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Two possible explanations are offered here -
http://www.familie-greve.de/modules.php?op=modload&name=lexikon&file=index&id=2&val=m
1) a diminutive of an old Germanic given name, such as Markhardt or Markwardt. I don't know the meaning of these.
2) medieval German mage, meaning some sort of relative, perhaps by marriage. Paul Reaney explains the Middle English MAGE as "used vaguely of a relative by marriage; in the north [of England] of a brother-in-law." The word is occasionally found in English surnames, such as Watmough, presumably meaning Walter's kin.
http://www.familie-greve.de/modules.php?op=modload&name=lexikon&file=index&id=2&val=m
1) a diminutive of an old Germanic given name, such as Markhardt or Markwardt. I don't know the meaning of these.
2) medieval German mage, meaning some sort of relative, perhaps by marriage. Paul Reaney explains the Middle English MAGE as "used vaguely of a relative by marriage; in the north [of England] of a brother-in-law." The word is occasionally found in English surnames, such as Watmough, presumably meaning Walter's kin.
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