Swiss
names are used in the country of Switzerland in central Europe.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Parduhn GermanVariant Of Pardon From Middle English Pardun, Pardon "Pardon" A Metonymic occupational name for a pardoner, a person licensed to sell papal pardons or indulgences. German: either a cognate of 1 (also for a sexton), from Old French pardon ‘pardon’, or perhaps a nickname from Middle Low German bardun, Middle High German purdune ‘pipe’ (instrument), ‘tenor’ (voice).
Parletti Italian (Rare)It is a surname of Italian origin, believed to mean "talkative", although few have this surname. Approximately 11 people bear this surname.
Parmentier FrenchAn occupational surname for a maker of "facings" and "trimmings".
Parolo ItalianItalian surname coming from the given name Gaspare.
Pasch GermanTopographic name for a field or meadow which was used at Easter as a playground; etymologically two sources seem to be combined: Latin pascuum ‘pasture’ and Middle Low German pāsche(n) ‘Easter’.
Passi Italian, Medieval ItalianThe surname Passi was first found in the town of Mugello, with the Passerini family who moved south to Florence in the 10th century. Terranova dei Passerini is a comune in the Province of Lodi in the Italian region Lombardy about 50 kilometres (31 miles) southeast of Milan.... [
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Pasteur FrenchFrench for "shepherd" or "preacher, pastor". Famous bearer Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), French chemist who created the first rabies vaccine, gave his name to the process of 'pasteurization'.
Paterno ItalianItalian surname of unknown origin, most likely comes from Paternò in Sicily. Notable individuals include Joe Paterno (1926 - 2012), head coach at Pennsylvania State University until 2011.
Pathé FrenchMeaning, "Dweller near an important path or footway."
Pavese ItalianMeans "one from Pavia". Pavia is an Italian town located in Lombardy, northern Italy. It can also derive from
pavese, a kind of big, Medieval shield.... [
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Pecchia ItalianNickname, probably for an industrious person, from
pecchia "bee".
Pechman German"Pechman" means "man with bad luck" in many European languages (Polish, German, and Dutch predominantly), though in German, it originally referred to one who prepared, sold, or used pitch.
Peik GermanFrom Middle Low German
pek ‘sharp, pointed tool or weapon’.
Pelagatti ItalianProbably derives from an old expression meaning "cheat, scoundrel", literally a combination of
pela "to skin" and
gatti "cats".
Pelissier FrenchFrom Old French "Pelicier", (Meaning "Furrier", from an agent derivative of pelice, meaning "Fur cloak", from Late Latin "pellicia", from "pellis", meaning "skin fur". An occupational name of someone likely in the fur and hide trade.
Pelle GermanFrom Middle Low German
pelle "precious purple silk cloth", presumably an occupational name for a maker or seller of such cloth or for a maker of official and church vestments.
Peloso ItalianNickname for a man with long or unkempt hair and beard, from
peloso "hairy", "shaggy".
Peltz German, JewishOccupational name for a furrier, from Middle High German
bellez, (modern German
pelz) "fur", "animal skin".
Pelzer GermanOccupational name for a furrier, from an agent derivative Middle High German
bellez "fur".
Penna ItalianPossibly from Italian
penna "feather, pen", a nickname for a scribe.
Pensa ItalianPossibly from Italian
pensa "think", indicating the bearer was known for being thoughtful or intelligent.
Pense FrenchPense is, quite literally, a French word meaning "to think" or "thought", but is also a surname. Sometimes confused with the surname Pence, which is German.
Pépin FrenchFrom the Old French name
Pepis, itself a form of the given name
Pépin. Alternatively, it may be derived from French
pépin meaning "(fruit) seed", thus making it an occupational name for a gardener or someone who grew fruit-bearing trees.
Peppe ItalianFrom a short form of the personal name
Giuseppe.
Perdue English, Irish, FrenchEnglish 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... [
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Perlman GermanOccupational name for a person who makes or sells pearls.
Perna ItalianMeaning uncertain, possibly from the dialectic word
perna "leg", denoting someone with a deformed or missing leg, or a variant of
Perla.
Pernier ItalianA famous bearer is the Italian archaeologist Luigi Pernier (1874 - 1937), who discovered the mysterious Phaistos disc on the Greek island of Crete.
Persia Italian, SpanishEthnic name or regional name for someone from Persia (modern-day Iran) or some other country with Persian-speaking peoples or a nickname for someone who had visited or traded with one of these countries (see the given name
Persis)... [
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Petitjean FrenchNickname for a small or little man, or ironically a large or tall man, derived from Old French
petit meaning "small, little" combined with the given name
Jean 1... [
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Petito Italian, Judeo-ItalianNickname for a small person, derived from a dialectal word ultimately from French
petit meaning "small, little".
Petrillo ItalianFrom the given name
Pietro. A famous user of this name is Sophia Petrillo, one of the main characters on the sitcom, The Golden Girls.
Petrosino ItalianFrom
petrosino "parsley", a southern dialect variant of prezzemolo.
Petzold GermanGerman. Derives from a pet form of a Slavic version of the given name
Peter.
Peureux FrenchIn the war there was a French resistance fighter named Maurice Peureux.
Peyron FrenchUnknown meaning. French surname. Famous bearer of this name is Bruno Peyron and the German princess Louise Peyron (1918-1989).... [
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Pfarr GermanFrom Middle High German pfarr 'district' 'parish' or pfarre(r) 'parish priest', hence an occupational name for a parson.
Pfautz GermanIt was originally given as a nickname for a chubby person.
Pfeffer German, JewishOccupational name for a spicer, or a nickname for a person with a fiery temper, for a small man, or for a dark-haired person. Derived from German
Pfeffer "pepper".
Pfeil GermanFrom Middle High German pfil ‘arrow’ (from Latin pilum ‘spike’, ‘javelin’), either a metonymic occupational name for an arrowsmith or possibly a nickname for a tall thin man.
Pflüger GermanOccupational name for a Ploughman, literally meaning "Ploughman/Plowman" in German.
Pfuhl Germana topographic name for someone who lived by a swamp or pond, Middle High German phuol.... [
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Pfund Germanmetonymic occupational name for a sealer of weights, or for a wholesale merchant, from Middle High German pfunt ‘pound’ (as a measure of weight and a unit of currency).
Piaget French (Swiss)Of uncertain origin and meaning. This name was borne by Jean Piaget (1896-1980), a Swiss child psychologist noted for his studies of intellectual and cognitive development in children.
Piana ItalianTopographic name from piana ‘plain’, ‘level ground’, from Latin planus, or a habitational name from any of the places named with this word.
Piano ItalianTopographic name for someone who lived on a plain or plateau, Italian piano (Latin planum, from the adjective planus ‘flat’, ‘level’).
Pica Italian, CatalanNickname for a gossipy or garrulous person, from the central-southern Italian word pica ‘magpie’. Compare Picazo.Catalan: habitational name from any of the numerous places called Pica.Catalan: from either pica ‘pointed object’ (weapon, etc.) or a derivative of picar ‘to prick’.
Pickle GermanPickle is an Anglicized form of the North German word “pokel” and or the Dutch word “pekel”.
Picot FrenchFrom Old French
picot "pointed object pickaxe" a nickname for someone who used such an implement.
Picquet FrenchA variant of
Piquet of which it's meaning is of a military terminology of one soldier/small group of soldiers on a line forward of a postion to provide a warning of an enemy advance... [
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Piénoel French (Rare)French surname that possibly refers to the buckled shoes that the original bearer was wearing, in which case it is derived from Old French
pié meaning "foot" combined with Old French
noiel meaning "buckle"... [
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Pietrafesa ItalianThe derivation of the name Pietrafesa comes from the cracked aspect of the mountain on which it rose. In Italian "Pietra" mean Rock and "-fesa" comes from the Italian word fessura meaning cracked.... [
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Pigue FrenchFrench family last name may have been changed from the original French
Piketty FrenchPerhaps related to the English surname
Pickett. A notable bearer is French economist Thomas Piketty (1971-).
Pillot FrenchMeaning unknown, possibly derived from Middle French
pilot or
pillot both meaning "stake, pole". This is the name of a wealthy merchant family from Besançon, France.
Pin French, DutchA topographic name for someone living by a pine tree or in a pine forest, or a habitational name from a place named with the Old French word
pin, meaning ‘pine’.
Pineau FrenchEither a diminutive of
Pin from Old French
pin "pine" or a habitational name from (Le) Pineau the name of several places in the western part of France of the same origin.
Pininfarina ItalianA combination of "pinin", Piedmontese for youngest/smallest brother, and
Farina, the Italian variant of
Miller. This is the name of the Italian coachbuilder, founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina, later Battista Pininfarina.
Pink English, GermanNickname, possibly for a small person, from Middle English pink
penkg ‘minnow’ (Old English pinc).English (southeastern): variant of
Pinch .Variant spelling of German
Pinck, an indirect occupational name for a blacksmith, an onomatopoeic word imitating the sound of hammering which was perceived as pink(e)pank... [
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Pinn English, GermanDerived from Middle English
pin and Middle Low German
pinne, both meaning "peg" or "pin". This was an occupational name from a maker of these things. The German name can in some cases be an occupational name for a shoemaker.
Pinsker German, PrussianHabitational name from any of several places named near Posen (Polish Poznan) and in West Prussia.
Pinson FrenchFrom Old French
pinson "finch" a nickname applied to someone who whistles or sings like a finch or to a bright and cheerful person.
Pionke German, PolishGermanized form of Slavic Pinoek, which is a nickname from pionek ‘puppet’.
Piquet FrenchOccupational name for someone who dealt with picks from a diminutive of
pic ''pick, pickax''.
Pirovano ItalianProbably from a place in Lombardy, itself possibly deriving from Ancient Greek
πυρο- (
pyro-) "fire" and
-γενής (
-genes) "born of".
Pisa ItalianHabitational name from the city of Pisa in Tuscany. The city was probably founded by Greek colonists, but before coming under Roman control it was in the hands of the Etruscans, who probably gave it its name... [
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Piscopo ItalianFrom a reduced form of
episcopo "bishop" (Greek
episkopos "bishop", literally "overseer"), hence a metonymic occupational name for someone in the service of a bishop, or perhaps a nickname for a pompous person.
Pisoni Italianpatronymic "from Pisone", from a derivative of
Piso, from Latin pisum "pea"
Pitcher English, GermanFrom an agent derivative of Middle English
pich ‘pitch’, hence an occupational name for a caulker, one who sealed the seams of ships or barrels with pitch. English variant of
Pickard... [
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Pitsenbarger GermanProbably an altered spelling of
Bezzenberger, which is derived from
Boizenburg, a municipality in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
Pittler FrenchA surname which originally belonged to a person who lived by a pit or hollow. Meaning "King of the Pit" or "King of the Hollow".
Pizzuto ItalianItalian surname derived from a nickname meaning ‘malicious’.
Plain Frenchfrom Old French
plain an adjective meaning "flat" and a noun meaning "plain" hence a topographic name denoting e.g. a dwelling on a flat terrain.
Plum English, German, JewishEnglish and North German: from Middle English plum(b)e, Middle Low German plum(e) ‘plum’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived by a plum tree, or a metonymic occupational name for a fruit grower... [
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Plumer German, English, DutchNorth German (Plümer) and English: variant of
Plum, the suffix -er denoting habitation or occupation. Altered form of South German
Pflümer, an occupational name for a grower or seller of plums, from an agent derivative of Middle High German pflume ‘plum’... [
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Plumier French, BelgianPossibly an occupational name for a dealer in feathers and quills, from an agent derivative of Old French
plume "feather, plume" (compare English and Dutch
Plumer)... [
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Pobanz GermanNickname for a braggart or bogeyman, of uncertain Slavic origin.
Poehler GermanGerman (Westphalian): topographic name for someone who lived by a muddy pool, from an agent noun derived from Middle Low
pol ‘(muddy) pool’.
Poh GermanFrom a dialect word for standard German Pfau ‘peacok’, a nickname for a vain person or for someone with a strutting gait.
Pointe FrenchDerivation of the name is from the pre 10th century Old French "pointe" meaning a sharp or pointed end, and ultimately from the Latin "puncta", to pierce.
Poisson FrenchPoisson is the French word for fish, and was given to one who was a fishmonger, fisherman, or could be a nickname for one who had the appearance similar to a fish.
Poitier FrenchEvidently an altered spelling of
Pothier. A famous bearer of this surname was the Bahamian-American actor Sidney Poitier (1927-2022).
Poland English, German, French (Anglicized), Irish (Anglicized)English and German name is derived from the Middle High German
Polan, which means "Poland". The surname originally signified a person with Polish connections.This French surname originated from an occupational name of a poultry breeder, or from a fearful person; it is derived from the Old French
poule, which means "chicken".In other cases, particularly in Ireland, the English Poland is a variant of Polin,which is in turn an Anglicised form of the original Gaelic spelling of
Mac Póilín, which translated from Irish means "son of little Paul"... [
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