SheriffEnglish, Scottish Occupational name for a sheriff, derived from Middle English schiref, shreeve, shryve literally meaning "sheriff", or from Old English scir meaning "shire, administrative district" and (ge)refa meaning "reeve"... [more]
SherlockEnglish, Irish Nickname for someone with "fair hair" or "a lock of fair hair."
SherpaNepali, Indian, Tibetan, Bengali From the name of the Sherpa people, a Tibetic ethnic group inhabiting Nepal, China, Bhutan, and the Himalayas. The name itself is derived from Sherpa ཤར (shar) meaning "east" and wa "people" (thus, "people of the east" or "eastern people"), a reference to their origin in northeastern Nepal... [more]
SherpaSherpa From Sherpa ཤརཔ (Sharpa) meaning "Sherpa", a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group.
SherrardEnglish Probably from a medieval nickname based on Middle English shere "bright, fair", with the derogatory suffix -ard.
SherrellEnglish This surname is of English locational origin, from the place in Devonshire called Shirwell. The placename is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Sirewelle, and by 1242 as Shirewill... [more]
ShindeIndian, Marathi Meaning unknown; this was also the name of a Indian dynasty from Maharashtra.
ShindōJapanese From Japanese 新 (shin) meaning "new", 進 (shin) meaning "advance, progress", 信 (shin) meaning "trust, faith", or 真 (shin) meaning "truth, reality" combined with 藤 (dō) meaning "wisteria" or 堂 (dō) meaning "temple, shrine".
ShinglerEnglish An occupational name for someone who laid wooden tiles, or shingles on roofs, from an agent derivative of Middle English schingle ‘shingle’. ... [more]
ShinnEnglish Metonymic occupational name for a Skinner, from Old English scinn, Middle English shin ‘hide’, ‘pelt’. In Middle English this word was replaced by the Norse equivalent, skinn.
ShiotaniJapanese From Japanese 塩 (shio) meaning "salt" and 谷 (tani) meaning "valley".
ShiozakiJapanese From Japanese 塩 (shio) meaning "salt" and 崎 (saki) meaning "peninsula, cape".
ShipEnglish This unusual name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is an occupational surname for "a mariner", or perhaps, occasionally a "ship or boat-builder". The derivation of the name is from the Olde English pre 7th Century scip, ship, in Middle English schip
ShipleyEnglish (Rare) English: habitational name from any of the various places, for example in Derbyshire, County Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire, Sussex, and West Yorkshire, so called from Old English sceap, scip ‘sheep’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.
ShipmanEnglish Occupational name for a mariner, or occasionally perhaps for a boatbuilder, from Middle English "schipman". One notable person is known evildoer Harold Shipman. He was an English general practitioner who is believed to be one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history.
ShippEnglish nickname for a mariner or perhaps a boatbuilder from Middle English schip "ship". Compare Shipman . in addition the name may occasionally also have been topographic or habitational referring to a house or inn distinguished by the sign of a ship.
ShiraiJapanese Means "Purple Thunder". From Japanese 紫 (shi) meaning "purple" and 雷 (rai) meaning "thunder". Notable bearers are joshi wrestlers Mio Shirai and Io Shirai.
ShishidoJapanese Japanese: habitational name taken from a district in Hitachi (now Ibaraki prefecture), written with a variant character for ‘flesh’ and ‘door’. It is found mostly in northeastern Japan.
ShishidoJapanese From Japanese 宍 (shishi) meaning "meat, flesh" and 戸 (to) meaning "door".
ShishkinRussian From Russian шишка (shishka) meaning "cone, pinecone".
ShockleyEnglish (i) perhaps "person from Shocklach", Cheshire ("boggy stream infested with evil spirits"); (ii) perhaps an anglicization of Swiss German Schoechli, literally "person who lives by the little barn"
ShoesmithEnglish occupational name for a blacksmith who either specialized in shoeing horses (a farrier) or in making and fitting iron blades known as shoes such as the tips of spades and the plowshares on plow moldboards from Middle English sho "shoe" (Old English scoh) and smith "smith" (Old English smiþ).
ShoreEnglish From the Old English word scora meaning "the land along the edge of an ocean, sea, lake, or river; a coast."
ShortallEnglish The ancient history of the name Shortall began soon after 1066 when the Norman Conquest of England occurred. It was a name given to a stocky or short-necked person which was in turn derived from the Anglo-Saxon word scorkhals meaning a person with a short neck.
ShresthaNepali Means "excellent" in Nepali, ultimately from Sanskrit श्रेष्ठ (shreshtha) meaning "best, most excellent".
ShresthaNewar From Sanskrit श्रेष्ठ (śrēṣṭha) meaning "important; most excellent; great" in Sanskrit. This is originally used by the Shrestha caste but is now adopted by many castes.
ShreveEnglish Altered English variant of Sheriff. In some cases, this surname may have arisen from a nickname.
ShrewsburyEnglish From Shrewsbury, a market town and the county town of Shropshire, England, derived from Old English scrobb meaning "scrub, brushwood" and burg meaning "fortified place".
ShrimptonEnglish Probably referring to the unknown "Estate of Shrimp"
ShroffIndian, Hindi, Gujarati, Arabic, Urdu, Indian (Parsi) Originally an occupational name for a cashier, money changer or banker, derived from Gujarati સરાફ (saraf) meaning "bullion merchant", itself ultimately derived from Arabic صراف (sarraf) meaning "teller".
ShropshireEnglish Regional name from the county of Shropshire, on the western border of England with Wales.
ShroutGerman This surname is related to the German surname Schroder which means cut as in a wood cutter etc.
ShulmanJewish It is a Jewish-Polish surname that first appeared around 1090. It means Rabai, Gabbai, or Shamash. These are occupations that take place in a Shul-Synagogue. Shul is the Yiddish word for Synagogue. The name litterally means 'man that goes to the Synagogue'.
ShultsJewish (Anglicized, Rare) The name Shults comes from one of those ancient dukedoms, territories and states that would eventually form a part of present day Germany. At its birth in the Middle Ages, it was used to indicate someone who worked as a town-mayor derived from the medieval name "Schultheis" which has the same meaning.... [more]
ShultzGerman (Americanized) Americanized spelling of German Schultz , or a variant spelling of the Jewish name.
SibleyEnglish (British) From the Anglo-Saxons influence in England. Said to be derived from the ancient Sibbelee, a woman’s Christian name, and has been traced through Sibilla, Sybbly, and finally Sibley. Sibilla was the name of a Greek princess who uttered the ancient oracles, and is represented on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel... [more]
SiddiquiArabic, Urdu, Bengali From Arabic صَادِق (ṣādiq) meaning "true, truthful, veracious". It was traditionally used as an honorific title or a nickname for a trustworthy person.
SiderisGreek Greek reduced and altered form of the personal name Isidoros (see Isadore), altered by folk etymology as if derived from sidero ‘iron’ (classical Greek sideron), and hence regarded as an omen name: ‘may the child grow up to be as strong as iron’.
SidiqiPashto, Persian, Afghan Means "the veracious" from Arabic صَدَقَ (ṣadaqa) meaning "to be truthful, to be sincere". It is also a variant of Persian Sadeghi.
SidwellEnglish From an English surname of uncertain origin, possibly originally a habitational name from an unidentified place with a second element from Old English well(a) ‘spring’, ‘stream’, but on the other hand early forms are found without prepositions... [more]
SiebeLow German from a pet form of the personal name Siebert
SieberGerman The roots of the German surname Sieber can be traced to the Old Germanic word "Siebmacher," meaning "sieve maker." The surname is occupational in origin, and was most likely originally borne by someone who held this position
SieckGerman The name is originally spelled "Siecke". Eric Siecke came from Norway and settled in Holstein, Germany in the year 1307. The final "e" was dropped by most of the family, though one branch still retains it... [more]
SiegfriedGerman From a Germanic personal name composed of the elements sigi "victory" and fridu "peace". The German surname has also occasionally been adopted by Ashkenazic Jews.
SievertLow German, Dutch, Swedish Derived from the given name Sievert. A Sievert (Sv) is a unit measuring the effect of ionizing radiation on the human body (called equivalent absorbed radiation dose)... [more]
SignoreItalian from the medieval personal name Signore (from Latin senior "senior elder" genitive senioris). from signore ‘lord’ hence a derisive nickname for a peasant who gave himself airs and graces or an occupational name for someone in the service of a great lord... [more]
SikanderPersian Sikander ultimately comes from Persian literature by the Shahnameh. It is a variant of Alexander along with the word “Eskander”. Both words are used in Persian literature to refer to Alexander the Great... [more]
SikderBengali From a historical title used to denote a person who owned one quarter of land, derived from Bengali সিকি (siki) meaning "quarter, fourth".
SilberGerman, Jewish From Middle High German silber, German Silber "silver"; a metonymic occupational name for a silversmith, or often, in the case of the Jewish surname, an ornamental name.
SilberbergJewish The meaning of the name is "silver mountain" and comes from Germany
SilbermanGerman, Jewish Variant of Silber, with the addition of Middle High German man meaning "man" or Yiddish man meaning "man".
SilbermannGerman, Jewish Variant of Silber. from Middle High German silber German silber "silver" and Middle High German Yiddish man "man" an occupation for a man who worked with silver.
SilbersteinGerman, Jewish From Middle High German silber "silver" and stein "stone"; a habitational name from a place so named in Bavaria, or a topographic name.... [more]
SilerEnglish Anglicized form of Seiler, an occupational name for a rope maker, from German Seil ‘rope’
SilkEnglish, Irish English: metonymic occupational name for a silk merchant, from Middle English selk(e), silk(e) ‘silk’. ... [more]
SillitoeEnglish A different form of Shillito (which is 'a name of unknown derivation and meaning, probably originating in Yorkshire'), borne by British novelist, short-story writer and poet Alan Sillitoe (1928-2010).
SilverstoneEnglish Obviously means "silver stone." In addition to people, this is the name of a racetrack in the village of the same name in England.
SilverthorneEnglish (Rare) Silverthorne, Silverthorn comes from the Old English seolfor "silver" and þorn "thorn bush" and means the family that lived by the "silver or white thorn tree".
SilveyraSpanish Topographic name from silveira 'woodland', a collective derivative of silva (see Silva ); or a habitational name from any of the places called Silveira in Lugo and Pontevedra provinces, Galicia, Iberia.
SilviaPortuguese (Americanized) SILVIA is an Americanized version of the Portuguese surname Silva, which is derived from the Latin silvae and Portuguese silva words meaning “forest,” “woodland,” or “jungle.” This variation of the surname SILVA was often adopted by Portuguese immigrants upon arrival to the United States.
SimancasSpanish It indicates familial origin within either of 2 places: the municipality in the Comarca of Campiña del Pisuerga or the administrative neighborhood of the Madrid district of San Blas-Canillejas.