Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
NunnallysEnglish (American) A common surname in America, belonging to 4058 individuals. Nunnally is most common among White (63.36%) and Black/African American (30.93%) individuals.
NuteAnglo-Saxon, English Derived from the given name Cnute. Alternatively, it may be of nickname origin, from the Old English word hnutu, which meant brown, and would have been given to someone with a brown complexion.
NuttallEnglish English: habitational name from some place named with Old English hnutu ‘nut’ + h(e)alh ‘nook’, ‘recess’. In some cases this may be Nuthall in Nottinghamshire, but the surname is common mainly in Lancashire, and a Lancashire origin is therefore more likely... [more]
NutterEnglish Means either (i) "scribe, clerk" (from Middle English notere, ultimately from Latin notārius); or (ii) "person who keeps or tends oxen" (from a derivative of Middle English nowt "ox")... [more]
OaksEnglish English variant spelling of Oakes and Americanized form of Jewish Ochs.
OakwellEnglish Recorded in the modern spellings of Ockwell and Oakwell, this is an English surname. It is locational and probably either from the former village of Oakwell-in-the-Blean in the county of Kent, or Ockwell Manor, and again a former village, near Bray, in Berkshire
OdhamEnglish Variant of Odom, altered by folk etymology as if derived from a place name formed with -ham.
OdomEnglish Medieval nickname for someone who had climbed the social ladder by marrying the daughter of a prominent figure in the local community, from Middle English odam ‘son-in-law’ (Old English aðum).
OfficerEnglish (Canadian), English (American, Rare) Occupational name for the holder of any office, from Anglo-Norman French officer (an agent derivative of Old French office ‘duty’, ‘service’, Latin officium ‘service’, ‘task’).
OgilvieScottish, English From the ancient Barony of Ogilvie in Angus, Northeast Scotland. The placename itself is derived from Pictish ocel, 'high' and fa, 'plain'.
OgleScottish, English, Northern Irish Habitational name from a place in Northumbria, named with the Old English personal name Ocga + Old English hyll 'hill'.
OldEnglish From Middle English old, not necessarily implying old age, but rather used to distinguish an older from a younger bearer of the same personal name.
OleyEnglish Was my mother's fathers name. Also my mother's brother.
OlinEnglish, Dutch English or Dutch name meaning either "from a low lying area" or from the word Hollander meaning "one from the Netherlands" a country well known for a low lying landscape.
OliphantEnglish Means "elephant" (from Middle English, Old French and Middle High German olifant "elephant"), perhaps used as a nickname for a large cumbersome person, or denoting someone who lived in a building distinguished by the sign of an elephant.
OnslowEnglish Recorded as Onslow, Onslowe and the dialectal Anslow, this is an English surname. It is locational from a place called Onslow described in Victorian times as being "a place within the liberty of Shrewsbury, in Salop', the original and still confusingly used, name for the county of Shropshire.
OrangeMedieval English, Medieval French, English Derived from the medieval female name, or directly from the French place name. First used with the modern spelling in the 17th century, apparently due to William, Prince of Orange, who later became William III... [more]
OrbisonEnglish From a village in Lincolnshire, England originally called Orby and later Orreby that is derived from a Scandinavian personal name Orri- and the Scandinavian place element -by which means "a farmstead or small settlement."
OrchardEnglish, Scottish English: topographic name for someone who lived by an orchard, or a metonymic occupational name for a fruit grower, from Middle English orchard.... [more]
OrcuttEnglish Perhaps a much altered spelling of Scottish Urquhart used predominantly in Staffordshire, England.
OrdEnglish, English (American) Ord is an English descent surname that also has Gaelic roots. It's also short for many English surnames that end with "Ord". people include US Army general Edward Ord who practiced in California and had many street names after him.
OrganEnglish Metonymic occupational name for a player of a musical instrument (any musical instrument, not necessarily what is now known as an organ), from Middle English organ (Old French organe, Late Latin organum ‘device’, ‘(musical) instrument’, Greek organon ‘tool’, from ergein ‘to work or do’).
OrganEnglish From a rare medieval personal name, attested only in the Latinized forms Organus (masculine) and Organa (feminine).
OrleyDutch, Flemish, English A surname of uncertain origin found among the Dutch, Flemish and English. In England the name is primarily found in Yorkshire and Devon. Orley may be an adapted form of a French name D'Orley or a nickname for Orlando... [more]
OrmayEnglish (American) Believed to be the Americanization of the last name Ormoi from Hungary.
OrpinEnglish Means "herbalist" (from Middle English orpin "yellow stonecrop", a plant prescribed by medieval herbalists for healing wounds). A variant spelling was borne by British painter Sir William Orpen (1878-1931).
OrrisEnglish This unusual and interesting name is of Italian, Latin origin, and derives from one of the earliest Roman names, "Horatius". The name is thought to mean something connected with "hora", the Latin for "hour", but the original meaning has been lost... [more]
OsgoodEnglish, Jewish English: Old Norse personal name Asgautr, composed of the elements as'god'+the tribal name Gaul. This was established in England before the Conquest, in the late old English forms Osgot or Osgod and was later reinforce by the Norman Ansgot.... [more]
OslerEnglish Possibly derived from Ostler (from the the Norman 'Hostelier') meaning clerk or bookkeeper. First used in England after the Norman invasion of 1066. Surname of a 19th cent... [more]
OsterdayAmerican (Germanized, Rare) One day in Germany there was a male infant left on the steps to a church. When someone found the baby on the steps, they decided to name him Oster because that day was the day of Easter. Easter in German is Oster... [more]
OttowayEnglish From the Norman male personal names Otoïs, of Germanic origin and meaning literally "wealth-wide" or "wealth-wood", and Otewi, of Germanic origin and meaning literally "wealth-war".
OversonEnglish Derived from the Old French name Overson, meaning "dweller by the river-banks". The name was probably brought to England in the wake of the Norman conquest of 1066.
OwnerEnglish From English owner meaning "a person who owns something".
OwsleyEnglish Habitational name form a now lost place name in Southern England. Possibly derived from the name of the river name Ouse and Old English -leah meaning "wood".
OxendineEnglish From an English place name meaning "valley of the oxen", which was derived from Old English oxa "ox" (genitive plural oxena) and denu "valley".
OyaskiEnglish (American) A surname created by Michael Oyaski (formally Michael O'Yaski). The surname is currently known to only be used by one particular branch of the O'Yaski family tree. The surname means "Dragon Rider of the West" according to members of the Oyaski family.
PadgettEnglish Diminutive form of Page, which is of Old French origin, and an occupational name for a young servant, a personal attendant in a noble's house, from the Old French, Middle English "page", ultimately deriving from the Greek "paidion", a boy, child... [more]
PadleyEnglish A habitational name from a place named Padley, which was probably named with the Old English personal name Padda and lēah meaning ‘glade, woodland clearing’. Alternatively, the first element may have been padde, meaning ‘toad’.
PaineEnglish From the Middle English personal name Pain(e), Payn(e) (Old French Paien, from Latin Paganus), introduced to Britain by the Normans. The Latin name is a derivative of pagus "outlying village", and meant at first a person who lived in the country (as opposed to Urbanus "city dweller"), then a civilian as opposed to a soldier, and eventually a heathen (one not enrolled in the army of Christ)... [more]
PainterEnglish, Medieval French, German English: from Middle English, Old French peinto(u)r, oblique case of peintre ‘painter’, hence an occupational name for a painter (normally of colored glass). In the Middle Ages the walls of both great and minor churches were covered with painted decorations, and Reaney and Wilson note that in 1308 Hugh le Peyntour and Peter the Pavier were employed ‘making and painting the pavement’ at St... [more]
PalfreymanEnglish Occupational name for a man responsible for the maintenance and provision of saddle-horses.
PalinEnglish (i) "person from Palling", Norfolk ("settlement of Pælli's people") or "person from Poling", Sussex ("settlement of Pāl's people"); (ii) from the Welsh name ap Heilyn "son of Heilyn", a personal name perhaps meaning "one who serves at table"
PalliserEnglish Means "maker of palings and fences" (from a derivative of Old French palis "palisade"). In fiction, the Palliser novels are a series of six political novels by Anthony Trollope, beginning with 'Can You Forgive Her?' (1864) and ending with 'The Duke's Children' (1880), in which the Palliser family plays a central role.
ParhamIrish, English This name has been used amongst the Irish and English. This user's great grandmother came from Ireland and her maiden name was Parham. However, in English (London) it is a habitational name from places in Suffolk and Sussex, named in Old English with pere ‘pear’ + ham ‘homestead’.
ParkingtonEnglish Habitational name from a place in Greater Manchester (formerly in Cheshire) called Partington, from Old English Peartingtun 'settlement (tun) associated with Pearta', a personal name not independently recorded.
ParleyEnglish A place name meaning "pear field" from Old English 'per' with 'lee' or 'lea' meaning a field or clearing, perhaps where land was cleared to cultivate pear trees. Therefore this name denotes someone who lived near or worked at such a location or came from a habitation associated with the name... [more]
ParmleyEnglish Variant of Parley. This form is found more in northern England, specifically Cumberland and Durham, but is of like derivation.
PartingtonEnglish Habitational name from a place in Greater Manchester (formerly in Cheshire) called Partington, from Old English Peartingtun "Pearta's town".
PartonEnglish Habitational name from any of various places called Parton; most are named with Old English peretun ‘pear orchard’. A famous bearer of the surname is Dolly Parton.
PassmoreEnglish Either (i) from a medieval nickname for someone who crossed marshy moorland (e.g. who lived on the opposite side of a moor, or who knew the safe paths across it); or (ii) perhaps from an alteration of Passemer, literally "cross-sea", an Anglo-Norman nickname for a seafarer... [more]
PaxsonEnglish This surname means "son of Pack." Pack may be a survival of the Old English personal name Pacca or it may have been a Middle English personal name derived from Paschalis (meaning "relating to Easter"), the Latin form of Pascal.
PeabodyEnglish Probably from a nickname for a showy dresser, from Middle English pe "peacock" (see Peacock) and body "body, person". Alternatively it may be from the name of a Celtic tribe meaning "mountain men" from Brythonic pea "large hill, mountain" combined with Boadie, the tribe's earlier name, which meant "great man" (or simply "man") among the Briton and Cambri peoples... [more]
PeachEnglish (Rare) Derived from the name of the fruit, which itself derived its name from Late Latin persica, which came from older Latin malum persicum meaning "Persian fruit."
PeachyEnglish (Anglicized) Means “lived near a peach tree, sold peaches, or was associated with the fruit in some other way”. Originally arrived with the in England after the Norman conquest of 1066.
PearcyEnglish (American) Variant of Percy, which is a name derived from Perci, a parish and canton near St. Lo, in Normandy
PearksEnglish Sir Stuart Edmond Pearks (1875–1931) served as the Chief Commissioner of the North-West Frontier Province of British India from 1930 until 1931. Sourced from Wikipedia.... [more]
PearlEnglish Metonymic occupational name for a trader in pearls, which in the Middle Ages were fashionable among the rich for the ornamentation of clothes, from Middle English, Old French perle (Late Latin perla).
PeaseEnglish English: from Middle English pese ‘pea’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of peas, or a nickname for a small and insignificant person. The word was originally a collective singular (Old English peose, pise, from Latin pisa) from which the modern English vocabulary word pea is derived by folk etymology, the singular having been taken as a plural.
PeeleEnglish This surname was given topographically to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. A famous bearer of this surname is actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director Jordan Peele.
PeetEnglish, Dutch Derived from a pet form of the given name Peter. As a Dutch nickname, it is derived from Middle Dutch pete meaning "godfather, godmother, godchild".
PeeveyNorman, English Means "a place with a fine view". Composed of the Old French roots beu, which means "fair" and "lovely", and voir, which means "to see".
PelhamEnglish From the name of a place in Hertfordshire, which meant "Peotla's homestead" in Old English.
PeltonEnglish Habitational name from Pelton, a place in County Durham, named from an unattested Old English personal name Peola + tun 'farmstead', 'settlement'.
PendarvisEnglish (American) The American English spelling of the Cornish surname Pendarves. Ultimately, the surname is traced back to Pendarves Island, Cornwall.
PendleburyEnglish Likely originated from the area Pendlebury, in the Borough of Swindon and Pendlebury in Greater Manchester. Formed from the Celtic pen meaning "hill" and burh meaning "settlement".... [more]
PendletonEnglish An Old English name meaning "overhanging settlement".
PendragonEnglish From 'Pen Dragon' meaning head dragon or dragons head. This was the name of the king Uther Pendragon who was King Arthurs father
PenningEnglish, Dutch, Low German From early Middle English penning, Low German penning, and Middle Dutch penninc, all meaning "penny". It was used as a topographic surname or a nickname referring to tax dues of a penny.
PenningtonEnglish Habitational surname denoting someone originally from any of the various locations in England named Pennington, derived from Old English penning meaning "penny" (used as a byname or from a tribute due on the land) and tun meaning "town".
PennywellEnglish English habitational name from Pennywell in Tyne and Wear or from a similarly named lost place elsewhere.
PennyworthEnglish From Old English pening, penig meaning "penny (the coin)" and worþ meaning "enclosure". A notable fictional bearer is Alfred Pennyworth, a DC Comics character notable for being the butler of the superhero Batman.
PepysEnglish From the medieval personal name Pepis, a form of Old French Pepin, brought into England by the Normans. It may have been based on an earlier nickname meaning "awesome"... [more]
PercherEnglish In textile mills, woven fabric coming off the mill / loom would pass over a frame, or rod, called a 'perch'. It was the job of the 'Percher' to examine the cloth for defects, and repair them when they were found... [more]
PerdueEnglish, Irish, French English and Irish from Old French par Dieu ‘by God’, which was adopted in Middle English in a variety of more or less heavily altered forms. The surname represents a nickname from a favorite oath... [more]
PeregrineEnglish, Popular Culture Derived from the given name Peregrine. A fictional bearer is Alma LeFay Peregrine, a character from the novel "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" (2011) by Ransom Riggs.
PerhamEnglish A variation of the English name Parham, based on the village of Parham (one in county Suffolk, another in county Sussex). From the Old English peru, meaning "pear" (the fruit), and ham, meaning "homestead".
PerpichEnglish (American) Americanized spelling of Croatian and Serbian Prpić. Prporuše was a term denoting young girls who, in the dry season, would visit houses in the village and pray for rain.