SaineiKorean (Japanized, Rare) From Japanese 載寧 (Sainei), the Japanese reading of Korean Hanja 載寧 (Chaeryŏng/Jaeyeong) meaning "Chaeryŏng", a clan or a county in province of South Hwanghae in North Korea where the clan originated.
SainiIndian Indian (Panjab): Hindu (Arora) and Sikh name derived from the name of an Arora clan.
Saint-JustFrench From Saint Justus of Beauvais, a Catholic Saint. A famous bearer of this name is Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, a figure of the French Revolution who was guillotined.
SaithongThai From Thai สาย (sai) meaning "line, wire, string" and ทอง (thong) meaning "gold".
SajiJapanese From 佐 (sa) meaning "help, assist" and 治 (ji) meaning "govern, administer, rule, cure".
SamonJapanese (Rare) This surname combines 左 (sa, sha, hidari) meaning "left" or 佐 (sa) meaning "assistant, help" with 門 (mon, kado, to) meaning "gate."... [more]
SamrithKhmer Means "refined, polished, clean, pure" in Khmer.
SamsonFilipino From Hokkien 三孫 (sam-sun) meaning "third grandson".
SanjouJapanese From Japanese 三 (san) meaning "three" and 條 or 条 (jou) meaning "paragraph".
San JuanSpanish Means "Saint John", derived from Spanish santo "saint" combined with Juan 1. This is a habitational name for a person from any of various places called San Juan, so named for a local shrine or church dedicated to Saint John (San Juan).
SankeyEnglish, Irish Habitational name from a place in Lancashire, which derived from the name of an ancient British river, perhaps meaning "sacred, holy." ... [more]
ŞanlıTurkish Means "famous, glorious, magnificent" in Turkish.
SaraçTurkish Means "saddler, saddlemaker" in Turkish.
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".
SarnowPolabian (Germanized), German From the village of Sarnow in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Surname of the mayor of Stralsund Karsten Sarnow.
SarverEnglish, Jewish English and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic) occupational name from Old French serveur (an agent derivative of server ‘to serve’), Yiddish sarver ‘servant’.
Sauve'French Sauve' from France to Canada. Changed probably due to an "a" and an "o" confusion in cursive. My granfather's was typo-ed on WW II old men's sign up in MA. or RI, USA.
SavardFrench Either from Old French savart meaning "wasteland" or the Germanic elements sab of uncertain meaning and hard meaning "brave, hardy".
SaxonEnglish Derived from the tribe of the Saxons from the Anglo-Saxon element seaxa "a Saxon" derived Germanic elements sahso and sahsaz derived from sahsą "knife"... [more]
SaysonFilipino From Hokkien 世孫 (sì sun) meaning "direct lineal descendant" or 西孫 (sai sun) meaning "western grandchild".
SaytoJapanese (Russified) Alternate transcription of Saitō more commonly used by ethnic Japanese living in parts of the former Soviet Union and Sakhalin Japanese residing on Sakhalin Island in Russia.
SaytouJapanese (Russified) Alternate transcription of Saitou more commonly used by ethnic Japanese living in parts of the former Soviet Union and Sakhalin Japanese residing on Sakhalin Island in Russia.
SayyidArabic From an honorific title meaning "master, lord" in Arabic, used as a surname by descendants of the prophet Muhammad.
SazaJapanese From Japanese 佐 (sa) meaning "to assist, to help" and 座 (za) meaning "seat."
ScalaItalian Means "ladder, stair, scale" in Italian, a habitational name from any of various places named Scala, or a topographic name for someone who lived near a prominent staircase or terraced land... [more]
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.
SchaumburgGerman, Belgian Habitational name from any of the places called Schaumburg or Schauenburg in Germany, or Schauwberg in Brabant, Belgium. Derived from schūm "slag, cinder" and burg "mountain, hill".
ScheeleGerman, Dutch, Swedish (Rare) From Middle Low German schele and Dutch scheel meaning "squinting, cross-eyed". A notable bearer was German-Swedish pharmaceutical chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742-1786) who discovered oxygen and identified several other elements.
SchelinSwedish Combination of an unknown element (probably derived from a place name) and the common surname suffix -in.
ScheuerGerman, Jewish Derived from Middle High German schiure meaning "barn, granary", denoting somebody who lived in a barn of some sort.
SchevingIcelandic, Danish (Rare) From the name of the Danish town Skævinge whose name might be derived from Old Danish skap "something excavated".
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.
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.
SchillingGerman, Dutch, Jewish Means "shilling (coin)", possibly a nickname for a serf who had paid his rent or fee to his lord for his freedom. It could also be a habitational name derived from Schillingen, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany... [more]
SchleicherGerman Could derive from the word schleifen meaning "to grind" but most likely is derived from the word schleicher "to sneak, creeper".
SchmeichelGerman Nickname for a flatterer, derived from Middle High German smeichen literally meaning "to flatter". Famous bearers of this surname include Peter Schmeichel (1963-) and his son Kasper Schmeichel (1986-), both of whom are Danish soccer goalkeepers.
SchmidlappGerman Derived from Middle High German smit "smith, metalworker" and lap(pe) meaning "cloth, patch, rag".
SchmoeckelGerman (East Prussian) Originally Smekel. In the 17th century the ‘Sm’ in Low German was gradually replaced by the ‘Schm’ from High German. ... [more]
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).
SchrijversDutch Dutch cognate of Scriven. A famous bearer was the Dutch soccer goalkeeper Piet Schrijvers (1946-2022).
SchumannGerman, Jewish An occupational name for a shoemaker, cobbler. From Middle High German scuoh "shoe" and man "man".
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]
SchürrleGerman Variant of Schurr. A famous bearer is the retired German soccer player André Schürrle (1990-).
SchwartzmanJewish Nickname for a dark-skinned or dark-haired person, from German schwarz meaning "black" and man meaning "man, person".
SchwarzbachGerman Habitational name from any of several places so named literally "dark stream", derived from the elements swarz "black" and bah "stream".
SchwarzschildGerman Derives from Old High German swarz meaning "black" and Middle Dutch schilt meaning "shield". A famous bearer of this surname is physicist and astronomer Karl Schwarzschild. (1873-1916)
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.
SedgwickEnglish Habitational name from Sedgwick in Cumbria, so named from the Middle English personal name Sigg(e) (from Old Norse Siggi or Old English Sicg, short forms of the various compound names with the first element "victory") + Old English wic "outlying settlement", "dairy farm"; or from Sedgewick in Sussex, named with Old English secg (sedge) + wic.
SedinSwedish Two famous bearers are the Swedish ice hockey players, and twins, Henrik and Daniel Sedin (b. 1980).
SeelyMedieval English Means "Blessed", "Happy", and/or "Lucky." By adding an Un- to Seely makes it "Unblessed", "Unhappy", and/or "Unholy." Used primarily in Northern England and Southern Scotland during the Middle English period but is derived from the Old English sǣl and gesǣlig... [more]
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".
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.
SeinfeldGerman, Jewish From the German word sein "to be" and the word of German Jewish origin feld which means "field". It was a name given to areas of land that had been cleared of forest.
SeinoJapanese From Japanese 清 (sei) meaning "clear, pure, clean" and 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness".
SeixasPortuguese Habitational name from any of various places called Seixas in Galicia, Spain, most likely derived from Galician seixo meaning "pebble, stone" (ultimately from Latin saxum).
SelaHebrew Means "rock" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of a city, the capital of Edom. Famous bearer is the Israeli model, actress and television presenter Rotem Sela (born 1983)
SeldenEnglish Habitational name derived from Seldon in Hatherleigh, Devon, and possibly also Selden Farm in Patching, Sussex. The former likely derives from Old English sele "great hall, dwelling, house" (see saliz) and dun "hill, mountain".
ŠeliehBelarusian Derived from Belarusian шэлег (šelieh), a word used for various medieval small coins, primarily for silver and copper solidi, ultimately from the German word Schilling meaning "shilling".
SelmerGerman Teutonic name meaning "hall master" for a steward or keeper of a large home or settlement.
SelwynEnglish from the Middle English personal name Selewin (Old English Selewine perhaps from sele "manor" or sǣl "happiness prosperity" and wine "friend")... [more]
SemakUkrainian, Russian East Slavic surname derived from a Slavic root meaning "seven". This was used as a nickname for someone who was associated with this number and was mainly given to the seventh child.
SengchanhLao Means "moonlight" from Lao ແສງ (seng) meaning "light" and ຈັນ (chanh) meaning "moon".
ŞengülTurkish From Turkish şen meaning "happy, cheerful" and gül meaning "rose".
SenjūJapanese From Japanese 千 (sen) meaning "thousand" and 住 (jū) meaning "abode, residence".
SennaPortuguese Possibly coming from the surname "Sanna", it may mean "one with a big protruding tooth".... [more]
SenoJapanese From Japanese 瀬 (se) meaning "rapids, current" and 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness".
SenooJapanese From 妹 meaning "younger sister" combined with 尾 meaning "tail, end, foot of a mountain".
SenriJapanese (Rare) This surname is used as 千里 with 千 (sen, chi) meaning "thousand" and 里 (ri, sato) meaning "league, parent's home, ri (type of measurement), village."... [more]
ŞentürkTurkish From Turkish şen meaning "happy, cheerful" and Türk meaning "Turk".
SeraJapanese From Japanese 世 (se) meaning "world, generation" and 良 (ra) meaning "good, virtuous, respectable".
SevenTurkish Means "loving, affectionate" in Turkish.
SewellEnglish Derived from the Middle English given names Sewal(d) and Siwal(d), variants of Old English Sigeweald, composed of sige "victory" and weald "power, authority, rule".
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]
SeyfriedGerman Derived from the given name Siegfried. The American actress Amanda Seyfried (1985-) is a well-known bearer of this name.
SezerTurkish Means "intuition", from Turkish sezmek meaning "to understand, to perceive".
SezginTurkish Means "sagacious, insightful" in Turkish.
SforzaItalian Derived from the Italian verb sforzare meaning "to force, strain"; also compare the related word forza "force, strength". This was the surname of a dynasty of Milanese dukes, which held power in the 15th and 16th centuries.