Surnames on the United States Popularity List

Sartini Italian
Diminutive form of Sarto.

Sarto Italian
Occupational name meaning "tailor" in Italian, from Latin sartor, from sarcire meaning "to mend".

Sartor Italian
Variant of Sarto.

Sartore Italian
Variant of Sarto.

Sas Hungarian
Means "eagle" in Hungarian.

Sasaki Japanese
From Japanese 佐 (sa) meaning "help, aid" (repeated, indicated by the iteration mark 々) and 木 (ki) meaning "tree, wood".

Sass Hungarian
Variant of Sas.

Sastre Spanish
Spanish cognate of Sarto.

Sato Japanese
Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji 佐藤 (see Satō).

Satō Japanese
From Japanese 佐 (sa) meaning "help, aid" and 藤 (tō) meaning "wisteria". The final character might indicate a connection to the Fujiwara clan. This is the most common surname in Japan.

Sauber German
Means "clean, tidy" in German.

Sauer German
Means "sour" in German, a nickname for an embittered or cantankerous person.

Sault French
French cognate of Soto.

Saunders English, Scottish
Variant of Sanders.

Sauter German
Occupational name for a cobbler, from Latin sutor "sewer, cobbler".

Sauvage French
French form of Savage.

Sauvageau French
French diminutive form of Savage.

Sauvageot French
French diminutive form of Savage.

Savage English
English nickname meaning "wild, uncouth", derived from Old French salvage or sauvage meaning "untamed", ultimately from Latin silvaticus meaning "wild, from the woods".

Savchenko Ukrainian
From the given name Sava.

Savchuk Ukrainian
From the given name Sava.

Savić Serbian
Means "son of Sava".

Savidge English
Variant of Savage.

Savolainen Finnish
Originally indicated a person from Savonia, a historical province in eastern Finland.

Savona Italian
From the name of the city of Savona in northern Italy, called Savo by the Romans, of uncertain meaning.

Sawyer English
Occupational 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).

Sayer Welsh
From Welsh saer meaning "carpenter".

Saylor English
Occupational name meaning "acrobat, dancer", derived from Old French sailleor, from Latin sallitor.

Scarlett English
Denoted a person who sold or made clothes made of scarlet, a kind of cloth, possibly derived from Persian سقرلاط (saqrelāṭ).

Scarpa Italian
Means "shoemaker" from Italian scarpa meaning "shoe".

Scavo Italian
Means "serf, slave", from Old Sicilian scavu.

Schäfer German
From Old High German scaphare meaning "shepherd".

Scheer German, Dutch
Variant of Scherer.

Scheinberg Jewish
Ornamental name meaning "beautiful mountain" from German schön "beautiful, good, nice" and berg "mountain".

Schenck German
Variant of Schenk.

Schenk German, Dutch
From Middle High German, Middle Dutch schenke meaning "wine server" (from Old High German scenken "to pour out").

Scherer German
Occupational name for a cutter of cloth or a sheep-shearer, from Old High German skeran "to cut".

Schermer Dutch, Low German
Dutch and Low German form of Schirmer.

Schindler German
Occupational name for a roof tiler, from Middle High German schindel "shingle". A famous bearer was Oskar Schindler (1908-1974), who saved over a thousand Polish Jews during World War II.

Schipper Dutch
Occupational name meaning "skipper, ship captain" in Dutch.

Schirmer German
Means "fencer, fencing master", from Old High German skirmen meaning "to defend".

Schlender German
From Middle High German slinderen "to dawdle" or Middle Low German slinden "to swallow, to eat".

Schlimme German
From German schlimm "bad, crooked, awry".

Schlösser German
Variant of Schlosser.

Schlosser German
Occupational name for a locksmith, derived from Old High German sloz meaning "lock".

Schmeling German
From Middle Low German smal meaning "small, slender".

Schmid German
Variant of Schmidt.

Schmidt German
Occupational name derived from Middle High German smit "smith, metalworker", a cognate of Smith.

Schmitt German
Variant of Schmidt.

Schmitz German
Variant of Schmidt, originating in the Rhine area in western Germany.

Schneider German, Jewish
From German schneider or Yiddish shnayder, making it a cognate of Snyder.

Schneiders Dutch
Variant of Snyder.

Schnell German
German cognate of Snell.

Schnoor German
Variant of Schnur.

Schnur German, Jewish
From Old High German snuor meaning "rope, cord", an occupational name for a maker of rope.

Schofield English
From various northern English place names, which were derived from Old Norse skáli "hut" and Old English feld "field".

Scholten Dutch
Variant of Schouten.

Scholz German
Variant of Schulz.

School Dutch
From Dutch school, ultimately from Latin schola meaning "school", indicating a person who worked at or lived near a school.

Schouten Dutch
Occupational name derived from Middle Dutch schout meaning "sheriff, bailiff".

Schovajsa m Czech
Means "hide yourself" in Czech, of Moravian origin.

Schräder Low German (Rare)
Variant of Schröder 1.

Schrader Low German
Variant of Schröder 1.

Schreck German
From Middle High German schrecken meaning "to frighten, to scare".

Schreiber German
German cognate of Scriven.

Schreier German, Jewish
Occupational name for a town crier, from Old High German scrian meaning "to shout, to yell".

Schröder 1 Low German
Occupational name for a tailor, from Middle Low German schroden meaning "to cut".

Schröder 2 German
Variant of Schröter.

Schroeder German
Variant of Schröder 1 and Schröder 2.

Schroeter German
Variant of Schröter.

Schröter German
Means "beer-porter, wine-porter" in German, an occupational name for a carrier of wine or beer barrels.

Schubert German
Variant of Schuchardt. This name was borne by the Austrian composer Franz Schubert (1797-1828).

Schuchard German
Variant of Schuchardt.

Schuchardt German
From Middle High German schuochwürte meaning "shoemaker, cobbler".

Schuchert German
Variant of Schuchardt.

Schuhart German
Variant of Schuchardt.

Schuhmacher German
From the Middle High German occupational name schuochmacher meaning "shoemaker".

Schuler German
Means "scholar, student" in German, ultimately from Latin schola meaning "school".

Schult Low German
Low German variant of Schulz.

Schulte Low German
Low German variant of Schulz.

Schultes German
Variant of Schulz.

Schultheis German
Variant of Schulz.

Schultheiss German
Variant of Schulz.

Schultheiß German
Variant of Schulz.

Schultz German
Variant of Schulz.

Schultze German
Variant of Schulz.

Schulz German
Occupational name derived from Middle High German schultheiße meaning "mayor, judge".

Schulze German
Variant of Schulz.

Schumacher German
Variant of Schuhmacher.

Schuster German
Means "shoemaker, cobbler", from Middle High German schuoch "shoe" and suter, from Latin sutor "sewer, cobbler".

Schuyler Dutch
Possibly a Dutch form of Schuler.

Schwartz German, Jewish
Variant of Schwarz.

Schwarz German, Jewish
Means "black" in German, from Old High German swarz. It originally described a person with black hair or a dark complexion.

Schwarzenberg German
Means "black mountain" in German.

Schweitzer German
Indicated a person from Switzerland (see Schweiz).

Schwenke 1 German
Derived from Middle High German swenken meaning "to swing".

Schwenke 2 German
From a given name, a Low German diminutive of Swanhild.

Schwinghammer German
Occupational name for a blacksmith, literally meaning "swing hammer" in German.

Sciacca Italian
Originally denoted someone from Sciacca, Sicily, Italy, which is of uncertain origin.

Sciacchitano Italian
Variant of Sciacca.

Sciarra Italian
From Sicilian sciarra meaning "quarrel, dispute", originally a nickname for a quarrelsome person.

Scola Italian
From Italian scuola meaning "school".

Scordato Italian
Means "forgotten, left behind" in Italian.

Scott English, Scottish
Originally given to a person from Scotland or a person who spoke Scottish Gaelic.

Scotti Italian
From the medieval given name Francescotto, a diminutive of Francesco.

Scriven English
Occupational name meaning "writer, clerk, scribe" in Old French, derived from Latin scriba.

Scrivener English
Variant of Scriven.

Scrivens English
Variant of Scriven.

Scully Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Scolaidhe.

Seabrook English
Denoted a person from a town by this name in Buckinghamshire, England. It is derived from that of a river combined with Old English broc "stream".

Seabrooke English
Variant of Seabrook.

Seaver English
From the unattested Old English given name Sæfaru, derived from the Old English elements sæ "sea, ocean" and faru "journey".

Sebastiani Italian
From the given name Sebastiano.

Sedláček m Czech, Slovak
Diminutive form of Sedlák.

Sedlák m Czech, Slovak
Means "farmer" in Czech and Slovak. A sedlák had more land than a Zahradník or a Chalupník, but less land than a Dvořák.

Seeger German
From the given name Sieghard.

Seegers Dutch
Means "son of Sieger".

Seelen Dutch
Variant of Ceelen.

Segal 1 Jewish
From the Hebrew phrase סגן לויה (seḡan Lewiya) meaning "assistant Levite".

Segal 2 French
Occupational name for a grower or seller of rye, from Old French, from Latin secale "rye".

Segers Dutch
Means "son of Sieger".

Seghers Dutch
Means "son of Sieger".

Segreti Italian
From Italian segreto meaning "secret", a nickname for a confidant.

Segura Spanish, Catalan
From places with names derived from Spanish or Catalan segura meaning "safe, secure".

Seidel German
From a diminutive of the given name Siegfried.

Seki Japanese
From Japanese 関 (seki) meaning "frontier pass".

Selby English
From the name of a village that meant "willow farm" in Old English.

Selvaggio Italian
Italian form of Savage.

Semenyuk Ukrainian
From the given name Semen.

Senft 1 German
Occupational name for a mustard seller, from German Senf "mustard".

Senft 2 German
Nickname for a helpful, kind person, from Old High German semfti meaning "soft, accommodating".

Senior English
Originally a name for the elder of two brothers.

Sepp Estonian
Means "smith" in Estonian.

Seppä Finnish
Means "smith" in Finnish.

Seppänen Finnish
Variant of Seppä.

Sepúlveda Spanish
Derived from the name of the Sepúlveda Valley in the mountains of Segovia, and was originally used to denote people from that region. It is possibly derived from Spanish sepultar "to bury".

Serafim Portuguese
Derived from the given name Serafim.

Serafin Polish, Italian
Derived from the given name Serafin or Serafino.

Serafini Italian
Derived from the given name Serafino.

Șerban Romanian
Means "a Serb" in Romanian.

Seres Hungarian
Variant of Sörös.

Sergeant English, French
Occupational name derived from Old French sergent meaning "servant", ultimately from Latin servire "to serve".

Sergeev m Russian
Alternate transcription of Russian Сергеев (see Sergeyev).

Sergeyev m Russian
Means "son of Sergey".

Serpico Italian
From a nickname derived from Italian serpe "serpent, reptile".

Serra Italian, Portuguese, Catalan
Italian, Portuguese and Catalan cognate of Sierra.

Serrano Spanish
Variant of Sierra.

Sessa Italian
Originally indicated a person from from Sessa or Sessa Cilento, Italy (from Latin Suessa, of uncertain meaning).

Sessions English
From the name of the city of Soissons in northern France, itself derived from the name of the Celtic tribe of the Suessiones.

Ševčík m Czech, Slovak
Occupational name derived from Czech and Slovak švec meaning "shoemaker, cobbler".

Séverin French
Derived from the given name Séverin.

Seward 1 English
Derived from the given name Sigeweard.

Seward 2 English
Means "swineherd" from Old English su "sow, female pig" and hierde "herdsman, guardian".

Seward 3 Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Suaird.

Sexton English
Occupational name for a sexton (Middle English sexteyn), a caretaker for a church or graveyard.

Seymour 1 English
From Saint Maur, a French place name, which commemorates Saint Maurus.

Seymour 2 English
From an English place name, derived from Old English sæ "sea" and mere "lake".

Sgro Italian
Nickname for a curly-haired person, from Greek σγουρός (sgouros) meaning "curly".

Shafir Jewish
Ornamental name meaning "sapphire" in Yiddish.

Shah Persian, Urdu
Derived from Persian شاه (shāh) meaning "king".

Shain Jewish
Means "beautiful, handsome" in Yiddish, from German schön.

Shakespeare English
From a nickname for a warlike person, from Old English scacan "to shake" and spere "spear". A famous bearer was the English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

Shannon Irish
From Irish Ó Seanáin meaning "descendant of Seanán".

Shapiro Jewish
Means "pretty, lovely" in Hebrew, from Aramaic.

Sharipov m Uzbek, Tajik
Means "son of Sharif".

Sharma Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Gujarati, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Nepali
Means "joy, shelter, comfort" in Sanskrit.

Sharman English
Variant of Sherman 1.

Sharp English
Nickname for a keen person, from Old English scearp "sharp".

Sharpe English
Variant of Sharp.

Sharrow English
Originally a name for someone from Sharrow, England, derived from Old English scearu "boundary" and hoh "point of land, heel".

Shaughnessy Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Seachnasaigh.

Shaw 1 English
Originally given to a person who lived near a prominent thicket, from Old English sceaga meaning "thicket, copse".

Shaw 2 Scottish
From a given name or byname that was derived from Gaelic sitheach meaning "wolf" (Old Irish sídach).

Shea Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Séaghdha.

Shearer English
English cognate of Scherer.

Sheedy Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Síoda.

Sheehy Irish
Variant of McSheehy.

Sheenan Irish
Variant of Shannon.

Shehu Albanian
From the Arabic title شيخ (shaykh) meaning "elder, chief, sheikh".

Sheinfeld Jewish
Ornamental name derived from German schön "beautiful, good, nice" and feld "field".

Shelby English
Variant of Selby.

Shelton English
From the name of various English towns, meaning "shelf town" in Old English.

Shen Chinese
From Chinese 申 (shēn) referring to the ancient state of Shen, which existed during the Zhou dynasty.

Shepard English
Variant of Shepherd.

Shepherd English
Occupational name meaning "shepherd, sheep herder", from Old English sceaphyrde.

Sheppard English
Variant of Shepherd.

Sherburn English
Denoted a person hailing from any of the various places called Sherborne or Sherburn in England, derived from Old English scir "bright" and burna "spring, fountain, stream".

Sherburne English
Variant of Sherburn.

Sheridan Irish
From the Irish name Ó Sirideáin meaning "descendant of Sirideán". The given name Sirideán possibly means "searcher".

Sherman 1 English
Means "shear man", referring to someone who used shears in his line of work, such as a sheep-shearer.

Sherman 2 Jewish
Means "tailor" in Yiddish, derived from שער (sher) meaning "scissors".

Shevchenko Ukrainian
Derived from Ukrainian швець (shvets) meaning "shoemaker".

Shevchuk Ukrainian
Derived from Ukrainian швець (shvets) meaning "shoemaker".

Shibuya Japanese
From Japanese 渋 (shibu) meaning "astringent, rough" and 谷 (ya) meaning "valley".

Shimada Japanese
From Japanese 島 (shima) meaning "island" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".

Shimamura Japanese
From Japanese 島 (shima) meaning "island" and 村 (mura) meaning "town, village".

Shimizu Japanese
From Japanese 清 (shi) meaning "clear, pure, clean" and 水 (mizu) meaning "water".

Shin Korean
Korean form of Shen, from Sino-Korean 申 (sin).

Shine 1 English
Means "beautiful, attractive" from Old English sciene.

Shine 2 Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Seighin.

Shinkawa Japanese
From Japanese 新 (shin) meaning "fresh, new" and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream".

Shinoda Japanese
From Japanese 篠 (shino) meaning "dwarf bamboo" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".

Shinohara Japanese
From Japanese 篠 (shino) meaning "dwarf bamboo" and 原 (hara) meaning "field, plain".

Shinozaki Japanese
From Japanese 篠 (shino) meaning "dwarf bamboo" and 崎 (saki) meaning "cape, peninsula".

Shirai Japanese
From Japanese 白 (shira) meaning "white" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".

Shiraishi Japanese
From Japanese 白 (shira) meaning "white" and 石 (ishi) meaning "stone".

Shirakawa Japanese
From Japanese 白 (shira) meaning "white" and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream".

Shiratori Japanese
From Japanese 白 (shira) meaning "white" and 鳥 (tori) meaning "bird".

Shirazi Persian
Originally denoted someone who came from the city of Shiraz, located in southern Iran. The city's name is possibly of Elamite origin.

Shirley English
From an English place name, derived from Old English scir "bright" and leah "woodland, clearing".

Short English
From a nickname for a short person, from Middle English schort.

Shriver German
German cognate of Scriven.

Shvets Ukrainian
Means "shoemaker" in Ukrainian.

Siddall English
From the name of various English towns, derived from Old English sid "wide" and halh "nook, recess".

Sidney English
Originally derived from various place names in England meaning "wide island", from Old English sid "wide" and eg "island". Another theory holds that it comes from the name of a town in Normandy called "Saint Denis", though evidence for this is lacking.

Siebert German
Derived from the given name Siegbert.

Siegel 1 German
Occupational name for a maker of seals or signet rings, ultimately from Latin sigillum "seal".

Siegel 2 German
Derived from the diminutive of Old German given names beginning with the element sigu meaning "victory".

Siegel 3 Jewish
Variant of Segal 1.

Sieger German
From the given name Sieghard.

Siegert German
Derived from the given name Sieghard.

Siekert German (Rare)
Derived from the given name Sieghard.

Siemon German
Variant of Simon.

Siena Italian
Indicated a person from Siena in Italy, which was named after the Gaulish tribe of the Senones.

Sienkiewicz Polish
Patronymic from the given name Sienko, an old diminutive of Szymon. This was the surname of the Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846-1916).

Sierra Spanish
Originally indicated a dweller on a hill range or ridge, from Spanish sierra "mountain range", derived from Latin serra "saw".

Sigourney English
From the name of the commune of Sigournais in western France, called Segurniacum in medieval Latin, itself of unknown meaning.

Sigurdsson Icelandic, Swedish
Means "son of Sigurður".

Sikora Polish
Means "tit (bird)" in Polish.

Silva Portuguese, Spanish
From Spanish or Portuguese silva meaning "forest". This is the most common surname in Portugal and Brazil.

Silveira Portuguese
Means "forests" in Portuguese.

Silver English
From a nickname for a person with grey hair, from Old English seolfor "silver".

Silverstein Jewish
Variant of Zilberstein.

Silvestri Italian
Derived from the given name Silvester.

Šimek m Czech
Derived from the name Šimek, a diminutive of Šimon.

Simen English (Rare)
From the given name Simon 1.

Simeonov m Bulgarian
Means "son of Simeon".

Šimić Croatian
Means "son of Šime".

Šimko m Slovak
From a diminutive of the given name Šimon.

Simmon German
From the given name Simon 1.

Simmons English
Derived from the given name Simon 1.

Simms English
Derived from the medieval given name Sim, a short form of Simon 1.

Simões Portuguese
Means "son of Simão" in Portuguese.

Šimon m Slovak, Czech
Derived from the given name Šimon.

Simón Spanish
From the given name Simón.

Simon English, French, German, Dutch, Hungarian, Jewish
Derived from the given name Simon 1.

Šimonis m Lithuanian
Means "son of Simonas".

Simonis Dutch, German
Means "son of Simon 1".

Simons English, German, Dutch
Derived from the given name Simon 1.

Simonsen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Simon 1".

Simonson English
Means "son of Simon 1".

Simpkin English
From a diminutive of the given name Simon 1.

Simpson English
Means "son of Sim", Sim being a medieval short form of Simon 1. This is the name of a fictional American family on the animated television series The Simpsons, starting 1989.

Sims English
Variant of Simms.

Šimunović Croatian
Means "son of Šimun".

Sinagra 1 Italian
Originally denoted a person from Sinagra on Sicily, possibly derived from Latin sinus "inlet" and ager "field".

Sinagra 2 Italian
Derived from the given name Senagora, an Italian form of Xenagoras.

Sinclair English
Derived from a Norman French town called "Saint Clair".

Singh Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Punjabi, Indian (Sikh)
From Sanskrit सिंह (siṃha) meaning "lion". In 1699 Guru Gobind Singh gave all his Sikh male followers the surname Singh and all females Kaur. It is among the most common surnames in India.

Sipos Hungarian
Occupational name for a fife player or piper, from Hungarian síp "whistle, pipe".

Siskin Jewish
Variant of Ziskind.

Siskind Jewish
Variant of Ziskind.

Sitko Polish
Means "fine sieve" in Polish, a diminutive of the Polish word sito "sieve".

Sitz 1 German
Derived from a given name beginning with the Old High German element sigu meaning "victory".

Sitz 2 German
Means "house owner", derived from Old High German siz "seat, domicile".

Sjöberg Swedish
From Swedish sjö (Old Norse sær) meaning "lake, sea" and berg meaning "mountain".

Sjögren Swedish
From Swedish sjö (Old Norse sær) meaning "lake, sea" and gren (Old Norse grein) meaning "branch".

Skála m Czech
Means "rock" in Czech, indicating that the original bearer lived near a prominent rock.

Skała Polish
Polish cognate of Skála.

Skalický m Czech, Slovak
Indicated the original bearer came from a place named Skalice, Skalica or Skalička in the Czech Republic or Slovakia, derived from the Slavic root skala meaning "rock".

Skinner English
Occupational name for a person who skinned animals, from Old Norse skinn.

Skov Danish
Topographic name meaning "forest, wood" in Danish, from Old Norse skógr.

Slade English
Derived from Old English slæd meaning "valley".

Slane Irish
Originally indicated a person from Slane, County Meath, Ireland, which is derived from the given name Sláine.

Śląski m Polish
Polish cognate of Slezák.

Slater English
Occupational name indicating that an early member worked covering roofs with slate, from Old French esclat "shard", of Germanic origin.

Slávik m Slovak
Slovak cognate of Slavík.

Slavík m Czech
Means "nightingale" in Czech.

Slezák m Czech, Slovak
Originally a name for a person from Silesia, a historical region that is nowadays split between Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Sloan Irish
From Irish Ó Sluaghadháin meaning "descendant of Sluaghadhán".

Sloane Irish
Variant of Sloan.

Slováček m Czech
Variant of Slovák.

Slovák m Slovak, Czech
Originally described one who was from Slovakia.

Ślusarczyk Polish
Diminutive form of Ślusarski.

Ślusarski m Polish
Occupational name for a locksmith, from Polish ślusarz, of Germanic origin.

Slusser German
Variant of Schlosser.

Small English
From a nickname for a small person, from Middle English smal.

Smalls English
Variant of Small.

Smedley English
From an unidentified place name probably meaning "smooth clearing" in Old English.

Smeets Dutch
Variant of Smit.

Smets Dutch
Variant of Smit.

Smirnov m Russian
Derived from Russian смирный (smirny) meaning "quiet, peaceful, timid". This is one of the most common surnames in Russia.

Smirnova f Russian
Feminine form of Smirnov.

Smit Dutch
From Middle Dutch smit "metalworker, blacksmith", a cognate of Smith.

Smith English
Means "metalworker, blacksmith" from Old English smiþ, related to smitan "to smite, to hit". It is the most common surname in most of the English-speaking world. A famous bearer was the Scottish economist Adam Smith (1723-1790).

Smits Dutch
Variant of Smit.

Smola m Czech
Czech form of Smolak.

Smolak Polish
Occupational name for a distiller of pitch, derived from the Old Slavic word smola meaning "pitch, resin".

Smolarek Polish
Variant of Smolak.

Smythe English
Variant of Smith.