PancieraItalian from panciera denoting the piece of the armor covering the stomach (from pancia "belly paunch") perhaps used for an armorer or for someone with a large paunch.
PandaIndian, Odia, Bengali Derived from Sanskrit पण्डा (panda) meaning "wisdom, knowledge, learning".
PanellaItalian From the name of a kind of fritter or pancake made with chickpea powder. Could be an occupational name for a baker, or perhaps a nickname for someone with a yellowish complexion. Alternatively, can be a diminutive form of Pane.
PanenkaCzech From Czech meaning "doll". Perhaps a nickname for a petite person.
PanettaItalian Diminutive form of Italian pane "bread", probably an occupational name for a baker.
PanibudlaskaUkrainian, Russian (Rare) From the Cossack nickname, derived from the Ukrainian vocative phrase пані, будь ласка! (pani, bud laska!) meaning "Lady, please!".
ParaiyaIndian, Tamil It is a Tamil name, denoting laborers in agriculture and/or industry. This is a surname belonging to Dalit, or "Untouchables," in the Hindu caste system.
ParataMaori From a transliteration of the English word "brother" or "brothers".
Pardo De TaveraSpanish (Rare, Archaic) In the case of Filipino physician Trinidad Pardo de Tavera (1857-1925), he came from a Portuguese aristocratic family of Pardo from Tavira (a town in Portugal). The family added the name de Tavera, meaning "of Tavira" to affix their place of origin, similar to Spanish noble customs... [more]
PärnamaaEstonian Pärnamaa is an Estonians surname meaning "linden land".
PärnojaEstonian Pärnoja is an Estonian surname meaning "linden creek/stream".
ParreiraPortuguese Means "grapevine" in Portuguese. It was used as a toponymic name for someone from any of various places called Parreira, a topographic name for someone who lived near many grapevines, or an occupational name for someone who worked on a grapevine plantation.
PashaAlbanian, Ottoman Turkish (Anglicized), Turkish (Anglicized) Pasha or pascha (Ottoman Turkish: پاشا, Turkish: paşa), formerly anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries and others... [more]
PashaUrdu, Bengali, Persian, Albanian From the high-ranking Ottoman military rank pasha of disputed origin, perhaps derived from the Persian title پادشاه (padeshah) meaning "king" or from Turkish baş meaning "head" and ağa meaning "lord, master".
PasquaFrench Derived from Pasqua, a nickname for a person born during Easter (which itself is derived from Latin pascua). Famous beaters include Charles Victor Pasqua (1927-2015), a French businessman and a Gaullist politician.
PattaItalian Possibly from patta "draw, settlement", perhaps a nickname given to a negotiator. The same term can also mean "heat, warmth of the hearth".
PedrazaSpanish Refers to the blow received from a stone thrown intentionally to wound someone.
PedreiraPortuguese, Galician Means "quarry, rocky place" in Portuguese and Galician, originally a habitational name from any of various places called Pedreira or A Pedreira.
PedrolaAragonese It indicates familial origin within the eponymous municipality.
PedrosaSpanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Galician Habitational name from any of numerous places named Pedrosa, from pedroso, pedrosa meaning "stoney", an adjectival derivative of pedra meaning "stone".
PendaWolof Penda stems from the Swahili “kupenda” = to love/like/be pleasant. Notable bearer was Fara Penda, a Waalo noble of the Wolof people in West Africa. Waalo was a kingdom on the lower Senegal River in in what is now Senegal and Mauritania.
PennaItalian Possibly from Italian penna "feather, pen", a nickname for a scribe.
PensaItalian Possibly from Italian pensa "think", indicating the bearer was known for being thoughtful or intelligent.
PentaItalian From the name of a hamlet in Salerno, Italy, possibly derived from a southern Italian word meaning "large rock" or "steep slope" (penta, pente, or pendë).
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.
PereaBasque It indicates familial origin within the municipality of Aiara.
PersiaItalian, Spanish Ethnic name or regional name for someone from Persia (modern-day Iran) or some other country with Persian-speaking peoples or a nickname for someone who had visited or traded with one of these countries (see the given name Persis)... [more]
PianaItalian Topographic name from piana ‘plain’, ‘level ground’, from Latin planus, or a habitational name from any of the places named with this word.
PicaItalian, Catalan Nickname for a gossipy or garrulous person, from the central-southern Italian word pica ‘magpie’. Compare Picazo.Catalan: habitational name from any of the numerous places called Pica.Catalan: from either pica ‘pointed object’ (weapon, etc.) or a derivative of picar ‘to prick’.
PietrafesaItalian From the former name of a town in Potenza, Italy (changed to Satriano di Lucania in 1887), an Italianized form of Medieval Latin Petrafixa, composed of petra "rock, stone" and fixa "fixed, fastened, immovable; constant"... [more]
PininfarinaItalian A combination of "pinin", Piedmontese for youngest/smallest brother, and Farina, the Italian variant of Miller. This is the name of the Italian coachbuilder, founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina, later Battista Pininfarina.
PisaItalian Habitational name from the city of Pisa in Tuscany. The city was probably founded by Greek colonists, but before coming under Roman control it was in the hands of the Etruscans, who probably gave it its name... [more]
PischeddaSardinian Thought to derive from the Sardinian word pischedda, which translates to "little fish", possibly indicating a connection to fishing or aquatic occupations that were prevalent in coastal communities.
PisulaPolish, Lithuanian Informal nickname for a scribe or clerk, from a derivative of Polish pisać ‘to write’.
PitaSpanish Spanish and Portuguese: from Spanish, Portuguese pita ‘chicken’ or in some cases possibly from the plant pita ‘pita’, ‘American aloe’, presumably a topographic name.
PlataSpanish Means "silver" in Spanish. Plata could be a habitational name from places in Toledo and Cáceres provinces named Plata, or various places named La Plata.
PortanovaItalian, Portuguese, Galician Habitational name from a place or locality called Portanova "new gate" from the elements neos "new" and porta "door".
PorteraItalian Occupational name for a female servant, from Spanish portera.
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.
PosadaItalian, Caribbean Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Posada, from posada ‘halt’, ‘resting place’. ... [more]
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.
PóvedaSpanish, South American 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.
ProcidaItalian Habitational name from Procida, one of the Flegrean Islands off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. Derived from Ancient Greek Προχύτη (Prokhútē) via Latin Prochyta, of uncertain etymology.