Surnames starting with P

A Spanish surname and given name from the Latin name Paul, meaning “small” or “humble.”

A Spanish surname most likely formed from a place name or local topographic term, and especially associated with the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and Latin America.

A surname that can come from an Easter name or from a place name, especially in England and Normandy.

A Spanish surname most likely tied to an old personal name of Roman or Latin origin, later used as a hereditary family name.

Usually an English surname from a personal name or nickname, though some sources also connect it with Easter/Paschal associations or with a pack-bearer.

A surname likely from the Norman/French name Picard, though some 19th-century writers also connected it with Pack or a packer.

An occupational surname for someone who packed goods, barrels, or cargo for transport or sale.

Usually a surname from a place-name or a word for a small enclosed field or park.

An Irish surname usually taken as a variant of Padden, ultimately from a Gaelic personal name.

A surname with several overlapping origins, most often linked to Paget or to a nickname based on Madge/Madge-like forms.

A Spanish surname from a place name, best known through the powerful medieval Castilian house of Padilla.

A Spanish surname linked to the word for a register, list, or official record, and also to the place-name Padrón in Galicia.

A surname from the medieval personal name Paganus, originally meaning “heathen” or “rustic,” later used as a given name and family name.

An Italian surname that originally meant “countryman” or “villager,” later also associated with “pagan” in a Christian context.

A surname from an old word for a young male attendant or servant, later extended to a courtly pageboy.

A surname with more than one origin, including a German pet-form of Paul/Pavel and a French dialect word for a rustic or mountain man.

A German surname that most likely began as a short form or nickname, with some old sources linking it to forms like Bald or Pfahl.

A variant spelling of Page, most likely from the word for a young servant or attendant in a noble household.

A surname that usually comes from the old personal name Pagan, rather than from the modern word “pain.”

An occupational surname for a painter or decorator of surfaces, from the medieval trade name.

A Portuguese surname originally taken from a place name, most likely referring to someone from a locale called Paiva.

A rare Iberian surname, probably a reduced form of a patronymic such as Páez/Paez.

A rare surname whose origin is uncertain in the surviving old surname books, and may be connected to a place-name or an old word for a pack/bag.

A short surname with multiple possible roots, including a nickname sense of “pale” or “wretched,” and in some traditions a regional or place-name connection.

A Spanish surname meaning “palace,” usually from someone who lived near or worked at a noble or royal residence.

A Spanish surname meaning “palaces,” originally a plural place-name for someone from a settlement or house called Palacios.

An Italian surname usually understood as a nickname for a knightly or paladin-like man, or as a name linked to the medieval figure of a paladin.

A Spanish surname, probably originally tied to a place-name or noble family tradition rather than a plain occupational meaning.

An Italian surname from a place name meaning “small palace” or “town with a palace,” most famously associated with Sicily and southern Italy.

A Spanish surname taken from the city of Palencia in north-central Spain.

A locational surname taken from the Sicilian city of Palermo, meaning “from Palermo.”

An Italian surname usually linked to the word for a “Palatine” or someone associated with a palace or court.

A surname that likely began as a nickname for someone linked to palm branches or Palm Sunday observance.

A surname that usually comes from the word for a palm tree or palm frond, and sometimes from a place-name called Palma.

An English surname for a pilgrim who had been to the Holy Land and carried a palm as a sign of devotion.

An Italian surname usually meaning “descendant of the palm-bearer” or “one associated with palms.”

An Italian surname most likely meaning someone from a place marked by palm trees or a palm grove.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably a later spelling variation of a place-based or descriptive English name.

A Spanish surname most likely tied to a place-name meaning “pigeon house” or “dove cote.”

A Spanish surname that began as a nickname or descriptive term, originally linked to a young pigeon or light-colored horse.

A Spanish surname from palomo, meaning “male dove” or “male pigeon.”

An Italian surname meaning “pigeon” or “dove,” originally a nickname or descriptive byname.

A rare surname with uncertain roots, possibly linked to an old Germanic personal name or to the medieval office of palm-bearer/pilgrim.

A South Asian surname tied to the Pandya name, long associated with a historic Tamil royal dynasty and regional identity.

Usually a short form of a surname tied to Pangbourne in Berkshire, England, rather than a stand-alone English surname with a separate meaning.

A Spanish surname meaning “bread and water,” likely used as a descriptive or place-based name in medieval Spain.

A surname probably connected to an old continental place-name or to related forms like Panks and Hanke, though the exact origin is uncertain.

A surname that likely began as a medieval form of the Norman-French personal name Payn/Pain, later reshaped by diminutive endings.

A Spanish surname that most likely began as a place name, referring to someone from Pantoja in Toledo, Spain.

A surname with two likely roots: a nickname for a priest or pope, or a word for “father” or “dad.”

A surname for someone nicknamed “the pope” or “the priest,” from French and Latin forms of that title.

A surname often treated as a short form of a personal name, but in some families it may also reflect a nickname or regional naming pattern.

A Greek surname meaning “priest,” originally used as an occupational byname for a priest or priestly family.

A French surname likely built on a saint’s name linked to Easter, ultimately from Latin *Pascha* (“Easter”).

A French surname most likely built from a pet form of the given name Jacques or from the Easter-name group around Pâques/Paque.

A Spanish surname meaning “stop,” “halt,” or “place to stand,” often tied to a resting place or stopping point.

A surname from French “paradis,” meaning “paradise,” often used for someone living near a place called Paradise or as a name with religious overtones.

A surname usually referring to someone who lived by a place nicknamed “Paradise,” such as a pleasant spot or monastic open space.

A surname of likely Hispanic origin, probably derived from a place name or the Spanish word for a high, open upland.

A surname that can come from a nickname for a brownish or dark complexion, and in some older European sources is also linked to an ancient Germanic name-stem.

A surname most likely from a French nickname meaning “forgiven” or “pardoned,” though its exact English surname history is not fully settled.

Usually a French locational surname, probably meaning someone from a place called Pare or from a park or enclosure.

A Spanish surname meaning “walls,” usually taken from a place-name or a home marked by stone walls.

A South Asian surname often linked to the Gujarati word for a “supervisor” or “examiner,” especially in commercial communities.

A surname taken from the French word for a kinsman or relative, originally meaning “parent.”

A locational surname from English places called Parham, meaning an enclosure or homestead by the pear trees.

A South Asian surname, most commonly linked to the Gujarati word for an examiner or supervisor, especially a checker or auditor.

A surname that usually means “from Paris,” the famous French capital.

A surname for someone who lived by the parish church or in the settlement attached to it.

A surname usually meaning “from Paris” or “of Paris,” especially used for people with an Italian or southern European family background.

A surname for someone who lived by or worked near an enclosed park or game preserve.

Usually a surname for someone who lived by or worked at a park, though in some cases it may be a local or even patronymic form.

An occupational surname for a park keeper or gamekeeper.

A surname that can mean either “at the park” or a shortened form of Parker/Perkins-like names.

A locational surname meaning “the wood by the park” or “park wood,” especially tied to Parkhurst in the Isle of Wight.

An English surname that usually began as a diminutive form of Peter, later used as a family name in its own right.

A classic English surname meaning “Parkin’s son,” originally a patronymic from the given name Parkin, a medieval pet form of Peter.

Usually an English surname for someone who lived by or worked at a park, though it can also be a plural-looking form of Park or a shortened form of Parkins.

A surname that likely began as a spelling variant of Palmer, though in some cases it may reflect local surname variation or transcription shifts.

A surname that began as a form of the medieval female name Petronilla and was later sometimes linked to an old term for a wanton woman.

A surname with several possible origins, most often from a place-name in Lancashire or from a form of Peter.

A Romance-language surname meaning “grapevine” or “vine arbor,” often used as a habitational or nickname-based family name.

A surname usually treated as a spelling variant of Perrott, ultimately from the pet form of Peter.

A surname most often from the place name Paris, with some English families also influenced by Parish or Parry.

Usually a spelling of Parish, originally a name for someone who lived in or worked for the parish.

An English surname that may come from a nickname for a talkative person, or from forms of Peter/Pierre.

A Welsh surname meaning “son of Harry,” originally from the patronymic ap Harry.

An English surname that was probably reshaped by folk etymology and may go back to an older place-name or personal-name form, not the herb itself.

A surname that usually began as a nickname or occupational name for a parish priest, though it may sometimes simply be a variant of Pearson.

A surname that usually began as a patronymic, meaning “son of the parson” or, in some traditions, “son of Peter.”

A surname with uncertain roots, likely a later English or French-influenced spelling that began as a regional name or nickname.

An English surname likely developed as a variant spelling of Partridge or another similar nickname form.

A Spanish surname most likely connected to a “departure,” “division,” or recorded civil “partida” in origin or place-name form.

A surname with several possible roots, most likely either a French locational name or a shortened/altered form of an older European surname.

An English-language surname that is most likely locational, probably from a now-lost or altered place-name.

A surname most often taken from a place name meaning “pear-tree farm” or “pear orchard.”

An English surname usually taken from the bird partridge, though some early writers thought a few forms may come from a place-name ending in -ridge.

A surname from the word for Easter or Passover, originally given to someone born at that season.

A surname from the personal name Pascal, ultimately linked to Easter or Passover.

A Cornish surname from Pascal, originally a baptismal name linked to Easter.

A surname from the word for Easter or Passover, originally given to someone born or baptized around that feast.

A Spanish surname from the Christian feast of Easter or Passover, originally used as a personal name.

A surname of Spanish-language origin, likely built from a diminutive or plural form of a word for a small field or pasture.

A surname most likely taken from a place-name, especially the Sussex manor of Pashley/Passelewe.

An Italian surname and given name from the Christian feast of Easter, originally meaning “of Easter” or “born at Passover/Easter.”

A surname from a narrow way or passage, or from the idea of passing by or through.

An English surname most likely meaning “one who lived by a pass or narrow way by a moor.”

A surname that usually began as a name for a shepherd or, later, a church pastor.

An Italian surname meaning “shepherd,” originally a name for someone who kept sheep or worked in pastoral life.

A Spanish surname originally taken from the place name Pastrana in Guadalajara, Spain.

An English surname that may come from an old personal name, a place-name, or even a nickname for a jester or fool.

A Scottish and northern English surname that can be a short form of Patrick, with some old evidence also linking it to a word for a badger.

A Gujarati surname historically tied to village leadership and landholding, now one of the most widespread South Asian surnames worldwide.

A Scottish surname that most often means “son of Patrick,” though it can also be read as “Peter’s son” in older English forms.

A Spanish surname most often connected with a place-name or the idea of a small patio or yard.

A surname ultimately tied to the Latin idea of “noble” or “patrician,” often appearing as a given-name-based family name in Romance-language areas.

A surname from the personal name Patrick, ultimately meaning “nobleman” or “patrician.”

Usually a medieval form of Patrick’s son, though in some cases it may also be locational from a place-name in Essex.

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Patrick,” with the form shaped by the nickname Pattie or Patty in some traditions.

A surname of uncertain origin, most likely linked to a pet form of a personal name or to an Italian name pattern ending in -i.

Usually a patronymic surname meaning “son of Patrick,” with later spelling shifts from the same family as Patterson and Pattinson.

A surname that most likely began as a place-name byname in England or as a short form of Patrick in Scotland and Ireland.

Usually a pet-form surname from Patrick, though in some cases it may also come from the personal name Patty/Mattie.

A surname often treated as a shortened or altered form of a Germanic name, though its exact origin is not firmly settled.

A widespread surname from the Latin name Paulus, meaning “small” or “humble,” and also sometimes linked to places called Paul.

Usually a pet-form surname meaning “son of Paul,” from the personal name Paul.

A surname that usually began as a French or Latin-based form of Paul, meaning “son of Paul” or “little Paul.”

A surname derived from a personal name meaning “little Paul” or “belonging to Paul.”

A surname usually understood as a variant built from the given name Paul, with the final -k likely reflecting spelling variation or dialectal form.

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Paul,” especially common in German, Danish, and Dutch naming traditions.

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Paul,” from the given name Paul.

A surname ultimately from the Roman name Paulus, meaning “small” or “little.”

A surname most often derived from the given name Paul, with a French or continental spelling.

A Slavic surname that usually means “son of Pavel/Pavel” or “little Pavel.”

A Spanish surname linked to the peacock, likely first used as a nickname or descriptive name.

A Polish surname most likely built from the given name Paweł, meaning in effect “son or descendant of Paul.”

A Polish surname meaning “from Pawłów” or “belonging to Pawł,” ultimately tied to the personal name Paweł (Paul).

A locational surname from places called Paxton in England and Scotland, meaning “Pæcc’s estate” or similar.

A surname that likely began as a medieval byname from Pagan/Pain, ultimately meaning “heathen” or “villager.”

Originally a surname for someone linked to the medieval name Pagan, later associated with “heathen” or “rustic” in Old French and Latin.

An occupational surname for a painter, with some historical spelling overlap with related forms like Painter and Payter.

A surname usually from English place names, especially Payton or Peyton, meaning “Pæga’s estate” or a similar settlement name.

A surname from Spanish and other Romance languages meaning “peace,” often arising from a devotional name or from the phrase de la paz (“of peace”).

An English surname that likely began as a nickname for someone thought to be flashy or showily dressed.

Usually a surname from the given name or personification “Peace,” rather than a place-name or occupation.

An English surname that likely began as a variant of Peche/Peachey, and may also reflect a nickname or local topographic name connected with a hill or peak.

An English surname probably developed as a spelling variant of Peche, later influenced by the word peach and the spelling -ey.

An English surname originally given as a nickname for someone thought to resemble or behave like a peacock.

A surname for someone who lived by a pointed hill or the Peak district in Derbyshire.

An English surname for someone who lived by a pointed hill or peak.

An English surname most often linked to the medieval given name Piers/Pierre, with some forms also influenced by place-names and later spelling shifts.

A surname that usually began as a nickname or given-name reference, likening someone to a pearl, the precious gem.

An English surname from a Staffordshire place-name, originally meaning someone who came from Pershall/Pearshall.

A classic English surname meaning “son of Piers” or “son of Peter,” with an old surname form preserved in medieval records.

A surname most likely from a nickname for someone who was lively, brisk, or sprightly.

Usually a surname from the word for peas, though some families may have taken it from place-names or from a nickname form of Peace/Pace.

A surname that likely developed as a spelling variant of Peavy/Peavey, itself often treated as a reduced or altered form of an older European family name.

A rare surname that may have developed as a short form or variant spelling of older names such as Pavey or Pied.

A surname with more than one likely source: in many cases it is a nickname or locational name, though some early forms may overlap with related names like Peckham or Peche.

A surname from Peckham in Kent, originally meaning someone from that place.

An Italian occupational surname originally meaning a shepherd or keeper of sheep.

A Scottish surname best known from the Covenanter prophet Alexander Peden, likely a local family name that became established as a hereditary surname.

A Scandinavian patronymic surname meaning “Peter’s son.”

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Peder,” with Peder being a Scandinavian form of Peter.

A surname of uncertain origin, likely an old English or possibly nickname-based family name that later became established in the United States.

A Spanish surname from a place name, ultimately tied to the word for “stone” or a stony place.

A Spanish surname and given-name surname meaning “Peter,” ultimately from the apostle’s name.

A Spanish surname meaning “of Pedro” or “son/descendant of Pedro,” ultimately tied to the name Peter.

A Scottish habitational surname taken from the town of Peebles in the Borders.

A surname that likely began as a place-name, pointing to someone from Peebles in Scotland.

A surname usually traced to Peak, meaning someone who lived by a hilltop or peak.

A surname for someone who lived by or in a fortified house, especially a northern English or Scottish peel or peel-house.

A surname usually from a fortified place or tower—literally someone who lived by a peel or pele.

An occupational surname probably referring to someone who peeled bark, fruit, or other materials.

Usually a surname from the French personal name Pierre, the equivalent of Peter.

A surname most likely derived from a place-name or from the common surname Perry, with spelling shaped by local pronunciation.

A surname most likely from the medieval name Peter, though some sources also connect it with a pet-name or a godparent term.

Likely a surname from the pilgrim name Peregrine, with the initial sounds worn down over time.

A Spanish surname likely tied to a place name or local geographic term, especially in the Dominican and broader Caribbean Spanish tradition.

A rare surname that is most likely a French-derived spelling of a name linked to a place name or older personal name.

A Spanish surname and given name ultimately from the Latin Pelagius, meaning “of the sea.”

A surname of uncertain origin, likely a regional or altered form of an older European family name.

A surname taken from one of several places called Pelham in Hertfordshire, England.

A surname most likely from an old French personal name or nickname, later Anglicized in North America.

A name that can mean either “by the pool” or descend from a short medieval personal name like Pella.

An Italian surname meaning “pilgrims,” originally tied to a pilgrimage or a pilgrim ancestor.

An Italian surname from a word meaning “pilgrim” or “traveler.”

A French surname originally meaning “pilgrim” or “one who has made a pilgrimage.”

A French occupational surname meaning “furrier” or “skinner.”

A French occupational surname, originally referring to a furrier or dealer in pelts.

An English habitational surname, most commonly from Pelton in County Durham, meaning “settlement by Peol’s or Pēola’s farm.”

A southern Italian surname likely referring to someone from Pelusium or, in some cases, a nickname based on a word for “furry” or “hairy.”

A Spanish patronymic surname meaning “descendant of Pelaio/Pelayo,” ultimately tied to the old name Pelayo.

A locational surname meaning “from Pemberton,” originally taken from the Lancashire place-name.

A surname likely born as a medieval nickname or byname, probably connected with the word for small coin or an amount of money.

An English surname that likely began as a nickname or occupational name linked to a pinder, or possibly to an old Anglo-Saxon compound meaning “army-guard.”

An Irish surname usually understood as a reduced or altered form of Prendergast, though some English-local explanations also appear in older sources.

A surname usually treated as a spelling variant of Pendergast, most likely of Irish origin.

A habitational surname from places in Lancashire, especially the Manchester-area township and Little Pendleton near Clitheroe.

A surname most likely taken from Pendley, a place-name in Hertfordshire.

A Chinese surname with very ancient roots, often linked to an old place name and early clan traditions.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably an altered form of an older English or Scots name.

A surname most likely formed from a place-name, probably meaning someone from or near a fenced or enclosed piece of land.

A surname with multiple English and Celtic roots, especially from places named Penn or from a word for a hilltop or enclosure.

A surname of uncertain origin, most often treated as a variant of Paynell/Pannell, ultimately from the medieval personal name Payn or Pagan.

An English surname that likely began as an occupational name for someone who penned or impounded animals.

An English and Scottish surname most often treated as a form of Penny, though some writers linked it to the coin itself.

A habitational surname from English place-names meaning “the estate or settlement of Penna’s people.”

A surname that most often began as a nickname from the coin name “penny,” though some bearers may also come from place-names in Scotland.

A surname most likely built from a place-name root, probably meaning someone from or near a hill or promontory called Penrod or a similar form.

A locational surname from places called Penton, most likely the Hampshire parish name.

A surname that likely began as a nickname or later fixed family name from the common word “people,” rather than a classic patronymic.

A surname that can come either from a pet form of Peter or, in some cases, from the very common Spanish nickname Pepe for José.

A surname from the old French personal name Pepin, best known from the royal Carolingian family.

An English surname that may come from pepper dealers, a peppercorn rent, or a place-name, with several origins possible.

A surname that most likely began as a nickname or as a family name built from Pepper, the spice word used as a personal name or descriptive byname.

A Spanish surname meaning “pear trees” or “orchard of pear trees,” usually from a place-name.

A Spanish surname from a place-name meaning “high rock” or “high hill.”

A Spanish surname likely tied to pears or a place-name built from the word for pear.

A surname of Norman-French origin, often explained as meaning “valley-piercer” or as a place-based name from Normandy.

A Norman surname from a place in northern France, later made famous by the powerful Percy family of England.

A Spanish surname, most likely tied to a place name or local family line rather than a job or nickname.

An English and French surname that may have begun as a nickname from French peregrine, meaning “pilgrim” or “traveller,” though some sources treat it as related to other Per- forms.

A surname most likely linked to the ancient region of Perea beyond the Jordan, used as a geographical name.

A Portuguese and Galician surname meaning “pear tree,” originally a name taken from a place or property marked by pear trees.

A common Sri Lankan surname, likely tied to the Portuguese colonial-era influence on local naming.

A surname usually derived from Peter/Peers, ultimately meaning “son of Peter.”

A surname of Spanish and Portuguese use, probably referring to a pear tree or a place marked by pear trees.

A classic patronymic surname meaning “son of Peter.”

A surname most likely meaning “pearl man,” originally from a Germanic or Yiddish-speaking naming tradition.

A surname with multiple possible roots, most likely from a nickname, place-name, or southern European word for a shell or leg bone.

A French surname most likely meaning “from the pear tree” or “place of pear trees.”

A surname most likely tied to a place-name meaning “stony place,” with possible Italian or French roots.

A French surname that began as a pet form of Pierre, the French form of Peter.

A French surname most likely formed as a diminutive of Pierre, meaning “little Peter.”

Usually a French patronymic from a pet form of Pierre/Peter, though in some cases it can also be locational.

A surname with French- and Italian-language roots, likely linked to a place name or to a stone/cairn word.

An Italian surname, most likely from a nickname or a place-based family name related to words for “pear” or “rock.”

A common English and Welsh surname with two main roots: either “pear tree” or a shortened form of Parry, meaning “son of Harry.”

A surname that usually means “Perry’s man” — a servant, dependent, or retainer of someone named Perry (a form of Peter).

A surname of Indo-Caribbean origin, most often linked to the Hindu divine name Prasad, meaning a gift or blessing.

A surname most likely linked to a place name or to an older Germanic family name built on a personal name plus the agentive suffix -er.

A surname that most likely began as a medieval byname for someone with a notable or distinctive personality, later fixed as an inherited family name.

A surname that most likely began as a plural patronymic, meaning “the family or descendants of a person called Person.”

A short surname most likely from the pet form of Peter, or from a related word meaning godparent in older Dutch and German.

A surname from the given name Peter, ultimately meaning “rock” or “stone.”

A surname meaning “Peter’s man” — originally a name for someone connected with a Peter, often in a servant or dependent sense.

A very common patronymic surname meaning “son of Peter.”

A Scandinavian patronymic surname meaning “son of Peter.”

A classic patronymic surname meaning “son of Peter.”

A French surname meaning “the little one,” originally a nickname for a small person or the younger of two.

A surname often explained as a regional form of Peter or Petrus, especially in Germanic and Slavic border areas.

A Scottish surname that began as a diminutive form of Peter.

An Italian surname meaning “little Peter,” originally a pet-form or diminutive from the name Pietro/Peter.

A surname with several possible roots, most often tied to the given name Peter or to place-names built from it.

A surname built from the name Peter, often an Italian form meaning “son of Peter” or “little Peter.”

A surname usually from the personal name Peter, especially in continental European forms like Petri or Petit/Pétri.

A Cornish surname from a place-name meaning “crane’s grove,” later also associated by folk etymology with “pedigree.”

A surname most likely from the same roots as Pettit and Pettey, ultimately meaning “small” or “little one.”

A French nickname surname meaning “little” or “small,” ultimately from petit.

A surname that likely developed as a local or nickname form of an older name, probably tied to a Kentish pronunciation.

A surname of uncertain origin, probably a regional English place-name or a variant built from an old personal name plus a road or way element.

A surname from the French word for “small” or “little,” originally likely a nickname for a short person or the younger/smaller of two.

An English surname that usually came from a place name meaning “Pæga’s estate” or from a local place called Peyton.

A Spanish surname meaning “rock” or “cliff,” originally used for someone living near a prominent rocky place.

A Spanish surname probably tied to a place or landscape name, likely meaning someone from a stony or rocky place.

A German surname meaning “priest,” originally used as a nickname or occupational label for an ecclesiastical figure.

A German surname most often referring to pepper or a peppery nickname, and sometimes tied to old food-trade usage.

A German surname meaning “pipe player” or “fifer,” originally tied to the pipe or flute.

A German occupational surname meaning “piper” or “fifer,” originally given to a player of a pipe or flute.

A German occupational surname meaning “baker,” from Latin *pistor*.

A Vietnamese surname, widely used as a family name rather than a word with an English-language meaning.

A surname found especially in Vietnamese communities, where it usually comes from a Sino-Vietnamese family name of Chinese origin.

A rare surname ultimately tied to the biblical name Perez, meaning “breach” or “breaking through.”

A surname most likely from a place name or from a spelling variant of Farr, rather than from a single fixed meaning.

An Irish surname from Ó Faoláin, meaning a descendant of Faolán, a name based on the word for “wolf.”

Originally a family name meaning “son of Philip,” though some older writers also proposed a connection with “whelp.”

A surname usually seen as a spelling variant of Pfeiffer, linked to an occupational name for a piper or player of a pipe.

A surname from the given name Philip, ultimately meaning “horse-lover” in Greek.

A surname meaning “son of Philip,” from the personal name Philip.

A surname from the personal name Philip, ultimately meaning “horse-loving.”

A very common surname from the given name Philip, originally meaning “Philip’s son.”

A diminutive of Philip, originally meaning “little Philip” or “son of Philip.”

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Philip,” with a familiar English diminutive form.

An English surname probably from Finney, a diminutive form of Philip or Finn.

A surname that began as a shortened form of Philip, originally meaning “son of Philip.”

Likely a nickname surname, originally from the mythical bird or from the word for a rare, exceptional person.

A surname found especially in Vietnamese families, where it is usually written Phùng and pronounced roughly “foong.”

An English surname that appears to be a spelling variant of Piatt, ultimately linked by some sources to Pitt or Platt-type forms.

An Italian surname from the word for a public square or open place, sometimes used as a nickname for foundlings in England.

A French surname meaning “someone from Picardy,” the historic region in northern France.

A Spanish surname most likely formed from a personal name, with a strong Iberian and Hispanic-American presence.

An old surname that likely began as a nickname for someone associated with a pike, spear, or pick-like tool.

A surname meaning “a person from Picardy,” the old French region in northern France.

A surname that most likely began as a patronymic, meaning “son of Picken” or “son of Pick,” with English roots.

A surname from the Yorkshire market town of Pickering, originally a place name tied to the landscape or local stream name.

Usually from the French nickname Picot, a diminutive of pic, meaning “little point” or “small peak.”

An English surname most likely from a place-name, especially Pickhill in Yorkshire, though earlier scholars also considered a link with pig-hill.

A Spanish surname from the word for “stone” or “rock,” originally probably applied as a descriptive or locational name.

A German and Dutch surname that usually points to an ancestor who played the pipe or was nicknamed for that trade.

A surname that usually means “son of Peter,” from the medieval given names Piers or Pierce.

A variant spelling of Percy, ultimately tied to the Norman place-name and noble family of Percy.

A French surname from the given name Pierre, the French form of Peter, meaning “rock” or “stone.”

A French-style compound surname meaning “Peter Louis,” formed from two common given names.

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Piers,” with Piers being a medieval form of Peter.

An Americanized German surname that likely began as a spelling of Pfeifer/Pfeiffer, meaning “piper” or “pipe player.”

An English and Scandinavian-based nickname surname originally referring to a pig or a pig-like person, and sometimes linked to a sign-name or occupation.

An English surname that most likely began as a nickname or place-name for someone associated with a point, spear, or pointed hill.

An occupational surname for a maker or seller of pilches, medieval fur garments.

An occupational or descriptive surname for a pilgrim—someone who traveled to a holy shrine or lived like a religious traveler.

A Lancashire place-name surname meaning “the estate or settlement of Piloc’s people,” later borne by an old landed family.

A Spanish and Portuguese surname most often linked to the noble Pimentel family of Castile and Portugal.

A surname found in Spanish and Portuguese, usually linked to pine trees or a place named for them.

An English surname usually understood as a spelling variant of Pinkney, itself tied to the old occupational word pinder.

An English occupational surname for the manorial officer who impounded stray animals.

A name for someone who lived by or near a pine tree.

A Spanish surname often linked to a pine grove or to places named for pine trees.

A Spanish or Portuguese surname most likely built from a place-name or a word for pines.

A surname most likely of Scottish or Norman local origin, probably altered from an older place-name such as Punchardon or Pont-Chardon.

An English surname probably built from a place-name ending in -ham, though its exact origin is uncertain.

An English surname tied to a place-name, most likely meaning “Pinca’s island” or a similar riverside locality.

An English-style surname that likely began as a place-name or farm-name, probably meaning “the settlement of someone named Pink” or “Pink’s town.”

A common Spanish surname from the word for a pine tree, often originally referring to someone who lived by pines or a pine grove.

A surname of French origin, likely from a place name and sometimes linked to the word for “pine.”

A surname with two main roots: in French, it means “finch,” while in English records it can also mean “Pinn’s son.”

A surname most likely linked to a pin-maker or pin-related trade name, though some older sources also treated it as a German name related to Binder.

A surname that can be Portuguese or Spanish, most often understood as a nickname meaning “chick” or “speckled/chicken-colored,” though some bearers may also have place-name roots.

A surname of Spanish origin, likely tied to a nickname or place name, with the accented form Pinzón still common in Spanish.

A Polish surname meaning “from Piotrów” or “of Piotr,” referring to a place-name or the personal name Piotr (Peter).

An occupational surname for a pipe-player, especially a bagpiper or court musician.

A surname that likely began as a diminutive nickname, possibly linked to “little Pipp” or simply to the familiar ending -kin.

Usually a surname from the old French personal name Pepin, though in some cases it may also reflect a place-name or pear-orchard byname.

A Portuguese and Galician surname that usually means “son of Pedro” or comes from a related Iberian pet form of Peter.

An English surname that likely began as a regional spelling of a place-based or nickname form, later established in the United States.

A surname meaning “from Pisa” or “Pisan,” originally marking someone’s place of origin.

A surname most often traced to a French nickname or patronymic, though some English sources also linked it to a worker or inn sign.

A locational surname from Pitchford in Shropshire, originally meaning “the ford by the pitchy pool or oil-well.”

An English surname for someone who lived by a pit, hollow, or excavation.

A French surname probably from a pet form of Pierre, the French form of Peter.

Usually a surname for someone who lived by a pit, hollow, or excavation.

Usually a surname for someone associated with a pit, hollow, or well—though some early sources also treated it as a variant of Pitt.

A surname that usually means “at the pit” or “by the pits,” with some cases also explained as a patronymic from Pitt.

A surname that most likely began as a nickname or altered form of a German name, later carried to English-speaking countries by immigrant families.

A surname most likely tied to place-based roots in the Iberian world, especially southern Spanish or Italian usage.

A Spanish surname made famous by the conquistador Francisco Pizarro, likely connected to a nickname or place name in Iberia.

A Spanish and Galician surname meaning “pine grove” or “pine tree place.”

A surname for someone who lived at or near a notable residence, hall, or open place in a town.

A Spanish surname that likely began as a place name or a name linked to the idea of pleasure or satisfaction.

Usually a topographic surname for someone who lived by a plank-bridge, boardwalk, or crossing over water or boggy ground.

An English surname that can reflect a place near plants or groves, though in some families it is a shortened form of Plantagenet.

A surname that usually began as a French name for someone associated with a plant or planting, and sometimes reflects a topographic or descriptive nickname.

A Spanish surname from the place name Plasencia, originally meaning someone from that city.

A Spanish surname taken from the city of Plasencia, meaning someone from that place.

A Spanish surname most often derived from the word for “silver,” sometimes also from a place name such as Río de la Plata.

A surname for someone who lived by a flat piece of land or open plot.

An occupational surname for an actor or performer, originally from Middle English words for a play-actor or entertainer.

A Spanish surname that most often began as a place-name or topographic label for someone living by a public square.

A nickname surname from French and Anglo-French meaning “pleasant,” “cheerful,” or “jovial.”

An English surname most likely from a nickname or occupational form linked to cloth-making or plaiting work.

A French-Canadian surname likely tied to an older place-name or regional nickname, especially associated with Quebec and francophone North America.

An occupational surname for a person who plowed or worked the land with a plough.

Usually a name for someone living by a plum tree, though some examples may also reflect the surname Plum with an inserted b.

A habitational surname from Plumley in Cheshire, with some forms influenced by the nearby surname Plummer.

An occupational surname for a plumber or lead-worker, with spelling shaped by older French and English forms.

A habitational surname meaning someone from a place named for a plum orchard or plum-tree enclosure.

An old surname with Norman-French roots, most likely meaning someone from a plank bridge or plank-lined crossing.

Likely a nickname surname from a word for “peacock,” though some 19th-century sources also link it to a turkey.

A rare surname whose exact origin is uncertain, but which may be tied to a medieval English personal name or nickname.

A surname most likely linked to Scottish/Irish forms of Pollock or Poag, though its exact route is not fully certain.

A German surname most often meaning “pool” or “pond,” from a low-German word for standing water.

A German surname most likely meaning “man from the pole/fence” or, in some cases, a spelling of a place-based name built on a similar root.

An old surname of Norman-French origin, probably meaning “right fist” or “spurring the steed,” though the exact origin is debated.

An occupational surname for a maker of points or tagged laces, with some bearers also descending from French Pointier families.

A French surname meaning “pear tree,” usually from a house or place marked by one.

A surname meaning “Pole” or “person from Poland,” often used as an ethnic identifier.

A Spanish surname that most likely began as a place name, used for people from one of several places called Polanco.

A surname that can point either to the country of Poland or, in some English families, to a place-name meaning “pool land.”

A surname with several possible origins, most likely from a nickname or altered spelling rather than a single clear source.

A rare surname most likely taken from the word for courteous or well-mannered.

A Cornish surname probably linked to the Bolitho name, rather than directly to the Italian word for “polished.”

Usually a shortened form of Pollock, though it can also be a contraction of the Cornish place-name Polkinghorne.

A surname with several possible roots, including a place-name, a nickname, or a form related to Pollock/Polak.

A surname with several possible origins, including a place-name source and a possible link to Pollock or to an old word for a pole or stake.

A surname with two main explanations: either from a clipped or cropped head of hair, or from a place-name linked to a pool or lake.

Polley is most likely a place-based surname, though some 19th-century sources also linked it to Paul or to Cornish place-names.

A Scottish surname from a place-name in Renfrewshire, originally tied to a Gaelic word for a pit, pool, or hollow.

A surname that can have several origins, most often linked either to a personal name or a place-name in Romance-language areas.

A surname meaning “son of Paul,” with a rare secondary possibility of “Poll’s son” from a pet form of Mary.

Likely a Cornish surname from a place-name, probably meaning “the farm or settlement by the pool.”

A French habitational surname meaning “at the apple orchard,” later borne by a Norman family established in Devon.

A surname probably tied to the Latin word for “pomp” or pageantry, though in some cases it may have been adopted from a place-name or classical name tradition.

A surname that likely began as a medieval given name, from Latin Pontius, and later spread through French and Norman usage.

A topographic surname for someone who lived by a pond or pool.

An English surname meaning a keeper of a pond or pound, or someone who lived near one.

A topographic surname for someone who lived by a pool, pond, or lake.

A habitational surname meaning “one who lived by a pool, lake, or waterside.”

A surname found in several cultures, most commonly as a Chinese name in English usage and also as an unrelated English place-name surname in older records.

A nickname surname from Middle English for someone poor, humble, or in reduced circumstances.

A surname usually from a nickname for someone poor or humble, though in some cases it is linked to Norman French Power/Poer forms.

A surname that began as a nickname for someone called “the pope” or “priest,” from the Latin word for father or pope.

A Slavic patronymic surname meaning “son of Popo” or, more generally, “descendant of a priest.”

A German surname most likely built from the old personal name Poppo, a medieval pet form used in several Germanic regions.

A surname of northern German and Frisian origin, likely from a short form of an old personal name such as Poppo/Poppe.

A Spanish surname most likely tied to a place name or local nickname, with the exact origin not firmly settled in the excerpted sources.

An occupational surname for a door-keeper, gatekeeper, or carrier.

A Scottish surname meaning “porter’s field” or “field associated with a porter.”

A Spanish surname meaning “little gate” or “small opening,” originally used for someone living by such a place.

A rare surname that may come from a place-name or Latin-derived family form, though its exact origin is uncertain.

A surname that usually points to someone from a port or a place called Porto.

A Spanish surname that originally meant someone who lived by or worked at an inn or lodging house.

A Spanish surname meaning “inns” or “lodgings,” usually tied to a place or house name.

Usually an English-style surname that likely began as a nickname or altered form, possibly linked to a personal name or a flower-related byname.

A surname with several possible roots, most often linked to a messenger or courier, and sometimes to a place-name or signboard.

An English surname that likely began as a place-name surname, probably tied to a minor locality or a reduced form of an older occupational surname such as apothecary.

A surname most likely tied to a place name or a nickname based on an old personal name, with roots in medieval English usage.

A surname most likely from a place name or older name form, with a Southern U.S. family history.

An occupational surname for a maker or seller of pots and earthenware.

Usually a patronymic from Pott, but it can also reflect an ancestor connected with pots or pottery.

A French surname most often linked to a nickname for a colt, though in some cases it may also be a form of Paulin.

A Greek surname most often meaning “son of Paul” or “of Paul.”

A Scandinavian patronymic surname meaning “son of Poul” (Paul).

A patronymic surname meaning “son of Paul,” often reflecting a regional form Poul instead of Paul.

A rare English surname that may come from a nickname, a place-name, or an older personal-name form—its exact origin is not firmly settled.

A surname usually explained as a shortened form of Pool/Poole in Scotland and northern England, though some sources also connect it to local place-names.

A Welsh surname meaning “son of Howell,” later also influenced by the old Welsh name Pwyll.

An English and Irish surname with Norman roots, best known in Ireland through the medieval de Poer family.

Usually an English and Irish surname that often began as a patronymic meaning “son of Power” or as a variant of related names like Powell.

An English surname most often from an occupational name for a maker of pointed laces or points, though some families took the name from the French surname Pointier.

A Spanish and Portuguese surname meaning “meadow” or “pasture,” often originally from a place by that name.

A South Asian surname and given-name-derived family name from Sanskrit, originally meaning an offering or blessing.

An English surname that may come from a talkative person, though some writers also linked it to a monastery refectory or to Latinized forms of “priest.”

An English surname most likely from a place-name or an older spelling variant of a similar-sounding name.

A surname with two old explanations: it may come from a word for a meadow, or from an old word meaning clever or tricky.

Usually a surname of French origin, likely meaning “dweller by a meadow.”

A Spanish surname built from a word meaning “precious,” “valuable,” or “excellent.”

A Welsh surname meaning “son of Rhys,” with Preece as a common English spelling of Price/Ap Rhys.

A French surname, probably from an old personal name with the common patronymic ending -jean, meaning 'son of Jean.'

An Anglo-Irish surname from a place-name in Pembrokeshire, later carried to Ireland by a notable medieval family.

A surname from Middle English for an apprentice, originally someone learning a craft.

A locational surname meaning “at the priest’s cottage” or “priest’s dwelling.”

A name that may come from a place-name, especially an English local surname linked to Preesall/Preeshow, though some later writers also proposed other explanations.

A surname probably from a place-name or an altered form of an older English name, now most familiar in the southern United States.

A surname that may come from a nickname for a press or from a related word meaning “ready” or “willing.”

A name of uncertain local origin, probably tied to a place-name in northern England or to a Welsh word for brushwood or coppice.

A habitational surname meaning “the priest’s estate, enclosure, or town.”

A French surname meaning “provost” or “head official,” originally a title for an administrator or commander.

A surname most likely from a medieval French diminutive of a name beginning with Prew/Preu, though the exact source is not fully certain.

A classic Welsh surname meaning “son of Rhys,” later fixed in hereditary form as Price.

A Welsh patronymic surname meaning “son of Richard,” with related spellings like Pritchard and Prickard.

An English surname that likely began as a nickname for a young deer, especially a buck in its second year.

A locational surname from Priddy in Somerset, England.

An English surname that likely began as a nickname or theatrical byname for someone associated with pride or dignity.

A surname most likely from a medieval nickname or personal name, now especially found in the United States.

A German surname most likely linked to the personal name Prib or a related Slavic-root name form.

Usually an ecclesiastical surname for someone connected with a priest, or from a place-name such as Priesthouse; in some cases it may echo the title itself.

A surname from the word for a priest, likely first used as a nickname, occupational label, or a religiously themed name.

A Spanish surname from a word meaning “dark” or “swarthy,” often first used as a nickname.

A surname that usually began as a nickname or status-name meaning “prince,” and sometimes as a title-like byname for someone linked to a prince’s household or pageantry.

A rare surname likely tied to the word for “prince,” though the historical evidence is thin and the form may reflect a later alteration.

A chiefly Scottish surname, most likely from a form meaning “pilgrim,” though a local-name origin has also been suggested.

A surname for someone connected with a priory or a prior, often from an occupational or nickname-based origin.

A Welsh patronymic meaning “son of Richard,” formed from ap Richard.

A Welsh patronymic surname meaning “son of Richard,” with Pritchard and Prichard as close relatives.

A locational surname from Privett in Hampshire, likely meaning a person who came from that place.

A German surname meaning “provost,” originally a title for a church or civic official.

An occupational surname for a proctor or procurator—an agent, attorney, or official who acted on another person’s behalf.

A nickname surname from “the prophet,” originally given to someone thought to have a prophetic or foretelling turn of mind.

A surname of uncertain origin, likely a short Germanic form or altered spelling that became established in English-speaking records.

A Welsh surname meaning “son of Rosser,” from the older patronymic ap Rosser.

A French surname most often linked to a medieval nickname or byname, later carried widely into French Canada.

An English surname likely developed as a spelling variant of Prout or Prouse, rather than from a separate independent word.

A French-Canadian surname most likely tied to a place name or old French local term, now strongly associated with Quebec ancestry.

An Italian surname meaning “from Provence,” pointing to a family connection with the Provence region of France.

A surname from a civic or church office: originally someone who served as a provost, or chief magistrate/dean.

A spelling variant of Prewett, a surname ultimately tied to an old French word meaning brave or valiant.

A surname most often understood as a spelling variant of Prewett, ultimately from the old name Prewett/Prust rather than the modern word “proud.”

A surname usually derived from the title of a priory head, essentially meaning “the prior.”

An English surname with several possible origins, most likely from a medieval nickname or from an earlier place-name form.

A Spanish surname meaning “bridges,” originally used for people who lived near or worked by one or more bridges.

A Spanish surname that is most likely locational or nickname-based, with older Spanish uses of the word tied to a spur or small point.

A Welsh surname meaning “son of Hugh,” formed from ap Hugh.

An Italian surname meaning “from Apulia” or “a person from Puglia.”

A Spanish surname from a word meaning “polished,” and by extension “handsome,” “neat,” or “well-groomed.”

A surname that likely began as a nickname or occupational name linked to poultry or a poulterer.

Usually a variant of Pooley, from a place-name meaning “pool island” or a dwelling by a pool.

A surname most likely from a place-name or an older personal name, later fixed in English-speaking families.

A Welsh patronymic surname meaning “son of Humphrey,” with the initial sound of Ap- worn down over time.

A surname most likely from an Old French word for a young pig, originally used as a nickname.

A surname that likely began as a reduced or altered form of a French oath-based nickname, later fixed in English as Purdy.

An English surname most likely developed from the medieval female given name Pernell/Pernel, a form related to Petronilla.

An occupational surname for a keeper of the purse, money officer, or treasurer.

A surname most likely from an English place-name, probably meaning someone from or near Purslow in Shropshire.

A surname meaning someone who lived by the parvis, or church porch/outer court.

A surname that is most likely a regional English name, probably from a place name or an older personal name now reduced in spelling.

Usually a reduced or altered form of Puttenham, a place-name surname from England.

A surname from place-names meaning “Putta’s home” or “estate,” originally tied to Puttenham in England.

A surname that may come either from the magpie bird nickname or, in some Welsh families, from Ap Hugh ('son of Hugh').

Usually a surname from a west-country word for a creek or tidal inlet, and sometimes treated as a form of Pile.

A surname usually treated as a variant of Pyle, often linked to a place-name or a nickname for someone from a narrow strip or boundary land.

A Spanish patronymic surname meaning “son of Paio/Payo,” ultimately from a medieval personal name.

A very common Spanish surname originally meaning “son of Pedro/Peter.”