RolstonEnglish English habitational name from any of various places, such as Rowlston in Lincolnshire, Rolleston in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Staffordshire, or Rowlstone in Herefordshire, near the Welsh border... [more]
RønningNorwegian From any of the many farmsteads named Rønning, ultimately derived from Old Norse ruðja "woodland clearing".
RöntgenGerman Meaning uncertain. This was the name of German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845-1923) who discovered and studied x-rays. Röntgen called the radiation "X" because it was an unknown type of radiation.
RoolaidEstonian Roolaid is an Estonian surname meaning "reedy islet".
RootareEstonian Rootare is an Estonian surname meaning "reed hut/house".
RooväliEstonian Rooväli is an Estonian surname meaning "cane/reed field".
RoppoloItalian Perhaps a derivative of Roppo, a given name of Germanic origin.
RosamelFrench A French surname turned Spanish masculine given name, Rosamel likely derives from the combination of rose + Greek mel “honey”. As a surname, it was borne by a 19th century French naval officer with the wonderful name of Claude Charles Marie du Campe de Rosamel.
RosholtNorwegian Norwegian: habitational name from either of two farms called Røsholt in southeastern Norway, named with Old Norse, either ross ‘mare’ or ruð ‘clearing’ + holt ‘grove’, ‘wood’.
RosseauFrench, American Variant spelling of Rousseau. Comes from the Old French word rous meaning "red", likely a nickname for someone with red hair or a particularly rosy complexion.
RothfusGerman Middle High German rot "red" + vuoz "foot", a nickname for someone who followed the fashion for shoes made from a type of fine reddish leather. Or a variant of Rotfuchs, from the Middle Low German form fos "fox", a nickname for a clever person.
RothmanGerman, Jewish German (Rothmann) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a person with red hair, from an elaborated form of Roth 1. ... [more]
RouvoetDutch From a nickname that meant "rough foot", derived from Middle Dutch ru meaning "rough, wild" and voet meaning "foot". This name is borne by the retired Dutch politician André Rouvoet (1962-).
RozelleFrench Beautiful flower from France brought over by an immigrant named Page Rozelle. People said when she said something nice or touched you, good luck would come to you.
RudyardEnglish From the location Rudyard (Staffs) which is recorded as Rudegeard in 100 The place-name probably derives from Old English rude "rue" and geard "enclosure yard".
RuettenGerman (Rütten): from a field name, here showing an inflected form from a full name like aus den Rütten ‘from the clearing(s)’ (see Rutten and Reuter 1
RuffaloItalian Variant spelling of Ruffolo. A famous bearer is American actor Mark Ruffalo (1967-).
RuisardFrench (Rare, ?) Originated as a result of trade between France and the Persian Empires before the Iranian Revolution, probably during the Safavid Dynasty. The surname has its roots in the Persian Riahi surname and the Arabic word رِيح (rīḥ) meaning "wind" and the Persian word “sered” before it was altered to fit French spelling rules.... [more]
RumfeltGerman, Dutch Altered spelling of German Romfeld, derived from Middle Low German rüm- meaning "to clear (land)" and feld meaning "open country, field", hence a topographic name or possibly a metonymic occupational name for a person engaged in clearing woodland, or in some cases a habitational name for someone from Romfelt in the Ardennes... [more]
RumfordEnglish From the parish of Romford in Essex, England. The name means "the wide ford" from Old English rúm "wide".
RumpoleEnglish A different form of Rumbold (from the Norman personal name Rumbald, of Germanic origin and probably meaning literally "fame-bold"). A fictional bearer of the surname is Horace Rumpole, the eccentric QC created by John Mortimer (originally for a 1975 television play).
RundellEnglish Nickname derived from a diminutive of Middle English and Old French rond, rund meaning "fat, round" (see Rounds), or derived from Rundale, a local place in the village and civil parish of Shoreham in Kent, England, named with Old English rum(ig) meaning "roomy, spacious" and dæl meaning "valley".
RusconiItalian From Italian rusca, "splinter, sliver of wood".
RushdieKashmiri (Rare) Derived from Arabic رَشَدَ (rašada) meaning "to go the right way, to follow the right course" or "to be well guided" (related to the given names Rashad and Rashid)... [more]
RuutsooEstonian Ruutsoo is an Estonian surname meaning "square swamp".
RuzickiPolish Ruzicki was first found in Polesie, inhabited by Ruthenians, called Polesians, of Ukrainian descent. One of the principal names of the area was the royal Clan of Poraj, of which the family name Ruzycki is a branch.
RybackiPolish Habitational name for someone from any of various places called Rybaki, derived from Polish ryba meaning "fish".
RybakinmRussian Derived from Russian рыба (ryba) meaning "fish".
RybakovRussian Means "son of the fisher" from Russian рыбак (rybak) meaning "fisherman".
RybalkaUkrainian Ukrainian surname meaning "fisherman". Derived from ryba "fish".
RycroftEnglish Derived from Rycroft, in the parish of Birstall, Yorkshire
RydbergSwedish Combination of Swedish ryd "woodland clearing" and berg "mountain". Notable bearers are author and poet Viktor Rydberg (1828-1895) and physicist Johannes Rydberg (1854-1919).
RyslinkCzech (Rare) Czech spelling or interpretation of an Irish (I think) name. First introduced in 1620 at the beginning of the 30 Years War at White Mountain near Prague, CZ when an Irish (I think) soldier fathered a Czech son... [more]
RyūfukuJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 竜福 (Ryūfuku), a clipping of 竜福寺 (Ryūfukuji), a former temple that was located possibly somewhere in the prefecture of Tochigi in Japan. It is also a clipping of 龍福寺 (Ryūfukuji), former temple in the division of Shiji in the area of Shiraki in the ward of Asakita in the city of Hiroshima in the prefecture of Hiroshima in Japan.... [more]
RyumineJapanese 竜/龍 (Ryu) means "Dragon, Imperial" and 嶺,峰,峯 (Mine) means "Peak, Summit, Mountaintop".
RyusakiJapanese Ryu means "dragon" or "imperial" and Saki means "peninsula".
RyūzakiJapanese From Japanese 竜, 龍 (ryū) meaning "dragon" and 崎 (saki) meaning "cape, peninsula". One bearer of this surname was actor Katsu Ryūzaki (竜崎 勝, 1940–1984), born Fumiaki Takashima (高島 史旭).
SacasasSpanish Have researched the surname Sacasas, and have narrowed the usage down to four countries the name has been used in. Spain, Cuba, the United States and Philippines. The uncommonality of the last name and the fact that three of those countries were at one point or another colonized by Spain has led me to theorize Spanish origin.
SadozaiPashto, Balochi Means "son of Sado" in Pashto. The Sadozai are a Pashtun sub-tribe of the Popalzai mainly inhabiting Pakistan as well as a Baloch tribe living by the Gulf of Oman in Iran... [more]
SaengerGerman, Jewish Occupational name for a chorister or a nickname for someone who liked singing, from Middle High German senger, German Sänger meaning "singer".
SaensukThai From Thai แสน (saen) meaning "very, extremely" and สุข (suk) meaning "happy, pleased".
SaetangThai Form of Tang used by Chinese Thais. This is one of the most common surnames in Thailand.
SætherNorwegian Derived from Old Norse sætr "farm" or setr "seat, residence, mountain pastures".
SaetiaoThai Form of Zhang used by Chinese Thais (based on the Hokkien romanization of the name).
SaeuengThai Form of Huang used by Chinese Thais (based on the Hakka romanization of the name).
SakuraiJapanese From the Japanese 桜 or 櫻 (sakura) "cherry blossom" or 桃 (sakura or momo) "peach" and 井 (i) "well."
SakuraiJapanese From Japanese 桜, 櫻 (sakura) meaning "cherry blossom" combined with 井 (i) meaning "well." A notable bearer of this surname is Takahiro Sakurai (櫻井 孝宏), a Japanese voice-actor who is best known for voicing Izuru Kira from Bleach, Kiyomaro Takamine from Zatch Bell, and Ja'far from the Magi series.
SakuraiJapanese From Japanese 桜 or 櫻 (sakura) meaning "cherry blossom" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".
SaladinFrench nickname for a blustering or tyrannical individual from the name of the medieval Egyptian sultan who because of his success in combating the Crusaders became demonized in French and Italian folklore as a monster second only to Herod.
SaldañaSpanish Habitual surname for a person from any of the locations in Spain named Saldaña. The name itself comes from the older name Gili-Zalan, which is of uncertain meaning.
SandanoItalian San means "saint" in Italian, but I don't know what the... [more]
SandellEnglish Originated from a name for someone who lived on a sand hill
SandlerEnglish Norman origin. Habitational name from Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët in La Manche, which gets its name from the dedication of its church to St. Hilary, or alternatively from either of the places, in La Manche and Somme, called Saint-Lô... [more]