Surnames with 2 Syllables

Nemes Hungarian
Means "noble, gentle" in Hungarian.

Neuman German, Jewish
Variant of Neumann.

Neumann German, Jewish
From Middle High German niuwe and man meaning "new man, newcomer".

Neville English, Irish
From the names of towns in Normandy, variously Neuville or Néville, meaning "new town" in French.

Newman English
English cognate of Neumann.

Newport English
Given to one who came from the town of Newport (which means simply "new port"), which was the name of several English towns.

Newton English
From the name of one of many English towns meaning "new town". A famous bearer was the English physicist Isaac Newton (1643-1727).

Nicholls English
Derived from the given name Nichol.

Nichols English
Derived from the given name Nichol.

Nielsen Danish
Means "son of Niels 1".

Nielson English
Variant of Nelson 1.

Niemi Finnish
Means "peninsula, cape" in Finnish.

Nieto Spanish
From a nickname meaning "grandson" in Spanish.

Nieves Spanish
From the given name Nieves.

Nigel English
Derived from the given name Neil.

Nilsson Swedish
Means "son of Nils".

Nisi Italian
Means "son of Niso", an Italian form of the mythological name Nisus.

Nixon English
Means "son of Nick". A famous bearer was the American president Richard Nixon (1913-1994).

Noel French, English
Either from the given name Noël, or else derived directly from Old French noel "Christmas" and given to a person who had a particular connection with the holiday.

Norberg Swedish
Variant of Nordberg.

Nordin Swedish
Derived from Swedish nord meaning "north" (Old Norse norðr).

Norling Swedish
Originally denoted a person who came from the north.

Norman English
Referred to a person who was originally from Scandinavia or Normandy. Even before the Norman Conquest, Scandinavians were settling the north and east of England. The Normans who participated in the Conquest were originally from Scandinavia, but had been living in Normandy, France for over a century and spoke French.

Normand French
French form of Norman.

Norris 1 English, Scottish
Means "from the north" from Old French norreis. It either denoted someone who originated in the north or someone who lived in the northern part of a settlement.

Norris 2 English
Means "wet nurse, foster mother" from Old French norrice, from Latin nutricius.

Norton English
From the name of various towns in England meaning "north town" in Old English.

Norwood English
Originally taken from a place name meaning "north wood" in Old English.

Novák m & u Czech, Slovak, Hungarian
Czech, Slovak and Hungarian form of Novak.

Nowak Polish
Polish cognate of Novak. This is the most common surname in Poland.

Núñez Spanish
Means "son of Nuño".

Nurmi Finnish
Means "meadow, field" in Finnish. It was the surname of the athlete Paavo Nurmi (1897-1973).

Nyilas Hungarian
Means "archer, bowman" in Hungarian.

Nyman Swedish
From Swedish ny (Old Norse nýr) meaning "new" and man (Old Norse maðr) meaning "person, man".

Oakley English
From a place name meaning "oak clearing" in Old English. It was borne by American sharpshooter Annie Oakley (1860-1926).

Öberg Swedish
From Swedish ö (Old Norse ey) meaning "island" and berg meaning "mountain".

Ó Briain Irish
Irish Gaelic form of O'Brien.

Ó Broin Irish
Irish Gaelic form of O'Byrne.

Ó Caoimh Irish
Irish Gaelic form of Keefe.

Odell English
Originally denoted a person who was from Odell in Bedfordshire, derived from Old English wad "woad" (a plant that produces a blue dye) and hyll "hill".

Ogden English
From a place name derived from Old English ac "oak" and denu "valley".

Ó hEidhin Irish
Irish Gaelic form of Hines.

Olasz Hungarian
Means "Italian" in Hungarian, from Old Slavic volxŭ "Romance-speaker" (of Germanic origin).

Olmo Spanish
Means "elm tree" in Spanish, ultimately from Latin ulmus. The name originally indicated a person who lived near such a tree.

Olson Swedish (Anglicized), Norwegian (Anglicized), Danish (Anglicized)
Americanized form of Olsson or Olsen.

Olsson Swedish
Means "son of Olaf".

Omar Arabic
From the given name Umar.

Ono Japanese
From Japanese 小 (o) meaning "small" and 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness".

Orbán Hungarian
Derived from the given name Orbán.

Orlov m Russian
Derived from Russian орёл (oryol) meaning "eagle".

Orosz Hungarian
Means "Russian" in Hungarian.

Ortiz Spanish
Means "son of Orti", a byname deriving either from Latin fortis meaning "brave, strong" or fortunius meaning "fortunate".

Ó Ruaidh Irish
Means "descendant of Ruadh" in Irish.

Osborne English
Derived from the given name Osborn.

Osbourne English
Derived from the given name Osborn.

Östberg Swedish
From Swedish öst (Old Norse austr) meaning "east" and berg meaning "mountain".

Ó Suaird Irish
Means "descendant of Suart" in Irish. Suart is derived from the Old Norse name Sigurd.

Otis English
Means "son of Ode".

Otto German
From the given name Otto.

Paisley Scottish
From the name of a town near Glasgow, which may ultimately be derived from Latin basilica "church".

Palmer English
Means "pilgrim", ultimately from Latin palma "palm tree", since pilgrims to the Holy Land often brought back palm fronds as proof of their journey.

Pappa f Greek
Feminine form of Pappas.

Pappas m Greek
Means "priest" in Greek.

Pardo Spanish
Means "brown" in Spanish, originally a nickname for someone with brown hair.

Parent English, French
Derived 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").

Paris English, French
Variant of Parish 1.

Parish 1 English
Originally denoted a person who came from the French city of Paris, which got its name from the ancient Celtic tribe known as the Parisii.

Parish 2 English
Derived from the medieval given name Paris, an Old French diminutive form of Patrick.

Parker English
Means "keeper of the park" in Middle English. It is an occupational name for a person who was a gamekeeper at a medieval park.

Parkins English
Means "son of Parkin", a medieval diminutive of Peter.

Parra Spanish
Means "vine, trellis" in Spanish.

Parrish English
Variant of Parish 1.

Parsons English
Originally denoted a son of a parson, a derivative of Latin persona "person".

Pascal French
Derived from the given name Pascal.

Pascual Spanish
From the given name Pascual.

Pastor Spanish
Means "shepherd" in Spanish.

Pásztor Hungarian
Means "shepherd" in Hungarian.

Patrick English
From the given name Patrick.

Patton English, Scottish
Diminutive of the medieval name Pate, a short form of Patrick.

Paulson English
Means "son of Paul".

Pavlov m Russian, Bulgarian
Means "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.

Pawlak Polish
Means "son of Paweł".

Paxton English
From an English place name meaning "Pœcc's town". Pœcc is an Old English name of unknown meaning.

Payton English
From the name of the town of Peyton in Sussex. It means "Pæga's town".

Peacock English
From Middle English pecok meaning "peacock". It was originally a nickname for a proud or haughty person.

Pearson English
Variant of Pierson.

Pelletier French
Derived from Old French pelletier "fur trader".

Peña Spanish
Originally denoted a person who lived near a jutting rock, from Spanish peña meaning "rock, cliff".

Pender 1 English
From Middle English pind "to pen up". This was an occupational name for someone who penned animals.

Penner English
Variant of Penn 2.

Penny English
Nickname meaning "penny, coin" from Old English penning.

Pentti Finnish
Derived from the given name Pentti.

Pérez Spanish
Means "son of Pedro".

Perez Spanish
Unaccented variant of Pérez.

Perkins English
Means "son of Perkin", a medieval diminutive of Peter.

Perrault French
From a diminutive of the given name Pierre.

Perreault French
From a diminutive of the given name Pierre.

Perry 1 English
From 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.

Persson Swedish
Means "son of Per".

Pesce Italian
Means "fish" in Italian, referring either to a fisherman or to a person who resembled a fish in some way.

Péter Hungarian
Derived from the given name Péter.

Peter English, German, Dutch
Derived from the given name Peter.

Peters English, German, Dutch
Means "son of Peter".

Petrov m Russian, Bulgarian
Means "son of Peter" in Russian and Bulgarian.

Peura Finnish
Means "deer" in Finnish.

Peyton English
Variant of Payton.

Philippe French
From the given name Philippe.

Philips English, Dutch
Means "son of Philip". Famous bearers of this surname were Frederick Philips (1830-1900) and his son Gerard (1858-1942), the Dutch founders of the company Philips.

Phillips English
Means "son of Philip".

Piątek Polish
Means "Friday" in Polish, derived from the word piąty meaning "fifth".

Piazza Italian
Means "plaza" in Italian, indicating that the residence of the original bearer was near the town square. It is derived from Latin platea.

Picard French
Originally denoted a person from Picardy, a historical region of northern France. It is derived from Old French pic meaning "pike, spike".

Pickle English
Derived from Middle English pighel meaning "small field".

Pierson English
Means "son of Piers".

Pietri Italian
Derived from the given name Pietro.

Pietrzak Polish
Means "son of Piotr".

Pilgrim English, German
Nickname for a person who was a pilgrim, ultimately from Latin peregrinus.

Pilkvist Swedish
From Swedish pil (Old Norse píli) meaning "willow" and qvist (Old Norse kvistr) meaning "twig, branch".

Piontek Polish
Variant of Piątek.

Piper English
Originally given to a person who played on a pipe (a flute).

Pires Portuguese
Means "son of Pedro".

Poirot French, Literature
From a diminutive of French poire "pear", originally referring to a pear merchant or someone who lived near a pear tree. Starting in 1920 this name was used by the mystery writer Agatha Christie for her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Christie based the name on that of Jules Poiret, a contemporary fictional detective.

Popa Romanian
From Romanian popă "priest", from Old Church Slavic popŭ. This is the most common surname in Romania.

Popov m Russian, Bulgarian
Means "son of the priest", derived from Russian and Bulgarian поп (pop).

Porsche German
Derived from the given name Boris.

Porter English
Occupational name meaning "doorkeeper", ultimately from Old French porte "door", from Latin porta.

Potter English
Occupational name for a potter, one who makes earthen vessels. This surname was used by J. K. Rowling for the hero in her Harry Potter series of books, first released in 1997.

Power 1 English, Irish
From Old French Poier, indicating a person who came from the town of Poix in Picardy, France.

Power 2 English
From Middle English povre meaning "poor", via Old French from Latin pauper. It could have been a nickname for someone who had no money or a miser.

Powers English
Variant of Power 1 or Power 2.

Pozzi Italian
From Italian pozzo meaning "well, pit", derived from Latin puteus.

Prescott English
From the name of various English places meaning "priest's cottage" in Old English.

Presley English
Variant of Priestley. This name was borne by musician Elvis Presley (1935-1977).

Pressley English
Variant of Priestley.

Preston English
Originally derived from various place names meaning "priest town" in Old English.

Priestley English
From a place name meaning "priest clearing", from Old English preost and leah.

Prieto Spanish
From a nickname meaning "dark" in Spanish, referring to a person with dark hair or skin.

Pryor English
Originally belonged to one who was a prior (a religious official), or one who worked for a prior.

Puerta Spanish
Means "door, gate", a topographic name for a person who lived near the gates of the town.

Puskás Hungarian
Occupational name for a gunsmith or cannon maker, from Hungarian puska meaning "gun" (from German, itself from Latin buxis "box").

Putin m Russian
From Russian путь (put) meaning "road, path". This surname is borne by the Russian president Vladimir Putin (1952-).

Qadir Arabic
Derived from the given name Qadir.

Quickley 1 English
Variant of Quick.

Quincey English
Variant of Quincy.

Quincy English
Originally from various place names in Normandy that were derived from the given name Quintus.

Quinlan Irish
From Irish Ó Caoindealbháin, which means "descendant of Caoindealbhán", a given name meaning "handsome form" (using a diminutive suffix).

Quirós Spanish
Denoted a person from one of the various places of this name in Spain, which may derive from Galician queiroa meaning "heather".

Radcliff English
From various place names in England that mean "red cliff" in Old English.

Radclyffe English
Variant of Radcliff.

Radu Romanian
From the given name Radu.

Ramos Spanish
Originally indicated a person who lived in a thickly wooded area, from Latin ramus meaning "branch".

Ramsey English, Scottish
Means "garlic island", derived from Old English hramsa "garlic" and eg "island". The surname was brought to Scotland by the Norman baron Simundus de Ramsay.

Rana Italian, Spanish
Means "frog" in Italian and Spanish.

Randal English
Derived from the given name Randel.

Randall English
Derived from the given name Randel.

Randell English
Derived from the given name Randel.

Ranta Finnish
Originally indicated a person who lived near the shore, from Finnish ranta meaning "shore, beach".

Reagan Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Riagáin meaning "descendant of Riagán". A famous bearer was the American president Ronald Reagan (1911-2004).

Reiher German
Means "heron" in German, a nickname for a person with long legs.

Reilly Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Raghailligh.

Renard French
From the given name Renard.

Renaud French
From the given name Renaud.

Renault French
Derived from the given name Renaud.

Reyes Spanish
Spanish variant of Rey 1.

Reynolds English
Derived from the given name Reynold.

Rhydderch Welsh
From the given name Rhydderch.

Ricci Italian
From Italian riccio meaning "curly", a nickname for someone with curly hair. It is ultimately from Latin ericius meaning "hedgehog".

Richard English, French, German, Dutch
From the given name Richard.

Richards English
Derived from the given name Richard.

Richter German
Means "judge" in German, from Middle High German rihtære.

Rico Spanish, Portuguese
From a nickname meaning "rich, wealthy" in Spanish and Portuguese.

Rider English
Variant of Ryder.

Ridley English
Denoted a person who hailed from one of the various places of this name in England. The places are derived from Old English geryd "channel" or hreod "reed" combined with leah "woodland, clearing".

Riese German, Jewish
Means "giant" in German, from Old High German risi.

Rigby English
Originally derived from the name of a town in Lancashire, itself from Old Norse hryggr "ridge" and býr "farm, settlement".

Rigó Hungarian
Means "thrush" in Hungarian.

Riley 1 English
From the name of the town of Ryley in Lancashire, derived from Old English ryge "rye" and leah "woodland, clearing".

Riley 2 Irish
Variant of Reilly.

Rimmer English
Occupational name meaning "poet", from Middle English rime meaning "rhyme".

Rinne 2 Finnish
Means "hillside" in Finnish.

Ríos Spanish
Spanish cognate of Rios.

Ripley English
From 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.

Rivas Spanish
Spanish form of Riva.

Rivers English
Denoted a person who lived near a river, from Middle English, from Old French riviere meaning "river", from Latin riparius meaning "riverbank".

Rivière French
French cognate of Rivers.

Rizzi Italian
Variant of Ricci.

Rizzo Italian
Variant of Ricci.

Robbins English
Derived from the given name Robin.

Robert French, English
From the given name Robert.

Roberts English
Means "son of Robert".

Robin French
From the given name Robin.

Robles Spanish
Originally indicated a person who lived near an oak tree or forest, from Spanish roble "oak", from Latin robur.

Robson English
Means "son of Rob".

Rocca Italian
Italian cognate of Roach.

Rocco Italian
Derived from the given name Rocco.

Roderick English
Derived from the given name Roderick.

Rodgers English
Derived from the given name Rodger.

Rodney English
From a place name meaning "Hroda's island" in Old English (where Hroda is an Old English given name meaning "fame").

Roger French
From the given name Roger.

Rogers English
Derived from the given name Roger.

Rojas Spanish
Variant of Rojo.

Rojo Spanish
Means "red" in Spanish, referring to the colour of the hair or complexion.

Roldán Spanish
Derived from the given name Roldán.

Román Spanish
From the given name Román.

Roscoe English
From the name of a town in Lancashire, derived from Old Norse rá "roebuck" and skógr "wood, forest".

Rose 1 English, French, German, Jewish
Means "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).

Rossi Italian
Derived from a nickname for a red-haired person, from Italian rosso, Latin russus meaning "red". This is the most common surname in Italy.

Rothschild Jewish
From 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.

Roxas Filipino
Filipino form of the Spanish Rojas.

Roydon English
Originally derived from a place name meaning "rye hill", from Old English ryge "rye" and dun "hill".

Royston English
Originally taken from an Old English place name meaning "Royse's town". The given name Royse was a medieval variant of Rose.

Rózsa Hungarian
From the feminine given name Rózsa.

Rubio Spanish
Nickname for a person with red hair, from Latin rubeus "red".

Ruoho Finnish
Means "grass" in Finnish.

Russel English
Variant of Russell.

Russell English
From a Norman French nickname that meant "little red one", perhaps originally describing a person with red hair.

Russo Italian
Variant of Rossi.

Rusu Romanian
From Romanian rus meaning "Russian".

Ryder English
Occupational name for a mounted warrior, from Old English ridere meaning "rider".

Ryland English
From various English place names, derived from Old English ryge "rye" and land "land".

Ryley English
Variant of Riley 1.

Saab Arabic
Possibly from the Arabic given name Sabah.

Saari Finnish
From Finnish saari meaning "island".

Sadler English
Occupational name for a maker of saddles, from Old English sadol "saddle".

Sáez Spanish
Variant of Sánchez.

Şahin Turkish
Means "hawk" in Turkish (of Persian origin), probably used to refer to someone who was a hawk tamer.

Sala Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Romanian
Occupational name for a worker at a manor house, from the Romance word sala meaning "hall, large room", of Germanic origin.

Salih Arabic
From the given name Salih.

Salo Finnish
Means "forest" in Finnish.

Sampson English
Derived from a medieval form of the given name Samson.

Samson English, French
Derived from the given name Samson.

Samuel English, Welsh, French, Jewish
Derived from the given name Samuel.

Samuels English
Derived from the given name Samuel.

Sánchez Spanish
Means "son of Sancho".

Sanchez Spanish
Unaccented variant of Sánchez.

Sancho Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Sancho.

Sanders English
Patronymic of the given name Sander, a medieval form of Alexander.

Sandford English
Indicated a person from Sandford, England, which means simply "sand ford".

Sándor Hungarian
Derived from the given name Sándor.

Sandu Romanian
From the given name Sandu.

Sanford English
Variant of Sandford.

Sangster English, Scottish
Occupational name or nickname for a singer, from Old English singan "to sing, to chant".

Sanna Italian
From Italian sanna or zanna meaning "tusk, fang", a nickname for a person with a protruding tooth. It is especially common on Sardinia.

Sano Japanese
From Japanese 佐 (sa) meaning "help, aid" and 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness".

Santo Italian
Italian form of Santos.

Santos Portuguese, Spanish
Means "saint" in Portuguese and Spanish, ultimately from Latin sanctus. This was a nickname for a pious person.

Saqqaf Arabic
From Arabic سقف (saqaf) meaning "roof".

Šarić Croatian, Serbian
Patronymic of (possibly) Serbo-Croatian šaren meaning "colourful, patterned".

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.

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

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

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".

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).

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 (saqrelat).

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

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

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

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

Schröder 2 German
Variant of Schröter.

Schultze German
Variant of Schulz.

Schulze German
Variant of Schulz.

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

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

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

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

Seppä Finnish
Means "smith" in Finnish.

Șerban Romanian
Means "a Serb" in Romanian.

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

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

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.

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".

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".

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).

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

Shelby English
Variant of Selby.

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

Shepard English
Variant of Shepherd.

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

Sheppard English
Variant of Shepherd.

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

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

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.

Sieger German
From the given name Sieghard.

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

Sierżant Polish
Polish cognate of Sergeant.

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

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

Simmons English
Derived from the given name Simon 1.

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.

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.

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

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