Best is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
John is a common male name in the English language ultimately of Hebrew origin. The English form is from Middle English Ion, Ihon, Jon, Jan (mid-12c.), itself from Old French Jan, Jean, Jehan, from Medieval Latin Johannes, altered form of Late Latin Ioannes, or the Middle English personal name is directly from Medieval Latin, which is from the Greek name Ioannis (Ιωάννης), originally borne by Jews transliterating the Hebrew name Yochanan, the contracted form of the longer name Yehochanan, meaning "YHWH is Gracious" or "YHWH is Merciful". There are numerous forms of the name in different languages; these were formerly often simply translated as "John" in English but are increasingly left in their native forms.
Alec or Aleck is a Scottish form of the given name Alex. It may be a shortened form of the name Alexander or a given name in its own right. Notable people with the name include:
Holmes is an English-language surname with several origins.
Nicholson is a Germanic and Scottish surname. It is a patronymic form of the given name Nichol, which was a common medieval form of Nicholas.
Beckett is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include:
O'Connor is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Lewis is a surname in the English language. It has several independent origins.
Bailey is an English or Scottish surname. It is first recorded in Northumberland, where it was said to have been changed from Balliol due to the unpopularity of Scottish king John Balliol. There appears to be no historical evidence for this, and Bain concludes that the earliest form was Baillie or Bailli . The origin of the name is most likely from Anglo-Norman bailli, the equivalent of bailiff; bailie remains a regional Scottish variant of the term bailiff. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the Norman name may have been locational, derived from Bailleul-En-Vimeu in Normandy.
The surname Collins has a variety of likely origins in Britain and Ireland:
Wilkinson is an English surname of Norman origin. It is a variant of Williamson, derived from a variant of William, Wilkin, brought to the Anglo-Scottish border during the Norman conquest. At the time of the British Census of 1881, the relative frequency of the surname Wilkinson was highest in Westmorland, followed by Yorkshire, County Durham, Lincolnshire, Cumberland, Northumberland, Lancashire, Cheshire and Nottinghamshire. People named Wilkinson include:
Hanson is an Anglicized English surname of Scandinavian and German origin, created from the two words Hans and son. Spoken in English by a German or Swedish immigrant to America, for example, the sound of Hans' son comes out sounding like Hansson, shortened to Hanson. In this same example, an immigrant from Norway would have a different accent, resulting in the sound of Hans' sen, or Hanssen, shortened to Hansen.
Jackson is a common surname of Scottish, Irish and English origin eventually becoming a common American surname also. In 1980, Jackson was the 24th most common surname in England and Wales. In the 1990 United States Census, Jackson was the thirteenth most frequently reported surname, accounting for 0.3% of the population.
Ferguson is an Anglicization of the Scots Gaelic "Macfhearghus", a patronymic form of the personal name Fergus which translates as son of the angry (one).
Simpson is an English/Scottish patronymic surname from the medieval masculine given name 'Simme', a medieval variant of 'Simon'. The earliest public record of the name was in 1353 in Staffordshire, West Midlands region of England.
Norman is both a surname and a given name. The surname has multiple origins including English, Irish, Scottish, German, French, Norwegian, Ashkenazi Jewish, and Jewish American. The given name Norman is mostly of English origin, though in some cases it can be an Anglicised form of a Scottish Gaelic personal name.
Bowen is a Celtic surname representing two separate Celtic ethnicities, the Welsh ab Owain meaning "son of Owen" and the Irish Ó Buadhacháin meaning "descendant of Bohan". The Bowen lineage can be traced back to Llwyngwair in the 11th century, near Nevern in Pembrokeshire. The Bowen surname was adopted in 1424. There are seven Bowen crests and the Bowen/Owen family group share a tartan. The Bowen/Bowens surnames are more commonly found in southern Wales, while the Owen/Owens surnames are more commonly found in northern Wales.
Albert is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Germanic Adalbert and Adelbert, containing the words adal ("noble") and beraht. It is also less commonly in use as a surname. Feminine forms of the names "Alberta" are declining in use.
Harvey is an English and Scots family and given name derived from the Old Breton personal name Huiarnviu, derived from the elements hoiarn, huiarn meaning "iron" and viu meaning "blazing". An alternative elemental derivation has been theorized in which origination is from haer + vy meaning "battle/carnage worthy". It is related to Old Welsh Haarnbiu. An altogether separate origin in Ireland has been theorized where Harvey is an anglicization of the Gaelic personal name Ó hAirmheadhaigh, which is itself possibly related to the name of a mythical physician, Airmheadh.
The surname Whiting is of Saxon origin meaning 'the white or fair offspring'. The Saxon suffix "-ing" denotes 'son of' or 'offspring'. It is a patronymic name from the Old English pre-7th Century 'Hwita' meaning 'the white' or 'fair one'. The surname first appears in documentation from the late 11th century and has a number of variant forms ranging from 'Whiteing' and 'Whitting' to 'Witting'. However, the name was first found in Devon where it was seated both before and after the Norman Conquest.