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I'm looking for information on the Hungarian surname Makray. The spelling may be a little different, but this is how it's spelled in all our family records.
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Probably from a place name Makra, there is one in the Veszprém area of Western Hungary, also a Makra-volgy (Makra Valley). The Y ending is an old adjectival ending, so making the meaning "of Makra" or "from Makra". The modern spelling would be Makrai, which is also found as a surname.
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Thank you for your help. It's possible the name is spelled Makrai. Those old handwriten records are difficult to read.
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It could very well be Makray. Both spellings are used as you can see at http://is.gd/cMNsZ.
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Thank you. It's possible it could be either. I know on many records my graeat grandmothers first name was often mispelled, so it's possible her surname could be too.
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It's possible, if your ancestors were illiterate - and in the 19th century the vast majority of people were - that the spelling of their name was subject to the whims of some clerk. In the past it was quite common to find he same person's name spelt differently in different documents.
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Yes, especially considering she came from Hungary, which is very different from English and many of the other European languages. The clerks probably just spelled it how he/she thought it sounded.
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