This is a list of submitted surnames in which the description contains the keywords bringer or of or light.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
SkeffingtonEnglish From a location name meaning "homestead of Sceaft's people". This is the name of a parish in Leicestershire, England.
SkellyIrish Anglicization of the Gaelic O Scolaidhe, which means student.
SkeltonEnglish, German, Norwegian (Rare) Habitational name from places in Cumbria and Yorkshire, England, originally named with the same elements as Shelton, but with a later change of ‘s’ to ‘sk’ under Scandinavian influence.
SkipperEnglish Occupational name for either a basket weaver Derived from Middle English skeppe witch itself is from Old Norse skeppa... [more]
SkipworthEnglish From the name of Skipwith in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The place name was recorded as Schipewic in the Domesday Book of 1086; as Scipewiz in the 1166 Pipe Rolls of the county; and as Skipwith in the 1291 Pipe Rolls, and derives from the Old English sceap, scip "sheep", and wic "outlying settlement"; hence, "settlement outside the village where sheep were kept".
SklenárSlovak The Slovak version of the Czech Sklenář. From the Slovak "sklo" meaning "glass".
SklerosGreek Means strong/ harsh in Greek, and also the name of an old Byzantine family.
SkłodowskafPolish Feminine form of Skłodowski. This was the last name of Maria Skłodowska-Curie, better known as Marie Curie, a radiation scientist.
SklueffRussian (Latinized, Rare, ?) Means bird of prey. From Russia. Was changed by the government from Cellieic letters to Latin letters. Unknown if it was change in Russia or Harbin, Chun where they escaped Bolshevism.
SkogheimNorwegian Combination of Swedish and Norwegian skog "forest" and German heim ''home''.
SlaatsDutch Possibly a contracted form of Dutch des laats meaning "the serf", from Middle Dutch laets "serf, bondsman, freedman".
SlackEnglish, Dutch Nickname for an idle person, from Middle Dutch slac "slow, loose", Middle English slak "lazy, careless". Alternatively, the Dutch form could derive from Middle Dutch slecke "snail, slug", with a similar implication of idleness.
SlackEnglish Means "small valley, shallow dell", derived from Old Norse slakki "a slope", a topographic name for someone who lived by such a landform, or a habitational name from one of the places named with this word, for example near Stainland and near Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire.
SlaughterEnglish occupational name from Middle English slaughter "butcher" a derivative of Middle English slaught "butchery" and the suffix er or from a shortened form of the synonymous Middle English slaughterer a derivative of slaughter "butchery" and the suffix er.
SleegersDutch Older form of modern Dutch slager "butcher" and slachter "slaughterer", derived from Old Germanic *slahaną "to hit, to strike; to kill".
SlineyIrish Shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Sleimhne "son of Sleimhne", a personal name based on a word meaning "smoothness, sleekness, polish".
SlingerEnglish Travelled with the army's a user of Slings for war. The variant Slingo is a misspelling only appeared after the English civil war. YDNA between the two matches.
SlobodyanUkrainian Means "person who live in a sloboda". A sloboda (слобода) is type of settlement in old Slavic countries that usually was used by cossacks for colonisation. It comes from the word свобода (svoboda) "freedom".
SlotboomDutch From a place name meaning "lock beam", a piece of wood used to close an opening.
SlotnickJewish (Anglicized, Modern) A Polish, Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian surname, meaning 'goldsmith'. Also a Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic) occupational name for a goldsmith. Variant/anglicization of Polish Zlotnik, Ukrainian Zlotnyk.
SloughEnglish A very rare surname, possibly of German origins.
SlowinskiPolish Habitational name for someone from Slowin in Gorzów voivodeship. From the adjective slowinski, denoting a member of the Slowincy, a Slavic people living in Pomerania.
SmieskolPolish A surname of unknown meaning - originated in Southwestern Poland in the Silesian region.... [more]
ŚmigielskiPolish This indicates familial origin within the Greater Polish town of Śmigiel.
SmileyScots, English From elements small and lea meaning "a small clearing" or as a nickname may refer to a person of happy disposition known for smiling.
SmithwickEnglish habitational name from Smethwick in Staffordshire Smethwick Green near Brereton Heath (Cheshire) or a lost place called Smithwick in Southover (Sussex). The place name means "the farm of the smiths" from Old English smiþ "smith" and wic "dwelling specialized farm"... [more]
SmockEnglish From Middle English smoc, smok meaning "smock", "shift", hence a metonymic occupational name for someone who made or sold such garments, or a nickname for someone who habitually wore a smock (the usual everyday working garment of a peasant).
SmoutDutch, Flemish Means "oil, lard, melted animal fat" in Dutch, an occupational name for someone who sold fat or lard, or a nickname for someone who ate – or who could afford to eat – large amounts of food containing it.
SmuldersDutch Occupational name derived from Dutch des mulders meaning "son of the miller". A famous bearer is Canadian-American actress Cobie Smulders (1982-).
SnapeEnglish (British), Scottish An old, now rare surname, with various origins in Suffolk and Yorkshire in England and Lanarkshire in Scotland, derived from Middle English snaipen, “to injure; to nip (of sleet or snow); to criticize, rebuke, revile”, from Old Norse sneypa, “to disgrace, to dishonor, to outrage”... [more]
SneedlyPopular Culture, Literature A seemingly invented last name, though it bears resemblance to the last name Sneed. It is used for the main antagonist of the popular Captain Underpants graphic novels and it's film and show adaptation, Melvin Sneedly.
SnelliusDutch (Latinized) Latinized form of Snel. A notable bearer was the Dutch astronomer and mathematician Willebrord Snellius (1580-1626; real name Willebrord Snel van Royen), commonly called Snell, for whom the formula Snell's law is named.
SnelsonEnglish Means "son of Snell", Snell being a nickname for a brisk or active person, from Middle English snell "quick, lively" (cf... [more]
SnipeEnglish Derived from a given name; from Old English snip or Old Norse snípr. It is habitational surname from a place so called in the historic county of Northumberland, North East England.
SnipesEnglish Variant spelling of or a patronymic from Snipe. A famous bearer is American actor Wesley Snipes (1962-).
SnowEnglish, Jewish (Anglicized) Nickname denoting someone with very white hair or an exceptionally pale complexion, from Old English snaw "snow".... [more]
SnowdonEnglish Variant spelling of Snowden, a surname initially used by the Border Reivers. Comes from the mountain in Wales.
SoKorean Although there are two Chinese characters for the So surname, one of these is extremely rare and can be discounted (there are only about two hundred people in Korea who use this rare character). Some records indicate that the more common character for So has as many as 165 clans, but only eleven of them can be documented... [more]
SoJapanese (Rare) A notable bearer is So Yoshiyori (1818-1890), a fuedal lord of the So clan.
SoamesEnglish Denoted a person hailing from a village called Soham in Cambridgeshire, England. The place name itself means "homestead by the lake" from Old English sæ "lake" and ham "farm, homestead"... [more]
SobaharayaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 蕎原屋 (Sobaharaya) meaning "Sobahara Store", from 蕎原 (Sobahara) meaning "Sobahara", an area in the city of Kaidzuka in the prefecture of Ōsaka in Japan.
SobalvarroSpanish Sobalvarro/Sobalbarro is a surname with known origins in the Iberian Peninsula. The first record of the name appears in the Basque regions of Spain. The name was purportedly constructed by combining the family name of Soba with the newly given Christian name, Alvarro.
SobolewskimPolish Originally indicated a person from any of the Polish towns named Sobolew or Sobolewo, which derive from Polish soból "sable, marten".
SoetoroIndonesian Soetoro is the surname of the Indonesian stepfather of 44th president Barack Hussein Obama ll named Lolo Soetoro.
SofianArabic It is an old and rare Arabic name and its rapid meaning is to walk, fly or float. Among the famous people who were called by this name is the companion Abu Sufyan bin Harb, the father of Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan
SolakPolish Surname; meaning seller of salt or salt
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.
SolanoSpanish, Aragonese From various Spanish place names, which are derived from Spanish solano meaning "place exposed to the sun" (from Late Latin solanus "pertaining to the sun", a derivative of sol "sun")... [more]
SolarSpanish (Rare), Catalan, Aragonese, Asturian Spanish, Catalan, Aragonese, and Asturian-Leonese: topographic name from Latin solarius ‘ancestral home’ (a derivative of solum ‘ground’, ‘floor’), perhaps denoting someone who lived near or at the house of an important family.
SolariItalian Habitational name from any of various places called "Solaro" or "Solara", from solaro 'site', 'plot', 'meadow', literally "land exposed to the sun".
SoldoItalian, Croatian Nickname from soldo "penny cent" also "military pay wage" (from Latin solidus "solid" the name of a gold Roman coin). From a short form of a compound personal name ending with -soldo such as Ansoldo... [more]
SoleckiPolish Habitational surname for someone from any of a number of places called Solec, named with sól ‘salt’.
SolidayAmerican Reportedly German and Dutch background? Never have really known. The history that has been told my siblings and I is that three brothers came from Germany to the US in late 1800 and went into business in Phila - they eventually argued and split up and two of them changed the spelling of their last name and scattered throughout PA - When I left home in 1963 - mY Father James Edward Soliday, son of John Soliday and Martha Freidline Soliday and us children were the only ones in our area... [more]
SoliéFrench Notable bearers include French cellist Jean-Pierre Solié, who was originally named Jean-Pierre Soulier, possibly making it a variant of Soulier.
SolihDhivehi From the given name Salih. A notable bearer is IbrahimMohamed Solih (1962-), the current president of the Maldives.
SolinasItalian Meaning uncertain; could be related to Latin solum, from which comes Italian suolo "earth, ground, soil" and suola "sole (of the foot or shoe)", or from Italian salina "salt pan, salt marsh".
SolorioSpanish This indicates familial origin within the vicinity of the Sierra de Solorio mountain range that straddles Aragon, La Mancha, & Old Castile.
SolórzanoSpanish Habitational name for someone originally from the municipality of Solórzano in Cantabria, Spain.
SolsticeEnglish Taken from it's usage as a given name, which derived from Latin solsticium and thus ultimately from sol "sun" and stito "to stand still". The English word solstice refers to two times of the year when the sun's apparent position in the sky reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes.
SonejiAmerican Gary Soneji (also known as Gary Murphy) is the antagonist in James Patterson's 1993 crime thriller novel, Along Came a Spider, which was later adapted into a movie of the same name.
SoniHindi A Suryavanshi Khatri family, the surname originating from the Punjab region of India. In India the term caste creates a crucial distinction between Varna and Jāti, even though jati does not fit into any of the four varnas and is more often referred to as Sudras.
SonozakiJapanese From Japanese 園 (sono) meaning "garden" combined with 崎 (zaki) meaning "cape, peninsula". A notable bearer of this surname is Mie Sonozaki, a Japanese voice-actress who is best known for being the Japanese dubbing voice of Hayley Atwell, Anne Hathaway, Kirsten Dunst, and Elisha Cuthbert.
SontheimerGerman Derived from any of the places named Sontheim in Germany.
SoodIndian, Punjabi From the name of a mercantile caste derived from Persian سود (sud) meaning "profit, gain, benefit".
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).
SoormEstonian Soorm is an Estonian surname, a derivation of "sõrm" meaning "finger" and "digit".
SoosõrvEstonian Soosõrv is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "soo" meaning "swamp" and "sõrv", possibly a corruption of "serv" meaning "border" or "edge"; "swamp/marsh border".
SørbøNorwegian Habitational name from any of several places in Norway, derived from Old Norse Saurbœr, composed of saurr "mire, mud, dirt" and bœr "farm, settlement". Cognate to Sowerby.
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".
SorensonJewish Means "son of the son of Sore", a Yiddish female personal name (from Hebrew Sara, literally "princess"), with the addition of the Slavic possessive suffix -in and German Sohn "son".
SorhapuruBasque (Rare) From the name of a village in south-west France Basque Country, possibly derived from sorho "field, cultivated land" and buru "head, top, summit; leader, chief".
SorimachiJapanese From Japanese 反 (sori) referring to a unit of areal measure (equivalent to about 991.7 metres squared) and 町 (machi) meaning "town, city".
SorimeJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 反り (sori), the continuative form of 反る (soru) meaning "to curve" and 目 (me) meaning "visual feature", referring to a curved landscape of a field.
SorlieNorwegian From any of several places in Norway called Sørli, derived from Norwegian sør "south" and li "slope, hillside" (see Old Norse suðr and hlíð).
SorokaUkrainian, Jewish From the nickname Soroka meaning "magpie", which indicates a thievish person or a person with a white streak of hair among black hair.
SotaJapanese From Japanese 颯 (sō) meaning "sudden, sound of the wind" and 太 (ta) meaning "thick, big, great". This name can also be formed of other kanji combinations. There is a character in Danganronpa used as a surname, but it's not actually used as a surname and it's originated from a boy's name from Japanese.
SoteloSpanish From any of various places in Galicia named Soutelo, derived from Galician souto meaning "grove, plantation".
SotoheboJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 外枦保 (Sotohebo), a clipping of 外枦保門 (Sotohebomon) meaning "Sotohebo Gate", a name of a group of several households in the Kadowari System that took place in the Edo Period in the former Japanese province of Satsuma in parts of present-day Kagoshima, Japan, as well as surrounding areas.
SottoSpanish (Philippines) Variant of Soto. This spelling variation arose during the American occupation of the Philippines, possibly by the influence of Italian American surnames.
SounessScottish (Rare) Perhaps derived from the place name Soonhouse in the town of Melrose in the Scottish Borders area (which is of uncertain meaning), or from the place names Sun-hlaw or Sunilaw near the town of Coldstream, also in the Scottish Borders in Scotland, meaning "south hill" or "sunny hill" in Old English... [more]
SournKhmer Alternate transcription of Khmer សួន (see Soun).
SoutaJapanese From Japanese 颯 (sō) meaning "sudden, sound of the wind" and 太 (ta) meaning "thick, big, great". This name can also be formed of other kanji combinations. Also used as a given name.
SouthEnglish From Middle English south, hence a topographic name for someone who lived to the south of a settlement or a regional name for someone who had migrated from the south.
SouthwarkEnglish (British) A near-extinct surname. It is derived from the name of a borough in London located on the south bank of the River Thames.
SouthwickEnglish An English/Scottish locational name from a variety of places, including, Southwick in Northamptonshire, England, and Southwick in Gloucestershire, Sussex, Durham, Hampshire. ... [more]
SowerbyEnglish Habitational name from any of several places in northern England, derived from Old Norse saurr "mire, mud, dirt, sour ground" and býr "farm, settlement".
SozioItalian Archaic Italian form of socio meaning "companion, partner, ally".
SpaansDutch Either a patronymic from the archaic given name Spaan, of uncertain etymology, or an occupational name derived from Middle Dutch spaen "wood chip, piece of wood; spoon, spatula".
SpacekPolish This is the surname of American actress Sissy Spacek (born December 25, 1949).
SpadaforaItalian Variant form of Spatafora. Spadafora is the younger out of the two surnames and yet the most common of the two, which might partly be because it is a little bit more italianized... [more]
SpagnaItalian From Italian spagna "Spain" for a Spaniard or someone who had connections to Spain. Also from the female given name of the same meaning, Italian cognitive of Spain.
SpahGerman (?), English (American) Spah (sometimes spelt Späh) is last name found most commonly in the US that is believed to be of German origin. Unsure of the meaning.
SpalloneItalian From spalla "shoulder, back", indicating someone who carried things on their shoulders. The modern translation is "smuggler". Alternately, may be an elaboration of Spalla.
SpanglerGerman Spangler is an occupational surname for "metal worker" having derived from the German word spange, meaning a clasp or buckle of the sort such a craftsman might have designed.
SpannEnglish Derived from Old English spann meaning "span (of a hand)", a unit of measurement equaling about nine inches, possibly used to refer to someone who lived on a strip of land or by a narrow footbridge.
SpargoCornish Cornish: habitational name from Higher or Lower Spargo, in the parish of Mabe, so named from Cornish spern ‘thorn bushes’ + cor ‘enclosure'.
SpataforaItalian This surname originates from the Italian island of Sicily, where it was first borne by a noble family of Byzantine origin, which had settled on the island in the 11th century AD. Their surname was derived from the Greek noun σπάθη (spathe) "blade, sword" (akin to Latin spatha "broad sword with a double edge") combined with Greek φορεω (phoreo) "to carry, to bear", which gives the surname the meaning of "he who carries the sword" or "sword-bearer"... [more]
SpearmanEnglish Occupational name for a soldier armed with a spear, from Middle English spere "spear, lance" and man. It could also be from Old English given name Spereman, of the same origin.
SpecaItalian From a variant of spiga "spike, ear (of grain)"
SpeckGerman Variant of Specker as well as a locational surname from one of various places called Speck, Specke and Specken in northern Germany and Spöck in southern Germany, as well as an occupational surname derived from German Speck "bacon" denoting a butcher who sepcialized in the production of bacon, as well as a derisive nickname for a corpulent person.
SpeerGerman, Dutch, English German and Dutch cognate of Spear, as well as an English variant of the same surname.
SpeicherGerman occupational name for someone in charge of a granary. From middle high German spicher meaning "grain store".
SpellaItalian Possibly a variant of Spellini. Alternatively, could derive from an inflected form of Italian spellare "to skin, flay, peel".
SpellbodyLiterature Used in Jill Murphy's books, The Worst Witch, as well as the 2017 television adaptation for the surname of Maud Spellbody. It is a combination of "spell" and "body".