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]
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.
SawtellEnglish (British) A dialectal variant of Sewell, which was first recorded in early 13th-century England. The later addition of the 't' was for easier pronunciation.... [more]
SaxEnglish From Middle English sax meaning "knife", an occupational name for a knife maker, or perhaps a nickname for someone skilled with a knife.
SaxbyEnglish (British) Saxby is the surname of the character Stella Saxby from the book Awful Auntie, by David Walliams. Saxby means "Grand" .
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".
SayerEnglish Derived from an Anglo-Norman variant of the Germanic given name Sigiheri, composed of sigu "victory" and heri "army".
SayerEnglish Occupational name for a professional reciter or minstrel, derived from Middle English seier "speaker".
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".
SeaforthEnglish The name of a projection of the sea on the east coast of Lewis, on the Long Island, Scotland. Means "the forth of the sea".
SeagerEnglish, German (Modern) English: from the Middle English personal name Segar, Old English S?gar, composed of the elements s? ‘sea’ + gar ‘spear’.... [more]
SeagraveEnglish Habitational name from a place in Leicestershire, recorded in Domesday Book as Satgrave and Setgrave; probably named from Old English (ge)set meaning "fold", "pen" (or sēað meaning "pit", "pool") + grāf meaning "grove" or græf meaning "ditch".
SealyEnglish Derived from Old English sælig "blessed, fortunate, prosperous, happy" and was used as a term to describe someone with a cheerful, happy disposition.
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.
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.
SeeEnglish, German Topographic name for someone who lived by the sea-shore or beside a lake, from Middle English see meaning "sea", "lake" (Old English sǣ), Middle High German sē. Alternatively, the English name may denote someone who lived by a watercourse, from an Old English sēoh meaning "watercourse", "drain".
SegaleEnglish, Italian Respelling of SEGAL. A famous bearer is Mario A. Segale, the inspiration for Nintendo's video game character Mario
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".
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".
SelfEnglish East Anglian surname, from the medieval English masculine name Saulf which was derived from the Old English elements sǣ "sea" and wulf "wolf".
SelfridgeEnglish habitational name from an unidentified minor place called with Old English scelf "shelf" and hrycg "ridge".
SelwynEnglish from the Middle English personal name Selewin (Old English Selewine perhaps from sele "manor" or sǣl "happiness prosperity" and wine "friend")... [more]
SemerEnglish From the village of Semer in Suffolk.
SercombeEnglish Derived from Sharracombe, a former settlement in Devon, England, derived from Old English cumb "valley, hollow" and an uncertain first element – possibly scir "shire, district" or the related scīrgerēfa "sheriff".
SettleEnglish From the town of Settle in Yorkshire, England.
SevernEnglish From the name of the River Severn, which is of unknown meaning. The Severn is Great Britain's longest river, flowing from Wales through much of western England to the Bristol Channel. It is one of Britain’s most ancient river names, recorded as early as the 2nd century AD in the form Sabrina; its original meaning may have been "slow-moving" or "boundary".
SevierEnglish Occupational name for a sieve-maker, Middle English siviere (from an agent derivative of Old English sife "sieve").
SevilleSpanish, English a city in southwestern Spain; a major port and cultural center; the capital of bullfighting in Spain. Synonyms: Sevilla Example of: city, metropolis, urban center. a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts... [more]
SewallEnglish Derived from the Middle English given names Sewal(d) or Sawal(d), variants of Old English Sæweald from sæ "sea" and weald "power, authority, rule".
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".
ShackladyEnglish Perhaps from a medieval nickname for a man who had had sexual relations with a woman of higher social class (from shag "to copulate with" (not recorded before the late 17th century) and lady).... [more]
ShacklefordEnglish, Medieval English Locational surname deriving from the place called Shackleford in Surrey, near the town of Farnham. The origin of "shackle" is uncertain. It could be derived from Old English sceacan "to shake"... [more]
ShackletonEnglish The place name probably means "valley by a point of land," from the Old English scacol + denu. Another source claims the word scacol, describes a "tongue of land."
ShadeEnglish, Scottish Topographic name for someone who lived near a boundary, from Old English scead "boundary".
ShadeEnglish From Old English sceadu "shadow, wraith", possibly a nickname for a very thin man.
ShadowEnglish Origin unidentified. The name Shadue, Schadewe is recorded in England in the 12th and 13th centuries, from Middle English shadwe ‘shadow’, Old English sceadu (see Shade)... [more]