PoolEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived near a pool or pond, Middle English pole (Old English pōl), or a habitational name from any of the places named with this word, as for example Poole in Dorset, South Pool in Devon, and Poole Keynes in Gloucestershire.
PoolEstonian Pool is an Estonian surname meaning "at", "to", "towards", as well as "half". Derived from the location in which one lived.
PoolametsEstonian Poolamets is an Estonian surname meaning "half forest(ed)".
PooleyEnglish Habitational name from Pooley Bridge in Cumbria, so named from Old English pol ‘pool’ + Old Norse haugr ‘hill’, ‘mound’. topographic name from Middle English pole ‘pool’ + ey ‘low-lying land’ or hey ‘enclosure’
PoomEstonian Poom is an Estonian surname meaning "beam".
PoortmanDutch Occupational name for a gatekeeper or topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a fortified town, from Dutch poort "gate" and man "man, person".
PoortvlietDutch From the name of the village and former municipality called Poortvliet in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands, derived from Middle Dutch port meaning "port, harbour, storage yard, city" and vliet meaning "brook, stream, river, creek, inlet"... [more]
PõõsasEstonian Põõsas is an Estonian surname meaning "bush" and "shrub".
PootEstonian Poot is an Estonian surname meaning "boat", derived from the German "boot" ("boat").
PootsmannEstonian Possibly an altered form of German Bootsmann, an occupational name meaning "boatswain, bosun". Compare Frisian Bootsma.
PopalzaiPashto Meaning unknown, possibly derived from Persian پوپل (pupal) meaning "betel nut". The Popalzai are a Pashtun sub-tribe of the Durrani in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan.
PorcelliItalian From Italian porcello, meaning "piglet". Used to denote someone who worked as a swineherd, or perhaps a nickname for someone who resembled a piglet in some way.
PorkEstonian Pork is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "põrkama" meaning to "bound", "strike", and "bump". bounce, spring
PorkoFinnish Meaning uncertain, possibly derived from Finnish poro meaning "reindeer".
PoroshenkoUkrainian From Ukrainian порох (porokh) meaning "(gun)powder, dust", used as an occupational name for someone who made or sold gunpowder. A notable bearer is the former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko (1965-).
PorssEstonian Porss is an Estonian surname meaning "bog myrtle" and "bayberry".
PortEnglish, German, French Either from Middle English porte "gateway, entrance" (Old French porte, from Latin porta), hence a topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a fortified town or city, or for the gatekeeper... [more]
PortanovaItalian, Portuguese, Galician Habitational name from a place or locality called Portanova "new gate" from the elements neos "new" and porta "door".
PorteFrench, German, English from Old French porte "gateway entrance" (from Latin porta) hence a topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a fortified town (typically the man in charge of them)... [more]
PorteousScottish A topographic surname for someone who lived in the lodge at the entrance to a manor house, derived from Middle English port, meaning "gateway" or "entrance", and hous meaning "house". It can also be an occupational name with similar meaning, derived from Latin portarius meaning "porter"... [more]
PorteraItalian Occupational name for a female servant, from Spanish portera.
PortisEnglish (American) A famous bearer is the American basketball player Bobby Portis (1995-).
PortmanEnglish Status name meaning "townsman, burgher, citizen" in Middle English, derived from Old English port "port, harbour" (from Latin portus) and mann "person, man".
PortmannGerman Occupational name for a gatekeeper, derived from Middle Low German port(e) meaning "gate" and man, or a topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a fortified town.
PortnoyJewish, Belarusian, Ukrainian Occupational name for a tailor from Russian portnoj (an adjective derivative of port "uncut cloth").
PortnyaginRussian Derived from Russian портняга (portnyaga), a colloquial nickname derived from портной (portnoy) meaning "tailor, clothier".
PortocarreroSpanish, Spanish (Latin American) Possibly a Spanish form of Porto Carreiro, an old municipality in Galicia, from Galician porto "port, harbour" and carreiro "path, pathway".
PortokalosGreek From the Greek word πορτοκάλι (portokáli), which means "orange." The name could refer either to farmers who maintained an orange orchard / grove or someone who had an orange aspect to their appearance or demeanor.
PortolaSpanish, Portuguese, Romani (Caló) Portola is Spanish and Portuguese for Port and is a Romani calo surname. People include Gaspar de Portolá, a Spanish explorer who was the first governor of Baja and Alta California and had many names after him in California cities and streets.
PortreyJewish Origin uncertain. Perhaps an altered form of Jewish Portnoy of North German Portner.
PortugalSpanish, Portuguese, English, Catalan, French, Jewish Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, English, French, and Jewish surname meaning ethnic name or regional name for someone from Portugal or who had connections with Portugal. The name of the country derives from Late Latin Portucale, originally denoting the district around Oporto (Portus Cales, named with Latin portus ‘port’, ‘harbor’ + Cales, the ancient name of the city)... [more]
PoseyEnglish, French Derived from the Greek word "desposyni." The Desposyni is a term referring to a group of people that are allegedly direct blood relatives to Jesus. They are mentioned in Mark 3:21 and Mark 3:31. American actress Parker Posey is a famous bearer.
PostgateEnglish From Postgate in Danby (NR Yorks) which is recorded as Postgate in the 12th century. The place-name derives from Old English post "post pillar" and Old Scandinavian gata ‘way path road" or Old English gæt "gate".
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.
PostmaWest Frisian, Dutch West Frisian variant of the Dutch and North German surname Posthumus, given to a child born after their father’s death. It could also be a variant of the habitational name Post or an occupational name for a mailman or guard, using the Frisian suffix -ma.
PotemkinRussian A Russian surname which derives from the word "Потёмка" (Potyomka) meaning "dark". People bearing the name Potemkin rose to prominence in Muscovy from the 16th century onwards.
PotierFrench An occupational name for a maker of drinking and storage vessels, from potier "potter", an agent derivative of Old French pot "drinking vessel"... [more]
PotiseppEstonian Potisepp is an Estonian surname meaning "spade/shovel maker (smith)".
PotockiPolish This indicates familial origin within the Lesser Polish village of Potok, Gmina Szydłów.
PototFilipino, Cebuano From Cebuano putot meaning "short person", "flower bud" or "young coconut fruit".
PóvedaSpanish habitational name from any of the places called Poveda in the provinces of Cuenca Ávila Salamanca and Soria or from Póveda de la Sierra in Guadalajara.
PoverelliItalian Means "poor (person)" in Italian, given to foundlings and orphans.
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.
PrannoEstonian Pranno is an Estonian surname derived from the masculine nickname/given name "Pranno".
PrantsEstonian Prants is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "prantsuse" meaning French, or "prantsti/prantsatus" meaning to "slam" and "bang". Could also derived from "prints" meaning "prince".
PremasiriSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit प्रेम (prema) meaning "love, affection" and श्री (shri) meaning "diffusing light, radiance, splendour, beauty".
PremathilakaSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit प्रेम (prema) meaning "love, affection" and तिलक (tilaka) meaning "mark, dot, ornament".
PresbiteroFilipino Borrowed from Spanish presbítero meaning "presbyter", an elder or priest in various Christian Churches. A notable bearer of this name is Filipino singer Thaddeus Presbitero Durano Jr... [more]
PreshawEnglish (British, Rare) This surname is a habitational name from a locality near Upham on the slopes of the South Downs. It is entirely within a private estate and has its own chapel.
PresleyScottish From Persley, a small Scottish hamlet on the River Don, Aberdeenshire, now a suburb of the much larger city of Aberdeen, named perhaps with the Pictish word *pres-, meaning 'bushes' or 'undergrowth'.... [more]
PressEnglish, Jewish A nickname for a pious individual from the Middle English form of "priest" or possibly someone employed by a priest. In the Jewish sense, one whose occupation was to iron clothes.
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"
PretoPortuguese comes from the Portuguese word preto meaning "black" or "dark". referring to someone with dark skin and/or hair. possibly a cognate of the spanish surname Prieto
PreusGerman/Norwegian Unknown, but may have come from Prussia or be Jewish. It could mean to jabber. Maybe the same as Preuss, but eliminated the S when immigrating to America.
PrevedorosGreek From the Italian rank of provveditore "he who sees to things" (overseer) was the style of various local district governors in the extensive, mainly maritime empire of the Republic of Venice.