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 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".
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.
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".
SasakoJapanese Sasa means "bamboo grass" and no means "child, first sign of the Chinese zodiac: the rat".
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]
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".
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]
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".
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.
SeddaItalian From a place name in Sardinia, meaning "top of a mountain". May alternately derive from Sardinian sedda "saddle", indicating the bearer's occupation.
SekewaelIndonesian The last name Sekewael is an original name from one of the island in Maluku. That one island name is "Negeri Oma." The meaning of Sekewael is "The Guardian of the River" because in "Negeri Oma" any body want to use the river of the water they have to ask for permission by Sekewael family... [more]
SelanderSwedish Combination of Swedish sel "stretch of calm water in a river or stream" and the common surname suffix -ander (originally from Greek aner "man"). The first element, sel, is also a common place name element in Northern Sweden and it's possible that this name is both ornamental and locational in origin.
SelgEstonian Selg is an Estonian surname meaning "back", "spine" and "back of".
SenriJapanese (Rare) This surname is used as 千里 with 千 (sen, chi) meaning "thousand" and 里 (ri, sato) meaning "league, parent's home, ri (type of measurement), village."... [more]
ShackletonEnglish The place name probably means "valley by a point of land," from the Old English scacol + denu. Another source claims the word scacol, describes a "tongue of land."
ShanklandScottish Believed to be a locational name derived from a now-lost or unidentified place name. The name is composed of the Old Scots term "schank," meaning "a projecting point of a hill" or "spur," and the suffix "-land," which indicates land or territory.
ShebaniArabic (Maghrebi) From the name of an Arab tribe which is derived from Arabic شيب (šīb) meaning "white hair, grayness" or "cold, snow". This surname is chiefly used in Libya.
ShelleyEnglish, Irish (Anglicized) Habitational name from any of the three places called Shelley (Essex Suffolk Yorkshire) or from Shelley Plain in Crawley (Sussex)... [more]
SherkhanzaiAfghan Meaning "son of Sherkhan" in Pashto. Sherkhan itself means "lion king" in Persian. This surname is found among Afghans belonging to the Barech, one of the Durrani Pashto tribes.
SherlockEnglish, Irish Nickname for someone with "fair hair" or "a lock of fair hair."
ShevardnadzeGeorgian Means "son of the falcon", from Georgian შავარდენი (shavardeni) meaning "falcon, hawk". A famous bearer was Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze (1928-2014).
ShrimptonEnglish Probably referring to the unknown "Estate of Shrimp"
ShrivastavIndian, Hindi Short form of Sanskrit श्रीवास्तव्य (shrivastavya) meaning "abode of wealth", itself from श्री (shri) meaning "diffusing light, radiance, splendour, beauty, wealth, prosperity" and वास्तव्य (vastavya) meaning "residence, abode, dwelling, inhabiting".
SikkemaWest Frisian, Dutch Patronymic form of Sikke, a short form of names containing the element sigu "victory", using the Frisian suffix -ma "man of".
SimbeckGerman Originates from the German prefix sim meaning "of the head" and the German word becka meaning "bull". When combined in this order, the meaning was "bull-headed", meaning stubborn and obstinant.
SmithwickEnglish habitational name from Smethwick in Staffordshire Smethwick Green near Brereton Heath (Cheshire) or a lost place called Smithwick in Southover (Sussex). The place name means "the farm of the smiths" from Old English smiþ "smith" and wic "dwelling specialized farm"... [more]
SmuldersDutch Occupational name derived from Dutch des mulders meaning "son of the miller". A famous bearer is Canadian-American actress Cobie Smulders (1982-).
SnapeEnglish (British), Scottish An old, now rare surname, with various origins in Suffolk and Yorkshire in England and Lanarkshire in Scotland, derived from Middle English snaipen, “to injure; to nip (of sleet or snow); to criticize, rebuke, revile”, from Old Norse sneypa, “to disgrace, to dishonor, to outrage”... [more]
SnelsonEnglish Means "son of Snell", Snell being a nickname for a brisk or active person, from Middle English snell "quick, lively" (cf... [more]
SolinasItalian Meaning uncertain; could be related to Latin solum, from which comes Italian suolo "earth, ground, soil" and suola "sole (of the foot or shoe)", or from Italian salina "salt pan, salt marsh".
SorensonJewish Means "son of the son of Sore", a Yiddish female personal name (from Hebrew Sara, literally "princess"), with the addition of the Slavic possessive suffix -in and German Sohn "son".
SotaJapanese From Japanese 颯 (sō) meaning "sudden, sound of the wind" and 太 (ta) meaning "thick, big, great". This name can also be formed of other kanji combinations. There is a character in Danganronpa used as a surname, but it's not actually used as a surname and it's originated from a boy's name from Japanese.
SoutaJapanese From Japanese 颯 (sō) meaning "sudden, sound of the wind" and 太 (ta) meaning "thick, big, great". This name can also be formed of other kanji combinations. Also used as a given name.
SpaansDutch Either a patronymic from the archaic given name Spaan, of uncertain etymology, or an occupational name derived from Middle Dutch spaen "wood chip, piece of wood; spoon, spatula".
SpannEnglish Derived from Old English spann meaning "span (of a hand)", a unit of measurement equaling about nine inches, possibly used to refer to someone who lived on a strip of land or by a narrow footbridge.
SpecaItalian From a variant of spiga "spike, ear (of grain)"
SpiegelmanGerman (Germanized, Rare, Archaic), Jewish (Germanized, Rare, Archaic) The name Spiegelman is a name with both German and Jewish origins. In German the word "Spiegel" translates to "mirror". Also "Mann" translates to "man". So one could interpret the name to mean "mirror man" or less often "man of the mirror"... [more]
SpringallEnglish Means (i) "operator of a springald (a type of medieval siege engine)" (from Anglo-Norman springalde); or (ii) from a medieval nickname for a youthful person (from Middle English springal "youth").
SproutEnglish This name is derived from the name of an ancestor, meaning "the son of Sprot".... [more]
StansfieldEnglish (British) Habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire, probably named with the genitive case of the Old English personal name Stan 1 "stone" and Old English feld "pasture, open country"... [more]
StaterEnglish Occupational name for an official in charge of a public weighing machine derived from Middle English stater(er), from Latin statera "balance, scales, steelyard; value", ultimately from Ancient Greek στατήρ (stater) "a weight, a standard; a type of coin".
StentEnglish (Archaic) Derived from the Old Norse name Steinn meaning "stone". Recorded in several forms including Stein, Steen, Stone and Ston, this surname is english. It is perhaps not surprisingly one of the first recorded surnames anywhere in the world.... [more]