Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
RocherFrench From French roche, meaning "rock'. It indicates a person who worked at a quarry.
RockettFrench From the French "la roche," or "of the rock." Some family histories trace this back to French Hugenots (sp) who immigrated to England in the 1500's from the Normandy region of France.
RolandFrench, German, Scottish French, German, English, and Scottish: from a Germanic personal name composed hrod ‘renown’ + -nand ‘bold’, assimilated to -lant ‘land’. (Compare Rowland).... [more]
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.
RosamelFrench A French surname turned Spanish masculine given name, Rosamel likely derives from the combination of rose + Greek mel “honey”. As a surname, it was borne by a 19th century French naval officer with the wonderful name of Claude Charles Marie du Campe de Rosamel.
RosierFrench French for "rose tree" or "rose bush". A common surname in Francophone areas. It is also the name of a fallen angel who was considered the patron demon of tainted love and seduction.
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.
RouenFrench From the other broad category of surnames that was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. ... Ruen is a place-name from in Rouen, the capital of Normandy... [more]
RougeFrench Nickname for someone with a ruddy complexion.
RougeauFrench Diminutive of Rouge, a nickname for someone with a ruddy complexion.
RozelleFrench Beautiful flower from France brought over by an immigrant named Page Rozelle. People said when she said something nice or touched you, good luck would come to you.
RubinFrench, German, Slovene, Croatian, Czech, Slovak Metonymic occupational name for a jeweler, from Middle High German rubn Old French rubi Slovenian and Croatian rubin Czech and Slovak rubín "ruby"... [more]
RueFrench The name Rue dates back to the days of Medieval France, in the region of Normandy. It is derived from their residence in Normandy. However, the name Ruell is derived from the Old French word ruelle, meaning lane or alley, and indicates that the original bearer lived in such a place... [more]
RuelasFrench A last name common in Mexico which is believed to have derived from the French word ruelle (or Portuguese word ruela) meaning lane or alley.
RuisardFrench (Rare, ?) Originated as a result of trade between France and the Persian Empires before the Iranian Revolution, probably during the Safavid Dynasty. The surname has its roots in the Persian Riahi surname and the Arabic word رِيح (rīḥ) meaning "wind" and the Persian word “sered” before it was altered to fit French spelling rules.... [more]
RundlettFrench this is a french word for little wine barrels.
SabourinFrench (Quebec), French (Huguenot) Southern French surname, originally a nickname for a pleasant or amiable person, from a diminutive of sabor meaning "flavor, taste" (Old French saveur). The Huguenots brought this surname to England, and from there it may have been introduced to North America.
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.
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.
Saint-saënsFrench From any place named Saint-Saens by honor to the saint Sidonius.
Saint-SimonFrench A French surname meaning "Saint Simon". Two famous bearers were Duc de Saint-Simon Louis de Rouvroy(1675-1755), a French memoirist, and his younger relative, Henri de Saint-Simon(1760-1825), the founder of French Socialism and modern theoretical Socialism in general.
SajinFrench 1 French: metonymic occupational name for a satin merchant or specialist satin weaver, from Middle French satin ‘satin’, a word of Arabic and (ultimately) Chinese origin, a derivative of the Chinese place name Tsinkiang, whence satin silk was brought to the Middle East and Europe in the Middle Ages.... [more]
SaladinFrench nickname for a blustering or tyrannical individual from the name of the medieval Egyptian sultan who because of his success in combating the Crusaders became demonized in French and Italian folklore as a monster second only to Herod.
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]
SarazenFrench From a medieval French nickname for a swarthy person, or for someone who had gone on a Crusade (from Old French sarrazin "Saracen"). It was borne by American golfer Gene Sarazen (1902-99), original name Eugene Saraceni.
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]
SarrazinFrench Means "Saracen" in Old French, a name used to refer to Arab Muslims in the Middle Ages. It was probably used as a nickname for an unruly person, a person with a dark complexion, or for someone who had taken part in a Crusade.
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.
SavantFrench Nickname from savant ‘learned’, a nickname for a university graduate or a particularly knowledgeable person.
SavardFrench Either from Old French savart meaning "wasteland" or the Germanic elements sab of uncertain meaning and hard meaning "brave, hardy".
SavignacFrench Habitational name for someone from various communes by this name in France.
SchaalGerman, Dutch, French, Jewish Either a nickname for a braggart or a market crier, (derived from Middle High German schal meaning "noise, bragging"), an occupational name for someone who made dishes for scales and vessels for drinking, (from Middle Low German and Dutch schale "dish"), a habitational name from Schaala in Thuringia or the Schaalsee lake near Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, or a topographic name for someone living on marshy land, (from Dutch schald "shallow")... [more]
SénécalFrench status name for a seneschal an official in a large household who was responsible for overseeing day-to-day domestic arrangements from Old French seneschal (of ancient Germanic origin composed of the elements sini "old" and scalc "servant")... [more]
SénéchalFrench Variant of Sénécal, a status name for a seneschal an official in a large household who was responsible for overseeing day-to-day domestic arrangements from Old French seneschal (of ancient Germanic origin composed of the elements sini "old" and scalc "servant").
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]
SilhouetteFrench (Rare) Famous bearers include Étienne de Silhouette (1709–67), French author and politician. He was a French Ancien Régime Controller-General of Finances under Louis XV.
SoliéFrench Notable bearers include French cellist Jean-Pierre Solié, who was originally named Jean-Pierre Soulier, possibly making it a variant of Soulier.
St AubinFrench Either a habitational name from any of several places in France called Saint-Aubin (from the dedication of their churches to Saint Albinus), or else a nickname with Saint as an (ironic) prefix to the personal name or surname Aubin.
St-gelaisFrench (Quebec) From the French place name Saint-Gelais which was allegedly named for a 5th-century bishop of Poitiers. The name Gelais is a variant of Gélase.
SubercaseauxFrench, Spanish (Latin American) The Subercaseaux family is a Chilean family of French descent. They became well known during the 19th century due to their wealth amassed in Norte Chico. They have played a very significant role in Chilean mining, winemaking, politics and arts.
SullyFrench, Haitian Creole from any of the various places called Sully for example in Calvados Loiret Saone-et-Loire and Oise. The first of these is recorded in 1180 as Silleium from the Gallo-Roman personal name Silius or Cilius and the Latin locative element acum... [more]
TallantEnglish (British, ?), Norman, Irish English (of Norman origin) occupational name for a tailor or nickname for a good swordsman, from taillant ‘cutting’, present participle of Old French tailler ‘to cut’ (Late Latin taliare, from talea ‘(plant) cutting’)... [more]
TallonEnglish, Irish, Norman, French English and Irish (of Norman origin), and French from a Germanic personal name derived from tal ‘destroy’, either as a short form of a compound name with this first element (compare Talbot) or as an independent byname... [more]
TalonEnglish, French Derived from Old French talon "heel", denoting a person with a deformity or a swift person. It could also be a diminutive form of given names Talbot and Talleyrand.
TaponFrench From the old French word tapon, meaning "cork". Hence this surname was first given to corks makers.
TardifFrench, French (Quebec) From Latin tardivus, "slow". Given its unusually frequency as a family name and derivatives like Tardieu or Tardivel, it may have been a medieval given name.
TautouFrench, Occitan Derived from French tatou meaning "armadillo". It may have originally been given to a person who resembled an armadillo in some way. A famous bearer is the French actress and model Audrey Tautou (1976-).
TawneyEnglish, Norman Habitational name from either of two places, Saint-Aubin-du-Thennay or Saint-Jean-du-Thennay, in Eure, Normandy, both so named from an uncertain first element (possibly a Gallo-Roman personal name or the Gaulish word tann ‘oak’, ‘holly’) + the locative suffix -acum.
TempleEnglish, French Occupational name or habitational name for someone who was employed at or lived near one of the houses ("temples") maintained by the Knights Templar, a crusading order so named because they claimed to occupy in Jerusalem the site of the old temple (Middle English, Old French temple, Latin templum)... [more]
TemplierFrench French variant of Temple, given to someone who was a member of the Templar order.
TerrienFrench Topographic name from an adjectival derivative of terre "land", denoting someone who lived and worked on the land, i.e. a peasant. It is Americanized frequently as Landers, and occasionally as Farmer.
TessierFrench Occupational Name For A Weaver, From Old French Tissier (From Late Latin Texarius, A Derivative Of Texere ‘To Weave’). It Is Also Found In England As A Surname Of Huguenot Origin. Compare Tacey.
TheriaultFrench (Rare) Possibly from the Greek "therion" which means a beast of a nondescript nature.
TherouxFrench (Quebec) Southern French (Théroux): of uncertain origin; perhaps a topographic name for someone living by "the wells", from a plural variant of Occitan théron "well".
ToupinFrench, Breton, Norman nickname from Old French toupin "spinning-top". in rare instances in the south probably from Old Occitan toupin "small earthenware pot" used as a metonymic occupational name for a potter.
TourvilleFrench The name Tourville is a very old, and in one case, very famous name. One of the Marshall's of France was named Anne Hilarion de Cotentin de Tourville. This reads: Anne Hilarion of/from Cotentin, Comte (Count) of Tourville... [more]
ToussaintFrench Derived from the given name Toussaint, which in turn is derived from Toussaint, the French name for the Christian feast day All Saints' Day (celebrated on November 1st every year)... [more]