RiesenbergGerman Topographic name for someone who lived by a big mountain, from Middle High German rise meaning "giant" and berg meaning "mountain".
RiesenbergGerman Topographic name for someone who lived by a big mountain, derived from Middle High German rise meaning "giant" and berg meaning "mountain".
RifiMoroccan Habitational name from the region of Rif.
RifiMoroccan Derived from the Rifian word for Rifian.
RifkinJewish Metronymic from the Yiddish female given name Rifke from the Hebrew given name Rivka (see Rebecca), with the addition of the Slavic suffix -in.
RifkindJewish Variant of Rifkin. The final element was changed due to the influence of the Yiddish noun kind "child" (German: "Kinder").
RiisScandinavian Nickname from ris 'twigs', 'scrub', or a habitational name from any of several places so named in Denmark. Norwegian: habitational name from any of five farmsteads named Ris, from Old Norse hrís 'brushwood'.
RiivikEstonian Riivik is an Estonian surname derived from "rivik", meaning "setting stick", "galley", and "assembler".
RikimaruJapanese This surname is used as 力丸 with 力 (rii, riki, ryoku, chikara) meaning "bear up, exert, power, strain, strength, strong" and 丸 (gan, maru, maru.i, maru.meru) meaning "curl up, explain away, full, make round, month, perfection, pills, roll up, round, seduce."... [more]
RimesEnglish Originally denoted one who came from the city of Reims in the Grand Est region of France, or a topographic name for someone who lived in a thickly wooded area, derived from Old French ramel (a diminutive of raim) meaning "branch", ultimately from Latin ramus... [more]
RinbayashiJapanese (Rare) It's written like this: 林林. Both rin and hayashi mean "forest". This is because rin is the Chinese reading called onyomi, and hayashi is the Japanese reading called kunyomi.
RindGerman Probably a metonymic occupational name for a cattle dealer or butcher, from Middle High German rint meaning "cow".
RingerEnglish From the Norman name Reinger or Rainger derived from the Germanic elements ragin meaning "advice, counsel" and ger meaning "spear"... [more]
RinggoldGerman Comes from Germanic ring "ring" or "assembly" and wald "rule"
RirorokoRapanui Riroroko is a surname that comes from the Miru Rapa Nui clan. This was concerning the Riro portion the name of a ariki "king" on Easter Island who succeeded Atamu Tekena. Riro was part of the Miru clan... [more]
RiseboroughEnglish Denoted a person hailing from any of the various places called Risborough, Riseborough or Risbury in England, derived from Old English hrīs meaning "brushwood" and beorg meaning "hill, mound", or from hrīs and burh meaning "fortification"... [more]
RispoliItalian A patronymic from a derivative of the given name Rispo, which is probably of Germanic origin. Alternatively, it could be a variant of Ruspoli, which is of unknown origin.
RitongaBatak From Batak ri meaning "reed, grass" and tonga meaning "middle, centre".
RitschelGerman, History Derived from Old High German hruod "fame". This was the maiden name of Magda Goebbels who was the wife of Paul Joseph Goebbels. Her husband was Nazi Germany's propaganda minister between the years 1933 and 1945... [more]
RittGerman Either a topographic name from Old High German ritta meaning "reeds" or a habitational name from a place near Kassel, Germany. Alternately it may also be a variant of Ried.
Ritta-apinanThai From Thai ฤทธิ์ (rit) meaning "power", ธา (tha), a transcription of Sanskrit धा (dhā) meaning "bearer, maintainer", อภิ (api) of unknown meaning, and นันท์ (nan) of unknown meaning.
RittmanGerman, English From Middle High German "riet" and "mann", riet meaning reed.
RitzGerman From a short form of the personal name Rizo, itself derived in part from Richard and in part from Heinrich (see Henry).
RivabellaItalian Derived from the Italian word riva meaning "bank (shore, riverbank, lakebank)" (from Latin ripa) and bella meaning "beautiful"... [more]
RivadeneiraSpanish habitational name from a parish named Riba de Neira in Lugo province meaning 'bank of the river Neira' Neira being a tributary of the Miño.
RivetFrench, English French: from a diminutive of Old French rive ‘(river) bank’, ‘shore’ (see Rives).... [more]
RivettEnglish, French English (East Anglia): metonymic occupational name for a metalworker, from Middle English, Old French rivet ‘small nail or bolt’ (from Old French river ‘to fix or secure’, of unknown origin).... [more]
RīwaiMaori This name is a translation of the name Levi. The name also means potato as a general word for potatoes when its spelled without the letter "ī". This was the surname of founding mother Kiti Karaka Rīwai (1870-1927)... [more]
RixGerman given to a person who resided near a hill, stream, church, or tree
RizalFilipino, Tagalog, Cebuano From Spanish ricial meaning "green field" or "rice field". A notable bearer was José Rizal (1861-1896), a Filipino nationalist and national hero.
RoascioItalian (Rare) Derived from Roascio, the name of a municipality in the province of Cuneo in the Piedmont region of Italy. The meaning of the municipality's name is uncertain, but since it is located in Piedmont and known as Roass in the Piedmontese language, the etymological origin of the name is most likely Piedmontese... [more]
RoasioItalian This surname originates from the Piedmont region of Italy. It is most likely derived from Roasio, which is the name of a municipality in that same region. The meaning of the municipality's name is uncertain, but since it is located in Piedmont and known as Roaso in the Piedmontese language, the etymological origin of the name is most likely Piedmontese... [more]
RobSlovene It probrably originates from the surname Robb, but we don't know for sure.
RobardsEnglish Altered form of Roberts. A famous bearer was American actor Jason Robards (1922-2000), as well as his father Jason Robards Sr. (1892-1963) and son Sam Robards (1961-), also noted actors.
RobbenFrench, Dutch It is a French surname that was originally derived from the Germanic name Robert, which is composed of the elements hrod, meaning famous, and berht, meaning bright.
RobertshawEnglish habitational name from a lost place Robertshaw in Heptonstall (Yorkshire) from the Middle English Old French personal name Robert and Middle English shaueshaghe "wood grove thicket" (Old English sceaga) meaning "Robert's wood".
RobicheauFrench (Acadian) Patronymic name derives from Robert or Robin. Origin, Poitou province of France. Emigrated to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada.
RobineauFrench derived from the Old French word "robine", which was the word that was used for the communication channel of a salted fountain or barrel pond... [more]
RobinetFrench Derived from the medieval French masculine given name Robinet, which was a diminutive (as the -et suffix indicates) of the given name Robin.... [more]
RochefortFrench From various places called Rochefort meaning strong castle.
RocherFrench From French roche, meaning "rock'. It indicates a person who worked at a quarry.
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).
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).
RockEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived near a notable crag or outcrop, from Middle English rokke "rock" (see Roach), or a habitational name from a place named with this word, as for example Rock in Northumberland.
RockefellerGerman Means "from Rockenfeld." Some famous bearers include founder of the Standard Oil Company and philanthropist John Davison Rockefeller (1839-1937), and 41st Vice President of the U.S.A. Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (1908-1979).
RockettFrench From the French "la roche," or "of the rock." Some family histories trace this back to French Hugenots (sp) who immigrated to England in the 1500's from the Normandy region of France.
RockfordEnglish An altered spelling of English Rochford; alternatively it may be an Americanized form of French Rochefort or Italian Roccaforte.
RockholdAnglo-Saxon Came from when the family lived in the village of Rock found in the various locations that existed in Worcestershire, Devon and also in Northumberland.The surname also has topographic origins in that it describes the area where the original bearers lived.
RockwellEnglish Means "person from Rockwell", Buckinghamshire and Somerset (respectively "wood frequented by rooks" and "well frequented by rooks"). Famous bearers include American illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) and Utah pioneer Porter Rockwell (1813-1878).
RoddEnglish Locational name for someone "at the rod" of land, from Middle English rodde. Also could come from the given name Rod, or the parish of Rodd in Herefordshire, England.