100 Top Lithuanian Surnames With Meanings

Lithuanian last names came into existence in the 14th century and have mostly Christian origin.

Last names are known to be a crucial part of any family heritage. They form a binding element throughout all the generations making it a very significant and reputable part of family lineage.

Lithuanian family names are distinct and often rare. They are mostly used in the country of Lithuania, which is in the northeastern part of Europe.

The of Lithuania come from different origins such as Latin, Greek, Jewish, Hebrew, Slavic, Lithuania, German, and Polish. This makes Lithuanian last names some of the most interesting surnames.

In the Lithuanian culture, there is also an interesting tradition of keeping the male and female surnames similar (having the same root) but with different suffixes. Lithuanian last names for males can have suffixes -as, -ys, -is, -us, -a and -ė added to them.

Generally, the suffix -ienė indicates a married woman, and this suffix is attached by dropping the male surname suffixes.

An unmarried woman can have suffixes like -aitė, -iūtė, -ytė, and -utė. Here’s a helpful list of some of the top Lithuanian based surnames with meanings.

For more Eastern European surnames, take a look at Ukrainian Last Names and  Norse Surnames.

Common Lithuanian Last Names

The lively and unique nature of Lithuanian last names is what makes them different from the crowd. And this is the quality that made Lithuanian family names very famous over time. We present to you the list of such popular and common Lithuanian based last names.

1. Adomaitis, derived from Adam,This last name is made famous by Lithuanian basketball coach Dainius Adomaitis.

2. Andris, is derived from the Greek personal name Andreas. Considered to be one of the famous Lithuanian last names.

3. Backus meaning “to bake; house”.

4. Balthis meaning “white”.

5. Banis is derived from the Lithuanian based family names Benediktas, meaning “blessed”.

6. Bernotas – It is the Lithuanian form of Bernhard meaning “bear”. This family name is associated with Lithuanian state prize-winning poet and translator Albinas Bernotas.

7. Danis, is derived from Dionysus. It is one of the unique Lithuania surnames.

8. Dapkus – This last name is made famous by Lithuania basketball player Martynas Dapkus.

9. Dargis meaning “irritable”.

10. Dobis meaning “courageous; noble”.

11. Gabrys (Polish origin) meaning “God gave me strength”. Juozas Gabrys was a Lithuanian politician.

12. Gagas meaning “gander”.

13. Gaida (German origin) meaning “spear; lance”.

14. Janulis (Polish origin) and is a pet form of the name Jan. Karolis Janulis is a Lithuanian artist.

15. Jonaitis – This family name is a Lithuanian form of Johannes.

16. Juska – This last name is associated with popular Lithuanian professional football player Egidijus Juska.

17. Kairys – This last name is got famous due to Lithuanian pilot, Jurgis Kairys.

18. Karmazinas meaning “crimson”.

19. Klukas (Slavic origin) meaning “gossip; tale-telling”.

20. Lanka is known to be short for Lithuanian Lankauskas. One of the rarely used surnames in the list of Lithuanian last names.

21. Laukaitis meaning “bald”.

22. Levin (Jewish origin) meaning “lion”. It is considered to be a Slavicized form of Levy and is one of the Jewish Lithuanian surnames. Dov Levin is an Israeli-Lithuanian-Soviet historian.

23. Lutkus – It is a Lithuanian form of the name Ludolf.

24. Martinkus – This family name is associated with Lithuanian pilot Romualdas Marcinkus.

25. Masaitis – It is derived from the Lithuanian name Masys.

26. Mekas – This family name is popularly associated with Lithuanian artist and filmmaker Jonas Mekas.

27. Meizys meaning “barley; wheat farmer”.

28. Mickus – It is found to be the pet form of the personal name Dimitriju.

29. Molis meaning “brickmaker; clay”.

30. Romeka (Latin origin) meaning “of Rome”. Known to be one of the ancient Lithuanian names.

31. Rubis meaning “to become rough”.

32. Stungevicius, is derived from the surname Stungis. This last name is associated with Polish-Lithuanian nobleman Kazimieras Stungevicius.

33. Valanciunas, is derived from the place name Valanciunai. This surname got popular due to Lithuanian professional basketball player Jonas Valanciunas.

34. Wirkus meaning “to cry”.

35. Zemaitus meaning “Samogitian”. This family name is associated with Lithuanian guitar maker Tony Zemaitis who made guitars for some very famous musicians like Bob Dylan and George Harrison.

Rare Lithuanian Surnames

Just as Lithuanian is one of the rare and unique languages, their surnames are some of the oldest and rarest in the world. There were Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks who followed the Lithuanian way of life, and then surnames arose from Lithuanian Jewish people. Here, we present to you the list of such unique Lithuanian last names and meanings.

36. Bagdonas – This is the Lithuanian form of Polish Bogdan meaning “God given”. It is derived from one of the common Lithuanian names Bagdon.

37. Bakshis meaning “fighter; boxer”.

38. Balchunas meaning “white”. It is derived from the personal name Balcius. This family name is associated with TV actor Eric Balchunas. Considered to be among the common Lithuanian surnames.

39. Balkus meaning “white”.

40. Bayus meaning “rich”. One of the traditional Lithuanian names used as a nickname for a rich man.

41. Bernius meaning “farmhand”. This is the german form of one of the popular Lithuanian names Berner.

42. Bonus (Latin language origin) meaning “good”.

43. Degutis meaning “tar”. It is known to be an occupational search names list for people who sold tar.

44. Grigas – This name is linked with popular Lithuanian basketball coach Rimantas Grigas. It is one of the popular Lithuanian last names.

45. Gudaitis meaning “Belorussian”. It is included in the rare Lithuanian surnames list.

46. Kaunas is derived from the city Kaunas in Lithuania.

47. Keturakis meaning “four eyes” in the Lithuanian language. It is among the rare and unheard Lithuanian last names.

48. Markunas is derived from the personal name Markus.

49. Matelis – This family name is linked with Lithuanian film director Arunas Matelis.

50. Mazeika meaning “small; short”. This family name is considered to be one of the Americanized Lithuanian surnames.

51. Melis (Greek origin) meaning “care for; honey”.

52. Miskinis meaning “forest; forest spirit”.

53. Mockus is derived from the personal name Motiejus. This family name is associated with Lithuanian politician Antanas Mockus.

54. Norbut (German origin) meaning “bright; north”.

55. Norkus meaning “wish; desire”. This family name is made famous by Lithuania national basketball player Vytautas Norkus.

56. Pavlis is derived from the personal name Paulis. One o the rarely used Lithuanian last names.

57. Petronis (Greek origin) meaning “rock”.

58. Pikus (German origin) and is considered to be one of the Lithuanian Jewish surnames.

59. Pisula (Polish origin) meaning “to write”. This Lithuanian last name is considered to be used as a nickname for a scribe or clerk.

60. Rimkus – This surname is associated with Lithuanian politician Kestutis Rimkus.

61. Saltis meaning “salt”.

62. Shaulis meaning “rifleman”. One of the of Lithuania.

63. Sepetys meaning “comb; brush”. This last name is made famous by Lithuanian writer Ruta Sepetys of the ‘Between Shades of Gray’ the bestseller book.

64. Shimkus is derived from the personal name Simon.

65. Vitkus is derived from the personal name Vytautas. This is one of the rare baltic last names. Dr Kestutis Vitkus is one popular plastic surgeon with this Lithuanian family name and has a well-known clinic in Lithuania.

66. Wailonis (Russian origin)

67. Zilinskiene – It is a feminine form of Zlinskas, which is used as a name for a married or a widow name.

68. Zukas meaning “modern; volatile”. It is known to be the short form of Zukaskaus.

Popular Lithuanian Surnames

In Lithuania, the people are so talented that they make a place for themselves in different niches of industries like sports, politics, acting, fashion and much more and thus gaining popularity and making Lithuania proud. We present to you the list of such famous Lithuanian last names which are now well known in the world.

69. Alekna – This surname is associated with the famous Lithuanian discus thrower Virgilijus.

70. Baleckas – It is a Lithuanian form of Valeska.

71. Berankis meaning “armless”. Lithuanian professional tennis player Ricardas Berankis made this family name famous.

72. Degutyte is derived from the feminine form of an unmarried woman Degutis. This Lithuania surname is made famous by Lithuanian poet Janina Degutyte.

73. Donelaitis – Lithuanian poet and author of ‘The Seasons’, Kristijonas Donelaitis is known by this family name.

74. Girenas – This surname is made popular by Lithuania based pilot Stasys Girenas.

75. Jukna – This name is inked with Lithuanian rower Zigmas Jukna.

76. Kiedis meaning “protector”. Lithuanian born singer Anthony Kiedis has this family name.

77. Korsunovas – Well known and one of the best modern theatre director of Lithuania Oskaras Korsunovas has this surname.

78. Kubilus is derived from the given name Jakub.

79. Lubin – This surname is made popular by Lithuanian basketball player Frank Lubin.

80. Majus – This family name is associated with Lithuanian football player Egidijus Majus.

81. Mikulis – Lithuanian freedom fighter Benediktas Mikulis made this surname famous.

82. Pempe – Chairman of Architects Association of Lithuania Kestutis Pempe has this last name.

83. Reilly – Lithuanian actor and comedian, John Reilly is known by this last name.

84. Sharkey – This surname is associated with Lithuanian boxer Jack Sharkey.

85. Sudeikis – Lithuanian born actor Jason Sudeikis made this family name famous.

86. Tratas – Lithuanian actor and model James Tratas is known to have this surname.

87. Urmana – Famous Lithuania based opera singer Violeta Urmana has this surname.

88. Zdanys –Lithuania based bilingual poet Jonas Zdanys made this surname popular.

Ancient Lithuanian Last Names

Lithuania is a Christian-majority country and is filled with vibrant culture and lively people. These last names are considered to be one of the oldest and traditional in nature. We present to you the list of some of the unique ancient and traditional Lithuanian last names.

89. Abele meaning “apple tree”.

90. Abromavicius meaning “son of Abromavic”. This surname belongs to Aivaras Abromavičius, who was the Ukrainian Minister of Economy and Trade.

91. Ajauskas – Lithuanian painter Valentinas Ajauskas has this surname.

92. Almenas – This family name is associated with Lithuanian writer and physicist Kazys Almenas.

93. Andrulewicz meaning “son; man”.

94. Antinis – Lithuanian sculptor Robertas Antinis is known by this last name.

95. Baravykas meaning “king of the mushrooms”. Lithuanian architect Gediminas Baravykas has this surname.

96. Cesiunas -This surname is linked with Lithuanian Olympic medalist sprint canoeist Vladas Cesiunas.

97. Banionis – This surname is made well known by Lithuanian actor Donatas Banionis.

98. Galdikas –Lithuanian anthropologist Birute Galdikas is known by this surname.

99. Giedraitis meaning “unmarried”. This family name is associated with Lithuania basketball player Rokas Giedraitis.

100. Ivanauskaite meaning “unmarried woman”. Famous female Lithuanian writer Jurga Ivanauskaite has this family name.

has lots of great names articles to inspire you. If you liked our suggestions for Lithuanian surnames then why not take a look at something different like Ukrainian Last Names or Croatian Last Names.