PreshawEnglish (British, Rare) This surname is a habitational name from a locality near Upham on the slopes of the South Downs. It is entirely within a private estate and has its own chapel.
PresleyScottish From Persley, a small Scottish hamlet on the River Don, Aberdeenshire, now a suburb of the much larger city of Aberdeen, named perhaps with the Pictish word *pres-, meaning 'bushes' or 'undergrowth'.... [more]
PresserJewish (Ashkenazi) An occupational surname used to describe someone who ironed clothes. Derived from the Yiddish pres meaning "flat iron".
PrewettEnglish The surname Prewett is derived from the Middle English word prou, meaning "brave," or "valiant," with the addition of either of two common diminutive suffixes: -et or -ot. As such, this name is thought to have originally been a nickname for someone small but brave.
PrincipBosnian, Serbian Probably derived from Latin princeps "leader, initiator, prince", which itself was ultimately derived from primus "first" and capere "to take". The surname may thus have originated as a nickname for someone with a princely appearance, or for someone who was the illegitimate offspring of a prince... [more]
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".
ProcidaItalian Habitational name from Procida, one of the Flegrean Islands off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. Derived from Ancient Greek Προχύτη (Prokhútē) via Latin Prochyta, of uncertain etymology.
ProctorEnglish Occupational name for a legal practitioner in an ecclesiastical court or a person appointed to collect alms for those who could not go out to beg for themselves (i.e., lepers and the bedridden), from Middle English proctour "steward", ultimately a contracted form derived from Latin procurator "agent, manager"... [more]
ProphetEnglish, Scottish, French, German Scottish, English, French, and German: nickname from Middle English and Old French prophete, Middle High German prophet ‘prophet’, ‘seer’, ultimately from Greek prophetes ‘predictor’, from pro ‘before’ + a derivative of phemi ‘to speak’... [more]
ProvostEnglish, French Derived from the Middle English provost; referring to the person who heads a religious chapter in a cathedral or educational establishment. It was also used as a nickname for a self-important person and is a French variant of Prevost.
PuckettEnglish Of uncertain origin; perhaps a variant of Pocket(t), from a diminutive of Anglo-Norman French poque "small pouch", hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of purses and pouches or a nickname... [more]
PudwillGerman Of Slavic origin, habitational name from Podewils in Pomerania.
PuentesSpanish Means "bridges" in Spanish. Originated from "puente". The surname was first found in the valley of the Trucios in the Basque region of Spain.However, families with this surname have been present in Catalonia for hundreds of years... [more]
PukspuuEstonian Pukspuu is an Estonian surname meaning "boxwood" (Buxus).
PulaskiPolish Polish (Pułaski): habitational name for someone from the Pulazie in Łomża Voivodeship.
PulciniItalian Could derive from Italian pulcino "young chicken, chick", a nickname for a poultry farmer or someone thought to resemble a chicken, or from a diminutive of pulce "flea".
PuletuaSamoan May come from Pule meaning 'authority, leader, command'.
PulišićCroatian Derived From puliš meaning "to smoke". It may refer to a smoker or someone who sells cigarettes.
PurnamaChinese (Indonesian) Indonesianized form of Chinese surnames such as Bao (鮑) or Zhong (鍾). Surnames like these were instituted during the New Order era (1966–1998) in Indonesia due to social and political pressure toward Chinese Indonesians.
PuschatGerman (East Prussian) East Prussian German (and thus heavily Lithuanian influenced) surname derived from Lithuanian pušaite "(young) pine tree", which - allegedly - used to be a term of endearment for a young girl.
PushkinRussian Derived from Russian пушка (pushka) meaning "gun, cannon". A notable bearer was Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), a Russian poet and writer.
PuttickEnglish (British) A variant spelling of the Sussex surname Puttock from the Village of Puttock, which itself derives from the Old English "Puttocke" a bird of prey, the kite. ... [more]
PutxetaBasque (Rare) From the name of a neighborhood of the municipality of Abanto, Biscay, possibly derived from Basque putzu "well, hole, puddle" and -eta "place of, abundance of".
PuudistEstonian Puudist is an Estonian surname derived from "puude-" meaning "arborary".
PuurandEstonian Puurand is an Estonian surname meaning "tree beach/shore".
PuusaagEstonian Puusaag is an Estoian surname meaning "wood saw".
PuuseppEstonian Means "carpenter", literally "wood smith", from Estonian puu "tree, wood" and sepp "smith"
PuusildEstonian Puusild is an Estonian surname meaning "wood bridge".
QuestedEnglish (British) English surname of uncertain origin, possibly derived from the lost village of Questers.
QuestelFrench, Medieval French (?) The surname Questel was first found in Normandy. Currently, Questel is the most commonly occurring last name in Saint-Barthélemy, a French island in the Caribbean Sea.... [more]
QuevedoCantabrian (Hispanicized) Castilianized form of a surname that indicates familial origin within the eponymous settlement at the geographic coordinates 43.128481, -4.039367.
QuillenIrish The surname Quillen is derived from the personal name Hugelin, which is a diminutive of Hugh. The Gaelic form of the name is Mac Uighilin.
QuimsonFilipino From Hokkien 金孫 (kim-sun) meaning "golden grandchild".
QuinataChamorro Quinata - meaning "na'ta" food belonging to us, or wanting food. Mostly found in Umatac, Guam.
QuintonEnglish From a place name meaning "queen's town" in Old English.
QuinzelPopular Culture The actual surname of the fictional character Harley Quinn. The character first appeared in the "Batman: The Animated Series" episode "Joker's Favor" in September 1992, but her full name (Harleen Quinzel) was not revealed until the February 1994 one-shot comic "The Batman Adventures: Mad Love"... [more]
QureshiArabic, Urdu Denotes a member of the Quraysh, a mercantile Arab tribe that the Prophet Muhammad belonged to, itself is derived from Arabic قرش (qarasha) meaning "to gnash, to grind, to chew".
QursawiTatar Derived from the Arabic word قرصة (qursa) meaning "pinch".
RaagmaaEstonian Raagmaa is an Estonian surname meaning "twig/leafless land".
RäästasEstonian Räästas is an Estonian surname meaning "eaves".
RachlynJewish (Rare), Polish (Rare), Brazilian (Rare) Rachlyn is a Jewish surname derived directly from polish "Rachman". This surname is very rare and apparently only few members in Brazil, descendants of Polish survivors of Holocaust.... [more]
RackersGerman German (Räckers): in the Lower Rhine-Westphalia area, from a reduced form of Rädeker, itself a reduced form of Rademaker.
RackhamEnglish Means "person from Rackham", Sussex ("homestead or enclosure with ricks"). This surname was borne by British watercolourist and book illustrator Arthur Rackham (1867-1939).
RadfordEnglish Habitational name from any of the various places so named, for example in Devon, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, and Hereford and Worcester. Most are named from Old English read "red" + ford "ford", but it is possible that in some cases the first element may be a derivative of Old English ridan "to ride", with the meaning "ford that can be crossed on horseback".
RaffordScottish, English From a village called Rafford in Moray, Scotland. The surname itself is derived from Gaelic rath meaning "fort, dwelling", and ford reffering to a river crossing.
RagostaItalian from aragosta "lobster" used for a shell-fisherman or otherwise as a nickname for someone thought to resemble a lobster in some way.
RaguseaItalian (Americanized) Possibly an Americanized form of Ragusa. Adam Ragusea (1982-) is an American internet personality who makes videos about food recipes, food science, and culinary culture.
RaharjoChinese (Indonesian) Indonesianized form of Chinese surnames such as Chen (陳), Guan (關) or Jin (金). Surnames like these were instituted during the New Order era (1966–1998) in Indonesia due to social and political pressure toward Chinese Indonesians.
RambeauFrench (Rare), Frankish Altered spelling of the southern French family name Rambaut, from an Old French personal name, Rainbaut, composed of the Germanic elements ragin "counsel" + bald "bold", "brave", or alternatively from the Germanic personal name Hrambehrt or Hrambald, composed of the elements hramn "crow" & berht "bright" or bald "bold", "brave".
RambertEnglish From the Old French male personal name Rainbert (see Rainbird). It was borne by Dame Marie Rambert (original name Cyvia Rabbam, later Miriam Rambach; 1888-1982), a Polish-born British ballet dancer and choreographer.
RantzauGerman, Theatre This is the surname used in 'I Rantzau' (The Rantzau Family), an opera in four acts by Pietro Mascagni (1892), based on a libretto by Guido Menasci and Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti, based on the play Les Rantzau (1873) by French writers Erckmann and Chatrian, after their novel (1882) Les Deux Frères (The Two Brothers).
RappoldGerman From a personal name composed of the Germanic elements rad "counsel", "advice" + bald "bold", "brave".
RasbandAmerican (Americanized, Rare) This name is not a very common family name found in the United States. The first Rasband (Thomas) coming to the U.S. arrived in New Orleans on the ship North Atlantic on 1 November 1850 and arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah on 13 August 1856... [more]
RausingSwedish (Rare) Combination of Raus, the name of a parish in southern Sweden, and the common surname suffix -ing "belonging to, coming from".
RavenelEnglish, French Habitational name from Ravenel in Oise or a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of horseradish, from a diminutive of Old French ravene ‘horseradish’ (Latin raphanus)... [more]
ReadingEnglish Habitational name from the county seat of Berkshire, which gets its name from Old English Readingas "people of Read(a)", a byname meaning "red".
ReastonEnglish (British) This surname originates from the civil parish of Reston, in Lincolnshire. It derives from Old English hrīs "brushwood" and tūn "settlement".
ReddickScottish, Northern Irish Habitational name from Rerrick or Rerwick in Kirkcudbrightshire, named with an unknown first element and wīc "outlying settlement". It is also possible that the first element was originally Old Norse rauðr "red".
ReddickEnglish Habitational name from Redwick in Gloucestershire, named in Old English with hrēod "reeds" and wīc "outlying settlement".
RedfordEnglish Variant of Radford. A famous bearer is American actor Robert Redford (1936-).
RedgateEnglish Habitational name from any of several places called Redgate such as Redgate in Uppingham (Rutland) recorded as le Redegate in 1290... [more]
RedpathScottish, English Habitational name from a place in Berwickshire, probably so called from Old English read ‘red’ + pæð ‘path’. This name is also common in northeastern England.
ReimetsEstonian Reimets is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "raie" ("cutting" and "felling trees") and "mets", meaning forest. Possibly a corruption of "reid" ("road" and "roadstead") and ""mets" ("forest").
ReinausEstonian Reinaus is an Estonian surname derived from the masculine given name "Rein" and "aus" meaning "honest".
ReinertGerman North German: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements ragin ‘counsel’ + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’, for example Reinhard ( see Reinhardt ).