RacioppiItalian, Sicilian Derived from Sicilian racioppu meaning "cluster of grapes", hence presumably a metonymic occupational name for someone who sold or produced grapes.
RaderGerman Variation of Rademacher, meaning "maker of wheels" in German ("rat" meaning wheel), later shortened to Rader and other variations such as Redder, Raeder, Redler, etc.
RaineyIrish, Scottish An Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Raighne, Ó Ráighne meaning "descendent of Raonull", the given name Raonull being derived from Old Norse Rögnvaldr, Røgnvaldr, Rǫgnvaldr (compare Ronald).
RandolphEnglish, German Classicized spelling of Randolf, a Germanic personal name composed of the elements rand "rim (of a shield), shield" and wolf "wolf". This was introduced into England by Scandinavian settlers in the Old Norse form Rannúlfr, and was reinforced after the Norman Conquest by the Norman form Randolf.
RäniEstonian Räni is an Estonian surname meaning "flint" and "fire stone".
RapaceSwedish (Modern, Rare) From French and Italian rapace meaning "predatory, bird of prey, raptor". A notable bearer is Swedish actress Noomi Rapace.
RathgeberGerman From Middle High German ratgebe or Middle Low German ratgever "giver of advice, counselor", an occupational name for an adviser or wise man.
RechnerGerman Occupational name from Middle High German rechenære "reckoner keeper of accounts".
RedmayneEnglish, Irish Derived from Redmain, a small hamlet in Cumbria, England. It is named with Old English rēad meaning "red" and Welsh main meaning "rock, stone". The name could also be derived from the given name Réamonn, which is an Irish form of Raymond... [more]
RempeGerman (Americanized, Modern) The roots of the German surname Rempe lie in the former duchy of Silesia, now part of Poland. The name means, simply, "son of Rempel," and was a popular first name in Silesia during the Middle Ages.
RenfrewScottish Anglicized form of the Gaelic Rinn Friù, meaning "cradle of the Royal Stewards." It is derived from either the historical county of Renfrewshire in the west central lowlands of Scotland, or the town of Renfrew within both the historical and present-day boundaries of the county.
RennisonEnglish Patronymic surname meaning "son of Renard". Derived as a shortened form of Reynoldson from the Old French personal name Renart with the -son suffix... [more]
RocaCatalan Habitational name from any of the numerous places so named, from Catalan roca "rock". This name is also Occitan.
RocherFrench From French roche, meaning "rock'. It indicates a person who worked at a quarry.
RochussenDutch Means "son of Rochus". Famous bearers of this name are the Dutch prime minister Jan Jacob Rochussen (1797-1871) and the 19th-century painter Charles Rochussen (1814-1894).
RockEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived near a notable crag or outcrop, from Middle English rokke "rock" (see Roach), or a habitational name from a place named with this word, as for example Rock in Northumberland.
RockettFrench From the French "la roche," or "of the rock." Some family histories trace this back to French Hugenots (sp) who immigrated to England in the 1500's from the Normandy region of France.
RodmanEnglish The surname Rodman is an ancient English surname, derived from a trade name, "men who were by the tenure or customs of their lands to ride with or for the lord of the manor about his business". The most famous bearer of this name is the basketball player Dennis Rodman.
RottenPopular Culture From the English word rotten, meaning "In a state of decay/cruel, mean, immoral/bad, horrible". In the Icelandic children's television program LazyTown, Robbie Rotten is the main antagonist of the show who desires silence and peace, continuously formulates reckless schemes that often feature him masquerading in various disguises as a means of hoodwinking or tempting residents away from an active lifestyle... [more]
RotterdamDutch Denoting someone from a place named Rotterdam "place of the muddy water".
RottscheitGerman Modernization of Rotscheidt, also a city in Germany (Rottscheidt) bearing another modern alternate spelling. When broken down it ultimately means "red" and "piece of wood", implying that the families of today descends from woodwrokers.
RozemaFrisian Possibly a contraction of Roelfsema meaning "son of Roelf" or derived from Roos. Also spelled Rosema, Roosma, Rozeman.
RubinoItalian The surname Rubino derives from the name Rubino, in turn originated from the Latin term "Rubeus" (red) with evident reference to the well-known precious stone. It is thought that originally the surname was attributed to the physical characteristics of having red hair, however, the origin of the surname Rubino from the Hebrew term "Ruben" which meant "son of providence", or even from the apheresis of the name "Cherubino".
RubinovRussian, Jewish Means "son of Rubin" in Russian, though it could also be derived from Russian рубин (rubin) "ruby".
RubinsteinGerman, Jewish, Polish Means "ruby stone", from rubin and stein. Rubin means "ruby" in German and stein means "stone" in German.
RudatisGerman (East Prussian) Derived from Old Prussian ruds and Lithuanian rudas "(of hair) red" or Lithuanian rudis "redhead".
RüngasEstonian Rüngas is an Estonian surname meaning "rock" and "cliff".
RünkEstonian Rünk is an Estonian surname meaning "crag" and "rock".
RusconiItalian From Italian rusca, "splinter, sliver of wood".
RushIrish Reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Ruis "descendant of Ros", a personal name perhaps derived from ros "wood". In Connacht it has also been used as a translation of Ó Luachra (see Loughrey).
RutterEnglish Either (i) "player of the rote (a medieval stringed instrument played by plucking)"; or (ii) from a medieval nickname for a dishonest or untrustworthy person (from Old French routier "robber, mugger")... [more]
RybakovRussian Means "son of the fisher" from Russian рыбак (rybak) meaning "fisherman".
SaavedraSpanish Derived from the place-name Saavedra and therefore signifies "descendant or son of one from Saavedra". The place-name Saavedra is located in the north western province of Lugo in Galicia, Spain and is believed to be derived from the elements "Saa" meaning "Hall" and "Vedra" (feminine) meaning "Old".
SackhoffGerman Occupational name for a farmer who cultivated land to grow plants, particularly crops, derived from Middle High German sack meaning "sack, end of a valley, area of cultivation" and hof meaning "farmstead, manor, farm"... [more]
SadozaiPashto, Balochi Means "son of Sado" in Pashto. The Sadozai are a Pashtun sub-tribe of the Popalzai mainly inhabiting Pakistan as well as a Baloch tribe living by the Gulf of Oman in Iran... [more]
SadulaevChechen From the Arabic given name Saʼdulla meaning “happiness of Allah” from سَعِدَ (saʿida) “to be happy, to be lucky” combined with Allah.
SagorskyPolish, Russian It means literally "of the city/town Sagorsk". Sagorsk is a city near the Russian capital of Moskva. The ending of "sky" means "of". The "Sagor" part of the surname sounds to me like "za gor" which is "za gorod"... [more]
SaharaJapanese From Japanese 左 (sa), a clipping of 左衛門尉 (saemon-no-jō) meaning "judge of senior gate guards" and 原 (hara) meaning "meadow; plain; field".
SaharaouiArabic (Maghrebi) From Arabic صحراوي (Ṣaḥrāwī) meaning "inhabitant of the desert" (from صحراء (Ṣaḥrā') "desert"), referring to the indigenous Sahrawi people of Western Sahara (see Sahraoui)... [more]
SahraouiArabic (Maghrebi) Means "of the desert" or "of the Sahara" from Arabic صَحْرَاء (ṣaḥrāʾ) meaning "desert".
SaitamaJapanese Japanese surname meaning "precious stone peninsula".
SaładajczykPolish A Polish surname consisting of 3 elements: sała or сала a word of East Slavic origin meaning "salo" or "slanina", daj meaning "give" and czyk meaning "son of". The name means "the son of the one who gives the salo".
SalakayaAbkhaz Mingrelian form of the Abkhaz surname Шакар-ипа (Shakar-ipa) meaning "son of Shakar". The name itself may be derived from Persian شکر (šakar) meaning "sugar" or from Arabic شَكَرَ (šakara) meaning "to be thankful, to be grateful".
SamarawickramaSinhalese Means "conqueror of battles" from Sanskrit समर (samara) meaning "conflict, struggle" and विक्रम (vikrama) meaning "valour, power, strength".
SankeyEnglish, Irish Habitational name from a place in Lancashire, which derived from the name of an ancient British river, perhaps meaning "sacred, holy." ... [more]
SantanderSpanish From the toponymy, it is discussed whether Santander is a derivation of San Emeterio or San Andrés. Due to the proximity of the Basque country (Ander = Andrés) and the tenor of some ancient texts, it can be concluded that it refers to San Andrés... [more]
SantessonSwedish Means "son of Sante". Sante is a medieval Swedish form of Alexander.
SastrowardoyoJavanese Means "writings of the heart" from Sanskrit शास्त्र (shastra) meaning "scripture, writings" and हृदय (hrdaya) meaning "heart". This is the name of a Javanese family of nobility.
SaxenaIndian, Hindi Traditionally believed to be derived from Sanskrit सखिसेना (sakhisena) meaning "friend of the army", from सखा (sakha) meaning "friend, companion" and सेना (sena) meaning "army"... [more]
ScanagattaItalian Probably means "cat killer", from Italian scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and gatto "cat", with the figurative meaning of "cheat, scoundrel". (Compare Pelagatti)... [more]
ScanavaccaItalian Possibly an occupational name for a butcher, from scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and vacca "cow".
ScannabissiItalian Possibly from scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and biscio "snake". Alternately, the first element may be from an archaic form of zanna, "tooth (of an animal)".
ScannapiecoItalian Occupational name for a butcher, from scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and piecuro "sheep, lamb".
ScheidGerman, Jewish Either a topographic name for someone who lived near a boundary (between two valleys etc.) or crossroads Middle High German scheide, a habitational name from any of various places called ScheidtScheiden... [more]
ScotfordEnglish Derived from Scotforth, the name of a village near Lancaster (in Lancashire) in England. The village's name means "ford of the Scot(s)" and is derived from Old English Scott "Scot" combined with Old English ford "ford".
ScotlandEnglish (i) "person from Scotland"; (ii) "person from Scotland or Scotlandwell", Perth and Kinross; (iii) from the Norman personal name Escotland, literally "territory of the Scots"
SeaforthEnglish The name of a projection of the sea on the east coast of Lewis, on the Long Island, Scotland. Means "the forth of the sea".
SeatterScottish From an ancient barony called "The lands of Setter", Stromness, Orkney. Derives from the Ancient Norse word "saetr" meaning a hut or shelter for animals.
SeddaItalian From a place name in Sardinia, meaning "top of a mountain". May alternately derive from Sardinian sedda "saddle", indicating the bearer's occupation.
SeixasPortuguese Habitational name from any of various places called Seixas in Galicia, Spain, most likely derived from Galician seixo meaning "pebble, stone" (ultimately from Latin saxum).
SekewaelIndonesian The last name Sekewael is an original name from one of the island in Maluku. That one island name is "Negeri Oma." The meaning of Sekewael is "The Guardian of the River" because in "Negeri Oma" any body want to use the river of the water they have to ask for permission by Sekewael family... [more]
SelaHebrew Means "rock" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of a city, the capital of Edom. Famous bearer is the Israeli model, actress and television presenter Rotem Sela (born 1983)
SelanderSwedish Combination of Swedish sel "stretch of calm water in a river or stream" and the common surname suffix -ander (originally from Greek aner "man"). The first element, sel, is also a common place name element in Northern Sweden and it's possible that this name is both ornamental and locational in origin.
SelgEstonian Selg is an Estonian surname meaning "back", "spine" and "back of".
SenriJapanese (Rare) This surname is used as 千里 with 千 (sen, chi) meaning "thousand" and 里 (ri, sato) meaning "league, parent's home, ri (type of measurement), village."... [more]
ShackletonEnglish The place name probably means "valley by a point of land," from the Old English scacol + denu. Another source claims the word scacol, describes a "tongue of land."
ShelleyEnglish, Irish (Anglicized) Habitational name from any of the three places called Shelley (Essex Suffolk Yorkshire) or from Shelley Plain in Crawley (Sussex)... [more]
SherkhanzaiAfghan Meaning "son of Sherkhan" in Pashto. Sherkhan itself means "lion king" in Persian. This surname is found among Afghans belonging to the Barech, one of the Durrani Pashto tribes.
SherlockEnglish, Irish Nickname for someone with "fair hair" or "a lock of fair hair."
SherpaNepali, Indian, Tibetan, Bengali From the name of the Sherpa people, a Tibetic ethnic group inhabiting Nepal, China, Bhutan, and the Himalayas. The name itself is derived from Sherpa ཤར (shar) meaning "east" and wa "people" (thus, "people of the east" or "eastern people"), a reference to their origin in northeastern Nepal... [more]
ShevardnadzeGeorgian Means "son of the falcon", from Georgian შავარდენი (shavardeni) meaning "falcon, hawk". A famous bearer was Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze (1928-2014).
ShiChinese From Chinese 石 (shí) meaning "stone", also referring to the ancient city of Chach that is now Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
ShrimptonEnglish Probably referring to the unknown "Estate of Shrimp"
ShrivastavIndian, Hindi Short form of Sanskrit श्रीवास्तव्य (shrivastavya) meaning "abode of wealth", itself from श्री (shri) meaning "diffusing light, radiance, splendour, beauty, wealth, prosperity" and वास्तव्य (vastavya) meaning "residence, abode, dwelling, inhabiting".