SandanoItalian Derived from an older form of Italian sandalo "sandal (plant), sandalwood", ultimately from Sanskrit चन्दन (candana). Possibly an occupational name for someone who crafted with the wood, or perhaps a nickname for someone who often wore a sandalwood scent.
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]
San JoséSpanish Habitational name from any of various places called San José, so named for a local church or shrine dedicated to Saint Joseph (San José).
San JuanSpanish Means "Saint John", derived from Spanish santo "saint" combined with Juan 1. This is a habitational name for a person from any of various places called San Juan, so named for a local shrine or church dedicated to Saint John (San Juan).
SankaraMossi (?), Fula (?) The surname of the assassinated Burkinabé president Thomas Sankara (1949-1987).
SanockiPolish Historically, surnames evolved as a way to sort people into groups - by occupation, place of origin, clan affiliation, patronage, parentage, adoption, and even physical characteristics (like red hair)... [more]
SaotomeJapanese From Japanese 早乙女 (saotome) meaning "Saotome", a former village in the former district of Shioya in the former Japanese province of Shimotsuke in present-day Tochigi, Japan. The name of the location itself is derived from Japanese 早乙女 (saotome) meaning "a woman who plants rice in the fields"... [more]
SarapikEstonian Sarapik is an Estonian surname meaning "hazel wood".
SarapuuEstonian Sarapuu is an Estonian surname meaning "hazel tree".
SaratxoBasque It indicates familial origin within the eponymous council of the municipality of Amurrio.
SaraumiJapanese (Rare) From 皿 (sara) meaning "dish, plate" and 海 (umi) meaning "sea, ocean".
SarazenFrench From a medieval French nickname for a swarthy person, or for someone who had gone on a Crusade (from Old French sarrazin "Saracen"). It was borne by American golfer Gene Sarazen (1902-99), original name Eugene Saraceni.
SardinaItalian, Spanish, Galician From sardina Galician sardiña "sardine" used for someone as a catcher or seller of the fish or a nickname for a thin person.
SardoneItalian Augmentative of Sarda or Sardo "the big Sardinian". in the central and southern Adriatic region from sardone "anchovy".
SarfatiJudeo-Spanish From Hebrew צרפתית (tsar'fatit) meaning "French". It was originally used to refer to the Biblical place name Tzarfat, which has come to be identified as modern-day France.
SassanoJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 颯々 (sassa), sound- and script-changed from 颯爽 (sassō) meaning "gallant; jaunty" and 野 (no) meaning "field; plain", referring to a stately person who traveled to the fields.
SavelliItalian It could derive from the Sabelli (ancient Italic tribe), pre-Roman population, or from toponyms such as Savelli di Norcia (PG) and indicate the origin of the founder.
SaviaukEstonian Saviauk is an Estonian surname meaning "clay pit" or "earthen pit".
SavilleEnglish A habitational name from an uncertain place in Northern France. This is most likely Sainville, named from Old French saisne, 'Saxon' and ville, indicating a settlement.
SaviñónSpanish Probably of French origin, an altered form of Savignon which is from a pet form of the personal name Savin or a habitational name from place called Savignon in Ardèche.
SawickiPolish This indicates familial origin anywhere within a cluster of 3 Podlachian villages in Gmina Repki: Sawice-Dwór, Sawice-Wieś, or Sawice-Bronisze.
SawtellEnglish (British) A dialectal variant of Sewell, which was first recorded in early 13th-century England. The later addition of the 't' was for easier pronunciation.... [more]
ScafataItalian Possibly denoting someone from the Italian town Scafati, from Latin scapha "skiff, light boat". Alternately, may be from Italian scafare "to husk peas", either literally referring to someone's occupation, or from the figurative meaning of "to make more confident; alert, shrewd".
ScaloniItalian Likely derived from Italian scala meaning "ladder, stairs". It may have originated as a occupational name for someone who built or worked with ladders.
ScatenaItalian From scatenare "to provoke, stir up, unleash", probably a nickname for a troublemaker.
SchabenGerman Describes an inhabitant of the region Swabia
SchachtGerman, Flemish From Middle Low German and Middle Dutch schacht "shaft; pole, tunnel", a metonymic occupational name for someone who made shafts for tools or weapons, or who worked in a mineshaft.
SchauerGerman The Schauer surname comes from the Middle High German word "schouwen" meaning "to inspect;" as such, the name is thought to have originally been occupational, for some kind of inspector, perhaps an official of a market.
ScheeleGerman, Dutch, Swedish (Rare) From Middle Low German schele and Dutch scheel meaning "squinting, cross-eyed". A notable bearer was German-Swedish pharmaceutical chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742-1786) who discovered oxygen and identified several other elements.
ScheuerGerman, Jewish Derived from Middle High German schiure meaning "barn, granary", denoting somebody who lived in a barn of some sort.
SchiavoItalian Means both "Slav" and "slave" in Italian, the latter meaning deriving from the former. Was most likely given as an ethnonym to people from Eastern Europe, though in some cases it may have been a nickname, or an occupational name for a servant.
SchmuckGerman, German (Austrian) From Middle High German smuc meaning "jewel", "finery", hence a metonymic occupational name for a jeweler, or a nickname for someone who wore a prominent jewel or ornament.North German: nickname from Middle Low German smuck meaning "neat", "dainty".
SchnappGerman Derived from Middle High German snappen meaning "to chatter", or Middle Low German snappen meaning "to grab". This was originally a nickname for a chatterer or a greedy person.
SchopffGerman German (Schöff): in most cases an occupational name from Middle High German scheffe ‘lay assessor at a court, juror’ (modern German Schöffe)
SchrammGerman German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic nickname for a person with a scar, from Middle High German schram(me), German Schramme, Yiddish shram ‘scar’.
SchrockGerman Some think that the last name Schrock comes from the German word which meant something along the lines of "Jump" or "Leaps" and was probably a nickname to someone who was a great jumper, or someone who was easily startled.
SchrootDutch Possibly an altered form of des Groot via Sgroot, meaning "son of the Groot", itself a byname meaning "great, large". Alternatively, it could be related to schroot "scrap (metal)" or the older scrode "to cut", an occupational name for someone who worked with metal, or perhaps a tailor.
SchumerJewish, German (Rare) Possibly taken from Middle Low German schumer meaning "good for nothing, vagabond". Notable bearers are American comedian Amy Schumer (b. 1981) and American politician Charles Ellis "Chuck" Schumer (b... [more]
SchütteGerman From schutter "marksman, shooter", an occupational name for an archer. Compare Schutz.
SchwankGerman Either a nickname for a thin person, (derived from Middle High German swanc meaning "little, slender, thin"), a pretty person (from Middle Low German swank "fine, dainty") or a fun, loving person (from Middle High German swanc and Middle Low German swank "funny idea, joke, jest, foolery").
SchwenkGerman Variant spelling of Schwanke, or apparently a nickname referring to a person's gait, derived from Middle High German swenken meaning "to swing back and forth, to sling" (see Schwenke 1).
SchwingGerman Occupational name for someone whose job was to swingle flax, i.e. to beat the flax with a swingle in order to remove the woody parts of the plant prior to spinning, from Middle German swingen meaning "to swing" or swing meaning "swingle".
ScuderiSicilian Patronymic form of Scudero, a status name equivalent to English Squire, from scudero "shield-bearer", Latin scutarius, an agent derivative of scutum "shield"... [more]
ScullinOld Irish The surname Scullin originates from the pre 10th century O' Sceallain, which itself derives from the word 'sceall' meaning the stone of a fruit or the kernel.
SeaborgEnglish, Swedish (Americanized) English cognate of Sjöberg, as well as the Americanized form. Glenn T. Seaborg (1912-1999) was an American chemist whose involvement in the synthesis, discovery and investigation of ten transuranium elements.
SeabornEnglish From an Old English personal name derived from the elements sǣ "sea, lake" and beorn "warrior".
SeamarkEnglish Derived from any of several places in France called Saint-Marc.
SeatterScottish From an ancient barony called "The lands of Setter", Stromness, Orkney. Derives from the Ancient Norse word "saetr" meaning a hut or shelter for animals.
SegarraCatalan Regional name from the district of La Segarra, or habitational name from any of the places named with Segarra or La Segarra in Catalonia and Valencia.
SeifertGerman (East Prussian) German/Russian/Ashkenazi Jewish this surname derived from the very popular personal name siegfried, introduced for the first time inglaterra in the Anglo-Saxon period, and again as a surname thousand years later... [more]