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 P Surnames Family History Resources

Surnames, their origin and their meaning

Many surnames are associated with the place/locality of where the family lived and in those cases the location is noted as the meaning.
Many surnames are associated with the occupation of the person given the name.

eXpertGenealogy.com is a directory of Professional Genealogists, Ancestry and Family Tree Researchers.

Surname		Origin	Meaning
Paddock		English	A meadow, croft or field
Page			names given to youths between seven and fourteen years of age while receiving their education for knighthood
Paine		French	pagan
Paisley		Welsh	From Plas, a pass, and lli, a stream
Palmer			A pilgrim, so called from the palm-branch
Pancost			Pantecost, the fifyeenth day after Easter
Pangbourn		Locality	A town in Birkshire, England
Pardie			Par-dieu
Paris		Locality	The metropolis of France
Parke			A piece of ground inclosed, and stored with deer and other beasts of chase
Parker			The keeper of the park
Parkman			The keeper of the park
Parnell		Italian	from Petronilla, pretty stone
Parrett		Locality	From Peraidd, Welsh, the sweet or delicious river, now the Dee
Parry		Welsh	Ap Harry, the son of Harry
Parsall		Locality	Park-hall
Parshall		Locality	Park-hall
Parson			Latin Persona, the person who takes care of the souls of his parishioners
Patrick			Latin Patricius, noble, a senator
Patterson		Scottish	son of Patrick
Pattison			son of Patrick
Paul		Latin	little, small
Paxton		Locality	town of Paxton, in Berwickshire, Scotland
Payne		Locality	Payne, in Normandy
Peabody			Boadie, among the Cambri or Britons, signified a man or a great man, and Pea signified a large hill, a mountain
Peacock			well-known fowl
Pearson			son of Pierre or Peter
Pedin		Locality	Pedn, Cornish British, is a hill
Peebles		Locality	shire of Peebles, in Scotland
Peele		Locality	A tower, a castle, a spire, a steeple
Pelham		Locality	Pelham, in Hertfordshire, England
Pell			a house
Pelletier		French	A furrier, or skinner
Pellyn		Cornish-British	The distant pool
Pena		Portuguese	someone who lived near a crag or cliff
Pendleton		Locality	The summit of the hill
Peney		Locality	A town in Savoy
Pengilly		Cornish-British	The head of the grove
Penn		Cornish-British	The top of the hill
Pennant		Cornish-British	From Pen, a head, and nant, a vale, or dingle
Pennington		Locality	the manor of Pennington, in Lancashire, England
Penny			pinnacle
Pennyman		Welsh	Pen-y-mon, the top of the mountain
Pennymon		Welsh	Pen-y-mon, the top of the mountain
Percey		Locality	family of Percy, of Northumberland, England
Percy		Locality	family of Percy, of Northumberland, England
Perez		Spanish	son of Pedro Peter
Perkins			son of Peter
Perrigo		Locality	Perigeau, a town in France
Perrott		Locality	From Peraidd, Welsh, the sweet or delicious river, now the Dee
Perry		French	from Pierre
Peters		German	son of Peter
Peterson			son of Peter
Pevensey		Locality	village in Sussex, England
Peyton			town near Boxford, in Suffolk, England
Phelps			Phillips
Philip		Greek	A lover of horses
Phippen			son of Penn
Physick			physician
Pickering		Locality	A market town of north Yorkshire, England
Pickersgill		Locality	stream inhabited by pike or pickerel
Pickett			spotted in the face
Pierce		Locality	family of Percy, of Northumberland, England
Piercy		Locality	family of Percy, of Northumberland, England
Pierpont		French	stone bridge
Pierson			son of Pierre
Piggot			spotted in the face
Pigman			dealer in pigs
Pilcher			A maker of pilches, a kind of great coat or upper garment, in use in the fourteenth century
Pillings		Cornish-British	The distant pool
Pinny			pinnacle
Pittman			living near a well or spring
Playfair		Locality	The play ground, a place where fairs were held
Playsted			The place appropriated to amusement
Pleasants		Locality	a suburb of the city of Edinburgh
Plympton		Cornish-British	The town situated on the river Plym, in Devonshire, England
Poindexter		French	poin being derived from pungo, to pierce, to prick, and dexter, right, as opposed to left
Poitevin			native of Poitou, France.
Polk			abbreviation of Pollock
Pollard			A tree having its top cut off
Polley		Locality	Poilley, in the province of Orleans, France
Pollock		Locality	Pollock, in Renfrewshire, Scotland
Pomeroy		French	Pomme-roi, a kind of apple, the royal apple, king's apple, or king of apples; a name probably given to a gardener for his skill in raising them
Poole		Locality	A town in Dorsetshire, England
Pope		Latin	Papa, father
Porcher		French	slaying the boar
Porson			son of Power
Potter			One who makes earthen vessels
Pottinger			An apothecary is so called in Scotland
Poulton		Locality	the town of Poulton, in Lancashire, England
Powell		Welsh	Ap Howell, the son of Howell
Powers		Welsh	son of Power
Poynder			bailiff
Pratt			Latin Pratum, a meadow
Prescot		Welsh	town in England
Pressley		Locality	shrubs, brushwood
Preston		Locality	town in Lancashire, England
Price		Welsh	Ap Rice, the son of Rice
Prichard		Welsh	Ap Richard, the son of Richard
Prideaux		French	Presd'eaux, near the water
Prindle			A croft or small field
Pringle		Locality	Prencyll, a hazel-wood, from pren, Welsh, a wood, and cyll or coll, hazel
Prodgers			Ap Roger, the son of Roger
Proger			Ap Roger, the son of Roger
Progers			Ap Roger, the son of Roger
Proost			a president of a college; the chief magistrate of a city
Provoost			a president of a college; the chief magistrate of a city
Pugh			Ap Hugh, the son of Hugh
Putman			living near a well or spring
Putnam		Dutch	From Put or Putten, a well, and ham, a house or town
Putzkammer		German	A dressing-chamber
Pye			Ap Hugh, the son of Hugh

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