RomseyEnglish From the town of Romsey in Hampshire, England. The surname itself is derived from Old English rum meaning "broad", and ey meaning "area of dry land in a marsh."
RondelliItalian, English, French From the medieval name "Rondello" derived from French "rondel" meaning "go around, round" or "rondel", a French old nickname for a round, plump man.
RootEnglish A nickname for a cheerful person, from Middle English rote "glad, cheerful".
RootEnglish From Middle English and Old French rote, an early medieval stringed instrument similar to a guitar that was played by turning wheels like a hurdy-gurdy.
RoperEnglish English: occupational name for a maker or seller of rope, from an agent derivative of Old English rāp ‘rope’. See also Roop.
RoselandEnglish Americanized form of Norwegian Røys(e)land; a habitational name from about 30 farmsteads, many in Agder, named from Old Norse reysi ‘heap of stones’ + land ‘land’, ‘farmstead’.
RosemontEnglish From rose "rose" + mont "mount". Also the name of a town in central California, near Sacramento. In 1880, there were 6 Rosemont families in Indiana.
RosseauFrench, American Variant spelling of Rousseau. Comes from the Old French word rous meaning "red", likely a nickname for someone with red hair or a particularly rosy complexion.
RouthEnglish From the village and civil parish of Routh in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England (recorded in the Domesday book as Rutha). The place name may derive from Old Norse hrúedhr meaning "rough shaly ground"... [more]
RoverEnglish, German (Anglicized) This surname is derived from Middle English roof (from Old English hrof) combined with the agent suffix (i)er, which denotes someone who does/works with something. Thus, the surname was originally used for a constructor or repairer of roofs.... [more]
RowettEnglish English from a medieval personal name composed of the Germanic elements hrod ‘renown’ + wald ‘rule’, which was introduced into England by Scandinavian settlers in the form Róaldr, and again later by the Normans in the form Rohald or Roald... [more]
RowleyEnglish Anglo Saxon Name- locational, comes from several places in England such as in Devonshire, Yorkshire, County Durham and Staffordshire. It means ' rough wood or clearing', from the Old English 'run' meaning rough and 'leah', meaning clearing in a wood.
RuddEnglish The surname Rudd is derived from the Old English root "rud-," a component in the words "rudig," which means "ruddy," and "ruddoc," which means "red-breast." The surname was originally a nickname for a ruddy complexioned or red-haired person, or perhaps for someone who habitually wore the color red.
RudyardEnglish From the location Rudyard (Staffs) which is recorded as Rudegeard in 100 The place-name probably derives from Old English rude "rue" and geard "enclosure yard".
RugbyEnglish From Rugby, Warwickshire. Originally named *Rocheberie, from Old English *Hrocaburg, 'Hroca's fort', the name was altered due to influence fort Danish settlers, with the second element being replaced with Old Norse byr, 'farm'.... [more]
RugeleyEnglish From the name of a town in Staffordshire, England, derived from Old English hrycg "ridge" and leah "woodland clearing".
RuggEnglish Nickname for a person associated with the color red, whether through hair color, clothing, or complexion. Accordingly, the name is derived from the Old French word ruge, meaning red.
RuleScottish, English Scottish name from the lands of Rule in the parish of Hobkirk, Roxburghshire. The derivation is from the River Rule which flows through the area, and is so called from the ancient Welsh word "rhull" meaning "hasty or rushing".... [more]
RumbelowEnglish Means "person from Rumbelow", the name of various locations in England ("three mounds").
RumbleEnglish Descended from the personal name Rumbald/Rombold, which is composed of the Germanic elements hrom "fame, glory" and bald "bold, brave".
RumfordEnglish From the parish of Romford in Essex, England. The name means "the wide ford" from Old English rúm "wide".
RumpoleEnglish A different form of Rumbold (from the Norman personal name Rumbald, of Germanic origin and probably meaning literally "fame-bold"). A fictional bearer of the surname is Horace Rumpole, the eccentric QC created by John Mortimer (originally for a 1975 television play).
RuncieEnglish, Scottish Derived from Latin runcinus, and related to the Old French "roncin", for a horse of little value. Middle English, Rouncy, as in Chaucer's Cantebury Tales.... [more]
RundellEnglish Nickname derived from a diminutive of Middle English and Old French rond, rund meaning "fat, round" (see Rounds), or derived from Rundale, a local place in the village and civil parish of Shoreham in Kent, England, named with Old English rum(ig) meaning "roomy, spacious" and dæl meaning "valley".
RunnerEnglish (American) Probably an altered spelling of German Ronner, annoccupational name for a runner or messenger, a lightly armed mounted soldier. Compare Renner. UK The surname Runner was first found in Lancashire. One of the first records of the family was found in the year 1246 when Alan de Runacres held estates in that shire... [more]
RusbyScottish, English Alternative spelling of Busby, a parish in Renfrewshire. A name well represented in the Penistone, and Cawthorne districts of the West Riding of Yorkshire.
RushenEnglish Originally denoted a person who lived near a marsh, noted for its rushes (see Rush). A famous bearer of this surname is the American singer Patrice Rushen (b. 1954).
RuthEnglish, German (Swiss) English: from Middle English reuthe ‘pity’ (a derivative of rewen to pity, Old English hreowan) nickname for a charitable person or for a pitiable one. Not related to the given name in this case.... [more]
RuthvenEnglish, Scottish From the name of a barony in Perthshire, Scotland, which comes from Scottish Gaelic Ruadhainn "Dun uplands".
RutterEnglish Either (i) "player of the rote (a medieval stringed instrument played by plucking)"; or (ii) from a medieval nickname for a dishonest or untrustworthy person (from Old French routier "robber, mugger")... [more]
SainsburyEnglish habitational name from Saintbury (Gloucestershire) from the Old English personal name Sæwine (genitive Sæwines from Old English sæ "sea" and wine ‘friend’) plus burg "fortified place".
SaintEnglish, French Nickname for a particularly pious individual, from Middle English, Old French saint, seint "holy" (Latin sanctus "blameless, holy"). The vocabulary word was occasionally used in the Middle Ages as a personal name, especially on the Continent, and this may have given rise to some instances of the surname.
SaipeEnglish English: perhaps a habitational name from a minor place in Wiltshire named Stype.
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]
SalisburyEnglish Habitational name from the city in Wiltshire, the Roman name of which was Sorviodunum (of British origin). In the Old English period the second element (from Celtic dun ‘fortress’) was dropped and Sorvio- (of unexplained meaning) became Searo- in Old English as the result of folk etymological association with Old English searu ‘armor’; to this an explanatory burh ‘fortress’, ‘manor’, ‘town’ was added... [more]
SaltEnglish Of Anglo-Saxon origin, from the town in Staffordshire.
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.
SalthouseEnglish Salthouse and other variants come from the place name in Northumberland.
SandellEnglish Originated from a name for someone who lived on a sand hill
SandemanEnglish Scottish surname of famous merchant family engaged in banking in Scotland and London and in the Port Wine trade in London. The same family were earlier the founders of an obscure Protestant sect the Sandemanians.
SandhurstEnglish (Rare) From Sandhurst, the name of places in the English counties of Kent, Gloucestershire and Berkshire, all of which come from the Old English elements sand "sand" and hyrst "hillock, copse".
SandlerEnglish Norman origin. Habitational name from Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët in La Manche, which gets its name from the dedication of its church to St. Hilary, or alternatively from either of the places, in La Manche and Somme, called Saint-Lô... [more]
SangwinEnglish From Middle English sanguine (blood) ,one of the four humours.
SankeyEnglish, Irish Habitational name from a place in Lancashire, which derived from the name of an ancient British river, perhaps meaning "sacred, holy." ... [more]
SappingfieldAmerican (Anglicized, Rare) From the German name "Sappenfeld," a small town in Bavaria, Germany. (Pop. 380.) The town itself is named after an early resident named "Sappo;" in English, the name means "Sappo's Field." The name "Sappo" may mean noble (unconfirmed)... [more]
SardEnglish, French, Spanish, Italian In the book surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary by Henry Harrison and Gyda (Pulling) Harrison 1912 - Reprinted 1996. The Sard surname (which has been in England, Italy and Europe for a long time) is defined thus on page 136.... [more]
SarverEnglish, Jewish English and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic) occupational name from Old French serveur (an agent derivative of server ‘to serve’), Yiddish sarver ‘servant’.
SavilleEnglish A habitational name from an uncertain place in Northern France. This is most likely Sainville, named from Old French saisne, 'Saxon' and ville, indicating a settlement.
SaxEnglish From Middle English sax meaning "knife", an occupational name for a knife maker, or perhaps a nickname for someone skilled with a knife.
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]
SaxtonEnglish Habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire, possibly also one in Cambridgeshire, both so named from Old English Seaxe "Saxons" and tūn "enclosure, settlement".
ScaggsEnglish Variant of Skaggs both of English origin and unknown meaning. Famous bearer is singer Boz Scaggs (1944-) of the SteveMiller Band and the band Toto.
ScarboroughEnglish Habitational name from Scarborough on the coast of North Yorkshire, so named from the Old Norse byname Skarði + Old Norse borg "fortress", "fortified town".
ScargillEnglish This ancient surname is of Old Norse origin, and is a locational name from a place called Scargill in Northern Yorkshire, deriving from the Old Norse bird name "skraki", a diving duck, plus the Old Norse "gil", valley or ravine.
ScarrEnglish Derived from the word ‘skjarr’ meaning a rocky outcrop / hill
ScogginsEnglish Possibly derived from Old Norse skegg meaning "beard".
ScogingsEnglish, Old Danish A surname of Scandinavian origin from the old Norse and old Danish by-name "Skeggi" or "skoggi", meaning 'the bearded one'. Common in areas invaded and settled by Scandinavians in the 8th and 9th Centuries.
ScotfordEnglish Derived from Scotforth, the name of a village near Lancaster (in Lancashire) in England. The village's name means "ford of the Scot(s)" and is derived from Old English Scott "Scot" combined with Old English ford "ford".
ScotlandEnglish (i) "person from Scotland"; (ii) "person from Scotland or Scotlandwell", Perth and Kinross; (iii) from the Norman personal name Escotland, literally "territory of the Scots"
ScreetonEnglish Locational surname originating from the village of Screveton in Nottinghamshire. Derived of Old English elements scīr-rēfa "sheriff" and tun "settlement".
ScrogginsEnglish Derived from Middle English scrogge meaning "brushwood", given to someone who lived near a bushy area, or perhaps a nickname for someone with a prickly personality.
ScroggsEnglish From Middle English scrogge meaning "brushwood".
SeaborgEnglish, Swedish (Americanized) English cognate of Sjöberg, as well as the Americanized form. Glenn T. Seaborg (1912-1999) was an American chemist whose involvement in the synthesis, discovery and investigation of ten transuranium elements.
SeabornEnglish From an Old English personal name derived from the elements sǣ "sea, lake" and beorn "warrior".