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Native American last names: 60+ real surnames by nation

69 names · Updated · By The Nomezo Editors · Save to Pinterest

Native American last names include Begay and Yazzie, common Navajo surnames from the Navajo words for his son and little, and Red Cloud, carried by descendants of the Oglala Lakota leader. Most Native Americans today, though, carry English, Spanish or French surnames, so a Native family is as likely to be named Locklear, Naranjo or Vann as Two Bulls.

Most nations did not use inherited family names. In the late 1800s, US Indian agents recorded families on census and allotment rolls, and an 1890 order from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs told them to give wives and children the father's name as a surname. Some names stayed in the nation's language, like Begay, many were translated into English, like Black Elk, and others came from missionaries and traders. Every surname below is tied to a specific nation and to the word, ancestor or family it comes from. These are living family names, so please read them as history rather than as name ideas, and note that spellings vary between families.

Can't decide? Shuffle 6 random picks

  • Nampeyo

    Hopi-Tewa potter family; Tewa for snake that does not bite

  • Brant

    Mohawk; from the stepfather of the 1700s leader Joseph

  • Real Bird

    Crow; Henry served as Montana's poet laureate

  • Locklear

    Lumbee; an English surname carried by many North Carolina Lumbee

  • Chavarria

    Santa Clara Pueblo; a Basque surname meaning new house

  • Echohawk

    Pawnee; John has long led the Native American Rights Fund

Want endless ideas? Try the last name generator and generate new names in one click.

Lakota and Dakota surnames

On reservations such as Pine Ridge, Rosebud and Standing Rock, many surnames are English translations of an ancestor's Lakota name, often a respected leader's.

  1. Red Cloud: Oglala Lakota; descendants of Maȟpíya Lúta, the 1800s leader
  2. Black Elk: Oglala Lakota; family of the holy man Heȟáka Sápa
  3. Two Bulls: Oglala Lakota family; Theresa led the Oglala Sioux Tribe in 2008
  4. American Horse: Oglala Lakota; from an 1800s Oglala chief of that name
  5. Little Thunder: Sicangu Lakota; from the chief whose band was attacked in 1855
  6. Crow Dog: Sicangu Lakota; descendants of an 1800s Brulé leader of that name
  7. Brave Heart: Lakota; translated from an ancestor's Lakota name
  8. Looking Horse: Lakota; the family that keeps the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe
  9. Long Soldier: Oglala Lakota; poet Layli won a 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award
  10. White Plume: Oglala Lakota; Alex led the Oglala Sioux Tribe in 2006
  11. Fools Crow: Oglala Lakota; Frank was a ceremonial chief and nephew of Black Elk
  12. Fire Thunder: Oglala Lakota; Cecilia became her tribe's first woman president in 2004

Crow, Blackfeet, Cheyenne and other Plains surnames

Across Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska and Oklahoma, many families carry English forms of the names of chiefs, warriors and holy people.

  1. Medicine Crow: Crow (Apsáalooke); historian Joseph, called the last Crow war chief
  2. Old Coyote: Crow; Barney was a World War II code talker
  3. Real Bird: Crow; Henry served as Montana's poet laureate
  4. Not Afraid: Crow; Alvin led the Crow Tribe as chairman
  5. Old Person: Blackfeet; Earl served as a Blackfeet chief for decades
  6. Heavy Runner: Piikani Blackfeet; from the chief killed in the 1870 Marias Massacre
  7. Two Moons: Northern Cheyenne; from a Cheyenne leader at Little Bighorn
  8. Little Wolf: Northern Cheyenne; from the leader of the 1878 Cheyenne exodus
  9. Big Bow: Kiowa; from a Kiowa war leader of the 1860s and 1870s
  10. Spotted Bear: Hidatsa; Alyce led the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota
  11. Echohawk: Pawnee; John has long led the Native American Rights Fund
  12. Tallchief: Osage; family of ballerinas Maria and Marjorie

Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole and Lumbee surnames

Southeastern nations met European newcomers early, so their surnames mix words from their own languages with English names. The Lumbee of North Carolina mostly carry English surnames.

  1. Mankiller: Cherokee; from asgaya-dihi, a military title like captain
  2. Watie: Cherokee; from the Cherokee name of a Civil War general's father
  3. Boudinot: Cherokee; editor Gallegina Watie adopted a benefactor's name in 1818
  4. Vann US #2,413: Cherokee; a trader's surname, borne by the powerful leader James
  5. Harjo: Muscogee; from hadcho, recklessly brave, a war title
  6. Micco: Muscogee and Seminole; from mekko, chief or town leader
  7. Osceola: Seminole; from Asi-yahola, black drink shouter, the 1830s leader
  8. Locklear US #2,003: Lumbee; an English surname carried by many North Carolina Lumbee
  9. Oxendine: Lumbee and Tuscarora; from Oxenden, an English place name
  10. Lowry US #1,454: Lumbee; folk hero Henry Berry's family, from a pet form of Lawrence

Haudenosaunee, Northeast and Great Lakes surnames

In the Northeast and the Great Lakes, surnames often honor a famous ancestor and go back to colonial or early American records.

  1. Skenandore: Oneida; from Skenandoa, an Oneida chief allied with the Americans
  2. Jemison: Seneca; from Mary, a captive adopted by the Seneca in 1758
  3. Cornplanter: Seneca; descendants of the 1700s Seneca leader and diplomat
  4. Brant US #3,598: Mohawk; from the stepfather of the 1700s leader Joseph
  5. Tantaquidgeon: Mohegan; family of medicine woman and scholar Gladys
  6. Oshkosh: Menominee; descendants of the chief the Wisconsin city is named for
  7. Pokagon: Potawatomi; from Leopold, whose band won the right to stay in Michigan
  8. Decorah: Ho-Chunk; from Descaris, French husband of chief Glory of the Morning
  9. Bellecourt: White Earth Ojibwe; a French surname, borne by AIM co-founder Clyde
  10. Thorpe US #1,642: Sac and Fox; Olympian Jim's family; from Old Norse for village

Surnames from traders, settlers and Spanish missions

French and Scottish traders married into many nations, and their children carried both heritages. In the Southwest, Spanish missionaries gave Pueblo families Spanish surnames.

  1. Deloria: Yankton Dakota; from the French name Des Lauriers, among the laurels
  2. Janis: Oglala Lakota; from French traders who married into Oglala families
  3. Renville: Dakota; from Joseph, a French and Dakota fur trader of Minnesota
  4. Eastman US #2,175: Santee Dakota; from army painter Seth, grandfather of physician Charles
  5. LaFlesche: Omaha; from Joseph, an Omaha chief and son of a French trader
  6. McIntosh US #825: Muscogee; from a Scottish officer whose son became a Creek chief
  7. McGillivray: Muscogee; from trader Lachlan, father of 1780s leader Alexander
  8. LeFlore: Choctaw; from French-Canadian Louis LeFleau, father of chief Greenwood
  9. Colbert US #1,609: Chickasaw; from a Scottish trader whose sons became Chickasaw leaders
  10. Naranjo US #2,248: Santa Clara Pueblo potters; Spanish for orange tree
  11. Chavarria US #1,963: Santa Clara Pueblo; a Basque surname meaning new house
  12. Lovato US #4,281: Kewa (Santo Domingo) Pueblo; from Spanish lobato, wolf cub

How to pick the right name

Name the nation

There is no single Native American language or naming custom. Begay is Navajo, Harjo is Muscogee and Deloria is Yankton Dakota, so always say which nation a surname belongs to.

Remember these are real families

Every surname here is carried by living people. If you are writing fiction, avoid giving these names to stereotyped characters, and consider asking members of the nation for guidance.

Start family research with tribal records

For genealogy, tribal enrollment offices, agency census rolls and, for the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee and Seminole, the Dawes Rolls of 1898 to 1914 are the usual starting points.

Be wary of unsourced lists

Lists of Native American last names that give no nation or source often mix real names with invented ones. A real surname can be traced to a nation, a word or a family.

Native American last names: 69 ideas from Nomezo

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Frequently asked questions

What are common Native American last names?

Begay, Yazzie, Tsosie and Benally are among the most common surnames on the Navajo Nation. Locklear is widespread among the Lumbee of North Carolina, Harjo among the Muscogee and Red Cloud among the Oglala Lakota.

Did Native Americans have last names before Europeans arrived?

Most nations did not use inherited surnames. People had personal names, often changed over a lifetime, along with clan and family identities. Fixed surnames came through missionaries, traders and US and Spanish government records, mostly in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Why do so many Native Americans have English or Spanish last names?

Spanish missionaries baptized Pueblo families with Spanish names, traders' children took their fathers' surnames, and boarding schools and Indian agents assigned English names. Today most Native people carry surnames like Locklear, Naranjo or Vann.

What does the Navajo surname Begay mean?

Begay comes from the Navajo word biyeʼ, meaning his son. It began as part of a longer personal name, such as a father's name followed by biyeʼ, and record keepers wrote it down as a family name.

Where did surnames like Red Cloud and Black Elk come from?

They are English translations of the names of famous Lakota ancestors: Maȟpíya Lúta (Red Cloud) and Heȟáka Sápa (Black Elk). When agents recorded families in the late 1800s, a respected father's or grandfather's name often became the family surname.

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