Rademaker DutchFrom the occupation of
rademaker meaning
"maker of wheels", from Dutch
rad meaning "wheel".
Rafferty IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Ó Rabhartaigh meaning
"descendant of Rabhartach". The given name
Rabhartach means "flood tide".
Raines EnglishOriginally denoted a person from Rayne, Essex, England (possibly from an Old English word meaning "shelter") or from Rennes, Brittany, France (from the name of the Gaulish tribe of the Redones).
Rais ItalianOccupational name for the fisherman in charge of the boat, from Italian
rais "captain", of Arabic origin. It is typical of Sicily and Sardinia.
Randrup DanishFrom the name of homesteads in Denmark (in Viborg or Rebild municipalities).
Rapp 1 SwedishFrom Swedish
rapp meaning
"quick, prompt", one of the names adopted by soldiers in the 17th century.
Ravenna ItalianFrom the name of the city of Ravenna in northern Italy, which is of uncertain origin, possibly Etruscan.
Read 2 EnglishFrom Old English
ryd, an unattested form of
rod meaning
"cleared land". It is also derived from various English place names with various meanings, including "roe headland", "reeds" and "brushwood".
Reagan IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Ó Riagáin meaning
"descendant of Riagán". A famous bearer was the American president Ronald Reagan (1911-2004).
Regenbogen German, JewishFrom a German nickname meaning
"rainbow", probably a habitational name for someone who lived in a house with the sign of a rainbow. As a Jewish surname it is ornamental.
Remington EnglishFrom the name of the town of Rimington in Lancashire, derived from the name of the stream
Riming combined with Old English
tun meaning "enclosure, town".
Rendón SpanishPossibly derived from a variant of Spanish
de rondón meaning
"unexpectedly, rashly".
Rettig GermanDerived from Middle High German
retich, Middle Low German
redik meaning
"radish", an occupational name for a grower or seller of radishes.
Rey 2 EnglishMeans
"female roe deer" from Old English
ræge, probably denoting someone of a nervous temperament.
Rhodes EnglishTopographic name derived from Old English
rod meaning
"cleared land", or a locational name from any of the locations named with this word.
Riber DanishOriginally indicated a person from the county or town of Ribe in southwestern Denmark.
Richelieu FrenchFrom the name of the town of Richelieu, derived from French
riche "wealthy" and
lieu "place". The historic figure Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642), born Armand du Plessis, was so-called because he became the first Duke of Richelieu. He appears in Alexander Dumas' novel
The Three Musketeers (1844).
Ridley EnglishDenoted a person who hailed from one of the various places of this name in England. The places are derived from Old English
hreod "reed" or
ryddan "to strip, to clear" combined with
leah "woodland, clearing".
Rietveld DutchMeans
"reed field", from Dutch
riet "reed" and
veld "field". It is found mostly in the western part of the Netherlands (the Holland area).
Rigby EnglishOriginally derived from the name of a town in Lancashire, itself from Old Norse
hryggr "ridge" and
býr "farm, settlement".
Riggi ItalianFrom the name of the Italian city of Reggio Calabria, from Latin
Rhegium, of Greek origin.
Riley 1 EnglishFrom the name of the town of Ryley in Lancashire, derived from Old English
ryge "rye" and
leah "woodland, clearing".
Ripley EnglishFrom the name of various English towns, from Old English
rippel "grove, thicket" and
leah "woodland, clearing". A notable fictional bearer is the character Ellen Ripley from the movie
Alien (1979) and its sequels.
Ritter GermanFrom Middle High German
riter meaning
"rider, knight", a cognate of
Ryder.
Roach EnglishFrom Middle English and Old French
roche meaning
"rock", from Late Latin
rocca, a word that may be of Celtic origin. It indicated a person who lived near a prominent rock, or who came from a town by this name (such as Les Roches in Normandy).
Rojo SpanishMeans
"red" in Spanish, referring to the colour of the hair or complexion.
Romagna ItalianFrom the region of Romagna, on the Adriatic coast of Italy. It is derived from Latin
Romania meaning "land of the Romans".
Romano 2 ItalianDenoted a person from the city of
Rome, either a resident or someone who visited as a pilgrim. In Calabria it was also used to designate a person from New Rome, a name for Constantinople.
Romanov m RussianMeans
"son of Roman". This was the surname of the last dynasty of Russian tsars.
Roncalli ItalianFrom the names of places like Ronco or Ronchi, quite common in northern Italy, derived from
ronco meaning "cleared land, terraced land". It was the surname of Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (1881-1963), the pope John XXIII.
Roosevelt DutchMeans
"rose field" from Dutch
roos "rose" and
veld "field". This was the surname of American presidents Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945).
Rosário PortugueseMeans
"rosary" in Portuguese. This name was often given to people born on the day of the festival of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Roscoe EnglishFrom the name of a town in Lancashire, derived from Old Norse
rá "roebuck" and
skógr "wood, forest".
Rose 1 English, French, German, JewishMeans
"rose" from Middle English, Old French and Middle High German
rose, all from Latin
rosa. All denote a person of a rosy complexion or a person who lived in an area abundant with roses. As a Jewish surname it is ornamental, from Yiddish
רויז (roiz).
Ross English, ScottishFrom various place names (such as the region of Ross in northern Scotland), which are derived from Scottish Gaelic
ros meaning "promontory, headland".
Rossini ItalianDiminutive form of
Rossi. A famous bearer was the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868).
Rothschild JewishFrom Middle High German
rot "red" and
schilt "shield", or Yiddish
רויט (roit) and
שילד (shild). The famous Rothschild family of bankers took their name from a house with a red shield on it.
Rotolo ItalianFrom the Italian word for a measure of weight, from southern Italian dialects, derived from Greek via Arabic.
Rousseau FrenchDiminutive of
Roux. A famous bearer was the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) whose ideas influenced the French Revolution.
Rovigatti ItalianFrom the name of the city of Rovigo in northeastern Italy near Venice. It was called
Rodigium in Latin, and is of unknown meaning.
Rowe 1 EnglishMeans
"row" in Middle English, indicating a dweller by a row of hedges or houses.
Royce EnglishOriginally derived from the medieval given name
Royse, a variant of
Rose.
Royston EnglishOriginally taken from an Old English place name meaning "Royse's town". The given name
Royse was a medieval variant of
Rose.
Ruan ChineseFrom Chinese
阮 (ruǎn), which refers to a type of musical instrument, similar to a lute.
Rutherford ScottishFrom the name of places in southern Scotland and northern England, derived from Old English
hriðer meaning "cattle, ox" and
ford meaning "ford, river crossing".
Ruzzier ItalianFrom a dialectal variant of
Ruggiero. It is typical of northeastern Italy, the area around Trieste.
Rye EnglishTopographic name. It could be a misdivision of the Middle English phrases
atter ye meaning
"at the island" or
atter eye meaning
"at the river". In some cases it merely indicated a person who lived where rye was grown or worked with rye (from Old English
ryge).
Sabbadin ItalianFrom a nickname from Italian
sabbato "Saturday", a name for one born on that day of the week.
Sacco ItalianOccupational name for a maker of sacks, from Italian
sacco, Latin
saccus.
Sachs GermanOriginally indicated a person from Saxony (German
Sachsen). The region was named for the Germanic tribe of the Saxons, ultimately derived from the Germanic word *
sahsą meaning "knife".
Sadler EnglishOccupational name for a maker of saddles, from Old English
sadol "saddle".
Şahin TurkishMeans
"hawk" in Turkish (of Persian origin), probably used to refer to someone who was a hawk tamer.
Salamanca SpanishOriginally indicated a person from Salamanca, a city in western Spain that is of unknown meaning.
Salazar Basque, SpanishFrom Spanish
sala meaning "hall" and Basque
zahar meaning "old". It can also refer to the town of Salazar in Burgos, Spain, which is of the same origin.
Saller 1 GermanOriginally denoted a person from the town of Sallern in Bavaria, possibly from a Celtic element meaning "stream".
Salzwedel GermanOriginally denoted a person from Salzwedel, Germany, which is of Old Saxon origin meaning "salt ford".
Sandberg Swedish, Norwegian, JewishFrom Swedish and Norwegian
sand (Old Norse
sandr) meaning "sand" and
berg meaning "mountain" (or in the case of the Jewish surname, from the Yiddish or German cognates).
Sandoval SpanishDerived from the name of a town in Spain, ultimately from Latin
saltus "forest, glade" and
novalis "unploughed land".
Santana Spanish, PortugueseFrom any of the numerous places named after Saint
Anna. A famous bearer is the Mexican-American musician Carlos Santana (1947-).
Sappington EnglishPossibly from the city of Sapperton, England, derived from Old English
sapere meaning "soap maker" and
tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town".
Šarić Croatian, SerbianPatronymic of (possibly) Serbo-Croatian
šaren meaning
"colourful, patterned".
Sartre FrenchFrench cognate of
Sarto. A famous bearer was the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980).
Sauveterre FrenchFrom the name of various towns in France, derived from French
sauve "safe" and
terre "land".
Savatier FrenchFrom Old French
savatier "shoemaker", derived from
savate "shoe", of uncertain ultimate origin.
Savona ItalianFrom the name of the city of Savona in northern Italy, called
Savo by the Romans, of uncertain meaning.
Sawyer EnglishOccupational name meaning
"sawer of wood, woodcutter" in Middle English, ultimately from Old English
sagu meaning "saw". Mark Twain used it for the main character in his novel
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Scarlett EnglishDenoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet, a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian
سقرلاط (saqrelāṭ).
Scherer GermanOccupational name for a cutter of cloth or a sheep-shearer, from Old High German
skeran "to cut".
Schmidt GermanOccupational name derived from Middle High German
smit "smith, metalworker", a cognate of
Smith.
Schnur German, JewishFrom Old High German
snuor meaning
"rope, cord", an occupational name for a maker of rope.
Schoorl DutchOriginally indicated a person from the town of Schoorl in the province of Noord-Holland in the Netherlands. It means "forest by the shore" in Dutch.
Schöttmer GermanOriginally indicated a person from Schötmar, Germany (now part of the city of Bad Salzuflen in North Rhine-Westphalia).
Schröter GermanMeans
"beer-porter, wine-porter" in German, an occupational name for a carrier of wine or beer barrels.
Schwangau GermanFrom the name of a town in southern Germany, possibly related to German
Schwan meaning "swan".