McfaddenScottish, Irish Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Phaid(e)in (Scottish) and Mac Pháidín (Irish) - both patronymics of Patrick (via Gaelic diminutives of the given name).
McpetersScottish Variant of McPheeters, itself an anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Gille Pheadair, a patronymic derived from a Gaelic personal name meaning "servant of (Saint) Peter".
MeghnagiJewish, Northern African Sephardic Jewish, originating from the Libyan Jewish community. Most were from Tripoli, with a much smaller contingent from Benghazi.
MelanchthonHistory Means "black earth", derived from Greek μελανός (melanos), the genitive of the adjective μέλας (melas) meaning "black, dark", and χθών (chthon) meaning "land, earth, soil"... [more]
MénardFrench From the Old German given name Meginhard, making it a cognate of Maynard. A notable bearer was André Ménard, Governor General in the French colonial empire.
MiskellIrish Anglicized form of Irish Ó Meisceall meaning "descendant of Meiscill", a personal name of unexplained etymology. It was sometimes Anglicized as Maxwell.
MorpurgoJudeo-Italian Italian surname of Jewish origin, originally Marpurg, from the Austrian city Marburg an der Drau (today Maribor in Slovenia). The progenitor was Moises Jacob, father of Petachia, in Bad-Rackersburg, Austria... [more]
MothEnglish From a nickname derived from Middle English mothe meaning "moth". Known bearers include New Zealand photojournalist Margaret Moth (1951-2010), British artist Charlotte Moth (1978-), and British Roman Catholic bishop Richard Moth (1958-).
MowbrayEnglish Ultimately from the name of a place in Normandy meaning "mud hill" in Old French.
MulvihillIrish Anglicized from Gaelic Ó Maoil Mhichíl meaning "descendant of Maoilmhichil", Maoilmhichil being a personal name meaning "devotee of (Saint) Michael", referring to the archangel.
MungChin From a part of a Chin masculine compound personal name of unexplained meaning.
MungarayApache, Spanish (Mexican) Very rare Apache name give to the Apache still in Mexico. We are decents of victorio and the local spa is/ Mexicans gave us this name that we still carry today.
NankervisCornish, English (Australian) From the name of a place in St Enoder parish in Cornwall, derived from Cornish nans "valley" and an uncertain second element, possibly *cerwys, an unattested plural of carow "stag".... [more]
NascimentoPortuguese (Brazilian) Means "birth, nativity" in Portuguese, from Late Latin nascimentum, a derivative of Latin nasci "to be born". This was originally a religious byname. It was also an epithet of the Virgin Mary (Maria do Nascimento), and was used as a given name for children born on Christmas.
NewbyEnglish Means "person from Newby", Newby being a combination of the Middle English elements newe "new" and by "farm, settlement" (ultimately from Old Norse býr "farm"). British travel writer Eric Newby (1919-2006) bore this surname.
NongrumKhasi, Indian "Nongrum" is the name given for the "Title/Surname" of a persons. It is famous only in Khasi Hills, Meghalaya,shillong, the land of the "Khasis".
NostradamusHistory, French (Latinized) Latinized form of de Nostredame. This surname was borne by the French physician and writer Michel de Nostredame (1503-1566), famous for his collection of prophecies Les Prophéties (1555) allegedly predicting the apocalypse and danger from the Arab world.
O'CarrollIrish (Anglicized) Originates from the ancient Gaelic name Mac Cearbhaill or O'Cearbhaill, deriving from the word "Cearbh" which means to "Hack". Making it a possible name for a warrior or blacksmith.
OlivaresSpanish Habitational name from any of several places named Olivares, from the plural of Spanish olivar meaning "olive grove". Compare Portuguese and Galician Oliveira.
OslerEnglish Possibly derived from Ostler (from the the Norman 'Hostelier') meaning clerk or bookkeeper. First used in England after the Norman invasion of 1066. Surname of a 19th cent... [more]
OxendineEnglish From an English place name meaning "valley of the oxen", which was derived from Old English oxa "ox" (genitive plural oxena) and denu "valley".
PaleyEnglish English surname, either a habitational name denoting a person from a lost or unidentified place in Lancashire or Yorkshire (which was apparently named with Old English leah "woodland, clearing" as the final element), or derived from the Old Danish personal name Palli, from Old Danish páll meaning "pole"... [more]
PaleyJewish, Yiddish, Belarusian, Ukrainian Occupational name for a distiller, derived from an East Slavic word (Russian палить (palitʹ), Ukrainian палити (palyty)) meaning "to burn". A famous bearer was Princess Olga Valerianovna Paley (1865-1929), the morganatic second wife of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia.
PassepartoutLiterature Derived from French passe-partout, which literally means "goes everywhere" but is actually an idiom for "skeleton key".... [more]
PatrushevRussian Patronymic derived from a Russian diminutive of Patricius. This is borne by Russian political and security figure Nikolai Patrushev (1951-), former director of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
PavlovaRussian Feminine form of Pavlov. A famous bearer was the Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova (1881-1931).
PeabodyEnglish Probably from a nickname for a showy dresser, from Middle English pe "peacock" (see Peacock) and body "body, person". Alternatively it may be from the name of a Celtic tribe meaning "mountain men" from Brythonic pea "large hill, mountain" combined with Boadie, the tribe's earlier name, which meant "great man" (or simply "man") among the Briton and Cambri peoples... [more]
PelhamEnglish From the name of a place in Hertfordshire, which meant "Peotla's homestead" in Old English.
PeltierFrench Variant of Pelletier (from Old French pellet, a diminutive of pel "skin, hide").
PenroseCornish, Welsh Originally meant "person from Penrose", Cornwall, Herefordshire and Wales ("highest part of the heath or moorland"). It is borne by the British mathematician Sir Roger Penrose (1931-).... [more]
PerdikogiannisGreek Means "partridge John" in Greek, from πέρδικα (perdika) "partridge" combined with the given name Giannis.
PlumierFrench, Belgian Possibly an occupational name for a dealer in feathers and quills, from an agent derivative of Old French plume "feather, plume" (compare English and Dutch Plumer)... [more]
PobjoyEnglish From a medieval nickname for someone thought to resemble a parrot, from Middle English papejai, popinjay "parrot". This probably denoted someone who was talkative or who dressed in bright colours, although it may have described a person who excelled at the medieval sport of pole archery, i.e. shooting at a wooden parrot on a pole.
PolidoriItalian Means "son of Polidoro". Famous bearers include John William Polidori (1795-1821), a physician to Lord Byron and author of 'The Vampyre' (1819), and his sister Frances Polidori (1800-1886), the mother of painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, poet Christina Rossetti, critic William Michael Rossetti, and author Maria Francesca Rossetti.
PomerantzJewish From the Yiddish word פּאָמעראַנץ (pomerants) meaning "orange (fruit)".
PoortmanDutch Occupational name for a gatekeeper or topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a fortified town, from Dutch poort meaning "gate" and man meaning "man".
PortmanEnglish Status name meaning "townsman, burgher, citizen" in Middle English, derived from Old English port "port, harbour" (from Latin portus) and mann "person, man".
PosthumusDutch, Low German From a personal name which was given to a posthumous child, i.e., one born after the death of his father, derived from Latin postumus "last, last-born" (superlative of posterus "coming after, subsequent") via Late Latin posthumus, which was altered by association with Latin humare "to bury", suggesting death (i.e., thought to consist of post "after" and humus "grave", hence "after death"); the one born after the father's death obviously being the last.
PrynneEnglish Derived from an Anglo-Norman form of the Late Latin name Primus. A fictional bearer is Hester Prynne, the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel 'The Scarlet Letter' (1850).
PymEnglish Recorded in several forms including Pim, Pimm, Pimme, Pym, and Pymm, this is a surname which at various times has been prominent in the history of England... [more]
QuantDutch, German Middle High German, Middle Low German quant "smart aleck, pranskter, rogue, imp".
QuinlivanIrish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Caoindealbháin meaning "descendant of Caoindealbhán", a personal name composed of caoin "comely, fair" and dealbh "form" with the diminutive suffix -án (compare Quinlan).
RathboneEnglish Of unknown origin, but might denote a person with short legs. From Olde English rhath, meaning "short, and bon, "legs".
RathgeberGerman From Middle High German ratgebe or Middle Low German ratgever "giver of advice, counselor", an occupational name for an adviser or wise man.
RavenscroftEnglish, English (British) Habitational name from a minor place in Cheshire, England. The place name means "Hræfn's croft", from an Old English personal name Hræfn (itself from Old English hræfn meaning "raven", possibly a byname) and Old English croft meaning "enclosed field".
RéalFrench This can derive from several different sources: southern French réal "royal", a word which was applied to someone either as a nickname (presumably given to people perceived as being regal) or as an occupational name (given to a person in the service of the king); or the French place name Réal, in which case this is a habitational name taken from any of various places which were named for having been part of a royal domain (also compare Reau, Reaux).
RequiãoPortuguese Derived from the name of a village in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal, ultimately from the name of Rechila, a 5th-century Suevic king of Gallaecia.
ReytblatYiddish Means "red leaf" in Yiddish. This is somewhat rare, chiefly used by Jews from Russia and Ukraine.
RivabellaItalian Derived from the Italian word riva meaning "bank (shore, riverbank, lakebank)" (from Latin ripa) and bella meaning "beautiful"... [more]
RodelaGalician Possibly habitational name from a place called Rodel (in A Coruña province, Galicia), derived from a diminutive of roda "wheel".
SabourinFrench (Quebec), French (Huguenot) Southern French surname, originally a nickname for a pleasant or amiable person, from a diminutive of sabor meaning "flavor, taste" (Old French saveur). The Huguenots brought this surname to England, and from there it may have been introduced to North America.
SahabiIranian Possibly from Arabic صَحَابِيّ (ṣaḥābiyy) meaning "companion", from the verb صَحِبَ (ṣaḥiba) "to accompany, to be one's companion".
SakhnoUkrainian Sakhno could be a derivative of the Russian surname Sakhalinsky (Сахалинский), the Polish surname Saczkowski, the Serbian surname Šakota (Схакота), or the German surnames Sachs and/or Sackhoff... [more]
SandhurstEnglish (Rare) From Sandhurst, the name of places in the English counties of Kent, Gloucestershire and Berkshire, all of which come from the Old English elements sand "sand" and hyrst "hillock, copse".
San JuanSpanish Means "Saint John", derived from Spanish santo "saint" combined with Juan 1. This is a habitational name for a person from any of various places called San Juan, so named for a local shrine or church dedicated to Saint John (San Juan).
SankaraMossi (?), Fula (?) The surname of the assassinated Burkinabé president Thomas Sankara (1949-1987).
ScottoItalian Either an ethnic name for someone from Scotland or Ireland from medieval Italian scotto or scoto meaning "Scot", making it a cognate of Scott, or from a diminutive of given names ending in sco such as Francesco (via its diminutive Francescotto) or Maresco (via Marescotto).
ScuderiSicilian Patronymic form of Scudero, a status name equivalent to English Squire, from scudero "shield-bearer", Latin scutarius, an agent derivative of scutum "shield"... [more]
SelfEnglish East Anglian surname, from the medieval English masculine name Saulf which was derived from the Old English elements sǣ "sea" and wulf "wolf".
SevernEnglish From the name of the River Severn, which is of unknown meaning. The Severn is Great Britain's longest river, flowing from Wales through much of western England to the Bristol Channel. It is one of Britain’s most ancient river names, recorded as early as the 2nd century AD in the form Sabrina; its original meaning may have been "slow-moving" or "boundary".
SforzaItalian Derived from the Italian verb sforzare meaning "to force, strain"; also compare the related word forza "force, strength". This was the surname of a dynasty of Milanese dukes, which held power in the 15th and 16th centuries.
ShackladyEnglish Perhaps from a medieval nickname for a man who had had sexual relations with a woman of higher social class (from shag "to copulate with" (not recorded before the late 17th century) and lady).... [more]
ShamanovRussian From Russian шаман (shaman) meaning "shaman".
SheldrakeEnglish From a medieval nickname for a dandyish (showy) or vain man, from Middle English scheldrake, the male of a type of duck with brightly-coloured plumage (itself from the East Anglian dialect term scheld "variegated" combined with drake "male duck").
SkipworthEnglish From the name of Skipwith in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The place name was recorded as Schipewic in the Domesday Book of 1086; as Scipewiz in the 1166 Pipe Rolls of the county; and as Skipwith in the 1291 Pipe Rolls, and derives from the Old English sceap, scip "sheep", and wic "outlying settlement"; hence, "settlement outside the village where sheep were kept".
SnelsonEnglish Means "son of Snell", Snell being a nickname for a brisk or active person, from Middle English snell "quick, lively" (cf... [more]
SoamesEnglish Denoted a person hailing from a village called Soham in Cambridgeshire, England. The place name itself means "homestead by the lake" from Old English sæ "lake" and ham "farm, homestead"... [more]
SolanoSpanish, Aragonese From various Spanish place names, which are derived from Spanish solano meaning "place exposed to the sun" (from Late Latin solanus "pertaining to the sun", a derivative of sol "sun")... [more]
SomovRussian Derived from Russian сом (som) meaning "catfish".
SomovaRussian Feminine form of Somov. This is borne by Russian ballerina Alina Somova (1985-).
SorrellEnglish From a medieval nickname meaning literally "little red-haired one", from a derivative of Anglo-Norman sorel "chestnut".
SpendloveEnglish From a medieval nickname for someone who spread their amorous affections around freely. A different form of the surname was borne by Dora Spenlow, the eponymous hero's "child-wife" in Charles Dickens's 'David Copperfield' (1849-50).... [more]
St AubinFrench Either a habitational name from any of several places in France called Saint-Aubin (from the dedication of their churches to Saint Albinus), or else a nickname with Saint as an (ironic) prefix to the personal name or surname Aubin.
SteinbeckGerman Denotes a person hailing from one of the many places in Germany called Steinbeck or Steinbach, from Middle High German stein "stone" and bach "stream, creek". In some cases it is a South German occupational name for a mason... [more]
SteketeeDutch Dutch (Zeelandic) surname, from the biblical Greek word στήκετε (stekete) meaning "stand (firm)", reportedly referring to a religious (Protestant or French Huguenot) background of the first bearer(s).
St-gelaisFrench (Quebec) From the French place name Saint-Gelais which was allegedly named for a 5th-century bishop of Poitiers. The name Gelais is a variant of Gélase.
St LegerIrish, English Anglo-Irish surname, from one of the places in France called Saint-Léger, which were named in honour of St. Leodegar.
StradivariItalian Italian surname of uncertain origin, either from the plural of Lombard stradivare meaning "toll-man" or from strada averta meaning "open road" in the Cremonese dialect. A famous bearer was Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737), a violin-maker of Cremona.
StroganovRussian Meaning uncertain. This was the name of a wealthy Russian family of merchants (later aristocrats), probably of Tatar origin.
SwainScottish, Irish, English Northern English occupational name for a servant or attendant, from Middle English swein "young man attendant upon a knight", which was derived from Old Norse sveinn "boy, servant, attendant"... [more]
SwanEnglish, Scottish Originally given as a nickname to a person who was noted for purity or excellence, which were taken to be attributes of the swan, or who resembled a swan in some other way. In some cases it may have been given to a person who lived at a house with the sign of a swan... [more]
TempestaItalian Originally a nickname for a person with a blustery temperament, from Italian tempesta meaning "storm, tempest" (compare Tempest).... [more]
TennantEnglish, Scottish The Strathclyde-Briton people of ancient Scotland were the first to use the name Tennant. It is a name for someone who works as a tenant farmer. The name was applied to those who paid for the rent on their land through working the fields and donating a percentage of the take to the landlord... [more]
ThistlethwaiteEnglish A surname found in Lancashire in north west England, taken from the name of a minor place in the parish of Lancaster which meant "meadow overgrown with thistles" from Middle English thistle and thwaite "meadow" (cf... [more]
TingleEnglish Derived from Middle English tingel, referring to a kind of very small nail (a word of North German origin); this was either an occupational name for a maker of pins or nails, or else a nickname for a small thin man.... [more]
TownleyEnglish Habitational name for a person from Towneley near Burnley in Lancashire, itself from the Old English elements tun "enclosure, settlement" and leah "wood, clearing"... [more]