The utility of surnames grew at a time when human clans grew to a considerable size, and a system of classification was needed. It helped to anchor an individual to a larger collective and identify one’s origin. Family names are determined as per the law or custom of a particular community and passed on from generation to the other. Local names, occupation, nicknames, baptismal names, topographic names, heretical names, and even plants and animals inspired the adoption of surnames.
‘S’, the 19th alphabet in English, is powerful enough to have a huge impact on one’s behaviour and thought. Last names beginning with ‘S’ can be symbolic as the letter S resonates the ideas of tolerance, self-reliance and humanitarianism. Surnames beginning with ‘S’ and their meanings would help you to draw attention and make a mark wherever you go. Read this list we have curated with some beautiful surnames starting with ‘S’.
80 Last Names or Family Names that Start with ‘S’ With Meanings
If you want to adopt an alias for yourself or your newborn baby from this list of common last names beginning with ‘S’, check out their distinctive meanings that would add value to the name.
1. Saade
Derived from Arabic sa’ad, the name means ‘lucky’, Saade is a Portuguese surname.
2. Saalfeld
This German topographical name is a compound form of ‘sal’, meaning ‘manor’, and ‘velt’, meaning ‘field’.
3. Saam
This metonymic occupational name stands for ‘seed’ in German. It also refers to the ethnic people of Scandanavia in Swedish.
4. Saar
This Estonian surname means ‘island’.
5. Saari
Derived from Finland, Saari also means ‘island’.
6. Saas
Saas refers to a settler or a newcomer derived from German ‘saze’, meaning ‘residence’.
7. Saavedra
This Galician habitational name is formed from Gothic ‘Saals’, meaning ‘main house’, and vedro, meaning ‘old’ in Latin.
8. Sabah
This Arabic or Turkish surname means ‘morning’.
9. Sabala
This occupational name is derived from Slovak ‘sabol’, meaning ‘tailor’.
10. Sabbadin
Sabbadin means ‘Saturday’ in Italian, and refers ‘to a person born on this day.’
11. Sacco
This Italian occupational name is derived from ‘sacco’, meaning ‘maker of sacks’, or its Latin form ‘saccus’.
12. Sackmann
This German occupational name is derived from German ‘sacman’, which means ‘baggage servant’. It is also believed to be a nickname for ‘a plunderer’.
13. Sackville
Sackville is derived from the Norman French town of Saqueneville.
14. Sadberry
This English habitational name is derived from Sadbury Hill in Northumbria.
15. Sadler
This English occupational name is derived from ‘sadol’, and it refers to ‘maker of saddles’.
16. Sadowsi
Sadowi refers to ‘someone who lives in Sadowi’. It comes from Polish ‘sad’, meaning ‘orchard’.
17. Saegar
Derived from German ‘segan’ meaning ‘to saw’, or Dutch ‘Saeger’, it is an occupational name for a ‘sawyer’.
18. Saetern
This Norwegian habitational name is derived from seater, which in turn comes from Old Norse ‘setr’, meaning ‘farm’.
19. Saffer
Derived from Norman origin, Saffer comes from ‘saffre’, meaning ‘glutton’ in French. It could be a topographic name for ‘someone living in a deep depression in South Germany.’
20. Safir
Safir is an ornamental name that is derived from German ‘saphir’ meaning ‘saphhire’.
21. Safstrom
This Swedish ornamental name is derived from Swedish ‘saf’, which is an ornamental form of ‘sav’ that means ‘rush’ and ‘strrom’, that means ’river’.
22. Sagan
Derived from Poland, Sagan is a metonymic occupational name for a ‘maker of pots and pans’. It could also be a habitational name for Sagan in Lower Silesia.
23. Sagastume
Sagastume is a topographic name derived from Basque ‘sagaste’, meaning ‘apple tree’, and ‘ume’ meaning ‘young plant’.
24. Sage
Derived from Latin and French ‘Sage’ which refers to the sagebrush plant or means ‘Wise One’ in English.
25. Sahagun
This Spanish habitational name refers to Sahagun in Lleon province.
26. Sahlberg
Sahlberg is a habitational name in German and Jewish. It can be an ornamental name composed of the elements of ‘sahl’, meaning ‘hall’, and ‘berg’, meaning ‘hill’ in Swedish.
27. Sahm
Sahm is a metonymic occupational name for a ‘seed merchant’ derived from sam.
28. Sailer
Sailer means denotes a “leaper” or “dancer.” It is derived from Old Norman French word “sailleor”.
29. Sain
This metonymic occupational surname is derived from Old French ‘grease’, ‘dripping’ referring to a ‘pork butcher’.
30. Saint
Derived from Latin ‘sanctus’, meaning ‘blameless’, it also means ‘holy’ in Old French. Saint is also a nickname for a pious individual.
31. Saito
Saito in Japanese means ‘purification’ or ‘wisteria’ indicating a connection with the Fujiwara clan.
32. Sajdak
This Polish metonymic occupational surname refers to a ‘quiver maker’ as sajdak means ‘quiver’.
33. Sakamato
Derived from Japanese ‘saka’, meaning ‘slope’, and ‘moto’ meaning ‘origin’. The name refers to ‘the one who lives at the bottom of the slope.’
34. Sakamoto
The name means ‘one who lives at the bottom of the slope’ in Japanese.
35. Sakuma
Sakuma is a habitational name from the village of Awa and refers to the descendants of the Taira clan.
36. Sakurai
Sakurai in Japanese is a habitational name meaning ‘cherry blossom’.
37. Salamanca
This Spanish surname refers to ‘a person from Salamanca in Western Spain’.
38. Salazar
This Basque surname is derived from ‘sala’, meaning ‘hall’, and ‘zahar’, meaning ‘old’. It refers to a person from Salazar town.
39. Salcedo
This Spanish surname is derived from Latin ‘salix’, meaning ‘willow tree’, referring to one living near it.
40. Salo
Salo means ‘forest’ in Finnish.
41. Samaan
Samaan in Arabic means ‘to hear’.
42. Samad
Samad is derived from Muslim personal name ‘Samad’, meaning ‘everlasting’ or ‘servant of Lord’.
43. Samaras
Samaras means ‘saddle-maker’ in Greek.
44. Samora
Samora in Hebrew means ‘ruled by God’ and ‘seedling’ in Latin.
45. Samuelson
This English surname name means ‘son of Samuel’.
46. Sandford
This English habitational surname refers to ‘a person from Sandford’.
47. Sanna
This Italian surname is derived from ‘zanna’, meaning ‘tusk’. It refers to a person with a protruding tooth.
48. Santoro
This Italian surname means ‘all saints day’ in Italian referring to ‘one born on that day’.
49. Saqqaf
Saqqaf in Arabic means ‘roof’.
50. Sarabia
This habitational surname is derived from Galician ‘sarabia’, meaning ‘hail’.
51. Saracco
Derived from ‘saracchio’ denoting a type of grass used for matting, this Italian metonymic occupational surname refers to someone who gathered the grass or wove it to mats. It can also come from Arabic ‘sarraq’, meaning ‘thief’.
52. Saraceno
This Italian nickname is derived from saraceno ‘Saracen’ denoting ‘an unruly person’.
53. Sarafin
Sarafin in Hebrew means ‘angels’.
54. Sasek
Sasek is a Czeck and Slovak nickname means ‘fool’.
55. Sassman
Sassman is a German regional name for someone from Lower Saxony.
56. Sasson
This Jewish surname is derived from Hebrew personal name ‘Sason’, meaning ‘joy’.
57. Sato
Derived from Japanese ‘sa’, meaning ‘help’, and ‘to’ meaning ‘wisteria’, it refers to the Fujiwara clan.
58. Satran
This habitational name comes from Satran in the Highland region of Scotland in North Yorkshire.
59. Sattar
Derived from Arabic ‘sattar’, meaning ‘veiler’, Sattar is a combination of ‘Abd as-Sattar’, which means ‘servant of the veiler’.
60. Sauber
Sauber in German means ‘tidy’.
61. Sauer
Sauer in German means ‘sour’ and is a nickname for ‘an embittered person’.
62. Sauter
Derived from Latin ‘sutor’, meaning ‘someone who sews leather’, Sauter is a German occupational surname for a ‘cobbler’.
63. Sauveterre
Derived from French ‘sauve’, meaning ‘safe’, and ‘terre’, meaning ‘land’, Sauveterre comes from various towns in France.
64. Savatier
Derived from French savate ‘shoemaker’, Savatier refers to a ‘shoemaker’.
65. Savona
Savona is an Italian surname referring to Savo city in northern Italy.
66. Sawyer
This English occupational surname refers to ‘woodcutter’.
67. Sayer
Sayer in Welsh means ‘carpenter’.
68. Saylor
Derived from Latin ‘sallitor’, this English occupational surname means ‘dancer’.
69. Scarpa
Scarpa in Italian refers to a ‘shoemaker’.
70. Scavo
Scavo in Italian means ‘slave’.
71. Schafer
Derived from German scaphare, Schafer means ‘Shephard’.
72. Schnur
Schnur is an occupational surname for ‘a rope-maker’. It is derived from German ‘snuor’, meaning ‘cord’.
73. Schuler
This German surname means ‘scholar’ and is derived from Latin schola ‘school’.
74. Schwarzenberg
Schwarzenberg means ‘black mountain’ in German.
75. Seabrooke
This English surname denotes ‘a person from a Seabrook town in Buckinghamshire’.
76. Shakespeare
Shakespeare is a nickname for a ‘warlike person’ and is derived from ‘scacan’, meaning ‘to shake’ and ‘speare’, meaning ‘spear’ in Old English.
77. Shapiro
Shapiro in Jewish means ‘ lovely’ in Hebrew, from Aramaic.
78. Shinoda
Shinoda is derived from ‘shino’, meaning ‘dwarf bamboo’ in Japanese.
79. Shirazi
This Persian surname refers to ‘someone who came from Shiraz in Southern Iran’.
80. Siegel
Derived from Latin sigillum ‘seal’, Siegel is an occupational surname for a ‘maker of wax seals’.
This fascinating documentation of surnames beginning with the letter ‘S’ represents membership to certain groups. If you’re particularly looking for Surnames starting with this letter, we hope the guide above helps you make your own pedigree chart representing your family’s history and relationships.
