PolnareffFrench Most known by famous French singer Michel Polnareff, and fictional Jojo's Bizarre Adventure character Jean-Pierre Polnareff (who is named after the singer).
PoltimoreEnglish (Rare) Rare English surname derived from a Devon place name of Celtic origin, allegedly meaning “pool by the large house”.
PomerantzGerman Occupational name for an importer or seller of bitter (Seville) oranges, Middle High German pomeranz (medieval Latin pomarancia, composed of the elements arancia, the name imported with the fruit.
PomerantzJewish From the Yiddish word פּאָמעראַנץ (pomerants) meaning "orange (fruit)".
PortanovaItalian, Portuguese, Galician Habitational name from a place or locality called Portanova "new gate" from the elements neos "new" and porta "door".
PorziņģisLatvian Unknown. A notable bearer of this surname is NBA player Kristaps Porziņģis.
PosthumusDutch, Low German From a personal name which was given to a posthumous child, i.e., one born after the death of his father, derived from Latin postumus "last, last-born" (superlative of posterus "coming after, subsequent") via Late Latin posthumus, which was altered by association with Latin humare "to bury", suggesting death (i.e., thought to consist of post "after" and humus "grave", hence "after death"); the one born after the father's death obviously being the last.
PozharskyRussian Possibly from Russian пожар (požár) meaning "fire, conflagration", of uncertain denotation. A famous bearer of the name was Russian prince Dmitry Mikhaylovich Pozharsky (1577-1642) known for his military leadership during the Polish–Muscovite War.
PoznanskiPolish, Jewish Habitational name from the city of Poznan in west-central Poland, or possibly from other places of this name, in Katowice and Siedlce voivodeships.
PremadasaSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit प्रेम (prema) meaning "love, affection" and दास (dasa) meaning "servant, slave".
PremasiriSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit प्रेम (prema) meaning "love, affection" and श्री (shri) meaning "diffusing light, radiance, splendour, beauty".
PremingerJewish Meaning unknown, possibly a nickname for a person deported to Spain, derived from the name of a location in Portugal.
PrestwoodEnglish habitational name from any of several places called from Middle English prestpriest "priest" and wode "wood" (Old English preostwudu) meaning "dweller by the priest's wood"
PrieskornGerman Possibly either a derisive nickname for a grain merchant from pries a variant of Middle High German brüsch or Middle Low German bross "brittle crumbly" and korn "grain" or alternatively for a grain seller from prisekorn "(I) determine the price of grain".
PrigozhinmRussian Prigozhin was the last name of Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner PMC until 2023 when he died in a plane crash. Pavel Prigozhin is his son, the current leader.
PrudhommeFrench, English, Norman, Medieval French French (Prud’homme) and English (of Norman origin): nickname from Old French prud’homme ‘wise’, ‘sensible man’, a cliché term of approbation from the chivalric romances. It is a compound of Old French proz, prod ‘good’, with the vowel influenced by crossing with prudent ‘wise’ + homme ‘man’... [more]
PulsipherItalian (Anglicized) from the nickname meaning "handsome man" of a member of the Italian Pulci family who settled in England around the time of the Norman conquest
PurvianceScottish Materials collector for the Crown. Materials that may be used as tax or in war. Similar to the system of purveyance. Approximately 1100's , southwest Scotland.
QuantrellEnglish From a medieval nickname for an elegantly or flamboyantly dressed person (from Middle English quointerel "dandy, fop", from quointe "known, knowledgeable, crafty, elegant").
QuasimodoItalian (Rare) From the name of the Sunday that follows Easter, called Quasimodo Sunday, which gets its name from the opening words of the Latin chant quasi modo meaning "like the way" (see Quasimodo as a first name), possibly denoted somebody who was born or baptized in the first Sunday after Easter... [more]
QuinlivanIrish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Caoindealbháin meaning "descendant of Caoindealbhán", a personal name composed of caoin "comely, fair" and dealbh "form" with the diminutive suffix -án (compare Quinlan).
RainwaterEnglish (American) Americanized form of the German family name Reinwasser, possibly a topographic name for someone who lived by a source of fresh water, from Middle High German reine ‘pure’ + wazzer ‘water’.
RajalaaneEstonian Rajalaane is an Estonian surname derived from "raja" ("boundary", "border") and "lääne" ("occidental", "western"): "western border/boundary".
RajaniemiFinnish Rajaniemi: The last name of a group of people who live in Finland. Some live in the United States when their ancestors immigrated to the US in the early 1900's.
RamaphosaSouthern African, Venda Means "the one who is born in the evening" in Venda. This name is borne by the South African president Cyril Ramaphosa (1952-).
RampersadIndian, Trinidadian Creole, Mauritian Creole From Sanskrit राम (rāma) meaning "pleasing, pleasant, charming" combined with प्रसाद (prasāda) meaning "clearness, brightness, purity". It is primarily used by the Indian community in Trinidad and Tobago as well as Mauritius.
RathgeberGerman From Middle High German ratgebe or Middle Low German ratgever "giver of advice, counselor", an occupational name for an adviser or wise man.
RatnapalaSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit रत्न (ratna) meaning "jewel, treasure" and पाल (pala) meaning "guard, protector".
RatnasiriSinhalese, Thai Derived from Sanskrit रत्न (ratna) meaning "jewel, treasure" and श्री (shri) meaning "diffusing light, radiance, splendour, beauty"... [more]
RatzingerGerman Ratzinger means that someone has origins in the town of Ratzing. There are several German towns with this name. RATZ means ‘Serb’. Serbs were indigenous people in Germany, and many German cities originally had Serbian names (Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Brandenburg)... [more]
RavellinoCeltic It means weaver or taylor. In the Gaelic languaje is wehydd or gwehydd.
RavenhillEnglish From Rauenilde or Ravenild, medieval English forms of the Old Norse given name Hrafnhildr.
RavenscarEnglish (British) From a coastal village with the same name, located in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England.
RayamajhiNepali Probably a portmanteau of the Nepali words meaning 'Royal Fishmongers'. A member of the Rajput-Chhetri subcaste of Nepali family names.
RebolledoSpanish Habitational name from any of various places called Rebolledo for example Rebolledo de la Torre in Burgos from rebollo denoting a species of oak.
RecknagelGerman from Middle High German recken "to raise or lift" (here in the imperative) and nagel "nail" hence a metonymic occupational name for a blacksmith or perhaps an obscene nickname (with a transferred sense for nagel i.e. ‘penis’).
RedenbachGerman Toponymic name possibly derived from Middle High German reden "to speak, to talk" and bach "stream". It could also be a variant of Wittenbach.
ReifingerGerman 1 German: perhaps a habitational name for someone from any of several places called Reiting in Bavaria and Austria, or from a Germanic personal name, a variant of Rediger .... [more]
ReinhardtGerman Comes from a personal name Raginhard, composed of the elements ragin, meaning counsel, with hard, hardy, brave, strong.
RemmelgasEstonian Remmelgas is an Estonian surname; a colloquial name meaning "willow".
RequesensCatalan This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the municipality of La Jonquera.
RequirosoFilipino Denoted a person from one of the various places of this name in Spain. Quirós, the place name, may derive from Galician queiroa meaning "heather".
RestorickCornish Means "person from Restowrack", farm in Cornwall ("watery hill-spur").
RicketsonEnglish It was brought to England in the great wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. It comes from the Old German name Ricard, meaning "powerful" and "brave."
RittermanGerman From Middle High German riter meaning "rider, knight" and man literally meaning "man".
RivabellaItalian Derived from the Italian word riva meaning "bank (shore, riverbank, lakebank)" (from Latin ripa) and bella meaning "beautiful"... [more]
RobicheauFrench (Acadian) Patronymic name derives from Robert or Robin. Origin, Poitou province of France. Emigrated to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada.
RochesterEnglish Means "person from Rochester", Kent (probably "Roman town or fort called Rovi"). A fictional bearer of the surname is Mr Rochester, the Byronic hero of Charlotte Brontë's 'Jane Eyre' (1847).
RochesterEnglish Habitational name from one of three places in Northumberland called Rochester, with names whose early spellings are very similar and sometimes difficult to distinguish from each other... [more]
RochussenDutch Means "son of Rochus". Famous bearers of this name are the Dutch prime minister Jan Jacob Rochussen (1797-1871) and the 19th-century painter Charles Rochussen (1814-1894).
RokutamboJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 六 (roku) meaning "6" and 反穂 (tambo), from 田圃 (tambo) meaning "rice paddy field", referring to a rice paddy field with an area of 6 tans (around 5950 m²) in Japanese measurement.