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).
RedžepagićBosnian Derived from Redžeb, meaning "Rajab", the seventh month of the Islamic calendar.
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]
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".
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".
SamarakoonSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit समर (samara) meaning "coming together, meeting" or "conflict, struggle" combined with Sinhala කෝන් (kon) meaning "king" (of Tamil origin).
SammartinoItalian From Italian san (apocopic form of santo ("saint") + Martino ("Martin").
SanfelippoItalian Italian (mainly Sicily and southern Calabria): habitational name from any of several places so named for a local church or shrine dedicated to St. Philip, in particular San Filippo del Mela in Messina province.
SanfilippoItalian, Sicilian habitational name from any of several places called with reference to a local church or shrine dedicated to Saint Philip specifically San Filippo del Mela in Messina province San Filippo near Reggio Calabria.
ScagliettiItalian The name of an Italian coachbuilder, with one of its famous customers being Ferrari when it doesn't want a design from Pininfarina.
ScanagattaItalian Probably means "cat killer", from Italian scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and gatto "cat", with the figurative meaning of "cheat, scoundrel". (Compare Pelagatti)... [more]
ScanarottiItalian Meaning uncertain, possibly a nickname given to a boastful person.
ScanavaccaItalian Possibly an occupational name for a butcher, from scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and vacca "cow".
SchaumburgGerman, Dutch, Belgian Habitational name from any of the places called Schaumburg or Schauenburg in Germany, or Schauwberg in Brabant, Belgium.
SchmeichelGerman Nickname for a flatterer, derived from Middle High German smeichen literally meaning "to flatter". Famous bearers of this surname include Peter Schmeichel (1963-) and his son Kasper Schmeichel (1986-), both of whom are Danish soccer goalkeepers.
SchmoeckelGerman (East Prussian) Originally Smekel. In the 17th century the ‘Sm’ in Low German was gradually replaced by the ‘Schm’ from High German. ... [more]
SchuknechtGerman Occupational name for a shoemaker’s assistant, from Middle High German schuoch meaning "shoe" + knecht meaning "journeyman", "assistant".
SchwanbeckGerman Habitational name from any of several places so named, for example near Lübeck and near Anklam.
SchweigertGerman Derives from an agent derivative of the German "schweigen", to be silent, and the nickname would have been given to a silent, quiet, taciturn person.
ScriblerusLiterature The Scriblerus Club was an informal association of authors, based in London, that came together in the early 18th century. The nucleus of the club included the satirists Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope... [more]
SeidenbergGerman, Jewish Derived from several places with the same name. As an ornamental name, it is derived from German seide meaning "silk" and berg meaning "mountain".
SenasingheSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit सेना (sena) meaning "army" and सिंह (sinha) meaning "lion".
SengsavangLao From Lao ແສງ (seng) meaning "light" and ສະຫວ່າງ (savang) meaning "light, bright, dawn".
SengsavanhLao From Lao ແສງ (seng) meaning "light" and ສະຫວັນ (savanh) meaning "heaven".
SensabaughAmerican Americanized form of German Sensenbach, a topographic name formed with an unexplained first element + Middle High German bach ‘creek’.
SensenbachGerman A topographic name formed with an unexplained first element + Middle High German bach ‘creek’. Pretty common in Iowa and Pennsylvania.
ShackletonEnglish The place name probably means "valley by a point of land," from the Old English scacol + denu. Another source claims the word scacol, describes a "tongue of land."
ShallcrossEnglish Means "person from Shallcross", Derbyshire ("place by the Shacklecross", an ancient stone cross in the High Peak, its name perhaps denoting a cross to which people could be shackled as a penance).
ShenbergerEnglish (?) The name Shenberger comes from a common mix up with the archaic Austrian-German surname Schoenberg; meaning "Beautiful Mountain."
ShimotsukiJapanese (Rare, ?) 霜 (Shimo) means "hoar, frost" and 月 (tsuki) means "month, noon". This is the traditional Japanese word for "November". ... [more]
ShinotsukaJapanese Shino means "dwarf bamboo" and tsuka means "mound, hillock".
ShrewsburyEnglish From Shrewsbury, a market town and the county town of Shropshire, England, derived from Old English scrobb meaning "scrub, brushwood" and burg meaning "fortified place".
ShrivastavIndian, Hindi Short form of Sanskrit श्रीवास्तव्य (shrivastavya) meaning "abode of wealth", itself from श्री (shri) meaning "diffusing light, radiance, splendour, beauty, wealth, prosperity" and वास्तव्य (vastavya) meaning "residence, abode, dwelling, inhabiting".
ShropshireEnglish Regional name from the county of Shropshire, on the western border of England with Wales.
SilberbergJewish The meaning of the name is "silver mountain" and comes from Germany
SilbermannGerman, Jewish Variant of Silber. from Middle High German silber German silber "silver" and Middle High German Yiddish man "man" an occupation for a man who worked with silver.
SilhouetteFrench (Rare) Famous bearers include Étienne de Silhouette (1709–67), French author and politician. He was a French Ancien Régime Controller-General of Finances under Louis XV.