The article is devoted to semantic analysis of non-suffixal surnames of contemporary Chelm inhabitants. Based on the gathered material, an attempt has been made to define the meaning and etymology of anthroponyms, with their motivational roots including appellatives (names of jobs and people's functions, their qualities, animals and plants' names, topographic notions, abstracts, as well as adjectives), and other names (first names, ethnic and geographic names) of German origin. It must be underlined that a significant influence on a large number of surnames of German origin, revealed among anthroponyms of contemporary Chelm inhabitants, has been made not only by the German, but also by the Jewish, coming to the town from all over the world.