Cantor is an English surname. One possible derivation is from the Middle English word gaunter, 'glover'. Alternatively, it may derive from cantere, 'one who sings', possibly related to the Latin base of cant or both sharing a Proto-Indo-European root with *kan-, both meaning 'song' or 'to sing'. It may also refer to the Anglo-Norman chantour or the Old French chantroir meaning 'enchanter' or 'magician' or cantor meaning 'leader of a choir', possibly also from the Latin precentor .
Notable people with the surname include:
The dictionary definition of cantor at Wiktionary
MacLeod, McLeod and Macleod are surnames in the English language. The names are anglicised forms of the Scottish Gaelic MacLeòid, meaning "son of Leòd", derived from the Old Norse Liótr ("ugly").
Vaughan and Vaughn are surnames, originally Welsh, though also used as a form of the Irish surname McMahon. Vaughan derives from the Welsh word bychan, meaning "small", and so corresponds to the English name Little and the Breton cognate Bihan. The word mutates to Fychan an identifier for a younger sibling or next of kin. It can also be used as a first name Vaughan.
Rodgers is a patronymic surname deriving from the given name of "Rodger" commonly used by the Normans and meaning "son of Rodger". Variant form of Rogers.
Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over one hundred identified noble families related to the surname by the Nobility & Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland.
Levine / Levin is a common Ashkenazi Jewish surname derived from the Hebrew name Levi. Levinsky is a variation with the same meaning.
Rogers is an English patronymic surname deriving from the given name of Roger commonly used by the Normans and meaning "son of Roger". Variants include Rodgers.
Fagan or Phagan is also a Norman-Irish surname, derived from the Latin word 'paganus' meaning ‘rural’ or ‘rustic’. Variants of the name Fagan include Fegan and Fagen. It was brought to Ireland during the Anglo-Norman invasion in the twelfth century and is now considered very Irish. In some cases it is a reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Fágáin or Ó Faodhagáin, which are probably dialect forms of Ó hÓgáin and Ó hAodhagáin. Irish lenited f is soundless. Notable people with the surname include:
Duval or DuVal is a surname, literally translating from French to English as "of the valley". It derives from the Norman "Devall", which has both English and French ties. Variant spellings include: Davolls, Deavall, DeVile, Devill, Deville, Divall, Divell and de Eyvill. Its meaning is derived from the French town of Deville, Ardennes. "Devall" was first recorded in England in the Domesday Book.
Morris is a surname of various origins though mostly of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh origin. The surname ranked 53 out of 88,799 in the United States and 32 out of 500 in England and Wales.
Sharp is an English language surname, cognate to the German scharf. It is also akin to words which have the sense of scraping, e.g. Latin scrobis 'ditch', Russian skresti 'to scrape'.
Dean is a surname originally derived from the Old English word "denu" meaning "valley." Another common variant of this surname is Deane. The family originate from counties Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
The surname Finn has several origins. In some cases it is derived from the Irish Ó Finn, meaning "descendant of Fionn"; the byname means "white" or "fair-haired". In other cases it is derived from the Old Norse Finnr, a personal name sometimes derived from a byname, or else from compound names beginning with this word element. In other cases Finn is a German surname derived from an ethnic name referring to people from Finland. Notable people sharing the surname are listed below.
Howard is a common English surname. One source for this surname is with the Gaelic names Ó hOghartaigh and Ó hIomhair. Other origins also exist. The dominant theory pertains to the French personal names Huard and Houard adapted after the Norman Conquest of 1066. It is from a Germanic source similar to Old High German *Hugihard "heart-brave," or *Hoh-ward, literally "high defender; chief guardian." Also probably in some cases a confusion with cognate Anglo-Scandinavian personal name Haward from Hávarðr, which means ha(r) "high" and element varðr, meaning "guardian", and sometimes also with unrelated Hayward. In some rare cases from Old English eowu hierde "ewe herd." In Anglo-Norman the French digramm -ou- was often rendered as -ow- such as couard → coward, tour → tower, flour → flower, etc. The first public record of the surname is dated 1221 in Cambridgeshire. There are several variant surname spellings.
Wells is an English surname of Norman origin, but is possibly a Welsh surname, from an old English word for Wales. It normally derives from occupation, location, and topography. The occupational name derives from the person responsible for a village's spring. The locational name derives from the pre-7th century "wælla" ("spring"). The topographical name derives from living near a spring. The oldest public record is found in 1177 in the county of Norfolk. Variations of Wells include Well, Welman, Welles, Wellman and Wellsman. At the time of the British Census of 1881, its relative frequency was highest in Berkshire, followed by Leicestershire, Oxfordshire, Kinross-shire, Huntingdonshire, Kent, Sussex, Lincolnshire, Dumfriesshire and Bedfordshire.
O'Keefe is an Irish surname, from the (Irish:O'Caoimh/Caomh.) It has links to Irish Royalty, with the family descendant by Cathal mac Finguine whose father Art Caemh was known as the King of Munster.
Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin clericus. Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name.
Birnbaum is a German-language family name common among Ashkenazi Jews. Notable people with the surname include:
FitzGerald or Fitzgerald, is an Irish surname of Hiberno-Norman origin. It is a patronymic derived from the prefix Fitz- from the Latin filius- plus Gerald, thus meaning "son of Gerald”. In Gaelic it is rendered Mac Gearailt.
Franks is an Anglo-American surname, derived from the given name Frank and originally came from England and Germany. The name was in the early records, of the Virginia Colony, starting in the 1660s. The Jewish surname, Franks has also been found as early as the 17th century, in New York City.
Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from the Old French curteis which was in turn derived from Latin cohors.