MontesquieuFrench From French montagne, meaning "mountain" and possibly also from queue, meaning "line". Charles Montesquieu was a 17th-century French aristocrat, philosopher and politician.
MontevirgenSpanish (Philippines) From the Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, Nuestra Señora de Montevirgen, meaning "Our Lady of Mount Virgin," dedicated at the Convento de Montevirgen (Convent of Mount Virgin) in the municipality of Villalba de los Barros, located in Extremadura's Badajoz province in western Spain.
MontgomerieScottish, English Variation of Montgomery. A famous bearer was Margaret Montgomerie Boswell (1738 to 1789), wife of author James Boswell.
MontpellierFrench Means "woad mountain", derived from French mont (itself from Latin mōns) meaning "mountain" and pastel (Latin pastellus, pestellus) meaning "woad, dye", referring to someone who lived near a mountain that was covered with woad (a plant that produces a blue dye)... [more]
MountbattenEnglish, German (Anglicized) Partial calque of Battenberg. This is the name of a British family that originated as a branch of the Battenberg family, a notable bearer of which was British statesman Lord Mountbatten (1900-1979).
MountstuartEnglish Possibly derived from the mountain in the Cascade Range, in the state of Washington, United States.
MroczkowskiPolish Name for someone from any of various places called Mroczkowa, Mroczków or Mroczkowice, all derived from Polish mroczek meaning "house bat".
MuehlhauserOld High German The German surname Müehlhauser is derived from the Middle High German words "mülle" and "hûs" which respectively mean mill and house. It is roughly translated to mean "mill-house" and is believed to have evolved from an individual who was either the owner of a mill or lived in a house attached to a mill in earlier times.
MüllerleileGerman Derived from Middle High German mülnære, müller meaning "miller" (see Müller), and the German given names Lawlin, Lauwelin and Lawelin, medieval diminutives of Nikolaus.
NiedermeierGerman, German (Austrian) Occupational name for a farmer who had a farm lower than the neighboring one(s). This surname and its variant spellings are common to Austria and the state of Bavaria in Germany.
NiedermeyerGerman Means "lower farmer", a distinguishing name for a farmer who worked further south or in a low-lying location.
NightingaleEnglish Nickname for someone with a good voice from Middle English nightegale "nightingale" (Old English nihtegale, ultimately from niht "night" and galan "to sing").
Nihon'yanagiJapanese Means "2 salix trees", from Japanese 二本 (nihon) meaning "2 (cylindrical objects)" and 柳 (yanagi) meaning "salix". This is the name of a few places in Japan (in the city of Goshogawara and the city of Gonohe).
NijibayashiJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 虹 (Niji) meaning "Rainbow" and 林 (Bayashi) meaning "Forest". A notable bearer of this surname was academic author Kei Nijibayashi.
NishinoharaJapanese From Japanese 西 (nishi) meaning "west" and 野原 (nohara) meaning "grass field".
NostradamusHistory, French (Latinized) Latinized form of de Nostredame. This surname was borne by the French physician and writer Michel de Nostredame (1503-1566), famous for his collection of prophecies Les Prophéties (1555) allegedly predicting the apocalypse and danger from the Arab world.
OakenshieldEnglish (British), Literature In J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit", the surname of Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of the Company of Dwarves and the King of Durin's Folk.
Ó DuibhidhirIrish Means "descendant of Duibhuidhir". Duibhuidhir is a personal name composed of the elements dubh "dark, black" and odhar "sallow, tawny".
OosterwegelDutch From Dutch ooster meaning "eastern, east" and weg meaning "way, path, road". Dutch track and field athlete Emma Oosterwegel (1998-) bears this name.
OrzechowskiPolish Polish from Orzech meaning "hazelnut", someone who is living by a hazelnut tree or a nickname for someone with light brown hair.
OsbaldestonEnglish Habitational name for a person from the village called Osbaldeston in Lancashire, derived from Old English given name Osbald and tun "enclosure, town".
Ó SeanachainIrish Means "grandson of Seanachan". Alternatively, may be derived from Gaelic seanachaidh, meaning "skilled storyteller".
OtodanketsuJapanese 音 (oto) means sound, 団 (Dan) means group, and 結 (ketsu) means conclusion, 団結 (danketsu) means Unity, making the full name 音団結(Otodanketsu) mean sound unity. the name was borne from Yasuhito Otodanketsu, a character in a Danganronpa fan series called Danganronpa endless: Hope Convalescence.
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]
PagdangananFilipino, Tagalog Means "to be respected" in Tagalog, from Tagalog dangan "respect, consideration" with object trigger prefix and suffix pag- -an. This surname is mostly found in Bulacan.
PahlevanyanArmenian Means "son of the wrestler" or "son of the champion", ultimately from Persian پهلوان (pahlevân) meaning "strong man, champion, wrestler".
PaikashviliGeorgian Likely means "child of Paik", derived from the archaic masculine given name Paik (ultimately of Arabic origin) combined with Georgian შვილი (shvili) meaning "child".
PalaiologosGreek From the Greek words palaios logos, lit. "old word", most likely signifying an "antique collector".The surname of the last ruling Byzantine family.
PessegueiroPortuguese Means "peach tree" in Portuguese, ultimately from Latin persicum. It indicated a person who lived near or worked with peach trees.
PetraliphasGreek The surname is composed of the name Petros and the city Alifa in Campania, Italy. The surname was held by a Byzantine-Italian family in Epirus.
PfotenhauerGerman High German, carpenter's and woodworker's main occupation. Actual old German translation is "paw slapper" or "large paw" as in an animal (bear).
PhanthavongLao From Lao ພັນທະ (phantha) meaning "connect, join, tie" or "obligation" and ວົງ (vong) meaning "lineage, family".
PhilliskirkEnglish (Rare) From a 'lost' medieval parish in England or Scotland, named with the Old Norse element kirk meaning 'church' or 'place of worship'.... [more]
PhommachackLao From Lao ພົມມະ (phomma) referring to the Hindu god Brahma and ຈັກ (chack) meaning "disk, circle, wheel".
PhommachanhLao From Lao ພົມມະ (phomma) referring to the Hindu god Brahma combined with ຈັນ (chanh) meaning "moon".
PhonesavanhLao From Lao ພອນ (phone) meaning "blessing" and ສະຫວັນ (savanh) meaning "heaven".
PhongsavanhLao From Lao ພົງ (phong) meaning "family, lineage" and ສະຫວັນ (savanh) meaning "heaven".
PhongsavathLao From Lao ພົງ (phong) meaning "family, lineage" and ສະຫວາດ (sawat) meaning "sincere, open, beautiful".
PickenpaughGerman The surname Pickenpaugh is an Americanized version of the German name Beckenbach, meaning "from the river basin"... [more]
PickersgillEnglish This famous Yorkshire name is of early medieval English origin, and is a locational surname deriving from the place in West Yorkshire called Pickersgill, or "Robber's Ravine". The placename is derived from the Middle English "pyker", thief, robber, and "gill", gully, ravine, deep glen.
PikrammenosGreek From Greek πικρός (pikrós) meaning "bitter, acrid, embittered". A famous bearer is the Greek judge and politician Panagiotis Pikrammenos (1945-), who was Deputy Prime Minister of Greece... [more]
PininfarinaItalian A combination of "pinin", Piedmontese for youngest/smallest brother, and Farina, the Italian variant of Miller. This is the name of the Italian coachbuilder, founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina, later Battista Pininfarina.
PlantagenetMedieval French, French (Archaic), History From Old French plante genest, from Latin planta genesta "sprig of broom", which was originally a sobriquet from the dynasty's founder, Geoffrey V (1113-1151), who wore a yellow broom blossom in his hat, that Richard of York (1411-1460) adopted as a surname... [more]
PlasschaertFlemish Probably derived from Middle Dutch plasch "puddle, pool of water" and the suffix -aert.
PrusinowskiPolish (Rare) Habitational name for someone from any of various Polish places called Prusinow, Prusinowo, or Prusinowice, named with the ethnic name Prus, meaning 'village of the Prussians'.