PettEnglish The name Pett has a history dating as far back as the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. It was a name for a person who was referred to as Peat. The surname Pett was originally derived from the Old English word which meant a spoiled or pampered child.
PettiferEnglish Nickname for a good infantryman, an old soldier who had lost a foot, or a person who was never tired of walking, derived from Old French pedefer, pied de fer meaning "iron foot".
PettisEnglish From the possessive or plural form of Middle English pytte, pitte ‘pit’, ‘hollow’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived by a pit, or a habitational name from a place named with this word, as for example Pett in East Sussex.
PettyEnglish, Scottish Derived from Norman French petit, 'small', thus a nickname for a small or insignificant individual.... [more]
PettyferEnglish Variant spelling of Pettifer. The British actor and model Alex Pettyfer (1990-) is a famous bearer of this surname.
PetzoldGerman German. Derives from a pet form of a Slavic version of the given name Peter.
PevensieLiterature Rarely used as a female given name, Pevensie is possibly an invented surname by C.S. Lewis for the Narnia series. It's most famous bearers are- of course- Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie from said series.
PewWelsh From Welsh ap Hew or ap Hugh "son of Hugh" (see Pugh). A fictional bearer is Blind Pew, the blind pirate in Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island' (1883).
PewterschmidtPopular Culture Comprised of the English word pewter, which is a metal alloy made mostly of tin, and the German element schmidt 'smith' (see Schmidt). This surname is obviously intended to be of Germanic origin... [more]
PeyronFrench Unknown meaning. French surname. Famous bearer of this name is Bruno Peyron and the German princess Louise Peyron (1918-1989).... [more]
PezaAlbanian Myslim Peza, leader of the anti-fascist movement.
PflaumGerman, Jewish metonymic occupational name or possibly a nickname from Middle High German pflūme, German pflaume "plum", as a Jewish name it is artificial... [more]
PfuhlGerman a topographic name for someone who lived by a swamp or pond, Middle High German phuol.... [more]
PfundGerman metonymic occupational name for a sealer of weights, or for a wholesale merchant, from Middle High German pfunt ‘pound’ (as a measure of weight and a unit of currency).
PhenixFrench (Quebec, Anglicized) Either (i) an anglicization of French Canadian Phénix, literally "phoenix", probably originally a nickname of now lost import; or (ii) a different form of Fenwick.
PheonixEnglish A rare nickname given for someone's appearance of blonde and red hair just as a phoenix has colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet.
PhíVietnamese Vietnamese form of Fei, from Sino-Vietnamese 費 (phí).
PhilbertEnglish From the medieval French male personal name Filibert, of Germanic origin and meaning literally "very bright, very famous".
PhilbrickEnglish (British) English (southeastern): probably a habitational name from Felbrigg in Norfolk named with Old Norse fjǫl “board plank” + Old English brycg “bridge”.... [more]
PhilippartBelgian In the Medieval period, of Ancient Greek origin, derives from philippos, a compound made of philein meaning "to love", and hippos, a horse, hence "lover of horses".
PhilliskirkEnglish (Rare) From a 'lost' medieval parish in England or Scotland, named with the Old Norse element kirk meaning 'church' or 'place of worship'.... [more]
PhóVietnamese Vietnamese form of Fu, from Sino-Vietnamese 傅 (phó).
PhoenixEnglish From the name of a beautiful immortal bird which appears in Egyptian and Greek mythology. After living for several centuries in the Arabian Desert, it would be consumed by fire and rise from its own ashes, with this cycle repeating every 500 years... [more]
PhomvihaneLao From Lao ພົມ (phom) referring to the Hindu god Brahma and ວິຫານ (vihane) meaning "temple, sanctuary". A notable bearer was Kaysone Phomvihane (1920-1992), the second president of Laos.
PiagetFrench (Swiss) Of uncertain origin and meaning. This name was borne by Jean Piaget (1896-1980), a Swiss child psychologist noted for his studies of intellectual and cognitive development in children.
PianaItalian Topographic name from piana ‘plain’, ‘level ground’, from Latin planus, or a habitational name from any of the places named with this word.
PicaItalian, Catalan Nickname for a gossipy or garrulous person, from the central-southern Italian word pica ‘magpie’. Compare Picazo.Catalan: habitational name from any of the numerous places called Pica.Catalan: from either pica ‘pointed object’ (weapon, etc.) or a derivative of picar ‘to prick’.
PickenpaughGerman The surname Pickenpaugh is an Americanized version of the German name Beckenbach, meaning "from the river basin"... [more]
PickersgillEnglish This famous Yorkshire name is of early medieval English origin, and is a locational surname deriving from the place in West Yorkshire called Pickersgill, or "Robber's Ravine". The placename is derived from the Middle English "pyker", thief, robber, and "gill", gully, ravine, deep glen.
PickettEnglish Of Norman origin, from the personal name Pic, here with the diminutive suffixes et or ot, and recorded as Picot, Pigot and Piket. The name is ultimately of Germanic derivation, from pic meaning "sharp" or "pointed", which was a common element in names meaning for instance, residence near a "pointed hill", use of a particular sharp or pointed tool or weapon, or a nickname for a tall, thin person.
PickfordEnglish This surnames origins lie with the Anglo-Saxons. It is a product of their having lived in the parish of Pitchford in Shropshire. ... [more]
PickleGerman Pickle is an Anglicized form of the North German word “pokel” and or the Dutch word “pekel”.
PicklerEnglish Derived from the occupation of "pickler," which referred to someone who worked in the pickling industry, preserving foods such as vegetables or meats in brine or vinegar.
PicoSpanish meaning beak of a bird, or peak of a mountain in spanish... [more]
PicquetFrench A variant of Piquet of which it's meaning is of a military terminology of one soldier/small group of soldiers on a line forward of a postion to provide a warning of an enemy advance... [more]
PiénoelFrench (Rare) French surname that possibly refers to the buckled shoes that the original bearer was wearing, in which case it is derived from Old French pié meaning "foot" combined with Old French noiel meaning "buckle"... [more]
PierpontEnglish English (of Norman origin): habitational name from any of various places, for example in Aisne and Calvados, so called from Old French pierre ‘stone’ + pont ‘bridge’.
PietrafesaItalian From the former name of a town in Potenza, Italy (changed to Satriano di Lucania in 1887), an Italianized form of Medieval Latin Petrafixa, composed of petra "rock, stone" and fixa "fixed, fastened, immovable; constant"... [more]
PijnenburgDutch From the name of an estate or hamlet called Pijnenburg in the town of Soest in Utrecht, Holland, composed of Middle Dutch pijn meaning "pine tree" and burg meaning "fortress, manor, mansion".
PikeEnglish, Irish English: topographic name for someone who lived by a hill with a sharp point, from Old English pic ‘point’, ‘hill’, which was a relatively common place name element.... [more]
PikrammenosGreek From Greek πικρός (pikrós) meaning "bitter, acrid, embittered". A famous bearer is the Greek judge and politician Panagiotis Pikrammenos (1945-), who was Deputy Prime Minister of Greece... [more]
PilarskiPolish Occupational name for a sawyer, Polish pilarz + -ski, common ending of surnames.
PilchEnglish From Middle English pilch, a metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of pilches or a nickname for a habitual wearer of these. A pilch (from Late Latin pellicia, a derivative of pellis "skin, hide") was a kind of coarse leather garment with the hair or fur still on it.
PilcherEnglish Occupational name for a maker or seller of pilches, from an agent derivative of Pilch. In early 17th-century English, pilcher was a popular term of abuse, being confused or punningly associated with the unrelated verb pilch "to steal" and with the unrelated noun pilchard, a kind of fish.
PilengisLatvian (Rare) This was my mother's maiden name. She and the rest of my family were born in Latvia. I am the first American born. I do not know what Pilengis means.
PilgaonkarKonkani, Indian Pilgaonkar is a Konkani surname used mostly in Goa by Konkani Hindus. Sachin Pilgaonkar of Bollywood fame is a famous person with that surname... [more]
PiliItalian Sardinian form of Italian pelo "hair, hairy".
PiliangMinangkabau Probably derived from Indonesian pili meaning "a lot, many" and hyang meaning "god, deity" or the phrase pili hyang meaning "the god, the deity" (most likely referring to the Hindu-influenced gods that were worshiped before the arrival of Islam in the Indonesian archipelago)... [more]
PillotFrench Meaning unknown, possibly derived from Middle French pilot or pillot both meaning "stake, pole". This is the name of a wealthy merchant family from Besançon, France.
PillsburyEnglish Derived from a place in Derbyshire, England, so named from the genitive of the Old English given name Pil and burh meaning "fortified place".
PilotEnglish Means a person who operates the flying controls of an aircraft.
PinchesEnglish (British, Rare) This is one of the very earliest of surnames. This is an English name. First recorded in the 12th century it was a nickname of endearment for a bright, chirpy, person, thought by his peer group to be active like a finch... [more]
PinchotAmerican Of unknown origin. Historically, borne most famously by Gifford Pinchot (1865 - 1946) first Chief of the United States Forest Service.
PinckneyEnglish The surname Pinckney originally denoted someone from Picquigny, France, which derives from a Germanic personal name, Pincino (of obscure derivation) and the Latin locative suffix -acum... [more]
PincockEnglish It is believed to be a variant of the surname Pink, which itself can have several origins, including being a nickname for someone with pink cheeks or a rosy complexion, or an occupational name for a dyer or someone who worked with pigment dyes.
PineauFrench Either a diminutive of Pin from Old French pin "pine" or a habitational name from (Le) Pineau the name of several places in the western part of France of the same origin.
PininfarinaItalian A combination of "pinin", Piedmontese for youngest/smallest brother, and Farina, the Italian variant of Miller. This is the name of the Italian coachbuilder, founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina, later Battista Pininfarina.
PinkEnglish, German Nickname, possibly for a small person, from Middle English pink penkg ‘minnow’ (Old English pinc).English (southeastern): variant of Pinch .Variant spelling of German Pinck, an indirect occupational name for a blacksmith, an onomatopoeic word imitating the sound of hammering which was perceived as pink(e)pank... [more]
PinkertonScottish, Northern Irish Habitational name for a person originally from a location in Scotland named Pinkerton, which is of uncertain meaning.
PinnEnglish, German Derived from Middle English pin and Middle Low German pinne, both meaning "peg" or "pin". This was an occupational name from a maker of these things. The German name can in some cases be an occupational name for a shoemaker.
PinoSpanish, Galician, Italian Spanish and Galician habitational name from any of the places in Galicia (Spain) named Pino from pino "pine" or a topographic name for someone who lived by a remarkable pine tree. Italian habitational name from Pino d'Asti in Asti province Pino Torinese in Torino or Pino Solitario in Taranto all named with pino "pine’... [more]
PinochetBasque, French, Spanish Derived from Basque pinoche meaning "pine cone". Alternately, it could be derived from the name of the hamlet of Pinouchet, located in the Gironde department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of France... [more]
PiovascoItalian, Literature Means "shower, brief fall of rain" in Italian, from Italian piovere or piova, both meaning "rain" with an added suffix. Cosimo Piovasco di Rondò is the protagonist in the Italian novel The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino, who inherited this surname from his father, Arminio Piovasco.
PipoloItalian Possibly derived from a Latin word meaning "nothing, insignificant; a thing without value", perhaps a nickname for an unimportant or disliked person. Alternatively, it could be from a pet form of the given name Pippo, a diminutive of Filippo.
PiquéCatalan A famous bearer of this surname is Spanish/Catalan footballer Gerard Piqué.
PiquetFrench Occupational name for someone who dealt with picks from a diminutive of pic ''pick, pickax''.
PirzadehPersian Means "born of the pir", from the Persian title پیر (pir) denoting a Sufi spiritual guide (literally meaning "elder, old"). This name was traditionally used by owners or custodians of Sufi mausoleums and shrines.
PisaItalian Habitational name from the city of Pisa in Tuscany. The city was probably founded by Greek colonists, but before coming under Roman control it was in the hands of the Etruscans, who probably gave it its name... [more]
PiscopoItalian, Neapolitan Means "bishop" in Neapolitan, ultimately derived from Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos) "overseer, supervisor, bishop" or "watcher, guardian"... [more]
PisulaPolish, Lithuanian Informal nickname for a scribe or clerk, from a derivative of Polish pisać ‘to write’.
PitcherEnglish, German From an agent derivative of Middle English pich ‘pitch’, hence an occupational name for a caulker, one who sealed the seams of ships or barrels with pitch. English variant of Pickard... [more]
PitogoFilipino, Cebuano Means "queen sago" (a type of plant in the genus Cycas) in Cebuano.
PitsenbargerGerman Probably an altered spelling of Bezzenberger, which is derived from Boizenburg, a municipality in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
PiuChinese 1 Chinese 牛: this name probably arose during the Zhou dynasty ( 1122–221 bc ) in the area of Gansu province; the details are unclear. It was borne by a person named Niu Wen, who was a descendant of the eldest brother of the last king of the Shang dynasty, Zhou Xin ( 1154–1123 bc ).... [more]
PlantagenetMedieval English, Medieval French Borne by the House of Plantagenet, a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. It also originated as a nickname for Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou (1113-1151), father of King Henry II of England (1133-1189), who ascended the English throne in 1154... [more]
PlantzEnglish (American) Deriving from England. "Men known as a Planter was an English term for people who were "planted" abroad in order to promote a political, religious cause or for colonization purposes." ... [more]
PlatterScottish Habitational name from the Forest of Plater in Angus.
PlayfairEnglish From a medieval nickname for an enthusiastic competitor in sports and games (from Middle English pleyfere "companion in play, playmate"), or else a different form of Playford (from a Suffolk place-name meaning "ford where sports are held")... [more]
PlevnelievBulgarian From the Bulgarian name for the Greek village of Petroussa (called Plevnya in Bulgarian), itself derived from Bulgarian плевня (plevnya) meaning "barn". A notable bearer is Bulgarian president Rosen Plevneliev (1964-).
PlievIngush (Russified), Ossetian (Russified) Russified form of an Ingush and Ossetian name, which is derived from the name of an Ingush teip (clan). The name itself comes from Plievo, the name of a village in Ingushetia, which means "village of the sons of Pkhile", referring to a given name possibly derived from Ossetian пыл (pyl) meaning "elephant".
PlotnikovRussian Means "son of the carpenter" from Russian плотник (plotnik) "carpenter".
PlouffeFrench Altered form of Blouf, which is no longer found in France. It's meaning is unknown.
PloumidesGreek Descendant or son of the ornamented, from the Latin word 'pluma', for ornament.
PlumerGerman, English, Dutch North German (Plümer) and English: variant of Plum, the suffix -er denoting habitation or occupation. Altered form of South German Pflümer, an occupational name for a grower or seller of plums, from an agent derivative of Middle High German pflume ‘plum’... [more]
PlumierFrench, Belgian Possibly an occupational name for a dealer in feathers and quills, from an agent derivative of Old French plume "feather, plume" (compare English and Dutch Plumer)... [more]
PlummerEnglish 1. Occupational name for a worker in lead, especially a maker of lead pipes and conduits, from Anglo-Norman French plom(m)er, plum(m)er ‘plumber’, from plom(b), plum(b) ‘lead’ (Latin plumbum)... [more]
PlumtreeEnglish From any of the locations called Plumtree for anyone who lived near a plum tree derived from Old English plume "plum" and treow "tree".
PniewskiPolish, Jewish Habitational name for someone from Pniewy in the district of Poznań, or from any of the many places in Poland named Pniewo.
PobanzGerman Nickname for a braggart or bogeyman, of uncertain Slavic origin.
PobjoyEnglish From a medieval nickname for someone thought to resemble a parrot, from Middle English papejai, popinjay "parrot". This probably denoted someone who was talkative or who dressed in bright colours, although it may have described a person who excelled at the medieval sport of pole archery, i.e. shooting at a wooden parrot on a pole.
PodriznikSlovene From the article of clothing of the same name worn by priests, possibly denoting a maker of them or perhaps a relative of a clergyman.
PodwojskiPolish Archaic -- denotes the office of a minor church official.
PointeFrench Derivation of the name is from the pre 10th century Old French "pointe" meaning a sharp or pointed end, and ultimately from the Latin "puncta", to pierce.
PoitierFrench Evidently an altered spelling of Pothier. A famous bearer of this surname was the Bahamian-American actor Sidney Poitier (1927-2022).
PokharelNepali Derived from the city of Pokhara in Nepal.
PolDutch From Middle Dutch pol "tussock, grassy hill; area of raised ground in a fen".
PolacoSpanish Variant of Polanco. Alternatively, it could as well be referred to inhabitants of Poland.
PolandEnglish, German, French (Anglicized), Irish (Anglicized) English and German name is derived from the Middle High German Polan, which means "Poland". The surname originally signified a person with Polish connections.This French surname originated from an occupational name of a poultry breeder, or from a fearful person; it is derived from the Old French poule, which means "chicken".In other cases, particularly in Ireland, the English Poland is a variant of Polin,which is in turn an Anglicised form of the original Gaelic spelling of Mac Póilín, which translated from Irish means "son of little Paul"... [more]
PolhemSwedish (Rare) Derived from Polhammar, itself of uncertain origin. A notable bearer was Swedish scientist and inventor Christopher Polhem (1661-1751).
PolidoriItalian Means "son of Polidoro". Famous bearers include John William Polidori (1795-1821), a physician to Lord Byron and author of 'The Vampyre' (1819), and his sister Frances Polidori (1800-1886), the mother of painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, poet Christina Rossetti, critic William Michael Rossetti, and author Maria Francesca Rossetti.
PolitzerHungarian, German, Jewish Habitational name derived from any one of several places called Police (known as Pölitz in German) in the Czech Republic. Hugh David Politzer (1949-) is an American theoretical physicist who, along with David Gross and Frank Wilczek, discovered asymptotic freedom.
PolmanDutch Variant of Pol using the element man "person, man" as a suffix.
PolomboItalian Derived from Palombo literally meaning "Ring Dove" or Palombella meaning "Wood Pigeon" in the dialects of Southern Italy.
PoloskinRussian Derived from полоска (poloska), a diminutive of полоса (polosa) meaning "stripe, strip, streak". This may have been a nickname for a tall and thin person.
PolskiPolish, Jewish Nickname for a Polish person, originating in areas of mixed populations.
PoltimoreEnglish (Rare) Rare English surname derived from a Devon place name of Celtic origin, allegedly meaning “pool by the large house”.
PolychronakisGreek The suffix 'akis' indicates that this name comes from the island of Crete. The precise meaning is unknown, though it is theorised that, as 'poly' means "many" or "much" and 'chron' might be supposed to come from the same root as 'Chronos' meaning "time", the name means "much time" or "long time".
PomerantzGerman Occupational name for an importer or seller of bitter (Seville) oranges, Middle High German pomeranz (medieval Latin pomarancia, composed of the elements arancia, the name imported with the fruit.
PompeiItalian Habitational name from a place called Pompei in Naples province. Or a patronymic or plural form of Pompeo.