RiseboroughEnglish Denoted a person hailing from any of the various places called Risborough, Riseborough or Risbury in England, derived from Old English hrīs meaning "brushwood" and beorg meaning "hill, mound", or from hrīs and burh meaning "fortification"... [more]
Ritta-apinanThai From Thai ฤทธิ์ (rit) meaning "power", ธา (tha), a transcription of Sanskrit धा (dhā) meaning "bearer, maintainer", อภิ (api) of unknown meaning, and นันท์ (nan) of unknown meaning.
RivadeneiraSpanish habitational name from a parish named Riba de Neira in Lugo province meaning 'bank of the river Neira' Neira being a tributary of the Miño.
RockefellerGerman Means "from Rockenfeld." Some famous bearers include founder of the Standard Oil Company and philanthropist John Davison Rockefeller (1839-1937), and 41st Vice President of the U.S.A. Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (1908-1979).
RózsavölgyiHungarian, Jewish Either a Magyarized form of Rosenthal, or a habitational name denoting a person from the village of Ružindol in the Trnava region of Slovakia (formerly a part of Hungary and called Rózsavölgy).
RozumovskyymUkrainian From Ukrainian розуміти (rozumity), meaning "to understand".
RozwadowskiPolish Habitational name for someone from Rozwady or Rozwadów in Biała Podlaska voivodeship.
RuutikainenFinnish A rare Finnish surname combining the word for gunpowder, "ruuti", and the common surname ending -nen. The 2017 Finnish population register indicates there are 106 Ruutikainens alive in Finland, and some sites estimate there are another ten abroad... [more]
SaakashviliGeorgian Derived from the Georgian name *saaḳi, a given name equivalent of Isaac. A famous bearer of this name is the third president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili (1967-).
SakagashiraJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 坂 (saka) meaning "slope; hill" and 頭 (gashira), the joining form of 頭 (kashira) meaning "head", referring to the top of a hill.... [more]
SaładajczykPolish A Polish surname consisting of 3 elements: sała or сала a word of East Slavic origin meaning "salo" or "slanina", daj meaning "give" and czyk meaning "son of". The name means "the son of the one who gives the salo".
SalmanzadehPersian From the given name Salman combined with Persian زاده (zadeh) meaning "offspring".
SalvatierraSpanish Spanish: habitational name from any of the places called Salvatierra (literally ‘save land’ denoting a place of strategic importance).... [more]
SamarajeewaSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit समर (samara) meaning "coming together, meeting" or "conflict, struggle" and जीव (jiva) meaning "alive, living, life, existence".
SamarakkodySinhalese Derived from Sanskrit समर (samara) meaning "conflict, struggle" combined with Sinhala කොඩිය (kodiya) meaning "flag, banner" (of Tamil origin).
SamararatneSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit समर (samara) meaning "coming together, meeting" or "conflict, struggle" and रत्न (ratna) meaning "jewel, treasure".
SamaraweeraSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit समर (samara) meaning "coming together, meeting" or "conflict, struggle" and वीर (vira) meaning "hero, man, brave".
SamuraiganeJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 侍 (samurai) meaning "warrior" and 金 (gane), the joining form of 金 (kane) meaning "money, metal", referring to possibly a wealthy warrior or a warrior described strong as metal.
SantistebanSpanish Habitational name from any of numerous places called Santisteban or Santesteban (from the Latin genitive form Sancti Stephani) for a local church or shrine dedicated to Saint Stephen.
ScannabissiItalian Possibly from scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and biscio "snake". Alternately, the first element may be from an archaic form of zanna, "tooth (of an animal)".
ScannapiecoItalian Occupational name for a butcher, from scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and piecuro "sheep, lamb".
ScarboroughEnglish Habitational name from Scarborough on the coast of North Yorkshire, so named from the Old Norse byname Skarði + Old Norse borg "fortress", "fortified town".
SchauweckerGerman habitational name for someone from Schaubeck near Marbach (Württemberg).
ScheideggerGerman, German (Swiss) Topographic name for someone who lived near a boundary or watershed. The name was derived from the Old German word SCHEIDE, meaning 'to part, to divide'. It may also have been a habitation name from any of the numerous places named with this word.
ScheidemannGerman Denoted a person who is divorced or who lives in a valley, from Middle High German scheiden "to separate, to divorce (a couple)" and mann "man".
ScheunemannGerman It literally means someone who either lives near (or in, if poor &/or homeless) a barn or works within its general vicinity.
SchildhauerGerman First appeared during the Middle Ages in Central Europe/Germany. The name means "Shield-Maker" and suggests correlation to Blacksmiths or or other forms of metalwork in the time period.
SchirmacherGerman occupational name for someone who makes harnesses and bridles for horses from Middle High German geschirre "harness" and macher "maker".
SchirokauerGerman, Yiddish Derived from the town of Sieraków in the Silesian Voivodeship in Poland.
SchonewilleDutch Perhaps a nickname for an attractive person, derived from Middle Dutch schône meaning "beautiful, clean, pure" and wille meaning "to want, to desire".
SchwartzmanJewish Nickname for a dark-skinned or dark-haired person, from German schwarz meaning "black" and man meaning "man, person".
SchwarzbachGerman Habitational name from any of several places so named literally "dark stream", derived from the elements swarz "black" and bah "stream".
ShacklefordEnglish, Medieval English Locational surname deriving from the place called Shackleford in Surrey, near the town of Farnham. The origin of "shackle" is uncertain. It could be derived from Old English sceacan "to shake"... [more]
SheepshanksScottish From a medieval Scottish and northern English nickname for someone with a strange or awkward way of walking (literally "sheeplegs").
SheptitskiyUkrainian This indicates familial origin with the village of Sheptychi in Ukraine, which, as of February 2017, is located within Sambir Raion in the Lviv Oblast.
SherkhanzaiAfghan Meaning "son of Sherkhan" in Pashto. Sherkhan itself means "lion king" in Persian. This surname is found among Afghans belonging to the Barech, one of the Durrani Pashto tribes.
SibunrueangThai From Thai ศรี (si) meaning "glory, honour, fame" combined with บุญ (bun) meaning "merit" and เรือง (rueang) meaning "bright, glowing, brilliant".
SievewrightEnglish Denoted a person who makes sieves, from Middle English sive "sieve" and wyrhta "maker, craftsman".
SilbersteinGerman, Jewish From Middle High German silber "silver" and stein "stone"; a habitational name from a place so named in Bavaria, or a topographic name.... [more]
SilvergrassEnglish From English "Silver" and "Grass". Probably given from the plant called "Silvergrass", a Miscanthus type growing in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Islands, or a field shining with the sun.
SiriwardanaSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit श्री (shri) meaning "diffusing light, radiance, splendour, beauty" and वर्धन (vardhana) meaning "increasing, growing".
SteingräberGerman occupational name for a quarry worker from Middle High German stein "stone" and agent derivative of Middle High German graben "to dig".
SteinhilberGerman Habitational name for someone from Steinhilben, from Old High German stein "stone" and hülwe or hülbe "hollow, depression; pond, puddle".
StellmacherGerman occupational name for a cartwright from late Middle High German stelle "carriage" (originally "frame chassis") and mahhon "maker"... [more]
StifflemireEnglish (American) Derived from Old English words "stiff" and "mere," which together could have referred to a stiff or rigid body of water, perhaps a lake or pond.
StoltenbergGerman, Norwegian Habitational name from places so called in Pomerania and Rhineland. A famous bearer is Jens Stoltenberg (b. 1959), Prime Minister of Norway 2000-2001 and 2005-2013.
StonestreetEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a paved road, in most cases a Roman road, from Middle English stane, stone, "stone" and street "paved highway", "Roman road".
StrzalińskiPolish This indicates familial origin within the Greater Polish village of Strzaliny.
StungiewiczPolish The Stungiewicz family name is recorded in history as heraldically adopted into the Polish heraldic clan Pobog. The Pobog clan was a participant in the Union of Horodlo in the year 1413 between Polish and Lithuanian interests.... [more]
SuomalainenFinnish Means "Finn, person from Finland" in Finnish. A combination of Suomi "Finland" and the suffix -lainen that combined with a place name, forms the noun for the inhabitant of a place.
SutterfieldEnglish Possibly derives from the Old English word ''sutere'', and the Latin word ''sutor'', meaning a shoemaker.
SuwannaphumThai (Rare) From Thai สุวรรณภูมิ (Suwannaphum), from Sanskrit सुवर्णभूमि (Suvárṇabhūmi) meaning "Suvarnabhumi", referring to various places throughout Southeast Asia as "golden land; land of gold".
SwaminathanIndian From a personal name derived from Sanskrit Svāmi ‘Lord’ + Nātha ‘Lord’ + the Tamil-Malayalam third-person masculine singular suffix -N.