SaleEnglish, French English: from Middle English sale ‘hall’, a topographic name for someone living at a hall or manor house, or a metonymic occupational name for someone employed at a hall or manor house. ... [more]
SaleSardinian Derived from Sardinian sale "salt", this name denoted a producer or seller of salt.
SalmDutch Denoted a person from any of various places called Salm. It could also derive from Dutch zalm meaning "salmon", referring to someone who lived near a sign depicting them, or to someone who fished for salmon.
SaltEnglish Of Anglo-Saxon origin, from the town in Staffordshire.
SaluEstonian Salu is an Estonian surname meaning "grove".
SangEstonian Sang is an Estonian surname meaning "handle" or "bail".
SangChinese From Chinese 桑 (sāng) referring either to the ancient city of Qiong Sang, which existed in what is now Shandong province, or the ancient state of Sang, which existed in what is now Henan province and was annexed by the state of Qin.
SanxSpanish A variation of the surname Sáenz, derived from the popular medieval given name Sancho. This given name was originally derived from the Latin name Sanctius a derivative of the Latin word 'sanctus', meaning 'holy'... [more]
SaraSami Probably derived from Finnish saari "island", though some claim that it is taken from the given name Sara.
SardEnglish, French, Spanish, Italian In the book surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary by Henry Harrison and Gyda (Pulling) Harrison 1912 - Reprinted 1996. The Sard surname (which has been in England, Italy and Europe for a long time) is defined thus on page 136.... [more]
SariEstonian Sari is an Estonian surname meaning "cluster" or "batch".
SariIndonesian Means "essence" in Indonesian. In 2014, this was the most common surname in Indonesia.
SeimUpper German German: metonymic occupational name for a beekeeper, from Middle High German seim ‘honey’.
SelaHebrew Means "rock" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of a city, the capital of Edom. Famous bearer is the Israeli model, actress and television presenter Rotem Sela (born 1983)
SelfEnglish East Anglian surname, from the medieval English masculine name Saulf which was derived from the Old English elements sǣ "sea" and wulf "wolf".
SelgEstonian Selg is an Estonian surname meaning "back", "spine" and "back of".
SellEstonian Sell is an Estonian surname meaning "apprentice".
SelzGerman The Selz is a river in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and a left hand tributary of the Rhine. It flows through the largest German wine region, Rheinhessen or Rhenish Hesse. Also, Seltz (German: Selz) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department of the Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine region in north-eastern France.... [more]
SeroJapanese From Japanese 瀬 (se) meaning "rapids" and 呂 (ro) meaning "spine"
SertTurkish Means "hard, stiff, stern" in Turkish.
SesePampangan From Pampangan se'se meaning "pet, something raised or cared for".
SetaJapanese From Japanese 瀬 (se) meaning "rapids, current" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
SethScottish, Irish Reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Sithigh or Ó Síthigh (see Sheehy).
SethIndian, Hindi, Odia, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi Means "merchant, banker" in Hindi, ultimately from Sanskrit श्रेष्ठ (shreshtha) meaning "best, chief, most excellent".
SetoJapanese From Japanese 瀬戸 (seto) meaning "strait, channel", derived from 瀬 (se) meaning "rapids, current" and 戸 (to) meaning "door".
ShanChinese From the place name Shan. Cheng Wang, the second king (1115–1079 bc) of the Zhou dynasty, granted to a son the area of Shan, and the son’s descendants adopted the place name as their surname. It comes from the Chinese word meaning "mountain"... [more]
ShanGujarati, Hindi A Gujarati and Hindi surname with an unknown meaning.
ShanChinese From Chinese 单 (shàn) referring to the ancient state of Shan, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Henan province.
ShaoChinese From Chinese 邵 (shào) referring to the ancient fief of Zhao, which existed during the Shang dynasty in what is now Shaanxi province. The name of the fief, 召, had the same pronunciation as the character 邵.
ShaoChinese From Chinese 韶 (sháo) possibly referring to the ancient town of Shao that existed during the Sui dynasty in what is now Guangdong province.
ShipEnglish This unusual name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is an occupational surname for "a mariner", or perhaps, occasionally a "ship or boat-builder". The derivation of the name is from the Olde English pre 7th Century scip, ship, in Middle English schip
SnowEnglish, Jewish (Anglicized) Nickname denoting someone with very white hair or an exceptionally pale complexion, from Old English snaw "snow".... [more]
SoniHindi A Suryavanshi Khatri family, the surname originating from the Punjab region of India. In India the term caste creates a crucial distinction between Varna and Jāti, even though jati does not fit into any of the four varnas and is more often referred to as Sudras.
SoppEstonian Sopp is an Estonian surname meaning "mud", "creek" and "bottom".
SoraEnglish (Canadian) Sora is a Kingdom Hearts character developed by Square Enix and Disney
SotaJapanese From Japanese 颯 (sō) meaning "sudden, sound of the wind" and 太 (ta) meaning "thick, big, great". This name can also be formed of other kanji combinations. There is a character in Danganronpa used as a surname, but it's not actually used as a surname and it's originated from a boy's name from Japanese.
SoulEnglish Literally from the English word "soul"
SowaJapanese From 宗 (so) meaning "religion, sect, denomination, main point, origin, essence" and 和 (wa) meaning "harmony, Japanese style, peace, soften, Japan".
SpahGerman (?), English (American) Spah (sometimes spelt Späh) is last name found most commonly in the US that is believed to be of German origin. Unsure of the meaning.
StamDutch Means "trunk (of a tree), stem" in Dutch, a nickname for a blocky or heavily built man.
StarGerman, Jewish Means "starling (bird)" in German, probably denoting a talkative or perhaps a voracious person. Alternatively, an Anglicized form of Stern 2.
StarDutch Means "stiff, frozen, rigid" in Dutch, from Middle Dutch staer "having a troubled or gloomy expression; tight, stiff", a nickname either for a gloomy person or for someone who was rigid and inflexible.
SugaJapanese From the Japanese 須 (su) "necessarily" and 賀 (ga or ka) "congratulation."
SugaEstonian Means "brush, comb" in Estonian, referring to either a comb used for brushing hair, or a comb used in looms to separate threads while weaving (also called a reed).
SuggEnglish (British) Surname of internet personalities Zoe and Joe Sugg. Zoe is known as Zoella on the website YouTube and has a book on sale called "Girl Online". Joe is also a YouTuber.
SuhrGerman Nickname for a bitter or cantankerous person, from Middle Low German sūr meaning "sour".
SukkEstonian Sukk is an Estonian surname meaning "stocking".
SulaEstonian, Finnish Means "molten, melted, not covered in ice" or "melt, thaw" in Estonian and Finnish.
SuleIndian 1 Indian (Maharashtra); pronounced as two syllables: Hindu (Maratha) name, from Marathi suḷa ‘pointed tooth’, from Sanskrit šūla ‘spike’, ‘spear’.... [more]
SulgEstonian Sulg is an Estonian surname meaning "feather".
SuluTagalog From the sea in the Philippines. Notable bearer is the fictional character Hikaru Sulu from Star Trek. The name is not commonly given to real people.
SuriPunjabi, Hindi, Indian (Sikh) Based on the name of a clan in the Khatri community, from Sanskrit suri "sun", ‘priest’, ‘sage’. It is also an epithet of Krishna.
SusiEstonian Susi is an Estonian surname, meaning "wolf" in the Võro dialect.
SwanEnglish, Scottish Originally given as a nickname to a person who was noted for purity or excellence, which were taken to be attributes of the swan, or who resembled a swan in some other way. In some cases it may have been given to a person who lived at a house with the sign of a swan... [more]