LolokhoevIngush (Russified) Russified form of an Ingush surname derived from the name of an Ingush teip (clan), itself derived from Lyalakh, the name of a mountain village. The village's name itself is of unknown meaning.
LongChinese From Chinese 龍 (lóng) meaning "dragon".
LowesEnglish Patronymic from of Low derived from Middle English lowe meaning "hill, mound".
ŁozowskiPolish Name for someone from a place called Łoza, derived from Polish łoza meaning "grey willow, osier, wicker".
LuChinese From Chinese 陆 (lù) referring to the ancient territory of Lu, which existed in the state of Qi in what is now Shandong province. Alternately, it may be from 陸渾 (Lù Hún), the name of an ancient nomadic tribe that established a state in the area that is now Henan province.
LuChinese From Chinese 鲁 (lǔ) referring to the ancient state of Lu, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Shandong province.
MabiniFilipino, Tagalog Means "modest, prudent, civil" in Tagalog. A notable bearer was Apolinario Mabini y Maranan (1864-1903), a Filipino revolutionary.
MạcVietnamese Vietnamese form of Mo from Sino-Vietnamese 幕 (mạc). This was the name of a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled over northern Vietnam between the 16th and 17th centuries.
MacapagalFilipino, Pampangan From Kapampangan makapagal meaning "tiring". A notable bearer is Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (1947-), the fourteenth president of the Philippines.
MaghribiArabic (Maghrebi) Derived from Arabic المغرب (al-Maghrib) meaning "the west", also referring to the country of Morocco. It could be used to refer to a Moroccan person or (in English) someone from the Maghreb region of Northern Africa.
MagsaysayFilipino, Tagalog Means "relate, narrate, declare" in Tagalog. A notable bearer was Ramon Magsaysay (1907-1957), the seventh president of the Philippines.
MahajanIndian, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali Means "great (number of) people" or "tradesman, merchant" from Sanskrit महा (maha) meaning "great" combined with जन (jána) meaning "person, people".
MaharanaIndian, Odia Derived from the Sanskrit title महाराणा (maharana) meaning "king of kings", from महा (maha) meaning "great" and राणा (rana) meaning "king".
MahatoIndian, Bengali, Hindi, Assamese, Odia, Nepali From a title given to the head of a village or a well-to-do peasant, possibly derived from Sanskrit महत् (mahat) meaning "great, large, big".
MahrezArabic (Maghrebi) From Arabic مُحْرَز (maḥraz) meaning "accomplished, achieved, attained". A notable bearer is Riyad Mahrez (1991-), an Algerian footballer.
MaiChinese From Chinese 麦 (mài) meaning "wheat, barley, oats". It was adopted as a family name by the descendants of Maiqiu, a figure from the Spring and Autumn Period, or Mai Tiezheng, a Sui dynasty military general.
MalayaRussian, Ukrainian From Russian малый (maliy) or Ukrainian малий (malyy) both meaning "small, little", used as a nickname for a small child or a person who was thin or short in stature. Alternately, it may have come from Tatar малай (malay) meaning "boy, son" or "apprentice".
MalinEnglish, French, Dutch From the given name Malin (English), and from the given name Madalin composed of the Germanic element madal meaning "council" (French, Dutch).
MalinovBulgarian, Russian From Bulgarian and Russian малина (malina) meaning "raspberry", probably indicating a person who lived near a raspberry bush.
MalsagovIngush (Russified) Russified form of the Ingush clan name Малсагнаькъан (Malsagnaqan) meaning "tribe of Malsag", from a given name derived from Ingush малх (malkh) meaning "sun, solar" and саг (sag) meaning "person, man".
MamilovIngush (Russified) Russified form of an Ingush surname, which is from the name of an Ingush teip (clan) possibly from a Turkic word meaning "sweet, delicious" or from an Arabic name of unknown meaning.
ManabeJapanese From Japanese 真 (ma) meaning "real, genuine" or 間 (ma) meaning "among, between" and 鍋 (nabe) meaning "pot, pan" or 部 (be) meaning "part, section".
MaoChinese From Chinese 毛 (máo) referring to the ancient region of Mao, which existed during the Zhou dynasty in what is now the Henan province. A notable bearer of this surname was Chinese communist revolutionary Mao Zedong (1893-1976).
MaouloudWestern African Derived from Arabic مولود (mawlud) meaning "born, newborn", used to refer to the مولد (Mawlid) observance of the birth of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad (chiefly Mauritanian).
MarchantFrench, English, Spanish Variant of Marchand, from French marchand meaning "merchant, mercantile". Though it is of French origin, it was transferred into the Spanish-speaking world, especially Chile, by French invasion of the Iberian Peninsula.
MarlockGerman (Archaic) Derived from Middle High German and Middle Low German mar(e), denoting an evil elf, a creature that sits on one's chest at night, and Middle High German loc "a lock of hair; hair; mane"... [more]
MaruyamaJapanese From Japanese 丸 or 圓 (maru) meaning "round, full" and 山 (yama) meaning "mountain".
MarxGerman From a short form of the given name Markus. A famous bearer was Karl Marx (1818-1883), a German philosopher known for his work in socioeconomic theory.
MarzoukiArabic (Maghrebi) From the given name Marzouq (chiefly Tunisian and Moroccan). A notable bearer is Moncef Marzouki (1945-), who was the fourth President of Tunisia from 2011 to 2014.
MasihUrdu, Indian (Christian), Hindi From Urdu مسیح (masih) or Hindi मसीह (masih) referring to the Christian messiah (Jesus Christ), both ultimately from Arabic مسيح (masih). This name is common among Pakistani and North Indian Christians.
MaskhadovChechen Possibly from the given name Maskhad. A notable bearer was Chechen politician Aslan Maskhadov (1951-2005).
MaslovRussian, Jewish Derived from Russian масло (maslo) meaning "butter", originally used as an occupational name for someone who worked as a dairyman or sold dairy products.
MazighArabic (Maghrebi), Berber Derived from Arabic أَمَازِيغ (ʾamāzīḡ) the Arabic designation for the Berber (Amazigh) people of North Africa. The word itself is ultimately of Tamazight origin, from Central Atlas Tamazight ⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖ (Amaziɣ) of disputed meaning; in modern Central Atlas Tamazight, it means “free-man”.
MaziniArabic (Maghrebi) Possibly from Arabic مَزِين (mazīn) meaning “decorated, adorned” or مازن (mazin) meaning “rain cloud” (see Mazin; chiefly Moroccan).