name from Jersey; Boston Brahmin family

French
Cadwalader

Welsh Cadwaladr, battle leader; old Philadelphia family

Welsh
Calloway

From Caillouet in Normandy, pebbly place

English
Carlisle

Fort of Luguvalos, Cumbrian city

English
Carnegie

From the lands of Carnegie in Angus; steel fortune

Scottish
Carrington

Settlement of Cāra's people, Cheshire place name

English
Cavendish

Cafna's enclosure, Suffolk; Dukes of Devonshire

English
Chadwick

Ceadda's dairy farm, Old English

English
Chamberlain

Officer in charge of a noble's private chambers

English
Channing

Possibly Norman or Irish origin; old Boston family

English
Chatham

Forest homestead, Kent place name

English
Chesterfield

Open land by a Roman fort

English
Choate

Possibly from Chute Forest in Wiltshire; old Massachusetts family

English
Cholmondeley

Ceolmund's clearing; aristocratic name pronounced Chumley

English
Churchill

Hill with a church; Dukes of Marlborough

English
Clifford

Ford by a cliff; Barons Clifford

English
Coolidge

English, possibly from Cowlinge in Suffolk

English
Van Cortlandt

Dutch, from Cortlandt; colonial New York manor family

Dutch
Covington

Cufa's settlement, Cambridgeshire place name

English
Crawford

Crow's ford, Scottish place name

Scottish
Cromwell

Winding stream, Old English crumb wella

English
Crowninshield

Anglicized German Kronenschild, crown shield; Salem shipping family

German

D

Dashwood

Possibly from Dash Wood; English baronets

English
Davenport

Town on the River Dane, Cheshire

English
Delano

From Lannoy, alder grove; old Massachusetts family

French
Demidov

Son of Demid; Russian ironworks magnates

Russian
Devereux

From Évreux in Normandy; Earls of Essex

French
Drummond

Gaelic druim, ridge; Earls of Perth

Scottish
Du Pont

French, of the bridge; Delaware chemical dynasty

French
Duke

Leader, from Latin dux; tobacco fortune

English
Dunbar

Gaelic, summit fort; East Lothian earls

Scottish
Van Dyke

Dutch, of the dike

Dutch

E

Eldridge

Old English Ealdric, old ruler

English
Ellington

Settlement of Ella's people, Old English

English
Ellsworth

Ella's enclosure, Old English place name

English
Emerson

Son of Emery, industrious ruler

English
Endicott

Cottage at the end of the village; Salem family

English
Everett

From Old German Eberhard, brave as a boar

English

F

Fairbanks

Beautiful slope or bank

English
Fairchild

Beautiful child, Middle English nickname

English
Fairfax

Old English, fair hair; Lords Fairfax of Virginia

English
Farnsworth

Fern enclosure, Old English

English
Featherstonehaugh

Meadow by a four-stone monument, pronounced Fanshaw

English
Fenwick

Dairy farm in the fens, Northumberland

English
Field

Dweller by open land; Chicago department store fortune

English
Fitzgerald

Anglo-Norman, son of Gerald; Earls of Kildare

Irish
Fitzroy

Son of the king; ducal House of Grafton

English
Fitzwilliam

Anglo-Norman, son of William; English earls

English
Forbes

From Forbes in Aberdeenshire, Gaelic for field

Scottish
Frick

Swiss German, from Frick in Aargau or Friedrich

German
Fugger

Augsburg merchant banking family, meaning uncertain

German

G

Getty

Ulster Scots name of uncertain origin; oil fortune

Scottish
Goelet

Huguenot-Dutch New York real estate family, origin uncertain

French
Goldman

Gold man, Yiddish-German; Wall Street banking name

Jewish
Goldsmith

Worker in gold

English
Gould

Gold, nickname or goldsmith; Gilded Age railroad fortune

English
Grosvenor

Norman French, great huntsman; Dukes of Westminster

English
Guggenheim

From the German village Jugenheim; mining and art family

Jewish

H

Hamilton

Bare or crooked hill, Old English

Scottish
Harcourt

From Harcourt in Normandy; English barons

English
Hargreaves

Hare grove, Lancashire place name

English
Harkness

Border name of uncertain origin; Standard Oil fortune

Scottish
Harmsworth

From Harmondsworth, Heremod's enclosure; press baron family

English
Harriman

Servant of Harry, Middle English; railroad fortune

English
Harrington

Settlement of Heathuhere's people, English place name

English
Hartley

Stag's wood or clearing

English
Hastings

Of Hæsta's people, East Sussex place name

English
Hathaway

Path across the heath

English
Havemeyer

German Hofmeier, manor farm steward; sugar fortune

German
Hawksworth

Hawk's enclosure, Old English

English
Hawthorne

Dweller by a hawthorn hedge

English
Hearst

Wooded hill, Old English hyrst; publishing fortune

English
Heinz

Short form of Heinrich; Pittsburgh food fortune

German
Hershey

Anglicized Swiss German Hirschi, little deer

German
Hilton

Settlement on a hill, Old English

English
Hollingsworth

Holly enclosure, Old English

English
Hollister

Middle English occupational name of disputed meaning

English
Van Horne

Dutch, from Horn in Limburg

Dutch
Huntington

Hunters' hill, Old English; railroad fortune

English

I

Iwasaki

Japanese, rocky cape; founding family of Mitsubishi

Japanese

J

Jay

Nickname from the jay bird; Huguenot New York family

English

K

Kendrick

Welsh Cynwrig, chief hero

Welsh
Kennedy

Irish Ó Cinnéide, possibly armored head

Irish
Kensington

Estate of Cynesige's people, west London district

English
Kimberley

Cyneburg's clearing, Old English

English
Kingsbury

King's fortified manor, Old English

English
Kingsley

King's wood or clearing, Old English

English
Kingston

King's estate, Old English

English
Kirkland

Church land, Old Norse

Scottish
Krupp

Essen steel dynasty name of uncertain origin

German

L

Lancaster

Roman fort on the River Lune; royal duchy

English
Langley

Long wood or clearing, Old English

English
Lazard

French form of Lazarus, God has helped

Jewish
Lehman

Feudal tenant, German Lehnsmann; banking family

Jewish
Lindbergh

Swedish, lime tree mountain

Nordic
Livingston

Leving's settlement, Scottish place name; Hudson Valley manor family

Scottish
Lockhart

Enclosure keeper or locked stronghold, Scottish

Scottish
Lockwood

Enclosed wood, Old English

English
Lodge

Dweller at a lodge; Boston Brahmin family

English
Loeb

Yiddish-German, lion; New York banking family

Jewish
Lowell

Norman French, little wolf; Boston Brahmin family

English
Lowther

Foamy river, Cumbrian; Earls of Lonsdale

English

M

Mansfield

Open land by a hill called Mam, Nottinghamshire

English
Marlowe

Land left after draining a pool

English
McCormick

Son of Cormac, Gaelic; Chicago reaper fortune

Irish
Medici

Italian, physicians; Florentine banking dynasty

Italian
Mellon

Possibly Irish Ó Mealláin; Pittsburgh banking family name

Irish
Merriweather

Nickname for a cheerful person, fair weather

English
Michelin

Diminutive of Michel, who is like God

French
Mitsui

Japanese, three wells; Edo merchant house

Japanese
Montague

Norman French, pointed hill; Earls of Salisbury

English
Montgomery

Gomeric's hill, from Montgommery in Normandy

Scottish
Montrose

Gaelic, moor of the promontory; Scottish dukes

Scottish
Morgan

Welsh Morcant, possibly sea-bright; famous banking dynasty name

Welsh
Mountbatten

Anglicized from Battenberg, a Hessian town

English

N

Niarchos

Possibly Greek neos arkhos, new leader; shipping family

Greek

O

Ogden

Oak valley, Old English

English
Onassis

Greek surname of uncertain origin; shipping fortune

Greek
Oppenheimer

One from Oppenheim on the Rhine

Jewish
Ormsby

Orm's farm, Old Norse

English

P

Peabody

English, origin uncertain; Salem and Boston merchant family

English
Pemberton

Barley farm by a hill, Lancashire place name

English
Pembroke

Welsh pen bro, land's end; Earls of Pembroke

Welsh
Pennington

Farm paying a penny rent, Old English

English
Phipps

Son of Philip, lover of horses; steel fortune

English
Pierpont

Norman French, stone bridge; old Connecticut family

English
Pratt

Old English praett, cunning or astute

English
Prescott

Priest's cottage, Old English

English
Pritzker

From Przytyk in Poland; Chicago hotel family

Jewish
Pulitzer

From Pullitz in Moravia; publishing prize name

Jewish

Q

Quincy

From Cuinchy in Artois; old Massachusetts family

French

R

Radcliffe

Red cliff, Old English

English
Ravenscroft

Raven's enclosed field, Old English

English
Remington

From Rimington, farm by the boundary stream

English
Van Rensselaer

From Renselaar near Nijkerk; New York patroon family

Dutch
Rhinelander

One from the Rhineland; old New York fortune

German
Rochefort

French, strong rock; old noble surname

French
Rockefeller

From Rockenfeld in the Rhineland; Standard Oil family name

German
Rockwell

Rook's spring, Old English

English
Roosevelt

Dutch, field of roses; New York patrician family

Dutch
Rosenwald

German, rose forest; Sears philanthropist family

Jewish
Rothschild

Red shield, from a Frankfurt house sign; banking dynasty

Jewish
Rothwell

Spring in a clearing, Old English

English
Russell

Little red one, Norman French; Dukes of Bedford

English
Rutherford

Cattle ford, Scottish Border place name

Scottish
Rutledge

Red pool or stream, Cumbrian place name

English

S

Sachs

One from Saxony, German

Jewish
Saltonstall

From Saltonstall in West Yorkshire; Boston Brahmin family

English
Sassoon

Hebrew sason, joy; Baghdad-born merchant dynasty

Jewish
Schermerhorn

Dutch, from Schermerhorn in North Holland

Dutch
Schiff

German, ship, from a Frankfurt house sign

Jewish
Schuyler

Dutch, scholar or one who hides; colonial Albany family

Dutch
Seligman

Blessed or happy man, German; banking family

Jewish
Sheffield

Open land by the River Sheaf

English
Sherwood

Shire wood, the Nottinghamshire forest

English
Sinclair

From Saint-Clair in Normandy; Earls of Caithness

Scottish
Somerset

Summer settlers, English county; ducal title

English
Sotheby

Norse place name, Sóti's farm; London auction house

English
Spencer

Steward or dispenser of provisions; Earls Spencer

English
Stanford

Stony ford; California railroad fortune

English
Stanhope

Stony valley, Durham place name; Earls of Chesterfield

English
Stanton

Stone settlement, Old English

English
Sterling

From Stirling in Scotland, or little star coin

Scottish
Stirling

From Stirling, the Scottish royal burgh

Scottish
Stratford

Ford on a Roman road

English
Straus

German, ostrich or bouquet; department store family

Jewish
Stroganov

Russian, from strogat, to scrape; Urals merchant magnates

Russian
Stuyvesant

Dutch, blowing sand; New Amsterdam governor's family

Dutch
Sulzberger

One from Sulzberg in Bavaria; newspaper family

Jewish
Sumitomo

Japanese, dwelling friend; Osaka merchant house

Japanese
Sutherland

Southern land, Norse name for northern Scotland

Scottish

T

Talbot

Norman name of uncertain origin; Earls of Shrewsbury

English
Tata

Parsi surname of uncertain meaning; Mumbai industrial house

Indian
Thorne

Dweller by a thorn bush

English
Thornton

Settlement among thorn bushes

English
Thyssen

Son of Matthias, Lower Rhine form; steel family

German
Tiffany

From Greek Theophania, manifestation of God

English
Townsend

Dweller at the end of the town

English

V

Vance

Dweller by a fen or marsh

English
Vanderbilt

From De Bilt near Utrecht; Gilded Age railroad dynasty

Dutch
Vanderpool

Dutch, from the pool

Dutch
Vandeventer

Dutch, from Deventer in Overijssel

Dutch

W

Wadsworth

Wæddi's enclosure, West Yorkshire place name

English
Wainscott

Wagon shed cottage, Old English

English
Wallenberg

Swedish, wall mountain; Stockholm banking dynasty

Nordic
Warburg

German, watch castle; Hamburg banking family

Jewish
Waverley

Possibly a clearing by aspens or swampy ground, Surrey place name

English
Weatherby

Wether sheep farm, Old Norse

English
Wellington

Settlement of Weola's people, Somerset place name

English
Wentworth

Winter enclosure, Old English

English
Wertheimer

One from Wertheim in Franconia

Jewish
Westbrook

West stream, Old English

English
Wharton

Settlement by a weir; old Philadelphia family

English
Whitaker

White field, Old English

English
Whitfield

White field, Old English

English
Whitlock

White lock of hair, Old English nickname

English
Whitmore

White moor, Old English place name

English
Whitney

At the white island, Old English place name

English
Wickham

Homestead near a Roman settlement

English
Windsor

Riverbank with a windlass; name of the royal house

English
Winslow

Wine's burial mound, Buckinghamshire place name

English
Winthrop

Wina's village, Old English; Massachusetts founding family

English
Wolcott

Wolf's cottage, Old English; Connecticut governors

English
Worthington

Settlement of Weorth's people, Lancashire place name

English
Van Wyck

Dutch, from the neighborhood; old Hudson Valley family

Dutch
Wyndham

Wigmund's homestead, from Wymondham in Norfolk

English

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Results (6)

Aldrich

Old English Aldric, old ruler

English
Choate

Possibly from Chute Forest in Wiltshire; old Massachusetts family

English
Lehman

Feudal tenant, German Lehnsmann; banking family

Jewish
Eldridge

Old English Ealdric, old ruler

English
Fairchild

Beautiful child, Middle English nickname

English
Phipps

Son of Philip, lover of horses; steel fortune

English

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Why some rich last names sound expensive

A surname sounds rich when it echoes land, lineage and old institutions. English place names with endings like -worth, -ington, -ford and -by suggest a family that once owned the village or manor they were named after, as in Ashworth, Pemberton, Worthington and Carrington. Longer names with three or four syllables also slow the voice down, which gives them a formal weight that short names rarely have.

Norman French names add another layer. After 1066 many landholding families in England carried French names, and surnames like Beaumont, Montgomery, Sinclair and Devereux still carry that aristocratic flavour. Dutch names with Van, such as Vanderbilt, and German names with von suggest old estates in the same way. None of these names guarantee wealth, of course, but they are the names that novels, films and television have taught us to associate with it.

Rich last names old money families made famous

In the United States, a handful of surnames became shorthand for inherited wealth. Vanderbilt and Astor built fortunes in shipping, railways and fur, while the Cabots and Lowells were among the Boston families later called Brahmins. Rockefeller and Du Pont belong to the same tradition. These names are recognised worldwide, so using them for a fictional character suggests a direct link to the real families, which many writers prefer to avoid.

The list above includes those famous dynasties, from Astor to Medici and Rothschild, alongside many names that carry the same feel without pointing to one family. Names like Whitmore, Kingsley, Harrington, Lancaster and Ashford sound as if they belong on a portrait in a country house. Double-barrelled names such as Ashworth-Pemberton are another old money marker, especially in Britain, where joining two surnames often preserved the name of an heiress's family. You can build one yourself by combining two names from the list.

Giving a character a wealthy surname

In fiction, a rich surname is a quick way to set up class, privilege or ambition. A heiress called Pemberton or a banker called Harrington needs little further explanation. For contrast, give a wealthy family an ordinary name and let their money show in other ways, or give a struggling character a grand name inherited from better days. Either choice tells the reader something about history and status.

First names complete the effect. Formal, traditional first names like Charles, Eleanor, Theodore and Margaret suit old money surnames, and nicknames such as Teddy or Nell soften them for family scenes. Suffixes like III add a generational touch in American settings. Use the letter filter to browse names by initial, and the random picker below the list to try a few combinations quickly.

Frequently asked questions

Are rich last names actually linked to wealth?

Not directly. Most surnames that sound wealthy began as ordinary place names or French and Dutch family names, and plenty of people who carry them have no connection to money. They sound rich because literature, films and a few famous families have made us associate them with manor houses and inherited fortunes.

What is a double-barrelled surname?

It is a surname made of two names joined by a hyphen or a space, such as Bowes-Lyon. In Britain it often arose when a family wanted to keep the name of an heiress alongside their own. Because it was common among landed families, it still sounds upper class to many people.

Should I use a real wealthy family name for a character?

You can, but names like Vanderbilt, Rockefeller or Astor point directly to real families, and readers will assume a connection. For a fictional dynasty, a surname with the same feel but no famous owner, such as Harrington or Whitmore, gives you more freedom and avoids confusion.

Which first names suit a rich-sounding surname?

Traditional first names with some formality work best, such as Charles, Theodore, Alexander, Eleanor, Margaret and Victoria. Family surnames used as first names, like Spencer or Harrison, also fit old money settings. For balance, pair a long surname with a shorter first name, as in Grace Worthington.