ShalhoubArabic Possibly from a given name based on a word meaning "generous".
ShalitHebrew From Hebrew שליט (shalit) meaning "ruler" or "ruling, governing, dominant".
ShallcrossEnglish Means "person from Shallcross", Derbyshire ("place by the Shacklecross", an ancient stone cross in the High Peak, its name perhaps denoting a cross to which people could be shackled as a penance).
ShamaJapanese (Rare) Combination of Kanji Characters "者" meaning "Person", and "間" meaning "Between", "While". Other Kanji Character Combinations possible.
ShamiArabic Means "Syrian" or "Damascene", derived from Arabic الشام (ash-Sham) referring to both Syria and the Syrian city of Damascus.
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.
ShamounArabic, Assyrian, Jewish Derived from the given name شامون (Shamʿūn), itself an Arabic form of Simon 1, used mainly among Christians and Jews... [more]
ShanChinese From the place name Shan. Cheng Wang, the second king (1115–1079 bc) of the Zhou dynasty, granted to a son the area of Shan, and the son’s descendants adopted the place name as their surname. It comes from the Chinese word meaning "mountain"... [more]
ShanGujarati, Hindi A Gujarati and Hindi surname with an unknown meaning.
ShanChinese From Chinese 单 (shàn) referring to the ancient state of Shan, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Henan province.
ShanderaCzech (Anglicized, Modern) Shandera is anglicized for Šandera, a patronymic for Alexander (son of Alexander), the euiqvalent of Sandoor in Hungarian or Sanders in English.
ShandyEnglish (Rare) Shandy appears as a rare surname, mostly found in English-speaking countries going back to the 1600s. This name may originate from the English dialect adjective meaning "boisterous" or "empty headed; half crazy", of which the earliest record dates to 1691, though any further explanation for its origins are unknown... [more]
ShaoChinese From Chinese 邵 (shào) referring to the ancient fief of Zhao, which existed during the Shang dynasty in what is now Shaanxi province. The name of the fief, 召, had the same pronunciation as the character 邵.
ShaoChinese From Chinese 韶 (sháo) possibly referring to the ancient town of Shao that existed during the Sui dynasty in what is now Guangdong province.
SharonHebrew From an Old Testament place name, in Hebrew שָׁרוֹן (Sharon), which means "plain", referring to the fertile plain near the coast of Israel.
SharptonEnglish Habitational name from Sharperton in Northumberland, possibly so named from Old English scearp "steep" and beorg "hill", "mound" and tun "settlement".
ShastriHindi, Marathi From a title meaning "scholar", itself derived from Sanskrit शास्त्रिन् (shastrin) denoting a person who was well-versed in the shastras.
SheenEnglish Meaning unknown, though possibly a variant of Sean. A famous bearer of the surname is actor Charlie Sheen.
SheeneIrish (Anglicized) Derived from the Gaelic siodhach which means "peaceful." Most commonly used in Ireland and originated in the county's southwest region.
SheikhArabic, Bengali, Urdu From the Arabic title شَيْخ (šayḵ) meaning "chief, chieftain, head". It is used to denote a political or spiritual leader of a Muslim community.
SheldrakeEnglish From a medieval nickname for a dandyish (showy) or vain man, from Middle English scheldrake, the male of a type of duck with brightly-coloured plumage (itself from the East Anglian dialect term scheld "variegated" combined with drake "male duck").
ShelleyEnglish, Irish (Anglicized) Habitational name from any of the three places called Shelley (Essex Suffolk Yorkshire) or from Shelley Plain in Crawley (Sussex)... [more]
ShemtovHebrew (Modern) Means "good name", derived from Hebrew שם (shem) means "name" and טוב (tov) means "good".
ShenChinese From Chinese 沈 (shěn) referring to the ancient state of Shen, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now the Henan province.
ShenChinese From Chinese 慎 (shèn) meaning "cautious, acting sincerely, with care".
ShenbergerEnglish (?) The name Shenberger comes from a common mix up with the archaic Austrian-German surname Schoenberg; meaning "Beautiful Mountain."
ShengChinese From Chinese 盛 (shèng) meaning "flourishing, prosperous", also referring to the ancient state of Sheng which existed during the Zhou dynasty in present-day Shandong province.
ShentonEnglish "Beautiful town" in Old English. Parishes in Leicestershire, and Cheshire.
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.