PitcherEnglish, German From an agent derivative of Middle English pich ‘pitch’, hence an occupational name for a caulker, one who sealed the seams of ships or barrels with pitch. English variant of Pickard... [more]
PlantzEnglish (American) Deriving from England. "Men known as a Planter was an English term for people who were "planted" abroad in order to promote a political, religious cause or for colonization purposes." ... [more]
PlassGerman From Middle Low German plas meaning "place, open square, street". Can also derive from a medieval form of the given name Blasius.
PleasanceEnglish Either (i) from the medieval female personal name Plaisance, literally "pleasantness"; or (ii) "person from Piacenza", Italy (from Latin Placentia, literally "pleasing things").
PleasantAmerican Means being a very bright man in the near future. Also can be used as a alias.
PlettinckFlemish Patronymic form of names beginning with the Germanic element blad meaning "blade" or "leaf".
PlievIngush (Russified), Ossetian (Russified) Russified form of an Ingush and Ossetian name, which is derived from the name of an Ingush teip (clan). The name itself comes from Plievo, the name of a village in Ingushetia, which means "village of the sons of Pkhile", referring to a given name possibly derived from Ossetian пыл (pyl) meaning "elephant".
PolidoriItalian Means "son of Polidoro". Famous bearers include John William Polidori (1795-1821), a physician to Lord Byron and author of 'The Vampyre' (1819), and his sister Frances Polidori (1800-1886), the mother of painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, poet Christina Rossetti, critic William Michael Rossetti, and author Maria Francesca Rossetti.
PolitisGreek Politis derives from the Greek word polis, which means 'city'. Therefore Politis means 'citizen'. According to some historians people with this surname have ancestors who came from Constantinople, which was commonly called Polis in the Byzantine era.
PompiliiItalian, Medieval Latin The surname Pompilii is of Italian origin and is likely derived from the Latin name Pompilius, which is historically linked to NumaPompilius, the legendary second king of Rome known for his wisdom and religious reforms... [more]
PosadaItalian, Caribbean Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Posada, from posada ‘halt’, ‘resting place’. ... [more]
PosthumusDutch, Low German From a personal name which was given to a posthumous child, i.e., one born after the death of his father, derived from Latin postumus "last, last-born" (superlative of posterus "coming after, subsequent") via Late Latin posthumus, which was altered by association with Latin humare "to bury", suggesting death (i.e., thought to consist of post "after" and humus "grave", hence "after death"); the one born after the father's death obviously being the last.
PreusGerman/Norwegian Unknown, but may have come from Prussia or be Jewish. It could mean to jabber. Maybe the same as Preuss, but eliminated the S when immigrating to America.
PrivettFrench, English, Welsh (?) French, from the given name Privat (see Privatus). Also an English habitational name from a place so named in Hampshire, derived from Old English pryfet "privet".
ProrokPolish The meaning of prorok is prophet. It was the maiden name of my maternal grandmother. It is not a common name. Her family was from the southeastern part of Poland.
PrudeEnglish (American) This surname comes from the English word prude. The definition for the word prude is a person who is or claims to be easily shocked by matters relating to sex or nudity.
PrudeAfrican American This surname came from the English word prude. The definition of the word prude is a person who is or claims to be easily shocked by matters relating to sex or nudity.
PrynneEnglish Derived from an Anglo-Norman form of the Late Latin name Primus. A fictional bearer is Hester Prynne, the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel 'The Scarlet Letter' (1850).
PrysWelsh From the Welsh personal name Rhys, which also took the forms Rice and Rees. This name was originally derived from the Old Welsh forename Ris, which means ardour.
PudiwitrCzech Originally Pudivitr, or Pudivitrova(female only). V was switched to W when the family came to the U.S., though there are both names in the U.S.
PulidoSpanish, Spanish (Latin American) Thought to have come through Cuba and Puerto Rico from Burgos, the capital of Castile in northern Spain in the 16th century. The name likely originated there in the 11th century. It means neat, polished, and clean.
PymEnglish Recorded in several forms including Pim, Pimm, Pimme, Pym, and Pymm, this is a surname which at various times has been prominent in the history of England... [more]
QuailEnglish, Manx A variant of Quayle, derived from various patronymics meaning "son of Paul". Alternately, an English nickname derived from the bird, perhaps given to a person who was timid, or known for being promiscuous.
QuennellEnglish From the medieval female personal name Quenilla, from Old English Cwēnhild, literally "woman-battle". This was borne by Peter Quennell (1905-1993), a British poet, critic and historian.
QuillenIrish The surname Quillen is derived from the personal name Hugelin, which is a diminutive of Hugh. The Gaelic form of the name is Mac Uighilin.
RaadDutch Metonymic occupational name for an adviser, counselor, or member of a town council, from raad "advice, counsel", or derived from a given name containing the element (see rēdaz).
RaatDutch From Middle Dutch raet "advice, counsel". Could be an occupational name for a member of a council, or a short form of names containing rēdaz, such as Radulf... [more]
RaatikainenFinnish A family name first registered in the form Radikain in the 16th or 17th century. Derives from the German man's name Konrad which in Finland was shortened to Radi.
RagettliRomansh Derived from a truncated form of Anrig in combination with the diminutive suffix -ett and the diminutive suffix -li.
RaghavanIndian (Kerala, Tamil Nadu): Hindu name from Sanskrit raghava ‘derived from Raghu’, ‘descendant of Raghu’ (an epithet of the god Rama, incarnation of Vishnu) + the Tamil-Malayalam third-person masculine singular suffix -n... [more]