PlumEnglish, German From Old Germanic *plūmā "plum", used as a topographic name for someone who lived by a plum tree, a metonymic occupational name for someone who grew or sold plums, or perhaps a nickname referring to a plum-coloured birthmark.
PlumEnglish From Old French plomb "lead (metal)", a metonymic occupational name for a plumber, or someone who dealt in lead.
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]
PlumleyEnglish Meaning "plum-tree wood or clearing" from the Old English words plume and leah.
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".
PlunketEnglish Either an occupational name for someone who sold plunket, a "coarse white woollen cloth", or a location in France with the name Planquette or Planquenet.
PniewskiPolish, Jewish Habitational name for someone from Pniewy in the district of Poznań, or from any of the many places in Poland named Pniewo.
PoItalian Derived from Po the longest river in Italy (651,8 km). It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps across the regions: Piemonte, Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto... [more]
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.
PõdramägiEstonian Põdramagi is an Estonian surname meaning "moose mountain".
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.
PoeEnglish From a medieval nickname for a vain or flamboyantly dressed person (from Old Norse pá "peacock"). American author and poet Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was a famous bearer.
PoehlerGerman German (Westphalian): topographic name for someone who lived by a muddy pool, from an agent noun derived from Middle Low pol ‘(muddy) pool’.
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.
PoissonFrench Poisson is the French word for fish, and was given to one who was a fishmonger, fisherman, or could be a nickname for one who had the appearance similar to a fish.
PoitierFrench Evidently an altered spelling of Pothier. A famous bearer of this surname was the Bahamian-American actor Sidney Poitier (1927-2022).
PolancoSpanish Habitational name from Polanco in Santander province.
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]
PolgarHungarian Hungarian word for citizen. Taken on by Jewish Hungarians during World War Two to avoid Nazi attention for having 'Jewish' last names.
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.
PoliteEnglish Derived from the English word polite. This name was most likely given to a person who was considered to be polite.
PolitisGreek Politis derives from the Greek word polis, which means 'city'. Therefore Politis means 'citizen'. According to some historians people with this surname have ancestors who came from Constantinople, which was commonly called Polis in the Byzantine era.
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.
PolnareffFrench Most known by famous French singer Michel Polnareff, and fictional Jojo's Bizarre Adventure character Jean-Pierre Polnareff (who is named after the singer).
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.
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".
PombalPortuguese from the portuguese word: pombo meaning "dove", "pigeon". ... [more]
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.
PomerantzJewish From the Yiddish word פּאָמעראַנץ (pomerants) meaning "orange (fruit)".
PompiliiItalian, Medieval Latin The surname Pompilii is of Italian origin and is likely derived from the Latin name Pompilius, which is historically linked to NumaPompilius, the legendary second king of Rome known for his wisdom and religious reforms... [more]
PonceSpanish, English The Ponce name was carried into England after the migration from Normandy following the Norman Conquest of 1066.'Ponce' is derived from 'Ponsoby',a place in Cumberland, where the family settled. The Ponce motto is 'Pro rege, lege grege' meaning "For the King, law, and people"
PonceSpanish Derived from Latin Pontius. Could be originated from an Ancient Roman town named "Italica" near another town named "Santiponce" in Seville, Spain.
PoolEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived near a pool or pond, Middle English pole (Old English pōl), or a habitational name from any of the places named with this word, as for example Poole in Dorset, South Pool in Devon, and Poole Keynes in Gloucestershire.
PoolEstonian Pool is an Estonian surname meaning "at", "to", "towards", as well as "half". Derived from the location in which one lived.
PoolametsEstonian Poolamets is an Estonian surname meaning "half forest(ed)".
PooleyEnglish Habitational name from Pooley Bridge in Cumbria, so named from Old English pol ‘pool’ + Old Norse haugr ‘hill’, ‘mound’. topographic name from Middle English pole ‘pool’ + ey ‘low-lying land’ or hey ‘enclosure’
PoomEstonian Poom is an Estonian surname meaning "beam".
PoortmanDutch Occupational name for a gatekeeper or topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a fortified town, from Dutch poort "gate" and man "man, person".
PoortvlietDutch From the name of the village and former municipality called Poortvliet in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands, derived from Middle Dutch port meaning "port, harbour, storage yard, city" and vliet meaning "brook, stream, river, creek, inlet"... [more]
PõõsasEstonian Põõsas is an Estonian surname meaning "bush" and "shrub".
PootEstonian Poot is an Estonian surname meaning "boat", derived from the German "boot" ("boat").
PootsmannEstonian Possibly an altered form of German Bootsmann, an occupational name meaning "boatswain, bosun". Compare Frisian Bootsma.
PopalzaiPashto Meaning unknown, possibly derived from Persian پوپل (pupal) meaning "betel nut". The Popalzai are a Pashtun sub-tribe of the Durrani in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan.
PorcelliItalian From Italian porcello, meaning "piglet". Used to denote someone who worked as a swineherd, or perhaps a nickname for someone who resembled a piglet in some way.
PorkEstonian Pork is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "põrkama" meaning to "bound", "strike", and "bump". bounce, spring
PorkoFinnish Meaning uncertain, possibly derived from Finnish poro meaning "reindeer".
PoroshenkoUkrainian From Ukrainian порох (porokh) meaning "(gun)powder, dust", used as an occupational name for someone who made or sold gunpowder. A notable bearer is the former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko (1965-).
PorssEstonian Porss is an Estonian surname meaning "bog myrtle" and "bayberry".
PortEnglish, German, French Either from Middle English porte "gateway, entrance" (Old French porte, from Latin porta), hence a topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a fortified town or city, or for the gatekeeper... [more]
PortanovaItalian, Portuguese, Galician Habitational name from a place or locality called Portanova "new gate" from the elements neos "new" and porta "door".
PorteFrench, German, English from Old French porte "gateway entrance" (from Latin porta) hence a topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a fortified town (typically the man in charge of them)... [more]
PorteousScottish A topographic surname for someone who lived in the lodge at the entrance to a manor house, derived from Middle English port, meaning "gateway" or "entrance", and hous meaning "house". It can also be an occupational name with similar meaning, derived from Latin portarius meaning "porter"... [more]
PorteraItalian Occupational name for a female servant, from Spanish portera.
PortisEnglish (American) A famous bearer is the American basketball player Bobby Portis (1995-).
PortmanEnglish Status name meaning "townsman, burgher, citizen" in Middle English, derived from Old English port "port, harbour" (from Latin portus) and mann "person, man".
PortmannGerman Occupational name for a gatekeeper, derived from Middle Low German port(e) meaning "gate" and man, or a topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a fortified town.
PortnoyJewish, Belarusian, Ukrainian Occupational name for a tailor from Russian portnoj (an adjective derivative of port "uncut cloth").