Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
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.
MaiGerman Derived from German der Mai meaning "May", perhaps indicating a person who was baptized in that month.
MaiaPortuguese Habitational name from any of several places named Maia, especially one in Porto.
MaiàCatalan Habitational name from Maià de Montcal, a village in Girona, or any of several other places named with Maià, which is of pre-Roman origin.
MaideEstonian Maide is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "maidel" meaning "gudgeon (a type of freshwater fish)".
MaidesEnglish Maides is an almost extinct surname which has decreased significantly in popularity since the 19th century, though has always been relatively uncommon. The surname is today most popular in Leicestershire but the family bearing the surname from that area seem to have originated from the south of Warwickshire... [more]
MaidmentEnglish Occupational name for a servant of maidens (such as nuns), from Middle English maiden (ultimately from Old English mægden) meaning "young girl, virgin, maiden" and man ending with an excrescent -t.
MaidreEstonian Maidre is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "maidel" meaning "gudgeon" (a type of fish)".
MaineFrench French topographic name from Old French maine ‘dwelling’, ‘residence’, ‘abode’, or a habitational name from any of numerous places so named.
MaiselYiddish, German, French Predominantly seems to be a matronymic surname from the Yiddish feminine name Mayzl. Although it is believed that it derived from the Hebrew name Meïser, which means “representative of God”... [more]
MaisonFrench, Walloon Derived from Old French maison "residence", this name used to be given to someone who lived by an important house.
MaitlandEnglish, Scottish Possibly from Mautalant, the name of a place in Pontorson, France meaning "inhospitable" or "bad temper" in Norman French (ultimately from Late Latin malum "bad" and talentum "inclination, disposition"), which was so named because of its unproductive soil; or perhaps it was originally a nickname for an ungracious individual, derived from the same source.
MaitlisJewish Means "son of Meytl", a Yiddish female personal name, literally "little Meyte", a Yiddish female personal name derived from Middle High German maget "maid".
MaitraBengali Habitational name from either the village of Maitreya or Mohit (present-day locations unknown).
MaîtreFrench occupational name for the head of a craft or trade guild from Old French maistre "master" (from Latin magister)... [more]
MaitreFrench occupational name for one who was the head of a craft or trade guild, from Old French maistre ‘master’ (Latin magister).
MajPolish, Jewish Surname adopted with reference to the month of May, Polish maj. Surnames referring to months were sometimes adopted by Jewish converts to Christianity, with reference to the month in which they were baptized or in which the surname was registered.
MajerleSlovene Slovene surname Majerle, a variant of the Polish, Czech, and Slovak Majer, which was a status name for "steward, bailiff, tenant farmer, or village headman", from the German Meyer.
MajorsNorman Based on the Norman given name Mauger. The name indicates one who is the son of Maugier, an Old French personal name, which is derived from the Old Germanic name Malger, which means council spear.
MakiceAmerican (Modern, Rare) Taken as a new common familyname by Kevin McGrew Isbister and Amy Elizabeth Clendening. They scrambled their initials (KMI and AEC), and came up with “Makice” as their family name.
MakitaJapanese I'm not sure how the surname is usually written, but 真 (Ma) means "Genuine, Real, Sincere" and 北 (Kita) means "North". On the other hand, 牧 (Maki) means "Shepard, Tend cattle" and 田 (Ta) means "Rice Field, Rice Paddy"... [more]
MakkarPolish Polish and Ukrainian: from the personal name Makary (Polish), Makar (Ukrainian), vernacular forms of the Greek ecclesiastical name Makarios meaning ‘blessed’.
MalasencoUkrainian This surname is a moderately common Ukrainian name and was formed from the Hebrew name MALACHI. After 988 A.D., every Slav, having been baptized, would undergo a ceremony, conducted by a priest, to receive a Christian name... [more]
MalatestaItalian Means "bad head" in Italian, a nickname for a stubborn or perhaps malicious person. It could have also indicated the bearer had a misshapen head. ... [more]
MalatestasGreek Means "bad head" in Italian, from the Italian surname Malatesta, also found in Greece.
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".
MaleckiPolish Habitational name for someone from places called Malki in the voivodeships of Ostroleka and Torun.
MalecuitFrench Means "doughy," "soggy," or "undercooked" in French.
MalefeijtDutch A variant spelling of Malefeyt. This is also actually an archaic spelling (as the sound written as -eijt will be always be written as -eit or -ijt in modern times), but it has (barely) managed to survive into modern times... [more]
MalefeytDutch (Archaic) Archaic Dutch surname that is now no longer in use (not in this exact spelling, that is): the spelling reflects the surname's origin from older times (as -eyt is an exclusively archaic spelling that has not survived into modern times like its counterparts -eit and -ijt did)... [more]
MalefijtDutch Modern form of Malefeyt, which is also the most common form of the surname. In The Netherlands, there were 24 bearers of the surname in 2007.
MalenkovRussian Patronymic derived from Russian маленький (malen'kiy) meaning "little, small". The Soviet leader Georgy Malenkov (1902-1988) was a notable bearer of this name.
MalewskiPolish Habitational name for someone from any of the places called Malewo in Masovian, Łódź, Pomeranian and Greater Poland voivodeships, or Malewice in Podlaskie Voivodeship. Both place names are named with the personal name Mal, a short form of Old Polish Małomir, based on Old Slavic malъ ‘small, little’.
MalfaitFrench Derived from French mal fait, which literally means "poorly done, badly done". In the context of the surname, it refers to the first bearer being "malformed" or "deformed" (as it was in the eyes of people from older times), which means that he either was physically disabled or able-bodied but with a physical trait that deviated from the norm.
MalfattoItalian Means "badly made, shoddy; deformed" in Italian, possibly originating with the nickname Malefactus "ugly, injured". Cognate to French Malfait.
MalfeytDutch, Flemish Generally a Dutch form (or "dutchization", if you will) of Malfait, with the spelling reflecting the surname's origin from older times (as -eyt is an exclusively archaic spelling that has not survived into modern times like its counterparts -eit and -ijt did)... [more]
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.
MällEstonian Mäll is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "mälu", meaning "memory".
MallahiPersian From Persian ملاح (mallah) meaning "sailor", ultimately of Arabic origin.
MallardEnglish Either (i) from the Old French male personal name Malhard, brought into England by the Normans but ultimately of Germanic origin and meaning literally "council-brave"; or (ii) from a medieval nickname for someone thought to resemble a male wild duck.
MalletAnglo-Norman, Medieval English, French, Catalan Originated in Norman France and spread to England following the Norman conquest of 1066. The surname comes from the given name Malle, an Old English diminutive of Mary or from the given name Malo, a popular form of the name of Saint Maclovius, a 6th-century Welsh monk who the church of Saint Maclou in Rouen is named for.... [more]
MallettEnglish possible origins Malet a medieval diminutive of "Mal(le) being a pet form of and name Mary, could also be of Norman origin from the Old French personal name Malhard
MälloEstonian Mällo is an Estonian surname possibly derived from "mälu" meaning "memory".
MallochScottish Reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic MacIain Mhalaich "son of Ian of the bushy eyebrows", which was the family name of the MacGregors of Balhaldie. The Ian from whom the name is derived died in the early 16th century.