RuiterDutch Derived from the Dutch noun ruiter meaning "rider, horseman, knight".
RunnerEnglish (American) Probably an altered spelling of German Ronner, annoccupational name for a runner or messenger, a lightly armed mounted soldier. Compare Renner. UK The surname Runner was first found in Lancashire. One of the first records of the family was found in the year 1246 when Alan de Runacres held estates in that shire... [more]
RusherGerman (Americanized) Americanized version of the German surname Rüscher or Roshcer. Either a topographic name for someone who lived among rushes or an occupational name for someone who created things out of rushes.
RüsterGerman Means "elm (tree)" in German. Could alternatively derive from rüsten to "to equip, to arm", an occupational name for someone who provided weapons to an army.
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]
RydingerSwedish (Rare) Either a combination of Swedish ryd "woodland clearing" and the common surname suffix -ing "belonging to, coming from" (compare Norling), a variant of Ryding, or a Swedish form of German Rüdinger.
SaengerGerman, Jewish Occupational name for a chorister or a nickname for someone who liked singing, from Middle High German senger, German Sänger meaning "singer".
SakerEnglish Occupational name for a maker of sacks or bags, derived from an agent derivative of Old English sacc meaning "sack, bag".
SalanderSwedish Meaning uncertain. Possibly a variant of Selander or a combination of an unexplained first element and the common surname suffix -ander.
SaldívarSpanish Castilianized variant of Basque Zaldibar, a habitational name from a place so named in Biscay province. The place name is of uncertain derivation: it may be from zaldu ‘wood’, ‘copse’ or from zaldi ‘horse’ + ibar ‘water meadow’, ‘fertile plain’.
SallwasserGerman It is derived from the German words (Salz) meaning "salt", & (Salweide) meaning "water".
SalterEnglish Occupational name for an extractor or seller of salt (a precious commodity in medieval times), from Middle English salt 'salt' + the agent suffix -er.
SaluäärEstonian Saluäär is an Estonian surname meaning "grove edge".
SamperCatalan Habitational name from any of the places in Catalonia called Sant Pere, generally as the result of the dedication of a local church or shrine to St. Peter (Sant Pere).
SandlerEnglish Norman origin. Habitational name from Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët in La Manche, which gets its name from the dedication of its church to St. Hilary, or alternatively from either of the places, in La Manche and Somme, called Saint-Lô... [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]
SarasibarBasque From sarats "willow" and ibar "valley". It's the name of a village in Navarre.
SardarIndian, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu From a title meaning "chief, leader", derived from Persian سر (sar) meaning "head, authority" and the suffix دار (dar) meaning "possessor".
SarsourArabic Means "cockroach" or "roach" in Arabic.
SarverEnglish, Jewish English and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic) occupational name from Old French serveur (an agent derivative of server ‘to serve’), Yiddish sarver ‘servant’.
SarwarUrdu, Bengali From the Persian title سرور (sarvar) meaning "lord, master".
SchachnerGerman German origins (as told to me by my family); popular in Austria and also has Jewish and Slavic origins, according to the internet/ancestry.com.
SchallerUpper German From Middle High German word "schal," which means "noise," or "bragging," and as such is was thought to have originally been a nickname for a braggart, or for a market crier.
SchankweilerGerman From the name of a German municipality, derived from Schank "bar, pub, tavern" and Weiler "hamlet".
SchattnerGerman, Jewish Habitational name for someone from any of several places named Schaten or Schatten, or a topographic name for someone living in a shady location, from Middle High German schate "shade", "protection".
SchauerGerman The Schauer surname comes from the Middle High German word "schouwen" meaning "to inspect;" as such, the name is thought to have originally been occupational, for some kind of inspector, perhaps an official of a market.
ScheideggerGerman, German (Swiss) Topographic name for someone who lived near a boundary or watershed. The name was derived from the Old German word SCHEIDE, meaning 'to part, to divide'. It may also have been a habitation name from any of the numerous places named with this word.
SchilderDutch Means "painter" in Dutch, derived from Middle Dutch schildere "shield painter" (from schilt "shield"), originally denoting someone who painted coats of arms on shields. An occupational name for someone who painted houses, shields, or anything else.
SchildhauerGerman First appeared during the Middle Ages in Central Europe/Germany. The name means "Shield-Maker" and suggests correlation to Blacksmiths or or other forms of metalwork in the time period.
SchillerGerman Nickname for someone with a squint, from an agent derivative of Middle High German schilhen, schiln 'to squint'.
SchirmacherGerman occupational name for someone who makes harnesses and bridles for horses from Middle High German geschirre "harness" and macher "maker".
SchirokauerGerman, Yiddish Derived from the town of Sieraków in the Silesian Voivodeship in Poland.
SchlanserRomansh Derived from the place name Schlans, a former municipality in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.
SchlatterUpper German Topographic name from Middle High German slâte "reedy place", or a habitational name from any of several places named Schlatt, from the same word.
SchleicherGerman Could derive from the word schleifen meaning "to grind" but most likely is derived from the word schleicher "to sneak, creeper".
SchleiderGerman Derived from places named Schleid or Schleiden.
SchleiferGerman Derived from the word schleifen "to grind, polish".
SchleigerGerman Occupational name for a maker or seller of scarves and veils from Middle Low German sleigersleier "(head)scarf".
SchmelzerGerman occupational name for a smelter from an agent derivative of Middle High German smelzen German schmelzen "to smelt metal" or "make glass".
SchmidlkoferGerman, German (Austrian) Occupational name for a farmer who was also a blacksmith, derived from a diminutive of Middle High German smit meaning "smith" and the suffix -kofer (a variant of -hofer).
SchmidtbergerGerman A distinguishing name for someone named Berger who worked as a blacksmith, or a habitational name for someone from any of several places called Schmidtberg in Bavaria and Switzerland.
SchnitzerGerman From Upper German schnitz, referring to someone who cuts wood, ultimately from Middle High German snitzære "woodcutter, carver, crossbow maker".
SchoenwetterGerman German (Schönwetter): nickname for someone with a happy disposition, from Middle High German schœn ‘beautiful’, ‘fine’, ‘nice’ + wetter ‘weather’.
SchopenhauerGerman Derived from German schöpfen meaning "to scoop, ladle" and hauen meaning "to chop", referring to a maker of wooden and metal scoops and buckets. This name was borne by the German pessimist philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), the author of the 1818 book The World as Will and Representation among other works.
SchorrGerman In the south a topographic name from Middle High German schor(re) 'steep rock', 'rocky shore'.
SchottlanderGerman, Jewish From German Schottland "Scotland" and, in some cases, denoted an immigrant from Scotland or Ireland. As a Jewish surname, it is most often an ornamental name.
SchottlerGerman Occupational name for a wood turner, Middle Low German scoteler (an agent derivative of scotel ‘wooden bowl’).
SchreinerGerman Occupational surname for a joiner (maker of wooden furniture), ultimately from Middle High German schrīnære.
SchrepferGerman (Swiss), German Derived from from Middle High German schrepfer "barber-surgeon's assistant", ultimately from the verb schrepfen "to bleed someone".
SchruijerDutch Possibly a variant form of Schreier, from Dutch schreien or schreeuwen, meaning "to scream, shout, yell".
SchuelerGerman The surname Schueler was first found in southern Germany, where the name was closely identified in early mediaeval times with the feudal society which would become prominent throughout European history.
SchullerGerman Possibly a habitational name from Schüller in the Eifel.
SchumerJewish, German (Rare) Possibly taken from Middle Low German schumer meaning "good for nothing, vagabond". Notable bearers are American comedian Amy Schumer (b. 1981) and American politician Charles Ellis "Chuck" Schumer (b... [more]
SchweinsteigerGerman Occupational name for a pig farmer, an overseer of pigs or a nickname for someone who rode a pig, derived from Middle High German swīn meaning "hog, swine" and stīger meaning "foreman, mine inspector"... [more]
SchwerdtfegerGerman occupational name for an armorer or specifically for a servant whose job was to polish swords Middle High German Middle Low German swertfeger (from swert "sword" and an agent derivative of fegen "to polish or clean").
SeagerEnglish, German (Modern) English: from the Middle English personal name Segar, Old English S?gar, composed of the elements s? ‘sea’ + gar ‘spear’.... [more]
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.
SegerSwedish, English, Dutch Means "victory" in Swedish. It is also a variant of the English surname Seager or derived from the Germanic given name Sigiheri "victory army".
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.
SellmeyerGerman Occupational name for the steward of a hall or manor house from Middle High German sal "hall residence" and meier "steward" (see Meyer 1).
SelmerGerman Teutonic name meaning "hall master" for a steward or keeper of a large home or settlement.
SelterEstonian Selter is an Estonian surname derived from either "selts" meaning "society", "union", "association", or "selters" (of German origin) meaning "seltzer".
SetherNorwegian Habitational name from any of numerous farmsteads named Seter or Sæter.
SetzerGerman, Jewish Derived from either Middle High German "setzen", used to refer to market inspectors and tax officials, or Yiddish "setser", a typesetter.
ShamirHebrew Derived from Hebrew שָׁמִיר (shamiyr) meaning "thorn, briar, thistle" or "flint, diamond, emery, adamant". It was borne by the Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir (1915-2012), whose birth name was either Yitzhak Yezernitsky or Icchak Jaziernicki.
ShatnerGerman (Anglicized), Jewish (Anglicized) Anglicized form of Schattner. A notable bearer was Canadian actor William Shatner (1931-), who is known for his roles as Captain James T. Kirk in 'Star Trek', T.J. Hooker in 'T.J. Hooker', Denny Crane in 'Boston Legal', and the Priceline Negotiator in Priceline.com commercials.
ShazarHebrew Referred to someone living near acacia trees that tend to be twisted, derived from Hebrew שָׁזַר (shazar) literally meaning "to twist, to be twisted, to intertwine". A famous bearer was the Israeli president, author and poet Zalman Shazar (1889-1974), who was born Shneur Zalman Rubashov.
ShemerJewish 1 Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant spelling of Schimmer.... [more]
ShenbergerEnglish (?) The name Shenberger comes from a common mix up with the archaic Austrian-German surname Schoenberg; meaning "Beautiful Mountain."
ShinglerEnglish An occupational name for someone who laid wooden tiles, or shingles on roofs, from an agent derivative of Middle English schingle ‘shingle’. ... [more]
ShinmarAncient Hebrew (Hellenized, Archaic, ?) 'Shin'; literally translated as 'god', 'crown'. 'Mar'; Hebrew translation for 'master'. Used by Ancient Hebrew descendants/Jews still existing in Middle East & India. Also a city that exists in West Punjab with majority Hebrew/Jews & synagogues.... [more]
ShipperGerman, Jewish, English German and Jewish Cognate and English variant of Schipper. occupational name from Middle English shippere "shipman sailor seaman" (Old English scipere) perhaps also with the sense "skipper" (Middle Low German schipper).