SaittaSicilian, Italian Means "arrow" or "lightning bolt" in Sicilian, from Latin sagitta via sajitta. Probably a nickname for a quick or fast-footed person, though it may have also been a metonymic occupational name for a fletcher.
SakaTurkish Either an occupational name for a seller or deliverer of water or a nickname meaning "goldfinch".
SakatokuJapanese From Japanese 酒 (saka), the combining form of 酒 (sake) meaning "alcoholic beverage, rice wine" and 徳 (toku) meaning "benevolence, virtue", referring to a wine server.
SakerEnglish Occupational name for a maker of sacks or bags, derived from an agent derivative of Old English sacc meaning "sack, bag".
SakuraiJapanese From the Japanese 桜 or 櫻 (sakura) meaning "cherry blossom" or 桃 (sakura or momo) meaning "peach" and 井 (i) meaning "well, mineshaft, pit".
SaleEnglish, French English: from Middle English sale ‘hall’, a topographic name for someone living at a hall or manor house, or a metonymic occupational name for someone employed at a hall or manor house. ... [more]
SaleSardinian Derived from Sardinian sale "salt", this name denoted a producer or seller of salt.
SalmDutch Denoted a person from any of various places called Salm. It could also derive from Dutch zalm meaning "salmon", referring to someone who lived near a sign depicting them, or to someone who fished for salmon.
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.
SametGerman, Jewish, Yiddish German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of velvet, from Yiddish samet ‘velvet’ (German Samt, ultimately from Greek hexamiton, a compound of hex ‘six’ + mitos ‘thread’).
SandanoItalian Derived from an older form of Italian sandalo "sandal (plant), sandalwood", ultimately from Sanskrit चन्दन (candana). Possibly an occupational name for someone who crafted with the wood, or perhaps a nickname for someone who often wore a sandalwood scent.
SarangapaniHindi From the sanskrit words Sarangan "bow of Vishnu" and pani "hand".
SardaItalian From the feminine form of Sardo or from sarda "large sardine" either a nickname or occupational name for selling sardines.
SardellaItalian From sardella "sardine" used as either an occupational name for a fisher or seller of sardines or a nickname for a thin person.
SardinaItalian, Spanish, Galician From sardina Galician sardiña "sardine" used for someone as a catcher or seller of the fish or a nickname for a thin person.
SarverEnglish, Jewish English and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic) occupational name from Old French serveur (an agent derivative of server ‘to serve’), Yiddish sarver ‘servant’.
SauerbierGerman From German sauer meaning "sour" and bier meaning "beer". It originally referred to a brewer of sour beer.
SauerweinGerman Occupational nickname for someone who sold sour wine, or perhaps a nickname for someone with a sour disposition, from Middle High German sur "sour" + win "wine", i.e. vinegar.
ŠaulisLithuanian Occupational name from Lithuanian šaulys meaning "rifleman".
SaulnierFrench In Middle French (the form of French spoken from 1340 to 1610), it literally means "salt merchant".
ScaloniItalian Likely derived from Italian scala meaning "ladder, stairs". It may have originated as a occupational name for someone who built or worked with ladders.
ScanavaccaItalian Possibly an occupational name for a butcher, from scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and vacca "cow".
ScanavinoItalian Meaning uncertain, possibly related to scanalare "to cut a groove, to plough" and vino "wine".
ScannadinariItalian (Rare) Taken from the Italian scanna meaning "slaying" and dinari meaning "money" in the plural form. Therefore, killer of money.
ScannapiecoItalian Occupational name for a butcher, from scannare "to slaughter, to cut the throat of" and piecuro "sheep, lamb".
ScannellaItalian Possibly from Italian scannellare "to channel, to cut a groove", itself from Latin scamnum "ridge (of earth formed by plowing)".
ScarcellaItalian From Italian "scarcella", a dessert enjoyed during Easter from the Italian region of Apulia, possibly referring to a baker who would make them.
ScarduzioItalian From the Italian verb scardare, meaning to husk a hazelnut or chestnut. Possibly a metaphor for a sculptor who 'husked' a sculpture from stone.
ScarlatoItalian From Sicilian scarlatu meaning "scarlet" or "purple". Given as an occupational name for a dyer, or as a nickname for someone who habitually wore scarlet or who had bright red hair.
SchaafGerman Metonymic occupational name for a shepherd, from Middle High German schāf ‘sheep’. In some cases it may have been a nickname for someone thought to resemble a sheep, or a habitational name for someone living at a house distinguished by the sign of a sheep... [more]
SchaalGerman, Dutch, French, Jewish Either a nickname for a braggart or a market crier, (derived from Middle High German schal meaning "noise, bragging"), an occupational name for someone who made dishes for scales and vessels for drinking, (from Middle Low German and Dutch schale "dish"), a habitational name from Schaala in Thuringia or the Schaalsee lake near Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, or a topographic name for someone living on marshy land, (from Dutch schald "shallow")... [more]
SchaapDutch Means "sheep" in Dutch, an occupational name for a shepherd. Alternatively, it could be a nickname for someone who looked or behaved like a sheep in some way, or who lived by a sign depicting a sheep.
SchachtGerman, Flemish From Middle Low German and Middle Dutch schacht "shaft; pole, tunnel", a metonymic occupational name for someone who made shafts for tools or weapons, or who worked in a mineshaft.
SchadeGerman, Dutch From schade "damage, injury", a derivative of schaden "to do damage, harm, hurt", generally a nickname for a thug or clumsy person, or, more particularly, a robber knight, who raided others’ lands.
SchaffterGerman An occupational name for a shaft maker or maker of tools and weapons, from Middle Low German schaft "shaft, spear, lance."
SchalkGerman, Dutch From Old High German scalc "servant, retainer, jester", which eventually evolved to mean "joker, rogue, knave". Could be an occupational name for an attendant or jester, a nickname for someone mischievous, or derived from a given name containing scalc as an element, such as Godschalk.
SchatzGerman, Jewish German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) metonymic occupational name for a treasurer, from German Schatz ‘treasure’, Middle High German scha(t)z. It may also have been a nickname for a rich man (or ironically for a miser), or else for a well-liked person or a ladies’ favorite, from the use of the vocabulary word as a term of endearment... [more]
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.
ScheetzGerman Anglicized version of the German surname, Schütz, "archer," "yeoman," "protect."
ScheidGerman, Jewish Either a topographic name for someone who lived near a boundary (between two valleys etc.) or crossroads Middle High German scheide, a habitational name from any of various places called ScheidtScheiden... [more]
SchiavoItalian Means both "Slav" and "slave" in Italian, the latter meaning deriving from the former. Was most likely given as an ethnonym to people from Eastern Europe, though in some cases it may have been a nickname, or an occupational name for a servant.
SchiffGerman, Jewish From Middle High German Schif "ship", indicating the bearer was either a sailor, or lived in a house distinguished by a ship sign.
SchildGerman, Dutch Occupational name for a maker or painter of shields, from Middle High German, Middle Dutch schilt "shield".
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.
SchildknechtGerman From the occupation of a page or squire for a knight derived from schilht "shield" and kneht "servant".
SchirmacherGerman occupational name for someone who makes harnesses and bridles for horses from Middle High German geschirre "harness" and macher "maker".
SchmelzerGerman occupational name for a smelter from an agent derivative of Middle High German smelzen German schmelzen "to smelt metal" or "make glass".
SchmidlappGerman Derived from Middle High German smit "smith, metalworker" and lap(pe) meaning "cloth, patch, rag".
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.
SchmuckGerman, German (Austrian) From Middle High German smuc meaning "jewel", "finery", hence a metonymic occupational name for a jeweler, or a nickname for someone who wore a prominent jewel or ornament.North German: nickname from Middle Low German smuck meaning "neat", "dainty".
SchnitzGerman From Upper German schnitz, meaning "woodcutter".
SchnitzerGerman From Upper German schnitz, referring to someone who cuts wood, ultimately from Middle High German snitzære "woodcutter, carver, crossbow maker".
SchoenDutch Means "shoe" in Dutch, an occupational name for a shoemaker.
SchoendienstGerman Occupational name meaning "beautiful service", from Middle High German schoen "beautiful" and dienst "service, duty". A famous bearer was the American baseball player Albert "Red" Schoendienst (1923-2018).
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.
SchopffGerman German (Schöff): in most cases an occupational name from Middle High German scheffe ‘lay assessor at a court, juror’ (modern German Schöffe)
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".
SchrootDutch Possibly an altered form of des Groot via Sgroot, meaning "son of the Groot", itself a byname meaning "great, large". Alternatively, it could be related to schroot "scrap (metal)" or the older scrode "to cut", an occupational name for someone who worked with metal, or perhaps a tailor.
SchruijerDutch Possibly a variant form of Schreier, from Dutch schreien or schreeuwen, meaning "to scream, shout, yell".
SchuchGerman Likely derived from SCHUMACHER (Shoe Maker)
SchuhGerman, Jewish Occupational name for a maker or repairer of shoes, derived from Middle High German schuoch meaning "shoe". In some cases, it may have denoted a person to a house distinguished by the sign of a shoe.
SchutzGerman Occupational surname for an archer or a watchman, from Middle High German schützen "to guard, protect". Also a habitational name from Schutz, a place near Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
SchweinGerman Metonymic occupational name for a swineherd from Middle High German swīn "hog".
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").
SchwertnerGerman Either a habitational name for someone from Schwerta in Silesia or an occupational name for a sword maker.
SchwimerGerman, Jewish Occupational name meaning "swimmer" in German. As a Jewish name, it may be ornamental.
SchwingGerman Occupational name for someone whose job was to swingle flax, i.e. to beat the flax with a swingle in order to remove the woody parts of the plant prior to spinning, from Middle German swingen meaning "to swing" or swing meaning "swingle".
SciortinoItalian Occupational name from a diminutive of sciorta, sciurta "city guard, watchman, policeman" (Arabic ̣shuṛtī).
ScognamiglioItalian Literally "millet thresher", probably from the Neapolitan verb scugnà ("to thresh") and miglio ("millet"), denoting cereal threshers.
ScrimshawMedieval English Referring to one who was a fencing-master, coming from the old French "eskermisseour", meaning "fencer" and which came in turn from the old high German word "skirmen", which meant "to defend".
ScuderiSicilian Patronymic form of Scudero, a status name equivalent to English Squire, from scudero "shield-bearer", Latin scutarius, an agent derivative of scutum "shield"... [more]
SearsEnglish Version of Sayer. Used in the United States. Famous bearer of the name is Richard Warren Sears, one of the founders of Sears, Roebuck and Co.
SegaleEnglish, Italian Respelling of SEGAL. A famous bearer is Mario A. Segale, the inspiration for Nintendo's video game character Mario
ŠegrtSerbian Derived from šegrt (шегрт), meaning "apprentice".
SeidJewish Metonymic occupational name from German Seide and Yiddish zayd "silk"
SeideGerman, Jewish German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German side, German Seide ‘silk’ (from Late Latin seta, originally denoting animal hair), hence a metonymic occupational name for a manufacturer or seller of silk.
SeiderGerman Originating in the region of Saxony. Name of a silk merchant, from the German word for silk: seide
SeifGerman, Jewish Metonymic occupational name for a soap maker, from Middle High German seife, German Seife 'soap'.
SeilerGerman German and Jewish occupational surname for a rope maker.
SeimUpper German German: metonymic occupational name for a beekeeper, from Middle High German seim ‘honey’.
ŞekerciTurkish Means "confectioner, candy seller" in Turkish.
SekretarevmRussian Derived from the Russian word секретарь meaning "secretary."
SellEstonian Sell is an Estonian surname meaning "apprentice".
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.
SemenzaItalian From semenza ‘seeds’ possibly used for a seed merchant.
SeminarioSpanish (Latin American) Means "seminar" in Spanish, likely denoting an academic person. Miguel Grau Seminario (1834-1879) was the most renowned Peruvian naval officer and hero of the naval battle of Angamos during the War of the Pacific
SenapatiOdia, Bengali, Assamese Means "commander" in Sanskrit, from सेना (sena) meaning "army" and पति (pati) meaning "lord".
SenatoreItalian status name from senatore "senator" (from Latin senator) or a nickname for a stately or perhaps pompous man.
SénécalFrench status name for a seneschal an official in a large household who was responsible for overseeing day-to-day domestic arrangements from Old French seneschal (of ancient Germanic origin composed of the elements sini "old" and scalc "servant")... [more]
SénéchalFrench Variant of Sénécal, a status name for a seneschal an official in a large household who was responsible for overseeing day-to-day domestic arrangements from Old French seneschal (of ancient Germanic origin composed of the elements sini "old" and scalc "servant").
SennGerman Derived from the Middle High German word senne meaning "dairy farmer".
SennaPortuguese Possibly coming from the surname "Sanna", it may mean "one with a big protruding tooth".... [more]
SenokosovRussian Derived from Russian сенокос (senokos) meaning "haymaking, hayfield".
SeppäläFinnish A Finnish surname and toponym derived from the occupation of blacksmith ("seppä")
SerdarTurkish, Croatian Turkish form of Persian sardar, meaning "chief", "leader", "field marshal".
SerebrennikovRussian, Ukrainian, Kazakh, Belarusian Denoted somebody who engaged in silver mining or a silversmith, derived from Russian серебреник (serébrenik) meaning "silver coin". This name is also found in Kazakhstan and Belarus.
SethIndian, Hindi, Odia, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi Means "merchant, banker" in Hindi, ultimately from Sanskrit श्रेष्ठ (shreshtha) meaning "best, chief, most excellent".
SethiIndian, Odia, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu Occupational name for a merchant from Sanskrit श्रेष्ठ (shreshtha) meaning "best, chief, most excellent".
SethnaIndian (Parsi) Gujarati Parsi name meaning "pertaining to the banker", derived from Hindi सेठ (seṭh) meaning "merchant, banker" (see Seth).
SetzerGerman, Jewish Derived from either Middle High German "setzen", used to refer to market inspectors and tax officials, or Yiddish "setser", a typesetter.
SevierEnglish Occupational name for a sieve-maker, Middle English siviere (from an agent derivative of Old English sife "sieve").
SeydouxFrench, French (Swiss), Occitan Derived from the Germanic names Sedulius, Sedulfus or Segedolfus. Another theory suggests Occitan roots; it might be an occupational name for someone who worked with silk, derived from Occitan sedós meaning "silky, soft"... [more]
SeynaeveFlemish Either derived from Old French chenave "hemp", an occupational name for a hemp farmer, or a cognate of German Senft "mustard".
SeysBelgian, Flemish Possibly derived from a pet form of François, or from Middle Dutch cijns "toll, tribute, feudal tax".
SferrazzaItalian Possibly derived from sferra meaning "old horseshoe, rusty knife or sword, piece of junk" or figuratively "good-for-nothing, worthless man", an occupational name for a scrap-metal merchant, or a nickname based on the latter sense... [more]
SharettHebrew Means "minister, servant", from Hebrew שָׁרַת (sharath) literally meaning "to minister, to serve". This surname was adopted by Moshe Sharett (1894-1965), born Moshe Chertok, who was the first foreign minister and later the second Prime Minister of Israel.
ShastriHindi, Marathi From a title meaning "scholar", itself derived from Sanskrit शास्त्रिन् (shastrin) denoting a person who was well-versed in the shastras.
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.
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]