ShenbergerEnglish (?) The name Shenberger comes from a common mix up with the archaic Austrian-German surname Schoenberg; meaning "Beautiful Mountain."
ShentonEnglish "Beautiful town" in Old English. Parishes in Leicestershire, and Cheshire.
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]
SherrardEnglish Probably from a medieval nickname based on Middle English shere "bright, fair", with the derogatory suffix -ard.
SherrellEnglish This surname is of English locational origin, from the place in Devonshire called Shirwell. The placename is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Sirewelle, and by 1242 as Shirewill... [more]
ShinglerEnglish An occupational name for someone who laid wooden tiles, or shingles on roofs, from an agent derivative of Middle English schingle ‘shingle’. ... [more]
ShinnEnglish Metonymic occupational name for a Skinner, from Old English scinn, Middle English shin ‘hide’, ‘pelt’. In Middle English this word was replaced by the Norse equivalent, skinn.
ShipleyEnglish (Rare) English: habitational name from any of the various places, for example in Derbyshire, County Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire, Sussex, and West Yorkshire, so called from Old English sceap, scip ‘sheep’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.
ShipmanEnglish Occupational name for a mariner, or occasionally perhaps for a boatbuilder, from Middle English "schipman". One notable person is known evildoer Harold Shipman. He was an English general practitioner who is believed to be one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history.
ShiptonEnglish From Old English scip "sheep", and tun "enclosure; settlement".
ShockleyEnglish (i) perhaps "person from Shocklach", Cheshire ("boggy stream infested with evil spirits"); (ii) perhaps an anglicization of Swiss German Schoechli, literally "person who lives by the little barn"
ShoreEnglish From the Old English word scora meaning "the land along the edge of an ocean, sea, lake, or river; a coast."
ShortallEnglish The ancient history of the name Shortall began soon after 1066 when the Norman Conquest of England occurred. It was a name given to a stocky or short-necked person which was in turn derived from the Anglo-Saxon word scorkhals meaning a person with a short neck.
ShrapnelEnglish A different form of Carbonell. Shrapnel (i.e. metal balls or fragments that are scattered when a bomb, shell or bullet explodes) is named after General Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842), a British artillery officer who during the Peninsular War invented a shell that produced that effect.
ShreveEnglish Altered English variant of Sheriff. In some cases, this surname may have arisen from a nickname.
ShrewsburyEnglish Derived from Shrewsbury, a large market town and the county town of Shropshire, England, which is named from an ancient district name derived from Old English scrobb meaning "scrub, brushwood", and byrig meaning "fortified place".
ShrimptonEnglish Probably referring to the unknown "Estate of Shrimp"
ShropshireEnglish Regional name from the county of Shropshire, on the western border of England with Wales.
ShuckEnglish Origin uncertain; perhaps a nickname from Middle English schucke "devil, fiend".
SidwellEnglish From an English surname of uncertain origin, possibly originally a habitational name from an unidentified place with a second element from Old English well(a) ‘spring’, ‘stream’, but on the other hand early forms are found without prepositions... [more]
SillitoeEnglish A different form of Shillito (which is 'a name of unknown derivation and meaning, probably originating in Yorkshire'), borne by British novelist, short-story writer and poet Alan Sillitoe (1928-2010).
SilvergrassEnglish From English "Silver" and "Grass". Probably given from the plant called "Silvergrass", a Miscanthus type growing in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Islands, or a field shining with the sun.
SilverstoneEnglish Obviously means "silver stone." In addition to people, this is the name of a racetrack in the village of the same name in England.
SilverthorneEnglish (Rare) Silverthorne, Silverthorn comes from the Old English seolfor "silver" and þorn "thorn bush" and means the family that lived by the "silver or white thorn tree".
SissonEnglish metronymic from the medieval female personal name Siss, Ciss, short for Sisley, Cecilie, or possibly from a pet form of Sisley (with the old French diminutive suffix -on). variant of Sessions.
SkeltonEnglish, German, Norwegian (Rare) Habitational name from places in Cumbria and Yorkshire, England, originally named with the same elements as Shelton, but with a later change of ‘s’ to ‘sk’ under Scandinavian influence.
SlackEnglish, Dutch, Scottish English and Dutch: nickname for an idle person, from Middle Dutch slac, Middle English slack, ‘lazy’, ‘careless’. ... [more]
SmalleyEnglish, Cornish (?) Locational surname from places in Derbyshire and Lancashire, so called from Old English smæl ‘narrow’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’. This may also be a Cornish name with an entirely separate meaning.
SmileyScots, English From elements small and lea meaning "a small clearing" or as a nickname may refer to a person of happy disposition known for smiling.
SmithsonEnglish Means "a son who was born by a blacksmith worker".
SmockEnglish From Middle English smoc, smok meaning "smock", "shift", hence a metonymic occupational name for someone who made or sold such garments, or a nickname for someone who habitually wore a smock (the usual everyday working garment of a peasant).
SmokerEnglish Derived from the Old English word "smoc," meaning "smock" or, literally, "woman's undergarment." The name was most likely originally borne by someone who made or sold smocks.
SnapeEnglish (British), Scottish An old, now rare surname, with various origins in Suffolk and Yorkshire in England and Lanarkshire in Scotland. This is also the name of Severus Snape, a character from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series.
SnipeEnglish Derived from a given name; from Old English snip or Old Norse snípr. It is habitational surname from a place so called in the historic county of Northumberland, North East England.
SnowEnglish, Jewish (Anglicized) Nickname denoting someone with very white hair or an exceptionally pale complexion, from Old English snaw "snow".... [more]
SnowdenEnglish Habitational name from Snowden, a place in West Yorkshire named from Old English snāw ‘snow’ + dūn ‘hill’, i.e. a hill where snow lies long.
SnowdonEnglish Variant spelling of Snowden, a surname initially used by the Border Reivers. Comes from the mountain in Wales.
SoamesEnglish Denoted a person hailing from a village called Soham in Cambridgeshire, England. The place name itself means "homestead by the lake" from Old English sæ "lake" and ham "farm, homestead"... [more]
SouterEnglish, Scottish Occupational name for a cobbler or shoemaker, derived from Middle English soutere, from Old Norse sutare, ultimately derived from Latin sutor meaning "to sew".
SouthEnglish From Middle English south, hence a topographic name for someone who lived to the south of a settlement or a regional name for someone who had migrated from the south.
SouthwickEnglish An English/Scottish locational name from a variety of places, including, Southwick in Northamptonshire, England, and Southwick in Gloucestershire, Sussex, Durham, Hampshire. ... [more]
SovereignEnglish Occupational surname for a leader or supervisor, derived from the English word sovereign meaning "possessing supreme or ultimate power".
SowerbyEnglish Habitational name from any places so-called in Northern England. Named from Old Norse saurr, 'mud, filth' and by, 'farm, estate'.
SpahGerman (?), English (American) Spah (sometimes spelt Späh) is last name found most commonly in the US that is believed to be of German origin. Unsure of the meaning.
SparrowEnglish English: nickname from Middle English sparewe ‘sparrow’, perhaps for a small, chirpy person, or else for someone bearing some fancied physical resemblance to a sparrow.
SpeakmanEnglish English (chiefly Lancashire) nickname or occupational name for someone who acted as a spokesman, from Middle English spekeman ‘advocate’, ‘spokesman’ (from Old English specan to speak + mann ‘man’).
SpeedEnglish A nickname for a fortunate person, from Middle English sped, "success".
SpellingEnglish Occupational name for a scholar, speaker or a professional story teller, derived from Old English spellian. A famous bearer is American actress and author Tori Spelling (1973-).
SpenderEnglish Occupational name for a paymaster or someone in charge of finances, from Old English spendan "to spend" and Latin expendere "to pay out".
SpendloveEnglish From a medieval nickname for someone who spread their amorous affections around freely. A different form of the surname was borne by Dora Spenlow, the eponymous hero's "child-wife" in Charles Dickens's 'David Copperfield' (1849-50).... [more]
SperingEnglish There is a fish in Germany or Austria names "Spering or Spiering fish" it is in the meat Isle of Germany orAustrian fish.... [more]
SpicerEnglish, Jewish, Polish English: occupational name for a seller of spices, Middle English spic(i)er (a reduced form of Old French espicier, Late Latin speciarius, an agent derivative of species ‘spice’, ‘groceries’, ‘merchandise’).... [more]
SpierEnglish An English surname, meaning "the one who watches".
SpillmanEnglish From the medieval male personal name Spileman, literally "acrobat" or "jester" (from a derivative of Middle English spillen "to play, cavort").
SpindlerEnglish, German, Jewish Occupational name for a spindle maker, from an agent derivative of Middle English spindle, Middle High German spindel, German Spindel, Yiddish shpindl "spindle, distaff".
SpoonEnglish Apparently a metonymic occupational name either for a maker of roofing shingles or spoons, from Old English spon "chip, splinter" (see also Spooner).
SpragueEnglish English from northern Middle English Spragge, either a personal name or a byname meaning "lively", a metathesized and voiced form of "spark."
SpringallEnglish Means (i) "operator of a springald (a type of medieval siege engine)" (from Anglo-Norman springalde); or (ii) from a medieval nickname for a youthful person (from Middle English springal "youth").
SpringerGerman, English, Dutch, Jewish Nickname for a lively person or for a traveling entertainer. It can also refer to a descendant of Ludwig der Springer (AKA Louis the Springer), a medieval Franconian count who, according to legend, escaped from a second or third-story prison cell by jumping into a river after being arrested for trying to seize County Saxony in Germany.
SquireEnglish Surname comes from the occupation of a Squire. A young man who tends to a knight.
SquiresEnglish Surname is plural of Squire. A young person that tends to his knight, also someone that is a member of a landowner class that ranks below a knight.