Surnames from Locations

Montague English
From a Norman place name meaning "sharp mountain" in Old French.

Montaña Spanish
Spanish cognate of Montagna.

Montana Italian
Variant of Montagna.

Montanari Italian
Means "from the mountain" in Italian.

Monte Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
Italian variant of Monti, as well as a Portuguese and Spanish cognate.

Montes Spanish
From Spanish monte "mountain, hill", derived from Latin mons.

Montgomery English, Scottish
From a place name in Calvados, France meaning "Gumarich's mountain". A notable bearer was Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976), a British army commander during World War II.

Monti Italian
Means "mountain, hill" in Italian, from Latin mons.

Montoya Spanish
From the name of a village in the province of Álava in Spain. It is possibly of Basque origin, or possibly from Latin mons "mountain, hill".

Moon 2 English
Originally indicated a person from the town of Moyon in Normandy.

Moore 1 English
Originally indicated a person who lived on a moor, from Middle English mor meaning "open land, bog".

Moores English
Variant of Moore 1.

Moors English
Variant of Moore 1.

Mooshian Armenian
Alternate transcription of Armenian Մուշյան (see Mushyan).

Mora Spanish
Derived from Spanish mora meaning "mulberry", of Latin origin.

Morales Spanish
Derived from Spanish moral meaning "mulberry tree", of Latin origin.

Moralez Spanish
Variant of Morales.

Moravec Czech
Originally indicated a person from Moravia (Czech Morava).

Moray Scottish
Variant of Murray 1.

Moreira Portuguese
Derived from Portuguese amoreira meaning "mulberry tree".

Mori Japanese
From Japanese 森 (mori) meaning "forest".

Morikawa Japanese
From Japanese 森 (mori) meaning "forest" and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream".

Morimoto Japanese
From Japanese 森 (mori) meaning "forest" and 本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin".

Morishita Japanese
From Japanese 森 (mori) meaning "forest" and 下 (shita) meaning "under, below".

Morita Japanese
From Japanese 森 (mori) meaning "forest" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".

Moriyama Japanese
From Japanese 森 (mori) meaning "forest" and 山 (yama) meaning "mountain, hill".

Morra Italian
Locative name derived from Italian places such as Morra De Sanctis, Campania, or Morra del Villar, Piedmont.

Mortimer English
From the name of a town in Normandy meaning "dead water, still water" in Old French.

Morton English
Derived from a place name meaning "moor town" in Old English.

Moser German
Name for someone who lived near a peat bog, from Middle High German mos.

Moss 1 English
From Middle English mos meaning "bog, moss".

Moto Japanese
From Japanese 本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin". More commonly it is the final character in Japanese surnames.

Motta Italian
From various names of places around Italy. It is derived from a Gaulish word meaning "hill".

Mottershead English
From the name of a lost place in Cheshire, derived from the Old English byname Motere meaning "speaker" and heafod meaning "headland".

Moulin French
Means "mill" in French.

Moya Spanish
From any of various towns named Moya in Spain, of uncertain meaning.

Muggia Italian
From the town of Muggia in northeastern Italy near the Slovenian border. It was called Muglae in Latin.

Muhlfeld German
Means "mill field" in German.

Muir Scottish
Scots form of Moore 1. This name was borne by the Scottish-American naturalist John Muir (1838-1914).

Mullins 1 English
Derived from Norman French molin "mill".

Munro Scottish
Designated a person who had originally lived near the mouth of the Roe River in Derry, Ireland. It is derived from Gaelic bun meaning "root, base" combined with the river's name.

Munroe Scottish
Anglicized (typically Canadian and American) form of Munro.

Munteanu Romanian
From Romanian muntean meaning "mountaineer, from the mountains", ultimately from Latin mons.

Murgatroyd English
From a place name meaning "Margaret's clearing".

Murray 1 Scottish
Derived from the region in Scotland called Moray (Gaelic Moireabh), possibly of Pictish origin, meaning "seashore, coast". A notable bearer of this surname was General James Murray (1721-1794), who was the first British Governor-General of Canada.

Murtas Sardinian
From Sardinian murta meaning "myrtle".

Mushyan Armenian
Originally denoted someone who came from the Armenian town of Mushi.

Næss Norwegian
Variant of Ness.

Naess Norwegian
Variant of Ness.

Nagarkar Indian, Marathi
Derived from the name of the town of Nagar in Maharashtra, India.

Nagasawa Japanese
From Japanese 長 (naga) meaning "long" and 沢 or 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh".

Naggi Italian
Originally denoted a person from the town of Naggio in Lombardy, Italy.

Naggia Italian
Variant of Naggi.

Nakabayashi Japanese
From Japanese 中 (naka) meaning "middle" and 林 (hayashi) meaning "forest".

Nakagawa Japanese
From Japanese 中 (naka) meaning "middle" and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream".

Nakahara Japanese
From Japanese 中 (naka) meaning "middle" and 原 (hara) meaning "field, plain".

Nakai Japanese
From Japanese 中 (naka) meaning "middle" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".

Nakajima Japanese
From Japanese 中 (naka) meaning "middle" and 島 (shima) meaning "island".

Nakamura Japanese
From Japanese 中 (naka) meaning "middle" and 村 (mura) meaning "town, village".

Nakano Japanese
From Japanese 中 (naka) meaning "middle" and 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness".

Nakashima Japanese
Variant of Nakajima.

Namgung Korean
From Sino-Korean 南 (nam) meaning "south" combined with 宮 (gung) meaning "palace, house". This is the most common Korean compound surname.

Napoletani Italian
Originally indicated a person from Naples in Italy.

Napoli Italian
Originally indicated a person from Naples in Italy.

Napoliello Italian
Originally indicated a person from Naples in Italy.

Narang Indian, Hindi
From the name of a Pakistani town that was in undivided India.

Narváez Spanish
From the name of a town in central Spain.

Nash English
Derived from the Middle English phrase atten ash "at the ash tree". A famous bearer was the mathematician John Nash (1928-2015).

Nass Norwegian
Variant of Ness.

Navarro Spanish
Denoted a person who came from Navarre in northern Spain (Spanish Navarra). The name of the region is of Basque origin, possibly from nabar meaning "brown".

Nave Italian
From various Italian places called Nave.

Němec Czech
Means "German" in Czech.

Němeček Czech
Diminutive form of Němec.

Német Hungarian
Variant of Németh.

Németh Hungarian
Means "German" in Hungarian.

Nepi Italian
From the town of Nepi in central Italy, which is of uncertain origin.

Nervi Italian
From the name of the town of Nervi in Liguria, northwestern Italy.

Nespola Italian
Variant of Nespoli.

Nespoli Italian
From the name of towns such as Nespoli and Nespoledo, derived from Italian nespola meaning "medlar (tree)".

Ness English, Scottish, Norwegian
From English ness and Norwegian nes meaning "headland, promontory", of Old Norse origin, originally referring to a person who lived there.

Neuville French
From the names of various French towns meaning "new town".

Neville English, Irish
From the names of towns in Normandy, variously Neuville or Néville, meaning "new town" in French.

Newell English
Variant of Neville.

Newport English
Given to one who came from the town of Newport (which means simply "new port"), which was the name of several English towns.

Newton English
From the name of one of many English towns meaning "new town". A famous bearer was the English physicist Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727).

Ng 1 Chinese (Cantonese)
Cantonese romanization of Wu 1.

Ngo Vietnamese
Simplified variant of Ngô.

Ngô Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of Wu 1, from Sino-Vietnamese 吳 (ngô).

Nibhanupudi Indian, Telugu
From the name of a village in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Nicastro Italian
From the name of the town of Nicastro in Calabria, southern Italy.

Nickleby Literature
Created by Charles Dickens for the title character in his novel Nicholas Nickleby (1839). He probably based it on Nicol, a medieval vernacular form of Nicholas, with the common English place name suffix -by, which is derived from Old Norse býr meaning "farm, settlement".

Nicolosi Italian
From the name of the town Nicolosi on Sicily, itself named for Saint Nicholas.

Nicosia Italian
From the name of the town Nicosia on Sicily.

Nicotera Italian
From the name of the town of Nicotera in Calabria.

Niemi Finnish
Means "peninsula, cape" in Finnish.

Nieminen Finnish
Derived from Finnish niemi meaning "peninsula, cape".

Nifterick Dutch
Variant of Van Niftrik.

Nifterik Dutch
Variant of Van Niftrik.

Niftrik Dutch
Variant of Van Niftrik.

Nishikawa Japanese
From Japanese 西 (nishi) meaning "west" and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream".

Nishimura Japanese
From Japanese 西 (nishi) meaning "west" and 村 (mura) meaning "town, village".

Nishitani Japanese
From Japanese 西 (nishi) meaning "west" and 谷 (tani) meaning "valley".

Nishiyama Japanese
From Japanese 西 (nishi) meaning "west" and 山 (yama) meaning "mountain, hill".

Nizzola Italian
From the name of the Italian town of Nizzola near Modena.

Noguchi Japanese
From Japanese 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness" and 口 (kuchi) meaning "mouth, entrance".

Nogueira Portuguese, Galician
From Portuguese and Galician nogueira meaning "walnut tree", from the Late Latin nucarius, ultimately from Latin nux meaning "nut".

Noguera Spanish, Catalan
Spanish and Catalan form of Nogueira.

Nordberg Swedish, Norwegian
From Swedish and Norwegian nord (Old Norse norðr) meaning "north" and berg meaning "mountain". As a Swedish name it is ornamental.

Nordin Swedish
Derived from Swedish nord meaning "north" (Old Norse norðr).

Nordskov Danish
Means "north woods" in Danish.

Norling Swedish
Originally denoted a person who came from the north.

Norman English
Referred to a person who was originally from Scandinavia or Normandy. Even before the Norman Conquest, Scandinavians were settling the north and east of England. The Normans who participated in the Conquest were originally from Scandinavia, but had been living in Normandy, France for over a century and spoke French.

Normand French
French form of Norman.

Norris 1 English, Scottish
Means "from the north" from Old French norreis. It either denoted someone who originated in the north or someone who lived in the northern part of a settlement.

North English
Name for a person who lived to the north.

Northrop English
Originally denoted one who came from a town of this name England, meaning "north farm".

Norton English
From the name of various towns in England meaning "north town" in Old English.

Nørup Danish
From the name of Danish villages named Nørup or Norup.

Norup Danish
Variant of Nørup.

Norwood English
Originally taken from a place name meaning "north wood" in Old English.

Noschese Italian
From the name of the town of Nusco in Campania, southern Italy.

Nowakowski Polish
Habitational name for a person from various towns called Nowakowo or similar, derived from Polish nowy meaning "new".

Nowicki Polish
Habitational name for a person from any of the towns in Poland called Nowice. The name is derived from Polish nowy meaning "new".

Noyer French
French form of Nogueira.

Nozawa Japanese
From Japanese 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness" and 沢 or 澤 (sawa) meaning "marsh".

Nuremberg German
Derived from the name of a city in Bavaria, Germany.

Nurmi Finnish
Means "meadow, field" in Finnish. It was the surname of the athlete Paavo Nurmi (1897-1973).

Nussbaum German, Jewish
Means "nut tree", derived from the German Nuss "nut" and Baum "tree".

Nye English
Originally indicated a person who lived near a river, from Middle English atten eye meaning "at the river".

Nygård Norwegian
From Norwegian ny (Old Norse nýr) meaning "new" and gård (Old Norse nýr) meaning "farm, estate".

Nyitrai Hungarian
Indicated someone from Nitra, a city and historic principality of Slovakia (formerly in Hungary). Its name is derived from that of a local river, which is of unknown meaning.

O Korean
Alternate transcription of Korean Hangul 오 (see Oh).

Oakley English
From a place name meaning "oak clearing" in Old English. It was borne by American sharpshooter Annie Oakley (1860-1926).

Obando Spanish
Habitational name for someone who came from Obando in Extremadura, Spain.

Oberst German
From Old High German obar meaning "above, upper", indicating a person from the uppermost end of a village or the top of a house.

Ó Deasmhumhnaigh Irish
Irish Gaelic form of Desmond.

Odell English
Originally denoted a person who was from Odell in Bedfordshire, derived from Old English wad "woad" (a plant that produces a blue dye) and hyll "hill".

Oelberg German
Means "oil hill" from Middle High German öl "oil" and berg "mountain, hill".

Ogawa Japanese
From Japanese 小 (o) meaning "small" and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream".

Ogden English
From a place name derived from Old English ac "oak" and denu "valley".

Ogtrop Dutch
Originally denoted a person who was from the town of Ochtrup in Germany, which is of uncertain origin.

Oh Korean
Korean form of Wu 1, from Sino-Korean 吳 (o).

Ojeda Spanish
From the name of the Ojeda river in Soria, Spain, possibly derived from Latin folia "leaves".

Okabe Japanese
From Japanese 岡 (oka) meaning "hill, ridge" and 部 (be) meaning "part, section".

Okamoto Japanese
From Japanese 岡 (oka) meaning "hill, ridge" and 本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin".

Okamura Japanese
From Japanese 岡 (oka) meaning "hill, ridge" and 村 (mura) meaning "town, village".

Okazaki Japanese
From Japanese 岡 (oka) meaning "hill, ridge" and 崎 (saki) meaning "cape, peninsula".

Okumura Japanese
From Japanese 奥 (oku) meaning "inside" and 村 (mura) meaning "town, village".

Ola Basque
From Basque ola meaning "hut, small house, forge".

Olander Swedish
Denoted someone from the islands of Öland (eastern Sweden) or Åland (western Finland).

Oleastro Spanish
Means "wild olive" in Spanish, originally indicating one who lived near such a tree.

Oliveira Portuguese
Means "olive tree" in Portuguese, ultimately from Latin oliva. It indicated a person who lived near or worked with olive trees.

Olmo Spanish
Means "elm tree" in Spanish, ultimately from Latin ulmus. The name originally indicated a person who lived near such a tree.

Olmos Spanish
Variant of Olmo.

Omdahl Norwegian
Denoted a person hailing from any one of a number of farms in Norway called either Åmdal or Omdal meaning "elm valley".

Ongaro Italian
Variant of Ungaro.

Ono Japanese
From Japanese 小 (o) meaning "small" and 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness".

Oorschot Dutch
Variant of Van Oirschot.

Oppenheimer German
Originally indicated a person from Oppenheim, Germany, perhaps meaning "marshy home".

Oquendo Spanish
Originally indicated a person from the town of Okondo in Álava, northern Spain, possibly derived from Basque ukondo "elbow".

Orellana Spanish
Originally indicated a person from one of the two towns named Orellana in Badajoz, Spain. Their names are probably derived from Latin Aureliana meaning "of Aurelius".

Orosz Hungarian
Means "Russian" in Hungarian.

Ortega Spanish
From a Spanish place name (belonging to various villages) derived from ortiga "nettle".

Ōshiro Japanese
From Japanese 大 (ō) meaning "big, great" and 城 (shiro) meaning "castle".

Östberg Swedish
From Swedish öst (Old Norse austr) meaning "east" and berg meaning "mountain".

Østberg Norwegian
Norwegian form of Östberg.

Øster Danish
From Danish øst meaning "east", originally denoting a dweller on the eastern side of a place.

Østergaard Danish
Variant of Østergård.

Østergård Danish
From Danish øst meaning "east" and gård meaning "enclosure, farm".

Ostrowski Polish
From Polish ostrów meaning "river island".

Otero Spanish
Means "hill, knoll, height" in Spanish.

Oursler German
Originally a name designating a person from Ursel (now Oberursel) in Hesse, Germany.

Overton English
Denoted a person who hailed from one of the various places in England called Overton, meaning "upper settlement" or "riverbank settlement" in Old English.

Owston English
Denoted a person who came from any one of the places in Britain called Ouston or Owston.

Ozoliņš Latvian
From Latvian ozols meaning "oak tree".

Ozolinsh Latvian
Anglicized form of Ozoliņš.

Ozols Latvian
Means "oak tree" in Latvian.

Padilla Spanish
From various Spanish place names, derived from Spanish padilla, Latin patella meaning "shallow dish", used to indicate a depression in the landscape.

Padmore English
Originally indicated a person from Padmore in England, derived from Old English padde "toad" and mor "moor, marsh".

Padovan Italian
Regional variant of Padovano.

Padovano Italian
Originally denoted one who came from the city of Padua in Italy, from Italian Padova, itself from Latin Patavium, of unknown meaning.

Paisley Scottish
From the name of a town near Glasgow, which may ultimately be derived from Latin basilica "church".

Pakulski Polish
Originally denoted a person from Pakuly, Poland.

Palazzo Italian
From various Italian places, named from Italian palazzo, Latin palatium meaning "palace, noble mansion".

Palencia Spanish
Habitational name from the city or region of Palencia in northern Spain.

Palmisano Italian
Locative name from the town of Palmi in the Calabria region of southern Italy.

Pan 2 Chinese
From Chinese 潘 (pān) meaning "water in which rice has been rinsed", and also referring to a river that flows into the Han River.

Pantoja Spanish
Originally indicated a person from the town of Pantoja, in Toledo, Spain.

Panza Italian, Literature
From a variant of the Italian word pancia meaning "stomach, paunch", originally a nickname for a chubby person. The Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes used it in his novel Don Quixote (1605), where it is the surname of Don Quixote's squire Sancho Panza. Not a common Spanish surname, Cervantes may have based it directly on the Spanish word panza (a cognate of the Italian word).

Paredes Portuguese, Spanish
Denoted a person who lived near a wall, from Portuguese parede and Spanish pared meaning "wall", both derived from Latin paries.

Paris English, French
Variant of Parish 1.

Parish 1 English
Originally denoted a person who came from the French city of Paris, which got its name from the ancient Celtic tribe known as the Parisii.

Parisi Italian
Italian form of Parish 1.

Park 2 English
From Middle English park, from Latin parricus, of Frankish origin. This was a name for someone who worked in or lived in a park.

Parma Italian
From the city of Parma in northern Italy, the name of which is probably of Etruscan origin.

Pärn Estonian
Means "linden tree" in Estonian.

Parodi Italian
From the name of a village near Genoa in northern Italy.

Parra Spanish
Means "vine, trellis" in Spanish.

Parris English, French
Variant of Parish 1.

Parrish English
Variant of Parish 1.

Pataki Hungarian
Derived from Hungarian patak meaning "creek, brook" (a word of Slavic origin). It was given to people who lived near a creek.

Pavesi Italian
Variant of Pavia.

Pavía Spanish
Spanish form of Pavia.

Pavia Italian
From the name of the city of Pavia in Lombardy, Italy. It is of unknown meaning.

Pawłowski Polish
Habitational name for someone from a town named Pawłowo, derived from the given name Paweł.

Paxton English
From an English place name meaning "Pœcc's town". Pœcc is an Old English name of unknown meaning.

Payton English
From the name of the town of Peyton in Sussex. It means "Pæga's town".

Peak English
Originally indicated a dweller by a pointed hill, from Old English peac "peak". It could also denote a person from the Peak District in Derbyshire, England.

Peck 1 English
Variant of Peak.

Peerenboom Dutch
From Dutch meaning "pear tree", referring to someone who lived or worked at a pear orchard.

Pei Chinese
From Chinese 裴 (péi), possibly referring to an ancient city.

Peltonen Finnish
From Finnish pelto meaning "field".

Pemberton English
From the name of a town near Manchester, derived from Celtic penn meaning "hill" combined with Old English bere meaning "barley" and tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town".

Peña Spanish
Originally denoted a person who lived near a jutting rock, from Spanish peña meaning "rock, cliff".

Peng Chinese
From Chinese 彭 (péng) referring to the ancient state of Peng, which existed during the Shang dynasty in what is now Jiangsu province.

Penn 1 English
Derived from various place names that were named using the Brythonic word penn meaning "hilltop, head".

Pensak Yiddish
Variant of Penzig.

Penzak Yiddish
Variant of Penzig.

Penzig Yiddish
Denoted a person who came from Penzig, the German name for Pieńsk, a town in southwest Poland. It is derived from Polish pień meaning "stump, tree trunk".

Penzik Yiddish
Variant of Penzig.

Pereira Portuguese, Galician
From Portuguese and Galician pereira meaning "pear tree", ultimately from Latin pirum meaning "pear".

Pereiro Galician
Variant of Pereira.

Pereyra Portuguese, Galician
Variant of Pereira.

Périgord French
From the name of a region in southern France, possibly of Gaulish origin.

Perry 1 English
From Old English pirige meaning "pear tree", a derivative of peru meaning "pear", itself from Latin pirum. A famous bearer was Matthew Perry (1794-1858), the American naval officer who opened Japan to the West.

Perugia Italian
From the name of the city of Perugia in Umbria, Italy. It was known as Perusia in the classical period, and it is of Etruscan origin.

Pesaresi Italian
Variant of Pesaro.

Pesaro Italian
From the name of the city of Pesaro, in the Marche region (Latin Pisaurum).

Pesti Hungarian
Originally it indicated someone from Pest, one of the towns that were joined to make Budapest.

Pesty Hungarian
Variant of Pesti.

Peyton English
Variant of Payton.

Phan Vietnamese
Vietnamese form of Pan 2, from Sino-Vietnamese 潘 (phan).

Pherigo French
Anglicized form of Périgord.

Piazza Italian
Means "plaza" in Italian, indicating that the residence of the original bearer was near the town square. It is derived from Latin platea.

Picard French
Originally denoted a person from Picardy, a historical region of northern France. It is derived from Old French pic meaning "pike, spike".

Pichler Upper German
From Bavarian Bühel meaning "hill".

Pickering English
From the name of a town in Yorkshire, derived from Old English Piceringas, the name of a tribe.

Pickle English
Derived from Middle English pighel meaning "small field".

Pierno Italian
From the name of the small town of Pierno in southern Italy near Potenza.

Pinheiro Portuguese
Means "pine tree" in Portuguese.

Pinho Portuguese
Habitational name meaning "pine" in Portuguese.

Pini Italian
Name for a person who lived near a pine tree, from Italian pino, Latin pinus.

Piotrowski Polish
Habitational name for a person from towns named Piotrów, Piotrowo or Piotrowice, all derived from the given name Piotr.

Piovene Italian
From the name of the town of Piovene Rocchette in Veneto, Italy.

Piraino Italian
From the name of the town of Piraino on Sicily.

Pisani Italian
From Italian pisano, the name for an inhabitant of the city of Pisa, Italy. The city's name is of unknown meaning.

Pitt English
Originally given to a person who lived near a pit or a hole, derived from Old English pytt "pit".

Pitts English
Indicated a person who lived by a pit or hollow, from Old English pytt. It could also indicate a person from Pitt (Hants) or Pett (East Sussex) in England.

Plamondon French
Derived from French plat "flat" and mont "mountain", referring to someone who lived near a flat-topped mountain.

Planche French
French form of Plank.

Planck German
German variant of Plank.

Plank German, English
Means "plank", from Old French, itself from Late Latin planca. This could have referred to a person who lived by a plank bridge over a stream, someone who was thin, or a carpenter.

Planque French
French form of Plank.

Plaskett English
Originally denoted a dweller by a swampy meadow, from Old French plascq meaning "wet meadow".

Platt English
From Old French plat meaning "flat, thin", from Late Latin plattus, from Greek πλατύς (platys) meaning "wide, broad, flat". This may have been a nickname or a topographic name for someone who lived near a flat feature.

Plaza Spanish
Spanish cognate of Piazza.

Pletcher German
Anglicized form of Pletscher.

Pletscher German
Possibly from the name of a field where cattle fodder was grown, from German Bletsch.

Poggi Italian
Variant of Poggio.

Poggio Italian
Means "hillock, small hill" in Italian, a derivative of Latin podium meaning "balcony, platform".

Pohl 1 Low German
Low German cognate of Poole.

Poirier French
Means "pear tree" in French, originally a nickname for someone who lived close to such a tree.

Poirot French, Literature
From a diminutive of French poire "pear", originally referring to a pear merchant or someone who lived near a pear tree. Starting in 1920 this name was used by the mystery writer Agatha Christie for her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Christie based the name on that of Jules Poiret, a contemporary fictional detective.

Polák Czech
Means "Pole, person from Poland" in Czech.

Pollock Scottish
From the name of a place in Renfrewshire, Scotland, derived from a diminutive of Gaelic poll meaning "pool, pond, bog". A famous bearer was the American artist Jackson Pollock (1912-1956).

Polzin German
From the name of a town in Pomerania, Poland (formerly part of Germany). In Polish it is called Połczyn.

Pond English
Originally referred to one who lived near a pond.

Pontecorvo Italian, Jewish
From the name of a town in central Italy, home to an old Jewish community. The town's name is derived from Italian ponte "bridge" and curvo "curved".

Poole English
From Old English pol meaning "pool", referring to a person who lived by a small body of water.

Popławski Polish
From Polish poplaw meaning "flowing water, flood".

Portelli Italian
Diminutive form of Porto.

Porto Italian
Designated a person who lived near a harbour, from Italian porto, Latin portus.

Portoghese Italian
Means "Portuguese" in Italian.

Post Dutch, German, English
Indicated a person who lived near a post, ultimately from Latin postis.

Potenza Italian
From the name of the southern Italian city of Potenza, called Potentia in Latin, meaning "power, force".

Potočnik Slovene
From Slovene potok meaning "stream, brook".

Power 1 English, Irish
From Old French Poier, indicating a person who came from the town of Poix in Picardy, France.

Powers English
Variant of Power 1 or Power 2.

Pozzi Italian
From Italian pozzo meaning "well, pit", derived from Latin puteus.

Pražak Czech
Means "from Prague" in Czech.

Prescott English
From the name of various English places meaning "priest's cottage" in Old English.

Presley English
Variant of Priestley. This name was borne by musician Elvis Presley (1935-1977).

Pressley English
Variant of Priestley.

Preston English
Originally derived from various place names meaning "priest town" in Old English.

Priede Latvian
Means "pine tree" in Latvian.

Priestley English
From a place name meaning "priest clearing", from Old English preost and leah.

Provenza Italian
From the name of the Provence region of southern France (in Italian Provenza). It is derived from Latin provincia "province", a territorial division.

Provenzano Italian
Variant of Provenza typical of southern Italy, namely Sicily and Calabria.

Puerta Spanish
Means "door, gate", a topographic name for a person who lived near the gates of the town.

Pugliese Italian
From an adjectival derivative of Puglia, from Latin Apulia, a region of southeast Italy containing the boot heel and some of the coastline of the Adriatic Sea. It is a regional name for someone from that region.

Puig Catalan
Catalan cognate of Poggio.

Pusztai Hungarian
From Hungarian puszta meaning "plain, steppe". The name was given to someone living on a plain.

Putin Russian
From Russian путь (put) meaning "road, path". This surname is borne by the Russian president Vladimir Putin (1952-).

Putnam English
From Puttenham, the name of towns in Hertfordshire and Surrey in England, which mean "Putta's homestead".

Quesada Spanish
Habitational name from Quesada, a place in Jaén in southern Spain. The place name is of uncertain derivation; it could be connected to Old Spanish requexada meaning "corner, tight spot".

Quijano Spanish
From the name of a village in northern Spain.

Quincey English
Variant of Quincy.

Quincy English
Originally from various place names in Normandy that were derived from the given name Quintus.

Quiñones Spanish
From various Spanish place names derived from quiñón meaning "shared piece of land", derived from Latin quinque "five".

Quintana Spanish, Catalan
Originally indicated someone who lived on a piece of land where the rent was a fifth of its produce, from Spanish and Catalan quintana "fifth", from Latin quintus.