Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
PunongbayanTagalog From Tagalog punong bayan meaning "mayor, chief (of a city)".
PurvisScottish Probably means "person in charge of buying supplies for a large household" (from Middle English purveys "provisions").
PutxetaBasque (Rare) From the name of a neighborhood of the municipality of Abanto, Biscay, possibly derived from Basque putzu "well, hole, puddle" and -eta "place of, abundance of".
QuailEnglish, Manx A variant of Quayle, derived from various patronymics meaning "son of Paul". Alternately, an English nickname derived from the bird, perhaps given to a person who was timid, or known for being promiscuous.
QuineManx Shortened Anglicization of Manx Mac Vian "son of Mian".
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).
QuinneyEnglish, Irish Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Coinne “descendant of Coinne”
RacioppiItalian, Sicilian Derived from Sicilian racioppu meaning "cluster of grapes", hence presumably a metonymic occupational name for someone who sold or produced grapes.
RaderGerman Variation of Rademacher, meaning "maker of wheels" in German ("rat" meaning wheel), later shortened to Rader and other variations such as Redder, Raeder, Redler, etc.
RaineyIrish, Scottish An Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Raighne, Ó Ráighne meaning "descendent of Raonull", the given name Raonull being derived from Old Norse Rögnvaldr, Røgnvaldr, Rǫgnvaldr (compare Ronald).
RanzGerman The surname that can have one of two origins. In some cases, it is derived from the ancient German given name, Rando, whose origins lie in the word rand, meaning "rim of shield"... [more]
RapaceSwedish (Modern, Rare) From French and Italian rapace meaning "predatory, bird of prey, raptor". A notable bearer is Swedish actress Noomi Rapace.
RatajczakPolish Means "son of the field worker" from the root rataj which is the Old Polish term for a ploughman or field worker.
RathgeberGerman From Middle High German ratgebe or Middle Low German ratgever "giver of advice, counselor", an occupational name for an adviser or wise man.
ReadingEnglish Habitational name from the county seat of Berkshire, which gets its name from Old English Readingas "people of Read(a)", a byname meaning "red".
RempeGerman (Americanized, Modern) The roots of the German surname Rempe lie in the former duchy of Silesia, now part of Poland. The name means, simply, "son of Rempel," and was a popular first name in Silesia during the Middle Ages.
RenfrewScottish Anglicized form of the Gaelic Rinn Friù, meaning "cradle of the Royal Stewards." It is derived from either the historical county of Renfrewshire in the west central lowlands of Scotland, or the town of Renfrew within both the historical and present-day boundaries of the county.
RennisonEnglish Patronymic surname meaning "son of Renard". Derived as a shortened form of Reynoldson from the Old French personal name Renart with the -son suffix... [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).
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.
RodmanEnglish The surname Rodman is an ancient English surname, derived from a trade name, "men who were by the tenure or customs of their lands to ride with or for the lord of the manor about his business". The most famous bearer of this name is the basketball player Dennis Rodman.
RomseyEnglish From the town of Romsey in Hampshire, England. The surname itself is derived from Old English rum meaning "broad", and ey meaning "area of dry land in a marsh."
RomualdezFilipino Means "son of Romualdo." This is the name of a prominent political family in the Philippines.
RottenPopular Culture From the English word rotten, meaning "In a state of decay/cruel, mean, immoral/bad, horrible". In the Icelandic children's television program LazyTown, Robbie Rotten is the main antagonist of the show who desires silence and peace, continuously formulates reckless schemes that often feature him masquerading in various disguises as a means of hoodwinking or tempting residents away from an active lifestyle... [more]
RotterdamDutch Denoting someone from a place named Rotterdam "place of the muddy water".
RottscheitGerman Modernization of Rotscheidt, also a city in Germany (Rottscheidt) bearing another modern alternate spelling. When broken down it ultimately means "red" and "piece of wood", implying that the families of today descends from woodwrokers.
RozemaFrisian Possibly a contraction of Roelfsema meaning "son of Roelf" or derived from Roos. Also spelled Rosema, Roosma, Rozeman.
RubinoItalian The surname Rubino derives from the name Rubino, in turn originated from the Latin term "Rubeus" (red) with evident reference to the well-known precious stone. It is thought that originally the surname was attributed to the physical characteristics of having red hair, however, the origin of the surname Rubino from the Hebrew term "Ruben" which meant "son of providence", or even from the apheresis of the name "Cherubino".
RubinovRussian, Jewish Means "son of Rubin" in Russian, though it could also be derived from Russian рубин (rubin) "ruby".
RudatisGerman (East Prussian) Derived from Old Prussian ruds and Lithuanian rudas "(of hair) red" or Lithuanian rudis "redhead".
RusconiItalian From Italian rusca, "splinter, sliver of wood".
RushIrish Reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Ruis "descendant of Ros", a personal name perhaps derived from ros "wood". In Connacht it has also been used as a translation of Ó Luachra (see Loughrey).
RusinmRussian Means "of the Rus'", from Russian Русь (Rus').
RutterEnglish Either (i) "player of the rote (a medieval stringed instrument played by plucking)"; or (ii) from a medieval nickname for a dishonest or untrustworthy person (from Old French routier "robber, mugger")... [more]
RybakovRussian Means "son of the fisher" from Russian рыбак (rybak) meaning "fisherman".
SaavedraSpanish, Mexican Derived from the place-name Saavedra and therefore signifies "descendant or son of one from Saavedra". The place-name Saavedra is located in the north western province of Lugo in Galicia, Spain and is believed to be derived from the elements "Saa" meaning "Hall" and "Vedra" (feminine) meaning "Old".
SackhoffGerman Occupational name for a farmer who cultivated land to grow plants, particularly crops, derived from Middle High German sack meaning "sack, end of a valley, area of cultivation" and hof meaning "farmstead, manor, farm"... [more]
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]
SadriPersian From the Persian given name Sadr "chief, leader", from arabic ṣadr, literally "chest (of men)".
SagorskyPolish, Russian It means literally "of the city/town Sagorsk". Sagorsk is a city near the Russian capital of Moskva. The ending of "sky" means "of". The "Sagor" part of the surname sounds to me like "za gor" which is "za gorod"... [more]
SaharaJapanese From Japanese 左 (sa), a clipping of 左衛門尉 (saemon-no-jō) meaning "judge of senior gate guards" and 原 (hara) meaning "meadow; plain; field".
SaharaouiArabic (Maghrebi) From Arabic صحراوي (Ṣaḥrāwī) meaning "inhabitant of the desert" (from صحراء (Ṣaḥrā') "desert"), referring to the indigenous Sahrawi people of Western Sahara (see Sahraoui)... [more]
SaładajczykPolish A Polish surname consisting of 3 elements: sała or сала a word of East Slavic origin meaning "salo" or "slanina", daj meaning "give" and czyk meaning "son of". The name means "the son of the one who gives the salo".
SalakayaAbkhaz Mingrelian form of the Abkhaz surname Шакар-ипа (Shakar-ipa) meaning "son of Shakar". The name itself may be derived from Persian شکر (šakar) meaning "sugar" or from Arabic شَكَرَ (šakara) meaning "to be thankful, to be grateful".
SamarageSinhalese Derived from Sanskrit समर (samara) meaning "coming together, meeting" or "conflict, struggle" combined with the Sinhala suffix -ගේ (-ge) meaning "of, home, house".
SamarawickramaSinhalese Means "conqueror of battles" from Sanskrit समर (samara) meaning "conflict, struggle" and विक्रम (vikrama) meaning "valour, power, strength".
SananikoneLao Means "multitude of victories" from Lao ຊະນະ (sana) meaning "win, victory" and ນິກອນ (nikon) meaning "multitude, group".
SandvallSwedish Combination of Swedish sand "sand" and vall "wall, pasture, field of grass".
SaneyoshiJapanese This surname is a combination of 實 (sane) meaning or 実 (sane) meaning "fruit, seed, truth" and 好 (yoshi) meaning "to be fond of, to like", or 吉 (yoshi) meaning "good luck, fortune".
SankeyEnglish, Irish Habitational name from a place in Lancashire, which derived from the name of an ancient British river, perhaps meaning "sacred, holy." ... [more]
SantanderSpanish From the toponymy, it is discussed whether Santander is a derivation of San Emeterio or San Andrés. Due to the proximity of the Basque country (Ander = Andrés) and the tenor of some ancient texts, it can be concluded that it refers to San Andrés... [more]
SantessonSwedish Means "son of Sante". Sante is a medieval Swedish form of Alexander.
SantorumItalian Variant of Santoro, from Latin sanctorum "of the saints". A notable bearer is former American Senator Rick Santorum (1958-present).
SarafyanArmenian Means "son of the banker" from Arabic صَرَّاف (ṣarrāf) meaning "banker, moneychanger, cashier".
SaralegiBasque Habitational name of uncertain etymology. Possibly derived from Basque sarale "hay, dry grass, livestock feed" combined with either tegi "stable, pen, enclosure", -(t)egi "place of", or possibly (h)egi "slope, hillside; edge, border".
SarangapaniHindi From the sanskrit words Sarangan "bow of Vishnu" and pani "hand".
SastrowardoyoJavanese Means "writings of the heart" from Sanskrit शास्त्र (shastra) meaning "scripture, writings" and हृदय (hrdaya) meaning "heart". This is the name of a Javanese family of nobility.
SaxenaIndian, Hindi Traditionally believed to be derived from Sanskrit सखिसेना (sakhisena) meaning "friend of the army", from सखा (sakha) meaning "friend, companion" and सेना (sena) meaning "army"... [more]
ScaliItalian Habitational name from Scali in Piedimonte Etneo, Sicily, derived from Greek σκαλί (skali) "step, rung (of a ladder)".
ScanagattaItalian Probably means "cat killer", from Italian scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and gatto "cat", with the figurative meaning of "cheat, scoundrel". (Compare Pelagatti)... [more]
ScanavaccaItalian Possibly an occupational name for a butcher, from scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and vacca "cow".
ScannabissiItalian Possibly from scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and biscio "snake". Alternately, the first element may be from an archaic form of zanna, "tooth (of an animal)".
ScannapiecoItalian Occupational name for a butcher, from scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and piecuro "sheep, lamb".
SchaulGerman, Dutch, Jewish Either from from Middle Low German schulle, Middle Dutch scholle, schulle, Middle High German schülle "plaice"; either a metonymic occupational name for a fisherman or seller of these fish or a nickname for someone thought to resemble a plaice... [more]
ScheidGerman, Jewish Either a topographic name for someone who lived near a boundary (between two valleys etc.) or crossroads Middle High German scheide, a habitational name from any of various places called ScheidtScheiden... [more]
SchenaItalian Derived from a regional variant of Italian schiena "back (of the body)", perhaps a nickname for someone with a straight, rigid posture, or a topographic name denoting a rise or bump in the ground.
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.
ScotfordEnglish Derived from Scotforth, the name of a village near Lancaster (in Lancashire) in England. The village's name means "ford of the Scot(s)" and is derived from Old English Scott "Scot" combined with Old English ford "ford".
ScotlandEnglish (i) "person from Scotland"; (ii) "person from Scotland or Scotlandwell", Perth and Kinross; (iii) from the Norman personal name Escotland, literally "territory of the Scots"
SeaforthEnglish The name of a projection of the sea on the east coast of Lewis, on the Long Island, Scotland. Means "the forth of the sea".