SkeltonEnglish, German, Norwegian (Rare) Habitational name from places in Cumbria and Yorkshire, England, originally named with the same elements as Shelton, but with a later change of ‘s’ to ‘sk’ under Scandinavian influence.
SkillernEnglish Habitational name from Skeleron in Rimington, Lancashire (formerly in West Yorkshire), earlier known as Skelhorn.
SkipperEnglish Occupational name for either a basket weaver Derived from Middle English skeppe witch itself is from Old Norse skeppa... [more]
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".
SlateEnglish Occupational name for a slater, from Middle English slate, "slate".
SlaughterEnglish occupational name from Middle English slaughter "butcher" a derivative of Middle English slaught "butchery" and the suffix er or from a shortened form of the synonymous Middle English slaughterer a derivative of slaughter "butchery" and the suffix er.
SlawsonEnglish Slawson is an English surname meaning "unexplained".
SlingerEnglish Travelled with the army's a user of Slings for war. The variant Slingo is a misspelling only appeared after the English civil war. YDNA between the two matches.
SmalleyEnglish, Cornish (?) Locational surname from places in Derbyshire and Lancashire, so called from Old English smæl ‘narrow’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’. This may also be a Cornish name with an entirely separate meaning.
SmileyScots, English From elements small and lea meaning "a small clearing" or as a nickname may refer to a person of happy disposition known for smiling.
SmithsonEnglish Means "a son who was born by a blacksmith worker".
SmithwickEnglish habitational name from Smethwick in Staffordshire Smethwick Green near Brereton Heath (Cheshire) or a lost place called Smithwick in Southover (Sussex). The place name means "the farm of the smiths" from Old English smiþ "smith" and wic "dwelling specialized farm"... [more]
SmockEnglish From Middle English smoc, smok meaning "smock", "shift", hence a metonymic occupational name for someone who made or sold such garments, or a nickname for someone who habitually wore a smock (the usual everyday working garment of a peasant).
SmokerEnglish Derived from the Old English word "smoc," meaning "smock" or, literally, "woman's undergarment." The name was most likely originally borne by someone who made or sold smocks.
SnapeEnglish (British), Scottish An old, now rare surname, with various origins in Suffolk and Yorkshire in England and Lanarkshire in Scotland, derived from Middle English snaipen, “to injure; to nip (of sleet or snow); to criticize, rebuke, revile”, from Old Norse sneypa, “to disgrace, to dishonor, to outrage”... [more]
SnipeEnglish Derived from a given name; from Old English snip or Old Norse snípr. It is habitational surname from a place so called in the historic county of Northumberland, North East England.
SnowEnglish, Jewish (Anglicized) Nickname denoting someone with very white hair or an exceptionally pale complexion, from Old English snaw "snow".... [more]
SnowdenEnglish Habitational name from Snowden, a place in West Yorkshire named from Old English snāw ‘snow’ + dūn ‘hill’, i.e. a hill where snow lies long.
SnowdonEnglish Variant spelling of Snowden, a surname initially used by the Border Reivers. Comes from the mountain in Wales.
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]
SolsticeEnglish Taken from it's usage as a given name, which derived from Latin solsticium and thus ultimately from sol "sun" and stito "to stand still". The English word solstice refers to two times of the year when the sun's apparent position in the sky reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes.
SouterEnglish, Scottish Occupational name for a cobbler or shoemaker, derived from Middle English soutere, from Old Norse sutare, ultimately derived from Latin sutor meaning "to sew".
SouthEnglish From Middle English south, hence a topographic name for someone who lived to the south of a settlement or a regional name for someone who had migrated from the south.
SouthamEnglish habitational name primarily from Southam (Warwickshire) and occasionally from Southam (Gloucestershire) from Old English suþ "south southern" and ham "village homestead" meaning "the southern farmstead".
SouthwickEnglish An English/Scottish locational name from a variety of places, including, Southwick in Northamptonshire, England, and Southwick in Gloucestershire, Sussex, Durham, Hampshire. ... [more]
SovereignEnglish Occupational surname for a leader or supervisor, derived from the English word sovereign meaning "possessing supreme or ultimate power".
SowerbyEnglish Habitational name from any places so-called in Northern England. Named from Old Norse saurr, 'mud, filth' and by, 'farm, estate'.
SpahGerman (?), English (American) Spah (sometimes spelt Späh) is last name found most commonly in the US that is believed to be of German origin. Unsure of the meaning.
SparrowEnglish English: nickname from Middle English sparewe ‘sparrow’, perhaps for a small, chirpy person, or else for someone bearing some fancied physical resemblance to a sparrow.
SpeakmanEnglish English (chiefly Lancashire) nickname or occupational name for someone who acted as a spokesman, from Middle English spekeman ‘advocate’, ‘spokesman’ (from Old English specan to speak + mann ‘man’).
SpeedEnglish A nickname for a fortunate person, from Middle English sped, "success".
SpeerGerman, Dutch, English from Middle High German Middle Dutch sper "spear" hence a nickname for a tall thin person or else for a skilled user of the hunting spear... [more]
SpellingEnglish, Irish, Jewish Occupational name for a scholar, speaker or a story teller, derived from Middle English spellan meaning "to tell or relate". It could also be a variant of Irish Spillane or Jewish Spellman... [more]
SpenderEnglish Occupational name for a paymaster or someone in charge of finances, from Old English spendan "to spend" and Latin expendere "to pay out".
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]
SpiceEnglish From Middle English spice meaning "spice", referring to a spice dealer or an apothecary.
SpicerEnglish, Jewish, Polish English: occupational name for a seller of spices, Middle English spic(i)er (a reduced form of Old French espicier, Late Latin speciarius, an agent derivative of species ‘spice’, ‘groceries’, ‘merchandise’).... [more]
SpierEnglish An English surname, meaning "the one who watches".
SpillmanEnglish From the medieval male personal name Spileman, literally "acrobat" or "jester" (from a derivative of Middle English spillen "to play, cavort").
SpindlerEnglish, German, Jewish Occupational name for a spindle maker, from an agent derivative of Middle English spindle, Middle High German spindel, German Spindel, Yiddish shpindl "spindle, distaff".
SpoonEnglish Apparently a metonymic occupational name either for a maker of roofing shingles or spoons, from Old English spon "chip, splinter" (see also Spooner).
SpragueEnglish English from northern Middle English Spragge, either a personal name or a byname meaning "lively", a metathesized and voiced form of "spark."
SpringallEnglish Means (i) "operator of a springald (a type of medieval siege engine)" (from Anglo-Norman springalde); or (ii) from a medieval nickname for a youthful person (from Middle English springal "youth").
SpringerGerman, English, Dutch, Jewish Nickname for a lively person or for a traveling entertainer. It can also refer to a descendant of Ludwig der Springer (AKA Louis the Springer), a medieval Franconian count who, according to legend, escaped from a second or third-story prison cell by jumping into a river after being arrested for trying to seize County Saxony in Germany.
SpurrierEnglish Derived from the Old French word “esperonier,” meaning “to spur on”. It was likely given as a nickname to someone who was known for encouraging or motivating others. The name could have also referred to someone who was skilled at using spurs to control horses.
SquibbEnglish Nickname for an irascible, unpredictable or petty person, derived from Middle English squibbe meaning "firework, firecracker". A famous bearer is the American actress June Squibb (1929-).
SquireEnglish Surname comes from the occupation of a Squire. A young man who tends to a knight.
SquiresEnglish Surname is plural of Squire. A young person that tends to his knight, also someone that is a member of a landowner class that ranks below a knight.
StallardEnglish Byname for a valiant or resolute person, from a reduced pronunciation of Middle English stalward, stalworth "stalwart" (an Old English compound of stǣl "place" and wierðe "worthy").
StanawayEnglish Possibly a variant form of English Stanway, a habitational name from any of the places called Stanaway, in Essex, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Shropshire, all named with Old English stān ‘stone’ + weg ‘track’, ‘road’
StancilEnglish English habitational name from a place so named in South Yorkshire.
StancliffEnglish Habitational name from Scout in Northowram (Yorkshire) recorded as Staynclif in 1309 and Stancliff Skoute (the home of Edward Stankliff) in 1536. The placename derives from Old English stan "stone rock" with influence from Old Norse steinn "stone rock" and Old English clif "cliff bank" later with Middle English scoute "projecting cliff overhanging rock" (Old Norse skúti).
StandenEnglish Habitational name predominantly from Standen in Pendleton (Lancashire) and Standean in Ditchling (Sussex) but also from other places similarly named including Standen in East Grinstead (Sussex) Standen in Biddenden (Kent) Standen in Benenden (Kent) Upper and Lower Standen in Hawkinge (Kent) Standen (Berkshire Wiltshire Isle of Wight) and Standon (Devon Hampshire Hertfordshire Staffordshire)... [more]
StandishEnglish Habitational name Standish (Lancashire Now Part Of Greater Manchester, and Yorkshire) meaning Old English Stān ‘Stone Rock’ + Edisc ‘Enclosure; or Enclosed Park’.
StansfieldEnglish (British) Habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire, probably named with the genitive case of the Old English personal name Stan 1 "stone" and Old English feld "pasture, open country"... [more]
StanwickEnglish Habitational name from a place so called in Northamptonshire, named in Old English with stan ‘stone’ + wic ‘outlying dairy farm’.
StanwyckEnglish Variant spelling of Stanwick. This name was borne by the American actress, model and dancer Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990).
StaplefordEnglish Habitational name from any of a number of places, in Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and Wiltshire, so named from Old English stapol meaning "post" + ford meaning "ford".
StapletonEnglish Habitational surname from any of various places in England.
StarGerman, Dutch, Jewish, English German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname from German Star, Middle High German star, ‘starling’, probably denoting a talkative or perhaps a voracious person.... [more]
StarbuckEnglish After Starbeck village in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. A famous bearer of this name was the fictional character, Starbuck, the first mate of the Pequod in Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick.
StarkeyEnglish, German From a diminutive of Stark. This surname is borne by the English musician Sir Richard Starkey (1940-), also known as Ringo Starr.
StellEnglish Unknown origin, possibly a variant of Steel, from the English word "steel", originating in Yorkshire, UK. Alternatively, it may be derived from North German dialect word stel meaning "bog", denoting someone who lived near a marsh; or from Latin stella meaning "star", eg for a person who lived at an inn with a star on its sign.
StemleEnglish FROM KUPPENHEIM, BADEN, GERMANY, WHERE IT WAS (AND IS TODAY) SPELLED WITH 2 Ms: STEMMLE.... [more]
StensonEnglish From the name of a hamlet (now called Twyford and Stenson) in Derbyshire, England. The name is a combination of the Old Norse name Steinn and Old English tun "settlement, enclosure".
StentEnglish (Archaic) Derived from the Old Norse name Steinn meaning "stone". Recorded in several forms including Stein, Steen, Stone and Ston, this surname is english. It is perhaps not surprisingly one of the first recorded surnames anywhere in the world.... [more]
SterkenDutch, English Means "strong". Derived either from the Old English term sterċan, meaning "to make rigid", or from the Old Saxon sterkian and Old High German sterken, both meaning "to strengthen."
SterleyEnglish This is an English locational surname. Recorded as Starley, Stearley, Sterley, Sturley, and others, it originates from a place called 'ster-leah', meaning "steer" or "cattle farm". However no such place in any of the known surname spellings is to be found in England, although there is place called Starleyburn in Fifeshire in Scotland... [more]
StevenScottish, English, Dutch, Low German From the personal name Steven, a vernacular form of Latin Stephanus, Greek Stephanos "crown". This was a popular name throughout Christendom in the Middle Ages, having been borne by the first Christian martyr, stoned to death at Jerusalem three years after the death of Christ... [more]
StewardEnglish Occupational name for an administrative official of an estate or steward, from Old English stig "house" and weard "guard".
StickmanEnglish (Canadian) The Origin for the surname Stickman comes from the YouTube series Iron Hand character "Tim Stickman" and his wife (season 3) his kids (season 4) and parents (all seasons) made in 2016 and premiering in 2017.
StiffEnglish (American) Used sometimes as a derogatory term, stiff means uptight. It is used in a surname in American culture as well as in the media, such as novels, movies or tv shows.
StinchcombEnglish Habitational name from Stinchcombe in Gloucestershire, recorded in the 12th century as Stintescombe, from the dialect term stint meaning "sandpiper" + cumb meaning "narrow valley".