NermanSwedish Possibly a combination of Swedish nedre "lower, southern" and man "man".
NeugerGerman, French (?) Was popularized by the German community. Famous bearers include investors Win Neuger and Dan Neuger, author Christie Cozad Neuger.
NewbyEnglish Means "person from Newby", Newby being a combination of the Middle English elements newe "new" and by "farm, settlement" (ultimately from Old Norse býr "farm"). British travel writer Eric Newby (1919-2006) bore this surname.
NeweyEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived at a "new enclosure", from Middle English newe "new" and haga "enclousire".
NobelSwedish Habitational name from Östra Nöbbelöv in Scania, Southern Sweden. The name was originally spelled Nobelius but was later shortened to Nobel. A famous bearer was Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), a Swedish engineer, chemist, and inventor.
NobleEnglish, Scottish, Irish, French Nickname from Middle English, Old French noble "high-born, distinguished, illustrious" (Latin nobilis), denoting someone of lofty birth or character, or perhaps also ironically someone of low station... [more]
NoonanIrish Anglicized form of Irish Ó Nuanáin (from Irish Gaelic Ó hIonmhaineáin) meaning "descendant of Ionmhaineán", a diminutive of the given name Ionmhain "beloved, dear". ... [more]
NooneIrish Anglicized form of Irish Ó Nuadháin "descendant of Nuadhán" (see Nuadha).
NordahlNorwegian, Swedish The surname derives from a place name in Sunnmøre, Norway. Meaning from Old Norse norðr ''north'' and dalr ''dale'', ''valley''. In Sweden, this name is mostly ornamental, rather than habitaional.
NordénSwedish Combination of Swedish nord "north" and the common surname suffix -én.
NordenskiöldSwedish, Finland Swedish (Archaic) Combination of Swedish nord "north" and sköld "shield". Norden is also the Swedish name for the Nordic countries, but it is not the element used in this surname. Nordenskiöld is a Swedish and Fennoswedish noble family, the first known members are brothers Anders Johan Nordenskiöld (1696-1763) and Carl Fredric Nordenskiöld the elder (1702-1779)... [more]
NordgrenSwedish Combination of Swedish nord "north" and gren "branch".
NordlanderSwedish Combination of Swedish nord "north" and the common surname suffix -lander (a combination of land "land" and the habitational suffix -er).
NordlundSwedish Combination of Swedish nord "north" and lund "grove".
NoronhaPortuguese Derived from Noreña, the name of a village in Asturias, northern Spain.
NorrellEnglish, German (?) A locational surname from the Germanic (Old English/Old Norse) term for the north. It either refers to someone who lived in a location called Northwell, lived north of a well, spring or stream (Old English weall)... [more]
NorrmanSwedish Either a variant of Norman or taken directly from Swedish norrman "Norwegian, person from Norway".
NørskovDanish Means "northern forest" from the Danish nord "north" and skov "forest".
NylandNorwegian Combination of Norwegian ny "new" and land "land, yard".
NylanderSwedish Combination of Swedish ny "new" (possibly a habitational name from a place named with this element) and the common surname suffix -ander (a combination of land "land" and the habitational suffix -er).
Ó DuibhidhirIrish Means "descendant of Duibhuidhir". Duibhuidhir is a personal name composed of the elements dubh "dark, black" and odhar "sallow, tawny".
OkuJapanese Oku means "secluded","further out". Manami Oku is a J-pop singer.
OkudairaJapanese From Japanese 奥 (oku) meaning "inside" and 平 (taira) meaning "level, even, peaceful".
OkukawaJapanese (Rare) Oku means "interior,secluded,further out" and kawa means "river". Minako Okukawa is a fictional character from Yuri!!! On Ice and it's also the name of a company.
OppegårdNorwegian Habitational name meaning "upper farm". Derived from Old Norse uppi "upper" and garðr "farm, yard". This was the name of several farmsteads in Norway. ... [more]
O'rourkeIrish Means "descendant of Ruairc", a pre-9th-century Norse personal name. A famous bearer was child actress Heather O'Rourke (1975-1988).
OrtmanGerman The surname Ortman was first found in Silesia, where the name emerged after the 14th century, where it was related to the name "Ertmar"; this name is also reflected in the place name Erdmannsdorf, found in both Saxony and Silesia... [more]
O'SheeranIrish (Rare) Anglicized form of either Ó Sírín or Ó Síoráin meaning "descendant of Sírín" and "descendant of Síoráin" respectively. Sírín and Síoráin are variants of the same name, both are derived from a diminutive of síor meaning "long-lasting".
ÖvallSwedish (Rare) Combination of Swedish ö "island" and vall "wall, pasture, field of grass".
OverholserGerman (Swiss) The Oberholtzer family originated in the Swiss village of Oberholtz, south of Zurich, before the 15th century. However, in 1661, one family left Switzerland for the Palatinate in Germany.
OxenstiernaSwedish (Rare) A notable surname used by an ancient Swedish noble family from Småland dating back to the 13th century. The name means "the ox's forehead". It is a combination of Swedish oxen, a cognate to the English plural of 'ox', and stierna, which is likely derived from German Stirn "forehead", though it is often mistaken for Swedish stjärna "star"... [more]
PalmeSwedish The name was adopted by a notable Swedish family in honor of their ancestor PalmeLyder (born 1570s, died 1630), a merchant who immigrated to Sweden from the Netherlands or Germany in the early 1600s... [more]
PalmqvistSwedish Combination of Swedish palm meaning "palm tree", and kvist meaning "twig"
PeiperGerman (Austrian) Occupational name for a piper, from Middle High German piper. In some cases it may be derived from Sorbian pipar "pepper", thus being an occupational name for a spicer or a nickname for one with a fiery temper.
PenmanScottish Occupational name for someone who was a scribe, but could also be a habitational name derived from any place named with the British elements penn "hill" and maen "stone".
PfefferGerman, Jewish Occupational name for a spicer, or a nickname for a person with a fiery temper, for a small man, or for a dark-haired person. Derived from German Pfeffer "pepper".
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.
PinnEnglish (British) A topographic or habitational name from a place named with Middle English pinne, meaning "hill" (Old English penn).
PolhemSwedish (Rare) Derived from Polhammar, itself of uncertain origin. A notable bearer was Swedish scientist and inventor Christopher Polhem (1661-1751).
PrivettFrench, English, Welsh (?) French, from the given name Privat (see Privatus). Also an English habitational name from a place so named in Hampshire, derived from Old English pryfet "privet".
ProiaItalian From the name of a place in Italy. The meaning is uncertain, but it might be derived from Greek πρωία (proía) "morning".
PrunaSpanish (Rare) Possibly a habitational name from a place so named in Spain. It could also be derived from Catalan pruna "plum".
PuharSerbian (Modern, Rare) The last name of the contestant Mirjana Puhar from America's Next Top Model, who originally was born in Serbia. She died on February 24, 2015, aged 19 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
QuislingNorwegian A treacherous person who sides with opposing forces, this meaning comes from Vidkun Quisling of Norway. He helped the Germans during the German rule of Norway in the 1940's. Original meaning "One from" (-ling) "Quislemark", (quis) A romanization of the place name of Kvislemark.
RamboSwedish (Rare), Norwegian (Rare) Combination of Norwegian and (dialectal) Swedish ramn "raven" and bo meaning either "dweller, inhabitant" or "home, nest". Peter Gunnarsson Rambo (1611-1698) was one of the first Swedish immigrants to the United States in the 17th century and considered to be the father of the settlement New Sweden in Pennsylvania... [more]
RapaceSwedish (Modern, Rare) From French and Italian rapace meaning "predatory, bird of prey, raptor". A notable bearer is Swedish actress Noomi Rapace.
RidingerGerman A habitational name for someone from a place named Riding or Rieding. It is also possibly an altered spelling of Reitinger, a topographic name from Reit(e), which means ‘clearing’ (Old High German riuti).
RitschelGerman, History Derived from Old High German hruod "fame". This was the maiden name of Magda Goebbels who was the wife of Paul Joseph Goebbels. Her husband was Nazi Germany's propaganda minister between the years 1933 and 1945... [more]
RohrGerman, Jewish Topographic name for someone who lived in an area thickly grown with reeds, from Middle High German ror. Also a habitational name from one of the several places named with this word.
RönnlundSwedish Combination of Swedish rönn "rowan" and lund "grove".
RöntgenGerman Meaning uncertain. This was the name of German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845-1923) who discovered and studied x-rays. Röntgen called the radiation "X" because it was an unknown type of radiation.
RoosEstonian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, German (Swiss), Low German Means "rose" in Estonian and Dutch. Swedish and Danish variant of Ros, also meaning "rose". This could be a locational name for someone living near roses, an occupational name for someone who grew roses, or a nickname for someone with reddish skin.
RudeenSwedish (Archaic) Variant or possibly an anglicized form of Rudén. Rudeen is currently not used in Sweden. One known bearer, bishop Torsten Rudeen (1661-1729), got his name from his father's surname Rudenius (also related to Rudén).
RudénSwedish (Rare) Swedish rud "clearing" (compare Ruud) combined with the common surname suffix -én.
RudströmSwedish Combination of Swedish rud "deforested land, clearing" and ström "stream".
RuisardFrench (Rare, ?) Originated as a result of trade between France and the Persian Empires before the Iranian Revolution, probably during the Safavid Dynasty. The surname has its roots in the Persian Riahi surname and the Arabic word رِيح (rīḥ) meaning "wind" and the Persian word “sered” before it was altered to fit French spelling rules.... [more]
RuleScottish, English Scottish name from the lands of Rule in the parish of Hobkirk, Roxburghshire. The derivation is from the River Rule which flows through the area, and is so called from the ancient Welsh word "rhull" meaning "hasty or rushing".... [more]
RundgrenSwedish Swedish surname with somewhat unclear etymology. The first element is possibly taken from a place named with either of the elements rund and/or run. Rund coincides with the Swedish word for "round", but it is not clear if the element used in this name is derived from that word... [more]
RundqvistSwedish Combination of Swedish rund "round" and qvist, an archaic spelling of kvist, "twig".
RybakPolish, Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Jewish Means "fisherman" in some Slavic languages. Derived from the word ryba "fish". A famous bearer is Byelarusian-Norwegian artist Alexander Rybak (b. 1986) who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009.
RybalkaUkrainian Ukrainian surname meaning "fisherman". Derived from ryba "fish".
RydbergSwedish Combination of Swedish ryd "woodland clearing" and berg "mountain". Notable bearers are author and poet Viktor Rydberg (1828-1895) and physicist Johannes Rydberg (1854-1919).
RydellSwedish Combination of Swedish ryd "woodland clearing" and the common surname suffix -ell.
RydénSwedish Combination of Swedish ryd "woodland clearing" and the common surname suffix -én.
RydingerSwedish (Rare) Either a combination of Swedish ryd "woodland clearing" and the common surname suffix -ing "belonging to, coming from" (compare Norling), a variant of Ryding, or a Swedish form of German Rüdinger.
SalanderSwedish Meaning uncertain. Possibly a variant of Selander or a combination of an unexplained first element and the common surname suffix -ander.