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Sell Name Meaning
English: from Middle English selle ‘shelter for animals shieling’ (Old English (ge)sell) a rough hut of the type normally occupied by animals hence a topographic name for someone who lived in a hut like this. It may also have been used as a nickname for a herdsman. German: variant of Selle . German: metonymic occupational name from Middle High German sel ‘rope’ for a rope maker. Americanized form of Hungarian Széll: topographic name for someone who lived in a spot exposed to the wind from szél ‘wind’. Americanized form of Jewish (from Hungary) Széll: adoption of Hungarian Széll (see 4 above) either as a calque of the formerly used German-based surname or because the Hungarian surname (or word) has some sounds in common with the original surname.
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Bell, Fell, Soll, Pell, Tell, Seal, Selle, Hell, Dell, Kell
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Shaw Name Meaning
English (Yorkshire and Lancashire): from Middle English s(c)hawe s(c)haghe ‘small wood grove thicket’ (Old English sceaga). The surname may be topographic for someone who lived in or by a small wood or habitational for someone from any of the many places so named. Shaw and Shawe are most frequent in Lancashire and Yorkshire where Shaw in Oldham (Lancashire) may be a principal source of the surname. The English and Lowland Scottish surname was also established in Ireland in the 17th century. Scottish: shortened form of various surnames from the Gaelic personal name Sitheach derived from sithech ‘wolf’. Irish (Down and Antrim): adopted for Ó Síthigh ‘descendant of Sítheach’ a personal name based on sítheach ‘peaceful’. Compare Sheehy . Americanized form of some similar (like-sounding) Jewish surname. Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 邵 see Shao
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Haw, Shan, Shad, Sas, Sham, Hew, Shao, Shean, Shah, Thaw
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Shires Name Meaning
English (West Yorkshire):: habitational name perhaps from Shiregreen in Sheffield (Yorkshire) or in many instances almost certainly from Skier's Hall in Nether Hoyland (Yorkshire). The latter is the source of the surname de Skiris which was sometimes changed to Shires. The placename Shiregreen derives from Old English scīr ‘region district’ with the later addition of Middle English grene ‘green grassy place’; the origin of Skier's Hall is uncertain. in Lancashire the Midlands and southern England a variant of Shire with post-medieval excrescent -s.
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Spires, Swires, Shire, Hines, Shirts, Sires, Stires, Spikes, Shirer
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Simmons Name Meaning
English (southeastern): variant of Simon with genitival or post-medieval excrescent -s.
Simon Name Meaning
English (Lancashire) French Walloon Breton German Dutch Hungarian northern Italian and Jewish (Ashkenazic); Spanish (Simón); Czech and Slovak (mainly Šimon); Slovenian Croatian and Rusyn (from Slovakia) (also Šimon): from the Biblical personal name Hebrew Shim‘on which is probably derived from the Hebrew verb sham‘a ‘to hearken’. In the Vulgate and in many vernacular versions of the Old Testament this is usually rendered Simeon . In the Greek New Testament however the name occurs as Simōn as a result of assimilation to the pre-existing Greek byname Sīmōn (from sīmos ‘snub-nosed’). Both Simon and Simeon were in use as personal names in western Europe from the Middle Ages onward. In Christendom the former was always more popular at least in part because of its associations with the apostle Simon Peter the brother of Andrew. In Britain there was also confusion from an early date with Anglo-Scandinavian forms of Sigmund(r) or Sigmund (see Siegmund ) a name whose popularity was reinforced at the Conquest by the Norman form Simund. In North America this surname has also absorbed cognates from other languages e.g. Italian Simone Polish Szymon Albanian Simoni and Assyrian/Chaldean or Arabic Shimun Shamon or Shamoun and also their derivatives (see examples at Simons ). See also Shimon .
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Simon, Timmons, Kimmons, Simos, Tummons, Simons, Simoes, Simeone
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Snelling Name Meaning
English:: from the Middle English personal name Snelling (Old English Snelling) a derivative of Snell . habitational name from Snelland (Lincolnshire) from the Old English personal name Snell (genitive Snelles) or the Old Norse personal name Snjallr (genitive Snjalls) + Old Norse lúndr ‘small wood grove’. See Snell .
Snell Name Meaning
English: nickname for a quick lively or courageous person from Middle English snel(l) ‘swift vivacious brisk bold’ (Old English snel(l) Old Norse snjallr). See also Sneller Snelling . English: from the Middle English personal name Snel(l) (Old English Snell Old Norse Snjallr with the same origins as the nickname above). Americanized form of German Schnell ‘quick’. Dutch: variant mostly Americanized of Snel which is from the ancient Germanic personal name Snello (a short form of compound names such as Snelhard based on the element meaning ‘courageous agile speedy swift’; see Sneller ) and perhaps also a nickname for a brisk or active person (from snel ‘speedy swift’). As a variant of Van der Snel it is also a habitational name for someone from a place called Sneudel or Snoedel (from snode ‘poor’ + lo ‘open space in wood’).
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Knell, Nell, Sell, Shell, Self, Hell, Stell, Still, Dell, Gell
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Snow Name Meaning
English: nickname for someone with snow‐white hair or an exceptionally pale complexion from Middle English snou snow ‘snow’ (Old English snaw). American shortened and altered (translated into English) form of any of the Jewish artificial names composed with German Schnee Schnei Schneu ‘snow’ as the first element e.g. Schneeberg . Americanized form of French Canadian Chenard reflecting the characteristic Canadian and American French rounding of the -ard ending.
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Low, Knox, Noy, New, Shew, Show, Snook, Scow, Noe, Bow
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Spark Name Meaning
English: nickname from Middle English spark sperk ‘fiery particle spark’ (Old English spearca spærca sperca). It may have been used of a lively person or ironically of its opposite (such as Willelmus Dulle Sperke 1293); or it may have been given to someone who created sparks such as a blacksmith. English: topographic name for someone who lived by an area of shrubs or brushwood from Middle English sparke sperke Old English spearca. The term appears in placenames across England including Sparkhayne and Sparkwell in Devon a county where the surname Spark is well evidenced. German: nickname either from Middle High German spar ‘sparrow’ (see Sparrow ) or from Middle Low German sparke ‘spark’. Compare 1 above.
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Sparr, Stark, Park, Spack, Star, Sark, Spann, Slack, Spach, Bark
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Stockdale Name Meaning
English: habitational name from Stockdale in Settle (Yorkshire) Stockdale in Longsleddale (Westmorland) Stockdale in Uldale (Cumberland) and perhaps also Stockdale in Salterforth (Yorkshire). Stockdale in Salterforth and Stockdale in Longsleddale are named with Old English stocc ‘tree trunk stump’ + dæl ‘valley’ or Old Norse dalr ‘valley’ while Stockdale in Uldale may be named with Old Norse stakkr ‘stack pillar of rock’ + dalr. Stockdale in Settle is probably named with Old English stoc ‘place’ + Old English dæl or Old Norse dalr. Compare Stockdill Stocksdale and Stogdill .
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Stockwell, Stockley, Stockford, Stock, Tickle, Stockham, Stackpole
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Stubbs Name Meaning
English:: variant of Stubbe with plural or post-medieval excrescent -s. perhaps occasionally a topographic name from Middle English stub(be) ‘tree stump’ + hous ‘house’ used for someone who lived in a house by a tree stump.
Stubbe Name Meaning
English North German and Dutch: from Old English stubb Middle Low German Middle Dutch stubbe ‘tree stump’ or ‘tree trunk’ hence a nickname for a short stout man or alternatively perhaps a topographic name for someone who lived on newly cleared land or by a tree stump.
Source:
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Stubbe, Tubbs, Tubb, Clubb, Tabb, Stuebs, Stobbs, Tibbs, Strubbe
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts

Surr Name Meaning
Possibly from Old French sor sieur the oblique case form of sire; see Syer.
Syer Name Meaning
English: from Middle English sire sier ‘master’ (Old French sire) hence a status name for the master of a household or group of apprentices or a nickname for an elderly man or perhaps a pompous or domineering person.
Source:
The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, 2016
Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
Similar surnames:
Burr, Suri, Kurr, Suhr, Furr, Sura, Sur, Serr, Spurr, Murr
From: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/facts