Øster DanishFrom Danish
øst meaning
"east", originally denoting a dweller on the eastern side of a place.
Østergård DanishFrom Danish
øst meaning "east" and
gård meaning "enclosure, farm".
Ó Suaird IrishMeans
"descendant of Suart" in Irish.
Suart is derived from the Old Norse name
Sigurd.
Oursler GermanOriginally a name designating a person from Ursel (now Oberursel) in Hesse, Germany.
Overton EnglishDenoted a person who hailed from one of the various places in England called Overton, meaning "upper settlement" or "riverbank settlement" in Old English.
Owston EnglishDenoted a person who came from any one of the places in Britain called Ouston or Owston.
Pace ItalianDerived from the Italian given name
Pace meaning
"peace".
Padilla SpanishFrom various Spanish place names, derived from Spanish
padilla, Latin
patella meaning "shallow dish", used to indicate a depression in the landscape.
Padmore EnglishOriginally indicated a person from Padmore in England, derived from Old English
padde "toad" and
mor "moor, marsh".
Padovano ItalianOriginally denoted one who came from the city of Padua in Italy, from Italian
Padova, itself from Latin
Patavium, of unknown meaning.
Page English, FrenchOccupational name meaning
"servant, page". It is ultimately derived (via Old French and Italian) from Greek
παιδίον (paidion) meaning "little boy".
Paisley ScottishFrom the name of a town near Glasgow, which may ultimately be derived from Latin
basilica "church".
Palazzo ItalianMeans
"palace" in Italian, from Latin
palatium. It was originally used by someone who lived near a palace or mansion, or who worked there.
Palencia SpanishHabitational name from the city or region of Palencia in northern Spain.
Palladino ItalianFrom Italian
paladino meaning
"knight, defender", from Late Latin
palatinus meaning "palace officer".
Palmer EnglishMeans
"pilgrim", ultimately from Latin
palma "palm tree", since pilgrims to the Holy Land often brought back palm fronds as proof of their journey.
Palmisano ItalianLocative name from the town of Palmi in the Calabria region of southern Italy.
Palumbo ItalianFrom Italian
palombo meaning
"pigeon" (also "dogfish"). This form is typical of southern Italy.
Pan 2 ChineseFrom Chinese
潘 (pān) meaning
"water in which rice has been rinsed", and also referring to a river that flows into the Han River.
Pantoja SpanishOriginally indicated a person from the town of Pantoja, in Toledo, Spain.
Panza Italian, LiteratureFrom 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).
Papoutsis m GreekMeans
"shoemaker" in Greek, from
παπούτσι (papoutsi) meaning "shoe" (ultimately of Persian origin).
Papp 2 GermanNickname perhaps related to Late Latin
pappare meaning
"to eat".
Paquet 1 FrenchOccupational name for a firewood gatherer, from Old French
pacquet "bundle".
Pardo SpanishMeans
"brown" in Spanish, originally a nickname for someone with brown hair.
Paredes Portuguese, SpanishDenoted a person who lived near a wall, from Portuguese
parede and Spanish
pared meaning
"wall", both derived from Latin
paries.
Parent English, FrenchDerived from Old French
parent meaning either
"notable" (from Latin
pārēre meaning "to be apparent") or
"parent" (from Latin
parere meaning "to produce, to give birth").
Parish 1 EnglishOriginally denoted a person who came from the French city of Paris, which got its name from the ancient Celtic tribe known as the Parisii.
Park 1 KoreanFrom Sino-Korean
樸 or 朴 (bak) meaning
"plain, unadorned, simple". This is the third most common surname in South Korea.
Park 2 EnglishFrom Middle English
park, from Latin
parricus, of Frankish origin. This was a name for someone who worked in or lived in a park.
Parker EnglishMeans
"keeper of the park" in Middle English. It is an occupational name for a person who was a gamekeeper at a medieval park.
Parma ItalianFrom the city of Parma in northern Italy, the name of which is probably of Etruscan origin.
Parodi ItalianFrom the name of a village near Genoa in northern Italy.
Parrino SicilianFrom a Sicilian variant of Italian
padrino meaning
"godfather".
Parsamyan ArmenianMeans
"son of Parsam", possibly from an Assyrian name
Barsauma meaning "fasting".
Parsons EnglishOriginally denoted a son of a parson, a derivative of Latin
persona "person".
Pasternak Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, YiddishMeans
"parsnip" in various Slavic languages, ultimately from Latin
pastinaca. A famous bearer was Boris Pasternak (1890-1960), author of
Doctor Zhivago.
Pataki HungarianDerived from Hungarian
patak meaning
"creek, brook" (a word of Slavic origin). It was given to people who lived near a creek.
Paternoster English, ItalianOccupational name for a maker of rosaries, also called paternosters. They are derived from the Latin phrase
pater noster "our Father", the opening words of the Lord's Prayer.
Pavia ItalianFrom the name of the city of Pavia in Lombardy, Italy. It is of unknown meaning.
Pavlov m Russian, BulgarianMeans
"son of Pavel". A famous bearer of this surname was the Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), known for his discovery of the conditioned reflex.
Pavone ItalianMeans
"peacock" in Italian. It was originally a nickname for a proud or haughty person.
Pawłowski m PolishHabitational name for someone from a town named
Pawłowo, derived from the given name
Paweł.
Paxton EnglishFrom an English place name meaning "Pœcc's town".
Pœcc is an Old English name of unknown meaning.
Payne EnglishFrom a medieval given name or nickname derived from Latin
paganus meaning
"heathen, pagan" (from an earlier sense "rural, rustic"), which was given to children whose baptism had been postponed or adults who were not overly religious.
Paz SpanishMeans
"peace" in Spanish, originally a nickname for a calm person.
Peacock EnglishFrom Middle English
pecok meaning
"peacock". It was originally a nickname for a proud or haughty person.
Peak EnglishOriginally 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 2 EnglishOccupational name for a maker of pecks (vessels used as peck measures), derived from Middle English
pekke.
Pecora ItalianMeans
"sheep" in Italian, an occupational name for a shepherd.
Peel EnglishNickname for a thin person, derived from Old French
pel, Latin
palus meaning
"stake, post" (related to English
pole).
Peerenboom DutchFrom Dutch meaning
"pear tree", referring to someone who lived or worked at a pear orchard.
Pei ChineseFrom Chinese
裴 (péi), possibly referring to an ancient city.
Pellegrino ItalianMeans
"pilgrim, traveller" in Italian, ultimately from Latin
peregrinus.
Peltola FinnishFrom Finnish
pelto meaning
"field" with the suffix
-la indicating a place.
Pemberton EnglishFrom 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 SpanishOriginally denoted a person who lived near a jutting rock, from Spanish
peña meaning
"rock, cliff".
Pender 1 EnglishFrom Middle English
pind "to pen up". This was an occupational name for someone who penned animals.
Penders DutchFrom Middle Dutch
paender meaning
"brewer", derived from
panne meaning "pan, pot", ultimately from Latin
patina.
Peng ChineseFrom Chinese
彭 (péng) referring to the ancient state of Peng, which existed during the Shang dynasty in what is now Jiangsu province.
Penn 1 EnglishDerived from various place names that were named using the Brythonic word
penn meaning
"hilltop, head".
Penn 2 EnglishOccupational name for a person who kept penned animals, from Old English
penn.
Penny EnglishNickname meaning
"penny, coin" from Old English
penning.
Penzig YiddishDenoted 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".
Pereira Portuguese, GalicianFrom Portuguese and Galician
pereira meaning
"pear tree", ultimately from Latin
pirum meaning "pear".
Périgord FrenchFrom the name of a region in southern France, possibly of Gaulish origin.
Perrier FrenchOccupational name for a person who worked with stone, derived from French
pierre meaning
"stone", from Latin
petra, Greek
πέτρα (petra).
Perry 1 EnglishFrom 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 ItalianFrom 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.
Pesaro ItalianFrom the name of the city of Pesaro, in the Marche region (Latin
Pisaurum).
Pesce ItalianMeans
"fish" in Italian, referring either to a fisherman or to a person who resembled a fish in some way.
Petit French, Catalan, EnglishMeans
"small, little" derived from Old French and Catalan
petit. It was perhaps used for a short, small person or to denote the younger of two individuals.
Pfaff GermanFrom a nickname meaning
"priest, cleric" from Old High German
pfaffo, from Latin
papa.
Pfeiffer GermanOccupational name meaning
"pipe player" in German, from Middle High German
pfifen "to whistle".
Pfenning GermanFrom Old High German
pfenning meaning
"penny, coin". It was used in reference to feudal tax obligations.
Phạm VietnameseVietnamese form of
Fan, from Sino-Vietnamese
范 (phạm). This is the fourth most common surname in Vietnam.