Native American Last Name Generator

Family surnames from Native nations, labeled by nation

Real-World Names & CulturesPart of: last names by country and culturePart of: real-world name generators500 names

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500 surnames carried in Native American families today, each labeled with its nation, such as Begay (Navajo), Two Bulls (Lakota), Sixkiller (Cherokee) and Harjo (Muscogee).

About Native American last names

Native American last names do not come from one naming tradition. Before the reservation era most nations did not hand a family name from parent to child. People carried personal names, clan ties or names earned over a lifetime. Inherited surnames spread mostly in the 1800s and early 1900s, when census takers, allotment agents, missionaries and boarding schools wrote one fixed name beside each family.

That history explains the mix in this list. Navajo families carry names such as Begay, Yazzie and Tsosie, which grew out of Diné words written down by clerks. Many Lakota, Crow, Cheyenne and Blackfeet families carry an ancestor's name in English translation, such as Two Bulls, Brave Heart or Pretty on Top. Cherokee and Muscogee families kept names like Sixkiller, Bushyhead, Harjo and Fixico. Pueblo families often have Spanish surnames, Unangan and Alutiiq families in Alaska often have Russian ones, and Lumbee names such as Locklear and Oxendine are English in form.

Each entry gives one surname and a nation where it is well known. The same surname can appear in more than one nation, and many Native families carry everyday English, Spanish or French names. A surname does not prove ancestry or tribal enrollment, which each nation decides for itself. These names belong to living families, so use them with care.

How to choose Native American last names

  • Match the surname to the nation and region. A Navajo character named Begay or a Muscogee character named Harjo reads true, and the reverse does not.
  • Translated Plains names such as Brave Heart or Pretty on Top are full family surnames. Write every word, and never shorten one or treat it as a nickname.
  • Do not invent a meaning for a name. If a story needs the history of a family name, ask the nation's cultural office or read what the family has published.
  • A surname is not evidence of ancestry. For genealogy, start with tribal enrollment offices and records such as the Dawes Rolls or the Indian census rolls, not with a name.
  • Many of these names belong to a small number of families. For fiction, pair the surname with an ordinary given name and avoid copying a real person's full name.

Frequently asked questions

What are common Native American last names?

It depends on the nation. Begay, Yazzie, Tsosie and Benally are widely carried Navajo surnames, Locklear and Oxendine are closely tied to the Lumbee, and Harjo and Fixico to the Muscogee. Many Native families also carry everyday English, Spanish or French surnames, so no single list covers everyone.

Why are some last names English phrases like Two Bulls or Brave Heart?

On the Plains, agents and interpreters in the late 1800s often translated a man's personal name into English and recorded it as the family's surname. His descendants kept it. Names in this list such as Two Bulls (Lakota), Pretty on Top (Crow) and Heavy Runner (Blackfeet) are carried as full surnames today.

Does having one of these surnames mean someone is Native American?

No. A surname does not prove ancestry or tribal enrollment, and many names here are also carried by people with no Native heritage. Each nation sets its own citizenship rules, usually based on descent from people listed on specific rolls.

Did Native Americans have last names before European contact?

Most nations did not pass a fixed family name from parent to child. People were known by personal names, which could change over a lifetime, and by clan and kinship ties. Inherited surnames spread with trade, missions, censuses, allotment and boarding schools, mostly during the 1800s and early 1900s.

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All 500 Native American last names

This is the complete list the generator above draws its random batches from, sorted A to Z and grouped by first letter.

Plain text, one name per line.

A: 22 names

  • Addison (Arapaho)
  • Adkins (Chickahominy)
  • Afraid of Hawk (Lakota)
  • After Buffalo (Blackfeet)
  • Ahmaogak (Iñupiaq)
  • Alford (Shawnee)
  • American Horse (Lakota)
  • Angaiak (Yup'ik)
  • Anoatubby (Chickasaw)
  • Antone (Tohono O'odham)
  • Apangalook (Siberian Yupik)
  • Apassingok (Siberian Yupik)
  • Arkeketa (Otoe)
  • Armenta (Chumash)
  • Asah (Kiowa)
  • Attakai (Navajo)
  • Attaquin (Wampanoag)
  • Attla (Koyukon)
  • Aubid (Ojibwe)
  • Auchiah (Kiowa)
  • Axtell (Nez Perce)
  • Ayagalria (Yup'ik)

B: 53 names

  • Bad Heart Bull (Lakota)
  • Bahe (Navajo)
  • Banks (Ojibwe)
  • Barbry (Tunica-Biloxi)
  • Battise (Alabama-Coushatta)
  • Batton (Choctaw)
  • Bear Medicine (Blackfeet)
  • Bearcomesout (Cheyenne)
  • Beaulieu (Ojibwe)
  • Beauvais (Mohawk)
  • Becenti (Navajo)
  • Bedonie (Navajo)
  • Begay (Navajo)
  • Begaye (Navajo)
  • Bellecourt (Ojibwe)
  • Belvin (Choctaw)
  • Benally (Navajo)
  • Benson (Mandan)
  • Berryhill (Muscogee)
  • Big Crow (Lakota)
  • Big Hair (Crow)
  • Bigheart (Osage)
  • Bigmeat (Cherokee)
  • Bigpond (Muscogee)
  • Billie (Seminole)
  • Billiot (Houma)

B, continued

  • Birdinground (Crow)
  • Bitsilly (Navajo)
  • Black Elk (Lakota)
  • Blackdeer (Ho-Chunk)
  • Blackhawk (Ho-Chunk)
  • Blue (Catawba)
  • Bluejacket (Shawnee)
  • Bohanon (Choctaw)
  • Bointy (Kiowa)
  • Bordeaux (Lakota)
  • Botone (Kiowa)
  • Bowers (Seminole)
  • Bradby (Pamunkey)
  • Branham (Monacan)
  • Brave Heart (Lakota)
  • Brayboy (Lumbee)
  • Brewington (Coharie)
  • Brings Plenty (Lakota)
  • Brower (Iñupiaq)
  • Bruner (Muscogee)
  • Bucktrot (Yuchi)
  • Buffalohead (Ponca)
  • Bullard (Lumbee)
  • Bulletts (Paiute)
  • Bullshoe (Blackfeet)
  • Bushyhead (Cherokee)
  • Buster (Seminole)

C: 35 names

  • C'Hair (Arapaho)
  • Cagey (Lummi)
  • Calabaza (Santo Domingo)
  • Canty (Catawba)
  • Capoeman (Quinault)
  • Cassadore (Apache)
  • Chalepah (Plains Apache)
  • Chapoose (Ute)
  • Charlo (Salish)
  • Chavarria (Santa Clara)
  • Chavis (Lumbee)
  • Cheama (Zuni)
  • Checote (Muscogee)
  • Chee (Navajo)
  • Chickalusion (Dena'ina)
  • Chiloquin (Klamath)
  • Chino (Apache)
  • Chuculate (Cherokee)
  • Cladoosby (Swinomish)
  • Claplanhoo (Makah)
  • Coffey (Comanche)
  • Cogo (Haida)
  • Coker (Muscogee)
  • Colbert (Chickasaw)
  • Colegrove (Hupa)
  • Concha (Taos)
  • Concho (Acoma)
  • Coombs (Wampanoag)
  • Cordero (Cochiti)
  • Coriz (Santo Domingo)
  • Cornelius (Oneida)
  • Crowe (Cherokee)
  • Cummings (Lumbee)
  • Custalow (Mattaponi)
  • Cypress (Seminole)

D: 19 names

  • Da (San Ildefonso)
  • Danforth (Oneida)
  • Dardar (Houma)
  • Darden (Chitimacha)
  • Dasheno (Santa Clara)
  • Davids (Mohican)
  • Decorah (Ho-Chunk)
  • Deere (Muscogee)
  • Deloria (Dakota)
  • Demoski (Koyukon)
  • Deschenie (Navajo)
  • Diabo (Mohawk)
  • Dial (Lumbee)
  • Doxtator (Oneida)
  • Dragswolf (Hidatsa)
  • Dressler (Washoe)
  • DuMarce (Dakota)
  • Durant (Choctaw)
  • Dushane (Shawnee)

E: 7 names

  • Eastman (Dakota)
  • Echo-Hawk (Pawnee)
  • Eleazer (Shinnecock)
  • Enos (Shoshone)
  • Etsitty (Navajo)
  • Ettawageshik (Odawa)
  • Ewan (Ahtna)

F: 14 names

  • Fairbanks (Ojibwe)
  • Falleaf (Lenape)
  • Fast Horse (Lakota)
  • Fielding (Mohegan)
  • Fife (Muscogee)
  • Firemoon (Assiniboine)
  • Fixico (Muscogee)
  • Flett (Spokane)
  • Folsom (Choctaw)
  • Forsman (Suquamish)
  • Fourkiller (Cherokee)
  • Fourstar (Assiniboine)
  • Fragua (Jemez)
  • Friday (Arapaho)

G: 17 names

  • Gachupin (Jemez)
  • Geiogamah (Kiowa)
  • General (Cayuga)
  • Gillette (Arikara)
  • Gobin (Tulalip)
  • Goes Ahead (Crow)
  • Goggles (Arapaho)
  • Golodoff (Unangan)
  • Gone (Gros Ventre)
  • Good Fox (Pawnee)
  • Goodbird (Hidatsa)
  • Goodeagle (Quapaw)
  • Goudy (Yakama)
  • Gourneau (Ojibwe)
  • Grayson (Muscogee)
  • Guina (Shoshone)
  • Gumbs (Shinnecock)

H: 29 names

  • Haakanson (Alutiiq)
  • Halftown (Seneca)
  • Harjo (Muscogee)
  • Harmon (Nanticoke)
  • Harragarra (Otoe)
  • Haskie (Navajo)
  • Havatone (Hualapai)
  • Hayes (Akimel O'odham)
  • Hayward (Pequot)
  • He Does It (Crow)
  • Headdress (Assiniboine)
  • Heavy Runner (Blackfeet)
  • Hedgepeth (Haliwa-Saponi)
  • Heminger (Dakota)
  • Her Many Horses (Lakota)
  • Hillaire (Lummi)
  • Hobucket (Quileute)
  • Hokeah (Kiowa)
  • Hoklotubbe (Choctaw)
  • Holy Rock (Lakota)
  • Honanie (Hopi)
  • Hopson (Iñupiaq)
  • Hornbuckle (Cherokee)
  • Hotch (Tlingit)
  • Howling Wolf (Arikara)
  • Hummingbird (Cherokee)
  • Hunt (Lumbee)
  • Huntington (Koyukon)
  • Huntsalong (Hidatsa)

I: 1 name

  • Itta (Iñupiaq)

J: 11 names

  • Jacobs (Lumbee)
  • Janis (Lakota)
  • Jarnaghan (Hupa)
  • Jemison (Seneca)
  • Jimerson (Seneca)
  • Jojola (Isleta)
  • Jourdain (Ojibwe)
  • Journeycake (Lenape)
  • Juan (Tohono O'odham)
  • Juanico (Acoma)
  • Jumper (Seminole)

K: 19 names

  • Kabotie (Hopi)
  • Kadashan (Tlingit)
  • Kalifornsky (Dena'ina)
  • Kasayulie (Yup'ik)
  • Kash Kash (Umatilla)
  • Kassanavoid (Comanche)
  • Katzeek (Tlingit)
  • Kaulaity (Kiowa)
  • Kautz (Nisqually)
  • Kawagley (Yup'ik)
  • Kazhe (Apache)
  • Keeble (Dakota)
  • Keel (Chickasaw)
  • Kenmille (Kootenai)
  • Kipp (Blackfeet)
  • Kitcheyan (Apache)
  • Kitto (Dakota)
  • Knife Chief (Pawnee)
  • Kvasnikoff (Alutiiq)

L: 28 names

  • La Flesche (Omaha)
  • Laate (Zuni)
  • LaChappa (Kumeyaay)
  • LaDuke (Ojibwe)
  • Lazore (Mohawk)
  • Leading Fox (Pawnee)
  • Leask (Tsimshian)
  • Leekya (Zuni)
  • LeFlore (Choctaw)
  • Lekanof (Unangan)
  • Leno (Grand Ronde)
  • Lente (Isleta)
  • Limpy (Cheyenne)
  • Little Coyote (Cheyenne)
  • Locklear (Lumbee)
  • Loloma (Hopi)
  • Lomahaftewa (Hopi)
  • Lomawaima (Hopi)
  • Lomayesva (Hopi)
  • Lonetree (Ho-Chunk)
  • Long Soldier (Lakota)
  • Looking Horse (Lakota)
  • Lookout (Osage)
  • Love (Chickasaw)
  • Lowry (Lumbee)
  • Lupe (Apache)
  • Lynch (Haliwa-Saponi)
  • Lyons (Onondaga)

M: 34 names

  • Macarro (Luiseño)
  • Mad Plume (Blackfeet)
  • Magoosh (Apache)
  • Main (Gros Ventre)
  • Makil (Akimel O'odham)
  • Mankiller (Cherokee)
  • Manuel (Tohono O'odham)
  • Manygoats (Navajo)
  • Marchand (Colville)
  • Markishtum (Makah)
  • Marmon (Laguna)
  • Masayesva (Hopi)
  • Masiel (Luiseño)
  • Masten (Yurok)
  • Maynor (Lumbee)
  • Maytubby (Chickasaw)
  • McCovey (Yurok)
  • McGhee (Poarch Creek)
  • McIntosh (Muscogee)
  • Means (Lakota)
  • Mehojah (Kaw)
  • Meninick (Yakama)
  • Merculieff (Unangan)
  • Metoxen (Oneida)
  • Minthorn (Umatilla)
  • Mirabal (Taos)
  • Momaday (Kiowa)
  • Montour (Mohawk)
  • Mopope (Kiowa)
  • Morigeau (Salish)
  • Morseau (Potawatomi)
  • Motlow (Seminole)
  • Moves Camp (Lakota)
  • Mye (Wampanoag)

N: 15 names

  • Nageak (Iñupiaq)
  • Nakai (Navajo)
  • Nampeyo (Hopi)
  • Naneng (Yup'ik)
  • Napoleon (Yup'ik)
  • Narcia (Akimel O'odham)
  • Natewa (Zuni)
  • Neptune (Penobscot)
  • Newell (Passamaquoddy)
  • Nez (Navajo)
  • No Runner (Blackfeet)
  • Noka (Narragansett)
  • Norris (Tohono O'odham)
  • Northrup (Ojibwe)
  • Nosie (Apache)

O: 14 names

  • Obomsawin (Abenaki)
  • Oenga (Iñupiaq)
  • Okakok (Iñupiaq)
  • Old Coyote (Crow)
  • Old Elk (Crow)
  • Old Horn (Crow)
  • Old Person (Blackfeet)
  • Oldman (Arapaho)
  • Oozeva (Siberian Yupik)
  • Osceola (Seminole)
  • Oshkosh (Menominee)
  • Overton (Chickasaw)
  • Owle (Cherokee)
  • Oxendine (Lumbee)

P: 33 names

  • Pablo (Salish)
  • Paddlety (Kiowa)
  • Pahdopony (Comanche)
  • Paisano (Laguna)
  • Pakootas (Colville)
  • Panadis (Abenaki)
  • Panteah (Zuni)
  • Parker (Comanche)
  • Parrish (Pomo)
  • Pease (Crow)
  • Peratrovich (Tlingit)
  • Perryman (Muscogee)
  • Pesata (Apache)
  • Piestewa (Hopi)
  • Pigsley (Siletz)
  • Pinkham (Nez Perce)
  • Pitchlynn (Choctaw)
  • Plain Bull (Crow)
  • Plain Feather (Crow)
  • Plenty Wolf (Lakota)
  • Poafpybitty (Comanche)
  • Pocknett (Wampanoag)
  • Pokagon (Potawatomi)
  • Poolaw (Kiowa)
  • Poor Bear (Lakota)
  • Posey (Muscogee)
  • Pourier (Lakota)
  • Poweshiek (Meskwaki)
  • Pretty on Top (Crow)
  • Pretty Weasel (Crow)
  • Printup (Tuscarora)
  • Pushetonequa (Meskwaki)
  • Pyle (Choctaw)

Q: 5 names

  • Qoyawayma (Hopi)
  • Quam (Zuni)
  • Queahpama (Warm Springs)
  • Quinney (Mohican)
  • Quotskuyva (Hopi)

R: 17 names

  • Ramon (Tohono O'odham)
  • Rattlingourd (Cherokee)
  • Red Cloud (Lakota)
  • Red Corn (Osage)
  • Red Eagle (Osage)
  • Red Elk (Comanche)
  • Redeye (Seneca)
  • Renville (Dakota)
  • Revels (Lumbee)
  • Rickard (Tuscarora)
  • Risingsun (Cheyenne)
  • Roanhorse (Navajo)
  • Rolin (Poarch Creek)
  • Roughface (Ponca)
  • Roundstone (Cheyenne)
  • Rowland (Cheyenne)
  • Roybal (San Ildefonso)

S: 44 names

  • Sampson (Lumbee)
  • Sanipass (Mi'kmaq)
  • Sappier (Penobscot)
  • Sarcoxie (Lenape)
  • Sarracino (Laguna)
  • Satiacum (Puyallup)
  • Saubel (Cahuilla)
  • Saunsoci (Omaha)
  • Secakuku (Hopi)
  • Sekaquaptewa (Hopi)
  • Sekatau (Narragansett)
  • Shananaquet (Odawa)
  • Shemayme (Caddo)
  • Shenandoah (Onondaga)
  • Sheridan (Omaha)
  • Shotridge (Tlingit)
  • Shoulderblade (Cheyenne)
  • Shoyo (Shoshone)
  • Shugak (Alutiiq)
  • Shunatona (Otoe)
  • SiJohn (Coeur d'Alene)
  • Sinyella (Havasupai)

S, continued

  • Siva (Cahuilla)
  • Sixkiller (Cherokee)
  • Skenandore (Oneida)
  • Skidders (Mohawk)
  • Slickpoo (Nez Perce)
  • Soboleff (Tlingit)
  • Sockalexis (Penobscot)
  • Sockbeson (Penobscot)
  • Socobasin (Passamaquoddy)
  • Sooktis (Cheyenne)
  • Sopiel (Passamaquoddy)
  • Spang (Cheyenne)
  • Spotted Eagle (Blackfeet)
  • St. Marks (Chippewa Cree)
  • Stensgar (Coeur d'Alene)
  • Studi (Cherokee)
  • Suina (Cochiti)
  • Sunchild (Chippewa Cree)
  • Supernaw (Quapaw)
  • Swimmer (Cherokee)
  • Sylestine (Alabama-Coushatta)
  • Sylliboy (Mi'kmaq)

T: 40 names

  • Tabbee (Ute)
  • Tabbytite (Comanche)
  • Tahmahkera (Comanche)
  • Takes Enemy (Crow)
  • Talayesva (Hopi)
  • Tallchief (Osage)
  • Tantaquidgeon (Mohegan)
  • Tapahonso (Navajo)
  • Tarbell (Mohawk)
  • Tatsey (Blackfeet)
  • Teesateskie (Cherokee)
  • Tehee (Cherokee)
  • Tenakhongva (Hopi)
  • Tenkiller (Cherokee)
  • Tenorio (Santo Domingo)
  • Tewanima (Hopi)
  • The Boy (Gros Ventre)
  • Thorpe (Sac and Fox)
  • Thundercloud (Ho-Chunk)
  • Tiger (Muscogee)
  • Tillman (Shoshone)
  • Tohe (Navajo)
  • Tohee (Iowa)
  • Tommie (Seminole)
  • Tongkeamha (Kiowa)
  • Topash (Potawatomi)
  • Toppah (Kiowa)
  • Totus (Yakama)
  • Tourtillott (Menominee)
  • Toya (Jemez)
  • Tripp (Karuk)
  • Tritt (Gwich'in)
  • Trudell (Dakota)
  • Tselee (Plains Apache)
  • Tsikewa (Zuni)
  • Tso (Navajo)
  • Tsosie (Navajo)
  • Tubby (Choctaw)
  • Two Bulls (Lakota)
  • Two Leggins (Crow)

V: 6 names

  • Vallo (Acoma)
  • Vann (Cherokee)
  • Veneno (Apache)
  • Verdin (Houma)
  • Vicenti (Apache)
  • Vizenor (Ojibwe)

W: 26 names

  • Wachacha (Cherokee)
  • Wahnee (Comanche)
  • Wahpepah (Kickapoo)
  • Wakolee (Sac and Fox)
  • Walkingstick (Cherokee)
  • Wanatee (Meskwaki)
  • Warrior (Ponca)
  • Washakie (Shoshone)
  • Watahomigie (Havasupai)
  • Waubanascum (Menominee)
  • Wauneka (Navajo)
  • Waupoose (Menominee)
  • Wayka (Menominee)
  • Wermy (Comanche)
  • Wesaw (Potawatomi)
  • Wewa (Warm Springs)
  • Whatoname (Hualapai)
  • White Hat (Lakota)
  • White Plume (Lakota)
  • Whitebead (Caddo)
  • Whitekiller (Cherokee)
  • Whiteman Runs Him (Crow)
  • Whitewing (Ho-Chunk)
  • Windy Boy (Chippewa Cree)
  • Woodenlegs (Cheyenne)
  • Wopsock (Ute)

Y: 10 names

  • Yahola (Muscogee)
  • Yallup (Yakama)
  • Yazzie (Navajo)
  • Yeahquo (Kiowa)
  • Yellowhair (Navajo)
  • Yellowtail (Crow)
  • Yepa (Jemez)
  • Young Bear (Lakota)
  • Youngdeer (Cherokee)
  • Yucupicio (Yaqui)

Z: 1 name

  • Zah (Navajo)