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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Jewish (Ashkenazic) : regional name for someone in Eastern Europe originating from Italy, from Polish włoch, meaning ‘Italian’ (originally ‘foreigner’). See Vlach.
  • German and Swedish : variant of Block.
  • Danish : from blok ‘block (of wood)’, hence a nickname for a large lumpish person, or from German Block.

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