PletikosićCroatian Derived from pletiti, meaning "to knit", and kosa, meaning "hair".
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-).
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]
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-).
PortnyaginRussian Derived from Russian портняга (portnyaga), a colloquial nickname derived from портной (portnoy) meaning "tailor, clothier".
PortokalosGreek From the Greek word πορτοκάλι (portokáli), which means "orange." The name could refer either to farmers who maintained an orange orchard / grove or someone who had an orange aspect to their appearance or demeanor.
PresbiteroFilipino Borrowed from Spanish presbítero meaning "presbyter", an elder or priest in various Christian Churches. A notable bearer of this name is Filipino singer Thaddeus Presbitero Durano Jr... [more]
PrevedorosGreek From the Italian rank of provveditore "he who sees to things" (overseer) was the style of various local district governors in the extensive, mainly maritime empire of the Republic of Venice.
ProvencherFrench From the French word for the flower periwinkle. (pervenche) Brought to Canada from France in 1660 by Sebastien Provencher.
ProvidenceEnglish From the name of the capital city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, derived from Middle English providence meaning "divine guidance, care", ultimately from Latin providentia.
PsychogiosGreek From the Greek words for soul (ψυχή) and son (γιός), usually means godson.
PuddephattEnglish Probably from the unattested Old English *pudi "fat, swollen; round in the belly" combined with fæt "vat, cask, barrel", a nickname for someone with a large paunch, or perhaps who was known for drinking.
PuigdemontCatalan Means "top of the hill" or "peak of the mountain". It is derived from Catalan puig meaning "hill, peak" combined with either damunt meaning "on top, above", or munt (a diminutive of muntanya) meaning "mountain", using the preposition d'... [more]
QuackenbosDutch, English Variant of Quackenbosch. Mary Grace Quackenbos Humiston (1869–1948) was the first female Special Assistant United States Attorney. She was a graduate of the New York University School of Law and was a leader in exposing peonage in the American South.
RamamurthyIndian, Tamil Derived from Sanskrit राम (rāma) meaning "pleasing, pleasant, charming" or "dark, black" (see Rama 1) combined with मूर्ति (mūrti) meaning "idol, icon".
RamsbottomEnglish Habitational name from a market town called Ramsbottom in Greater Manchester, England (historically in Lancashire), derived from Old English hramsa meaning "wild garlic" or ramm "ram", and bothm meaning "bottom, bottom valley".
RaudabaughGerman (Americanized) Raudabaugh is a German-Americanized surname of Reidenbach. People include Dan Raudabaugh (American Football coach) and Dave Raudabaugh (Outlaw who was an acquaintance to Billy the kid).
ReddingtonEnglish From a place name derived from an uncertain first element (perhaps the Old English given name Rēada) combined with the suffix ing meaning "belonging to" and tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town".
ReichsteinGerman Habitational name from places named Reichstein (in Saxony) or Reichenstein (in Rhineland, Schleswig-Holstein, and Württemberg).
ReisenauerGerman Probably denoted a person from a minor place called Reisenau, or a topographic name for someone living by an overgrown water meadow, derived from Middle High German ris meaning "undergrowth" and owe meaning "water meadow".
RemmelkoorEstonian Remmelkoor is an Estonian surname meaning "willow bark".
RendelmannGerman A habitational name for someone from Rendel near Frankfurt (Hesse).
RibchesterEnglish This name originates from the small village in Lancashire that shares the same name. Interestingly, most people with the name 'Ribchester' are in Lancashire, but a lot are also found in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
RiesenbergGerman Topographic name for someone who lived by a big mountain, from Middle High German rise meaning "giant" and berg meaning "mountain".
RiesenbergGerman Topographic name for someone who lived by a big mountain, derived from Middle High German rise meaning "giant" and berg meaning "mountain".
RinbayashiJapanese (Rare) It's written like this: 林林. Both rin and hayashi mean "forest". This is because rin is the Chinese reading called onyomi, and hayashi is the Japanese reading called kunyomi.
RobertshawEnglish habitational name from a lost place Robertshaw in Heptonstall (Yorkshire) from the Middle English Old French personal name Robert and Middle English shaueshaghe "wood grove thicket" (Old English sceaga) meaning "Robert's wood".
RonnenbergGerman (Germanized, Rare) Ronnenberg is a German town in the region of Hannover in Niedersachsen. It consists of 7 areas: Benthe, Empelde, Ihme-Roloven, Linderte, Ronnenberg, Vörie and Weetzen. The town is known for the Church named Michaelis from the 12th century.... [more]
RothchildsOld Celtic Scottish circa 1500-1600. See Neil Oliver's book 'The Vikings' for mention of Rothkilde
RottscheitGerman Modernization of Rotscheidt, also a city in Germany (Rottscheidt) bearing another modern alternate spelling. When broken down it ultimately means "red" and "piece of wood", implying that the families of today descends from woodwrokers.
RummeniggeGerman Meaning uncertain. It could possibly be an occupational name for a viticulturist who grew grapes to make wine, a seller or producer of Romanian wine, or a nickname for a person who preferred to drink Romanian wine... [more]
ŠahbegovićBosnian Possibly from Bosnian šah, ultimately from Classical Persian شاه (šāh), combined with Turkish element beg and the patronymic element -ić.
Saint-saënsFrench From any place named Saint-Saens by honor to the saint Sidonius.
Saint-SimonFrench A French surname meaning "Saint Simon". Two famous bearers were Duc de Saint-Simon Louis de Rouvroy(1675-1755), a French memoirist, and his younger relative, Henri de Saint-Simon(1760-1825), the founder of French Socialism and modern theoretical Socialism in general.
SakakibaraJapanese From Japanese 榊 (sakaki) meaning "sakaki" (a type of tree) and 原 (hara) meaning "meadow, plain, field".
SakakiharaJapanese Sakaki refers to the "sakaki tree" and hara means "field plain".
SakurajimaJapanese From Japanese 桜 or 櫻 (sakura) both meaning "cherry blossom" combined with 島 (jima) meaning "island". This surname comes from 桜島 (Sakurajima), an active stratovolcano located in Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyūshū, Japan... [more]
SakurakabaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 桜 (sakura) meaning "prunus serrulata" and 椛 (kaba) meaning "betula".
SakurakōjiJapanese From Japanese 桜 (sakura) meaning "cherry blossom", 小 (kō) meaning "small" and 路 (ji) meaning "road, path, journey" or 寺 (ji) meaning "Buddhist temple". A famous bearer is Kanoko Sakurakōji (surname written 桜小路), a Japanese manga artist.
SakuramiyaJapanese From Japanese 桜, 櫻 (sakura) meaning "cherry blossom" combined with 宮 (miya) meaning "temple, shrine, palace".
SakuramotoJapanese Sakura means "cherry blossom" and moto means "origin, root, source".
SakurasakaJapanese Sakura means "cherry blossom" and saka means "cape, peninsula".
SakurasakiJapanese Sakura means "cherry blossom" and saki means "peninsula".
SakurazakaJapanese (Rare) Sakura means "cherry blossom" and zaka is a form of saka that means means "peninsula, cape". ... [more]
SakurazakiJapanese Variant of Sakurasaki. Sakura means "cherry blossom" and zaki is a form of saki means "peninsula".