MorceliArabic (Maghrebi) Possibly from Arabic مُرْسِل (mursil) meaning "sender, dispatcher" or "sent, transmitted" from أَرْسَلَ (ʾarsala) "to send, to dispatch".
MoreFrench nickname for a dark-skinned man from Old French more "Moor" (from Latin Maurus). French cognitive of Moore 3.
MoreEnglish, Scottish Variant of Moore 3. A famous bearer was the English lawyer, humanist, and martyr Saint Thomas More (1478-1535).
MoreIndian, Marathi Derived from Marathi मोर (mor) meaning "peacock", ultimately from Sanskrit मयूर (mayura).
MoscatoItalian Variant of the personal name Muscato, also Americanized spelling of Greek Moskatos, a metonymic occupational name for a grower of muscat grapes.
MosleyEnglish Habitational name from any of several places called Mos(e)ley in central, western, and northwestern England. The obvious derivation is from Old English mos "peat bog" and leah "woodland clearing", but the one in southern Birmingham (Museleie in Domesday Book) had as its first element Old English mus "mouse", while one in Staffordshire (Molesleie in Domesday Book) had the genitive case of the Old English byname Moll.
MoultonEnglish Derived from various places with the same name, for example in the counties of Cheshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Suffolk and North Yorkshire in England. It is either derived from the Old English given name Mūla, the Old Norse name Múli or Old English mūl meaning "mule" and tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town".
MouraPortuguese Derived from the Portuguese word "Mouro", which refers to an individual from the Moor people. This is the feminine form of the word, often used in legends of enchanted moor women, which very common in Portugal... [more]
MozgovmRussian From Russian мозг (mozg), meaning "brain, mind".
MuChinese Chinese : in the state of Song during the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 bc) there existed a leader who was posthumously given the name of the duke of Mu. His descendants adopted Mu as their surname... [more]
MuChinese From Chinese 穆 (mù) meaning "pure, solemn, honest".
MuchaPolish, Slovak, Czech, Ukrainian Nickname for an irritating person or someone considered of no importance, from mucha "fly".
MuirScottish Topographic name for someone who lived on a moor, from a Scots form of Middle English more moor, fen.
MuirheadScottish Derived from many places in southern Scotland with the same name, from northern Middle English muir meaning "moor" and heid meaning "head, end".
MuisDutch From Dutch muis meaning "mouse". Could be a nickname denoting someone with mouse-like tendencies, or who caught mice, or a short form of the given name Bartholomeus.
MunkGerman, Scandinavian, Dutch, English From Middle High German münich Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish munk Middle Dutch munc "monk" a nickname for someone thought to resemble a monk or a metonymic occupational name for someone in the service of a monastery... [more]
MurakamiJapanese From the Japanese 村, 邑 or 邨 (mura) meaning "hamlet, town, village" combined with 上 (kami) meaning "upper, top, above" or 神 (kami) meaning "god" or 守 (kami) meaning "guard, protect, defend."
MuramatsuJapanese From Japanese 村 (mura) meaning "town, village" and 松 (matsu) meaning "pine tree, fir tree".
MurataJapanese From Japanese 村 (mura) meaning "town, village" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
NashCircassian Shapsug name derived from Adyghe нэ (nă) meaning "eye" combined with щэ (š̍ă) meaning "milk" or "crooked, wry, bent".
NaultFrench From a short form of various medieval personal names derived from Germanic personal names formed with wald 'rule' as the final element, in particular Arnold.
NeillIrish, Scottish Reduced form of Irish Gaelic Ó Néill or Scottish Gaelic Mac Néill ‘descendant (or son) of Niall’, a personal name of Irish origin, thought to mean ‘champion’. The personal name was adopted by Norsemen in the form Njáll and was brought to England both directly from Ireland by Scandinavian settlers and indirectly (via France) by the Normans... [more]
NeisserGerman German demonym of the town of Neisse (nowadays Nysa, in Poland), itself from the name of the river Neisse (Nysa) which runs through the city.
NesbittEnglish, Scottish, Irish Habitational name from any of the places in England, Scotland and Ireland called Nesbitt or similar, all derived from Old English nes "headland, promontory" and bita "bit, fragment, morsel" or byht "bight, bend, angle"... [more]
NevalaFinnish From Finnish word 'neva', which is a marsh type and '-la', a suffix used for places.
NevesPortuguese Means "snows" in Portuguese, derived from either the Marian title Maria das Neves "Mary of the Snows", or from any of several locations named for the title.
NewhouseEnglish Either a habitational name for someone who lived at a "new house" (from Middle English niwe "new" and hus "new house") or a habitational name from any of various minor places so called especially perhaps Newhouses in Horton Yorkshire near the border with Lancashire... [more]
NongChinese, Vietnamese From Chinese 农 (nóng) meaning "farming, agriculture, cultivation", also referring to the ancient official position Nong Zheng (農正) meaning "agriculture officer". It is also used as a simplified variant of Vietnamese Nông, which is of the same origin.
NoolEstonian Nool is an Estonian surname meaning "arrow".
NoonanIrish Anglicized form of Irish Ó Nuanáin (from Irish Gaelic Ó hIonmhaineáin) meaning "descendant of Ionmhaineán", a diminutive of the given name Ionmhain "beloved, dear". ... [more]
NordGerman, French from a short form of an ancient Germanic personal name with the first element nord "north" for example Norbert.
NordénSwedish Combination of Swedish nord "north" and the common surname suffix -én.
NordlanderSwedish Combination of Swedish nord "north" and the common surname suffix -lander (a combination of land "land" and the habitational suffix -er).
NorénSwedish Combination of Swedish nord "north" or nor "small strait" and the common surname suffix -én.
NorthwayEnglish Habitational name from one or more of the minor places called with Middle English bi northe weie "(place) to the north of the way or road" from the elements norþ "north" and weg "way" including Northway in Monkleigh Widecombe in the Moor and Parkham Norway in Whitestone Narraway in Drewsteignton (all Devon) and Northway in Halse (Somerset)... [more]
NottetFrench, Belgian, Flemish Derived from given names using the French diminutive -otte, such as Ernotte.
NugentEnglish, Irish, French An English, Irish (of Norman origin) and French habitational surname derived from any of several places in northern France (such as Nogent-sur-Oise), From Latin novientum and apparently an altered form of a Gaulish name meaning "new settlement".
NuttallEnglish English: habitational name from some place named with Old English hnutu ‘nut’ + h(e)alh ‘nook’, ‘recess’. In some cases this may be Nuthall in Nottinghamshire, but the surname is common mainly in Lancashire, and a Lancashire origin is therefore more likely... [more]
ObaraJapanese It's written like : 小 (O meaning small) and Bara meaning "Plain". Masakazu Obara's last name is pronounced like this. He is an anime director, he worked on Accel World.
OcaCastilian It indicates familial origin within the municipality of Villafranca Montes de Oca (geo coordinates: 42.3882°N 3.3090°W).
OchsGerman, Jewish Means "ox" in German, derived from Middle High German ohse, possibly denoting a strong person or someone who worked with oxen. As a Jewish name it is ornamental.
OdaJapanese From the Japanese 小 (o) "small," 尾 (o) "tail" or 織 (o) "fabric," "material," "cloth" and 田 (ta or da) "rice paddy" or 多 (ta or da) "many."... [more]
OdelinFrench Not to be confused with the similarly spelled Odelín, which is Spanish rather than French, though they could have similar origins in name.
OdénSwedish Likely a locational name derived from place names containing the elements od or oden (see Oden).
OdomEnglish From a nickname for someone who married a daughter of a prominent figure in a community, derived from Middle English odam "son-in-law", from Old English aþum.
ŌeJapanese From Japanese 大 (ō) meaning "big, great" and 江 (e) meaning "bay, inlet".
OeJapanese Alternate transcription of Japanese Kanji 大江 (see Ōe).
OfficerEnglish (Canadian), English (American, Rare) Occupational name for the holder of any office, from Anglo-Norman French officer (an agent derivative of Old French office ‘duty’, ‘service’, Latin officium ‘service’, ‘task’).
OgasawaraJapanese From Japanese 小 (o) meaning "small", 笠 (kasa) meaning "bamboo hat", and 原 (wara) meaning "field".
OgasawaraJapanese From Japanese 小笠原 (Ogasawara) meaning "Ogasawara", a former village in the former district of Koma in the former Japanese province of Kai in parts of present-day Yamanashi, Japan.
OgorodnikovRussian From Russian огородник (ogorodnik) meaning "truck farmer, market gardener".
OldhamEnglish Habitational name from Oldham in Lancashire. The placename derives from Old English ald "old" and Old Norse holmr "island water meadow" or eald "old" and ham "farmstead" meaning either "old lands" or "old farm".
OlivaItalian, Spanish Of uncertain origin: derived either from a nickname to those who picked, worked with or sold olives, or from the given name Oliva.
OlivaresSpanish Habitational name from any of several places named Olivares, from the plural of Spanish olivar meaning "olive grove". Compare Portuguese and Galician Oliveira.
OnishiJapanese From Japanese 大 (o) meaning "big, great" and 西 (nishi) meaning "west".
ŌnoJapanese From the Japanese 大 (oo) "big" and 野 (no) "field," "area."
OosterwegelDutch From Dutch ooster meaning "eastern, east" and weg meaning "way, path, road". Dutch track and field athlete Emma Oosterwegel (1998-) bears this name.
OrchardEnglish Derived from Middle English orchard, from Old English ortgeard. It denoted somebody who lived by or worked in an orchard or lived in a place named Orchard.
O’tooleIrish O'Toole, along with Toole, comes from the Irish O Tuathail. This derives from the personal name Tuathal, meaning "ruler of the people", used by many Irish kings and heroes and accordingly incorporated into a surname in a number of distinct areas, among them south Ulster, Mayo and Kildare.
OuedraogoWestern African, Mossi Derived from the name of the semi-legendary Ouedraogo, who is believed to have founded the Mossi Kingdoms in the 11th century. Means "son of the elephant" in the Mossi language.
PaddockEnglish Derived from Middle English parrock meaning "paddock, small enclosure", hence a topographic name for a dweller by a paddock or an enclosed meadow. It could also be a nickname for a person who resembled a toad or frog in some way (derived from Middle English paddock meaning "toad, frog"), or denote a person hailing from one of the many places in England that bear this name, for example the town and civil parish of Paddock Wood in Kent.
PageGerman Metonymic occupational name for a horse dealer, from Middle Low German page "horse".
PalmaSpanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Italian Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, and southern Italian: habitational name from any of various places named or named with Palma, from Latin palma ‘palm’. ... [more]
PangEstonian Pang is an Estonian surname meaning "pail" and "bucket".
PangChinese From Chinese 庞 (páng) referring to the ancient fief of Pang located in what is now either Henan or Shaanxi province.
ParsonEnglish Means "priest, cleric, minister" in English, either an occupational name for someone who worked for a parson, a nickname for someone considered particularly pious, or perhaps given to illegitimate children of a priest.
PartonEnglish Habitational name from any of various places called Parton; most are named with Old English peretun ‘pear orchard’. A famous bearer of the surname is Dolly Parton.
PashleyEnglish From the an Old English personal name Pæcca, and with the Old English word "le-ah," meaning "clearing in the wood.''
PattaItalian Possibly from patta "draw, settlement", perhaps a nickname given to a negotiator. The same term can also mean "heat, warmth of the hearth".
PeaseEnglish English: from Middle English pese ‘pea’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of peas, or a nickname for a small and insignificant person. The word was originally a collective singular (Old English peose, pise, from Latin pisa) from which the modern English vocabulary word pea is derived by folk etymology, the singular having been taken as a plural.
PedrazaSpanish Refers to the blow received from a stone thrown intentionally to wound someone.
PedrosoPortuguese Its origin is the word "pedra", which means "stone".
PeñalverSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Manchego municipality.
PendletonEnglish Habitational name from any of the two villages in Lancashire called Pendleton, both derived from Pendle Hill (see Pendle) and Old English tun "enclosure, town".
PeraltaCatalan, Spanish, Aragonese Habitational name from any of the places in Aragon, Catalonia, and Navarre called Peralta, from Latin petra alta "high rock". This name is also established in Italy.
PercyEnglish Either a nickname from Old French percehaie "pierce hedge" (Old French percer "to pierce, penetrate" and haie "hedge, fence"), perhaps with the sense of someone breaking into an enclosure... [more]
PerdueEnglish, Irish, French English and Irish from Old French par Dieu ‘by God’, which was adopted in Middle English in a variety of more or less heavily altered forms. The surname represents a nickname from a favorite oath... [more]
PhenixFrench (Quebec, Anglicized) Either (i) an anglicization of French Canadian Phénix, literally "phoenix", probably originally a nickname of now lost import; or (ii) a different form of Fenwick.