ShebaniArabic (Maghrebi) From the name of an Arab tribe which is derived from Arabic شيب (šīb) meaning "white hair, grayness" or "cold, snow". This surname is chiefly used in Libya.
SheikhArabic, Bengali, Urdu From the Arabic title شَيْخ (šayḵ) meaning "chief, chieftain, head". It is used to denote a political or spiritual leader of a Muslim community.
ShereshevskyRussian, Jewish Name for someone originally from the city of Sharashova in Belarus, probably derived Russian шерешь (sheresh) meaning "frozen mud, ice (on a river)".
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]
ShihTaiwanese Alternate transcription of Shi chiefly used in Taiwan.
ShimodaJapanese From Japanese 下 (shimo) meaning "below, down, under" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
ShindeIndian, Marathi Meaning unknown; this was also the name of a Indian dynasty from Maharashtra.
ShinwariPashto Perhaps from Shinwar, the name of a Pashtun-inhabited district in Afghanistan. The Shinwari are a Pashtun tribe found in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
ShresthaNepali Means "excellent" in Nepali, ultimately from Sanskrit श्रेष्ठ (shreshtha) meaning "best, most excellent".
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".
SibunrueangThai From Thai ศรี (si) meaning "glory, honour, fame" combined with บุญ (bun) meaning "merit" and เรือง (rueang) meaning "bright, glowing, brilliant".
SicatFilipino, Tagalog Derived from Tagalog sikat meaning "rising" or "splendour, brilliance".
SidiqiPashto, Persian, Afghan Means "the veracious" from Arabic صَدَقَ (ṣadaqa) meaning "to be truthful, to be sincere". It is also a variant of Persian Sadeghi.
SikderBengali From a historical title used to denote a person who owned one quarter of land, derived from Bengali সিকি (siki) meaning "quarter, fourth".
SikumbangMinangkabau Allegedly from the phrase si kumbang meaning "black tiger", probably derived from Minangkabau kumbang which can mean "beetle" or "tiger, leopard". The name may have been used to refer to Tamil settlers from southern India who had darker skin and practised a tiger-like form of martial arts... [more]
SoikhamThai From Thai สร้อย (soi) meaning "necklace" and คำ (kham) meaning "gold".
SokKhmer Means "healthy, peaceful, happy, pleasant" in Khmer, ultimately from Sanskrit सुख (sukha).
SolankiIndian, Gujarati, Marathi From a vernacular name for the Chaulukya, a dynasty that ruled parts of northwestern India (in what is now Gujarat and Rajasthan) between the 10th and 13th centuries, of uncertain meaning.
SönmezTurkish Means "eternal, inextinguishable, unquenchable" in Turkish.
SoomroPakistani, Sindhi From the name of the city of سامراء (Sāmarrāʾ) in present-day Iraq. This is the name of a Sindhi tribe in southeastern Pakistan, along with a historical regional dynasty in India (the Soomra).
SordinoLiterature The surname of Melinda "Mel" Sordino, the main character of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak (1999). Her surname was apparently derived from Italian sordino meaning "mute" or "deaf".
SoteloSpanish From any of various places in Galicia named Soutelo, derived from Galician souto meaning "grove, plantation".
SoudaniArabic (Maghrebi) Means "Sudanese (referring to a person from Sudan)", derived from Arabic سُودَانِيّ (sūdāniyy).
SovereignFrench Translation of the French surname Souverain which is derived from Old French souverain meaning "high place".
SovereignEnglish Occupational surname for a leader or supervisor, derived from the English word sovereign meaning "possessing supreme or ultimate power".
StalinRussian (Modern) Surname adopted by the Georgian-Soviet revolutionary and politician Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (1878-1953), whose birth name was Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili... [more]
StrachanScottish Scottish habitational name from a place in the parish of Banchory, Kincardineshire, which is first recorded in 1153 in the form Strateyhan, and is perhaps named from Gaelic srath ‘valley’ + eachain, genitive case of eachan ‘foal’.
SuealueangThai From Thai เสือ (suea) meaning "tiger" and เหลือง (lueang) meaning "yellow".
SummersetEnglish Regional surname for someone from Somerset, an area in England. The name is derived from Old English sumer(tun)saete meaning "dwellers at the summer settlement".
TabatabaeiPersian From the name of Ibrahim Tabataba ibn Ismail, a descendant of Ali. He was supposedly given the name because he pronounced the Persian word قبا (qaba) (meaning "garment, cloak") as طبا (taba).
TalukderBengali From a title for land-owning aristocrats in the Mughal Empire and British Raj who were responsible for collecting taxes. The title itself was derived from Arabic تعلق (ta'alluq) meaning "attachment, affiliation" combined with the Persian suffix دار (-dar) indicating ownership.
TamanoJapanese From Japanese 玉 (tama) meaning "jewel, ball, sphere" and 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness" or 乃 (no), a possessive particle.
TamazightBerber, Northern African Derived from ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵗⵜ (Tamaziɣt), the Berber (Amazigh) name for the collective Berber language family used in North Africa.
TannenGerman, Jewish German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) habitational name from any of several places in Lower Saxony or Baden named with German Tannen ‘pine’, or from a short form of any of the many compound names formed with this element... [more]
TartakovskyRussian, Jewish Name for someone originally from the town of Tartakiv (or Tartakov) in Ukraine, derived from Ukrainian тартак (tartak) meaning "sawmill".
TaşkıranTurkish Means "stone breaker" from Turkish taş meaning "stone, rock" and kıran meaning "destroyer, breaker, pestilence".
TatarshaoAbazin Possibly from a nickname for a Tatar person.
TatlonghariFilipino, Tagalog From Tagalog Tatlong Hari literally meaning "three kings", referring to the biblical Magi or the Epiphany (the appearance of Jesus to the Magi).
TecsonFilipino From Hokkien 德孫 (tiak sun) meaning "virtuous grandchild, benevolent grandchild". The bearers of this name are said to be descended from any of the three Tek Son brothers who originally came from Guangzhou, China.
TeshigawaraJapanese From Japanese 勅 (te) meaning "imperial order", 使 (shi) meaning "messenger, envoy", 河 (ga) meaning "river", and 原 (wara) meaning "field".
ThapaNepali, Indian, Bengali, Assamese, Hindi, Odia From an ancient military rank used in the Khasa Kingdom, which ruled parts of South Asia from the 11th to 14th centuries.
TharuNepali Possibly refers to the Tharu, an indigenous ethnic group of Nepal.
TheronSouthern African, Afrikaans, Occitan Habitational name for someone from any of various locations in Occitanie named Théron or Thérond, ultimately from Latin torus meaning "elevation, height, embankment". A famous bearer is South African and American actress Charlize Theron (1975-).
ThirimanneSinhalese From an element with an unknown meaning combined with Sanskrit माने (māne) meaning "meaning, purpose".
ThongsingThai From Thai ทอง (thong) meaning "gold" and สิงห์ (sing) meaning "lion".
TolstoyRussian Means "fat" from Russian толстый (tolstyy) meaning "thick, stout, fat". This was the name of a Russian family of nobility; a notable member was Count Lev "Leo" Tolstoy (1828-1910), a Russian writer.
TominagaJapanese From Japanese 富 or 冨 (tomi) meaning "wealth, abundance" and 永 (naga) meaning "eternity".
TomonagaJapanese From Japanese 朝 (tomo) meaning "morning, epoch, period" and 長 (naga) meaning "long" or 永 (naga) meaning "eternity".
TomonagaJapanese From Japanese 友 (tomo) meaning "friend" and 永 (naga) meaning "eternity".
TorkingtonEnglish From the name of a place in Greater Manchester, originally meaning "Tork's settlement" (Tork being a name or nickname combined with Old English tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town").
TorshkhoevIngush (Russified) Russified form of an Ingush family name derived the name of an Ingush teip (clan). The clan's name itself is derived from ТӀаьрши (Tarsh), a village in Ingushetia, of unknown meaning.
TounsiArabic (Maghrebi) Derived from Arabic تُونِسِيّ (tūnisiyy) meaning “Tunisian”, ultimately from تُونِس (tūnis) meaning "Tunisia, Tunis". It can refer to a native of the country of Tunisia, someone from the city of Tunis (in Tunisia), or the Tunisian Tounsi dialect of Arabic.
TouzaniArabic (Maghrebi) Possibly derived from Aït Touzine, the name of a Rifian tribe in Morocco.
TrabelsiArabic (Maghrebi) Habitational name for someone originally from the city of Tripoli in Libya from Arabic طَرَابُلُس (ṭarābulus). The city's name ultimately comes from Ancient Greek Τρίπολις (Trípolis) meaning "three cities", from τρι- (tri-) meaning "three" and πόλις (pólis) meaning "city".
TraoréWestern African, Manding Francization of Manding Tarawele, which is of uncertain etymology. It was originally used by 13th-century Malian warrior Tiramakhan and possibly means "going to call it".
TremayneCornish Name for someone from any of various locations called Tremayne (or Tremaine), from Cornish tre meaning "home, settlement, town" and men meaning "stone".
TrivediIndian, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati Means "one who knows the three Vedas", derived from Sanskrit त्रि (tri) meaning "three" and वेद (veda) meaning "Veda".
TsaiTaiwanese Alternate romanization of Cai chiefly used in Taiwan.
TsaritsynRussian From a former name of the Russian city of Volgograd that was used from 1589 to 1925. The name is from Царица (Tsaritsa), a small river and a tributary of the Volga, which was probably derived from Tatar сары су (sary su) meaning "yellow water".
TsarnaevChechen (Rare) Meaning uncertain, possibly from Chechen царна (tsarna) meaning "them, they" or from an unknown given name or nickname. This is the surname of brothers Tamerlan (1986-2013) and Dzhokhar (1993-) Tsarnaev, the perpetrators of the Boston Marathon bombing.
TulushTuvan Possibly from a Tuvan tribal measurement used to denote a month or member of a tribe.
TumgoevIngush (Russified) Russified form of an Ingush surname, which is from the name of an Ingush teip (clan). The clan's name itself is derived from Tumag (ТIумагI), the name of a village in Ingushetia, possibly meaning "to see with the heart" in Ingush.
TunstallEnglish Habitational name for someone from any of the various locations in England named Tunstall, derived from Old English tun meaning "enclosure, garden, farm" and steall meaning "position, place, site".
TuquibFilipino, Cebuano From Cebuano tukib meaning "well-defined, detailed, complete".
TurbinRussian From the nickname Турба (Turba) which was probably derived from an old dialectal word meaning "face, snout, muzzle (of an animal)", used as a name for a person with an unpleasant or ugly appearance... [more]
TürkmenTurkish, Turkmen Refers to a Turkmen person (someone from the present-day nation of Turkmenistan). The ethnonym itself is believed to be derived from Türk combined with the Sogdian suffix -man (thus meaning "almost Turk") or from Türk combined with Arabic إِيمَان (ʾīmān) meaning "faith, belief, religion".