Meadows EnglishReferred to one who lived in a meadow, from Old English
mædwe.
Medeiros PortugueseFrom various Portuguese place names that were derived from Portuguese
medeiro meaning
"haystack", ultimately from Latin
meta meaning "cone, pyramid".
Meggyesfalvi HungarianDerived from a Hungarian village named
Meggyesfalva meaning "cherry village", from
meggy "cherry" and
falu "village".
Meissner GermanOriginally denoted a person from the German town of Meissen, which is probably of Slavic origin.
Mejía SpanishPossibly from a nickname derived from Spanish
Mesías meaning
"Messiah", from Latin
Messias, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew
מָשִׁיחַ (mashiyach) meaning "anointed".
Melnyk UkrainianMeans
"miller" in Ukrainian. This is the most common Ukrainian surname.
Melsbach GermanFrom the name of a German town, possibly meaning "mill stream".
Melville ScottishFrom the place name
Malleville meaning "bad town" in Norman French.
Mencher PolishPossibly an occupational name derived from Polish
maczarz meaning
"miller".
Mendel 2 GermanDerived from a diminutive of the given name
Meino. A famous bearer was Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), a Czech monk and scientist who did experiments in genetics.
Mercer EnglishOccupational name for a trader in textiles, from Old French
mercier, derived from Latin
merx meaning "merchandise".
Merkel GermanFrom a diminutive of the given name
Markus. A notable bearer is the former German chancellor Angela Merkel (1954-).
Merlo Italian, SpanishMeans
"blackbird", ultimately from Latin
merula. The blackbird is a symbol of a naive person.
Merrill 2 EnglishFrom the name of various places in England, derived from Old English
myrige "pleasant" and
hyll "hill".
Messer GermanOccupational name for a person who made knives, from Middle High German
messer "knife".
Messina ItalianFrom the name of the Sicilian city of Messina, founded by Greek colonists. The city was named after the Greek city
Μεσσήνη (Messene).
Messner GermanOccupational name for a sexton or churchwarden, from Old High German
mesinari.
Metaxas GreekDerived from Greek
μέταξα (metaxa) meaning
"silk", most likely referring to a silk merchant or another occupation dealing with silk.
Metharom ThaiPossibly refers to a place or institute of learning or where knowledge is provided.
Metz 1 GermanOccupational name for maker of knives, from Middle High German
metze "knife".
Meyer 1 GermanFrom Middle High German
meier meaning
"bailiff, administrator", derived from Latin
maior meaning "greater". Later it also denoted a tenant farmer. The spellings
Meier and
Meyer are more common in northern Germany while
Maier and
Mayer are more common in southern Germany.
Michalski PolishHabitational name for a person from a village named
Michale or
Michały, both derived from the given name
Michał.
Midgley EnglishFrom the English village of Midgley in West Yorkshire, meaning "midge (insect) wood" in Old English.
Milburn EnglishDerived from various place names meaning "mill stream" in Old English.
Milford EnglishOriginally derived from various place names all meaning "ford by a mill" in Old English.
Miller EnglishOccupational surname referring to a person who owned or worked in a grain mill, from Middle English
mille "mill".
Millhouse EnglishName for someone whose house was in a mill or who worked in a mill.
Milligan IrishAnglicized form of the Irish
Ó Maolagáin meaning
"descendant of Maolagán", a given name derived from
maol meaning "bald" or "tonsured".
Mills EnglishOriginally given to one who lived near a mill or who worked in a mill, from Middle English
mille.
Milne ScottishFrom Scots and Middle English
milne (a variant of
mille) meaning
"mill".
Milton EnglishDerived from an English place name meaning "mill town" in Old English. A famous bearer was John Milton (1608-1674), the poet who wrote "Paradise Lost".
Miranda Spanish, PortugueseHabitational name from any of the numerous places in Spain and Portugal bearing this name, possibly derived from Latin
mirandus "admirable, wonderful".
Mitchell 2 EnglishOriginally a nickname for a large person, from Old English
micel "big".
Mittelman JewishNickname for a man of moderate means, from Yiddish, ultimately from Old High German
mittil "means, resources".
Miyamoto JapaneseFrom Japanese
宮 (miya) meaning "temple, shrine, palace" and
本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin". A notable bearer is video game pioneer Shigeru Miyamoto (1952-).
Miyata JapaneseFrom Japanese
宮 (miya) meaning "temple, shrine, palace" and
田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Mlakar Slovene, CroatianReferred to someone who lived near a pool, derived from South Slavic
mlaka meaning
"pool, puddle".
Modugno ItalianFrom the town of Modugno, in Apulia in southern Italy. It is the surname of the Italian actor and singer Domenico Modugno (1928-1994).
Moffett ScottishFrom the town of Moffat in Scotland, meaning "long field" in Gaelic.
Moloney IrishFrom Irish
Ó Maol Dhomhnaigh meaning
"descendant of a church servant".
Monahan IrishFrom Irish
Ó Manacháin meaning
"descendant of Manacháin". The given name
Manacháin meant "little monk", from
manach "monk" and a diminutive suffix.
Mondadori ItalianFrom Italian
mondatore meaning
"weeder". This was an occupational name for someone who kept fields clear of weeds.
Monday 2 EnglishDenoted a person for whom this was a significant day, often the day they would pay their feudal fees.
Monet FrenchDerived from either of the given names
Hamon or
Edmond. A famous bearer was the French impressionist painter Claude Monet (1840-1926).
Monk EnglishNickname or occupational name for a person who worked for monks. This word is derived from Latin
monachus, from Greek
μοναχός (monachos) meaning "alone".
Montagna ItalianMeans
"mountain" in Italian, from Latin
montanus, indicating a person who lived on or near a mountain.
Montague EnglishFrom a Norman place name meaning "sharp mountain" in Old French.
Montes SpanishFrom Spanish
monte "mountain, hill", derived from Latin
mons.
Montgomery English, ScottishFrom a place name in Calvados, France meaning "
Gumarich's mountain". A notable bearer was Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976), a British army commander during World War II.
Monti ItalianMeans
"mountain, hill" in Italian, from Latin
mons.
Moon 2 EnglishOriginally indicated a person from the town of Moyon in Normandy.
Moore 1 EnglishOriginally indicated a person who lived on a moor, from Middle English
mor meaning
"open land, bog".
Moore 3 EnglishNickname for a person of dark complexion, from Old French
more, Latin
maurus, meaning
"Moorish".
Mora SpanishDerived from Spanish
mora meaning
"mulberry", of Latin origin.
Morales SpanishDerived from Spanish
moral meaning
"mulberry tree", of Latin origin.
Morandi ItalianFrom the Italian medieval given name
Morando meaning "steadfast".
Moravec CzechOriginally indicated a person from Moravia (Czech
Morava).
Moriarty IrishFrom Irish
Ó Muircheartach meaning
"descendant of Muirchertach". This was the surname given by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to a master criminal in the Sherlock Holmes series.
Morra ItalianLocative name derived from Italian places such as Morra De Sanctis, Campania, or Morra del Villar, Piedmont.
Mortimer EnglishFrom the name of a town in Normandy meaning
"dead water, still water" in Old French.
Morton EnglishDerived from a place name meaning
"moor town" in Old English.
Moschella ItalianFrom a diminutive of Italian
mosca meaning
"housefly", perhaps originally a nickname for an annoying person.
Moser GermanName for someone who lived near a peat bog, from Middle High German
mos.
Moto JapaneseFrom Japanese
本 (moto) meaning
"base, root, origin". More commonly it is the final character in Japanese surnames.
Motta ItalianFrom various names of places around Italy. It is derived from a Gaulish word meaning "hill".
Mottershead EnglishFrom the name of a lost place in Cheshire, derived from the Old English byname
Motere meaning "speaker" and
heafod meaning "headland".
Moya SpanishFrom any of various towns named Moya in Spain, of uncertain meaning.
Moździerz PolishMeans
"mortar" in Polish. It probably referred to someone who worked with or sold mortar.
Muggia ItalianFrom the town of Muggia in northeastern Italy near the Slovenian border. It was called
Muglae in Latin.
Muir ScottishScots form of
Moore 1. This name was borne by the Scottish-American naturalist John Muir (1838-1914).
Mullen IrishFrom the Irish
Ó Maoláin meaning
"descendant of Maolán". The given name
Maolán meant "devotee".
Müller GermanGerman equivalent of
Miller, derived from Middle High German
mülnære or
müller.
Muñoz SpanishPatronymic derived from the medieval Spanish given name
Muño, from Latin
Munnius, possibly of Germanic origin.
Munro ScottishDesignated a person who had originally lived near the mouth of the Roe River in Derry, Ireland. It is derived from Gaelic
bun meaning "root, base" combined with the river's name.
Munson EnglishPatronymic formed from the Norman French nickname
moun meaning
"monk".
Muraro ItalianOccupational name for a wall builder, from Italian
murare meaning
"to wall up".
Murgia SardinianMeans
"brine" in Sardinian, perhaps a nickname for someone who pickled foods.
Murphy IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Ó Murchadha meaning
"descendant of Murchadh". This is the most common Irish surname.
Murray 1 ScottishDerived from the region in Scotland called
Moray (Gaelic
Moireabh), possibly of Pictish origin, meaning
"seashore, coast". A notable bearer of this surname was General James Murray (1721-1794), who was the first British Governor-General of Canada.
Mushyan ArmenianOriginally denoted someone who came from the Armenian town of Mushi.
Musil CzechPossibly from a nickname meaning
"the one who had to", from the past participle of the Czech verb
muset meaning "must" (of Germanic origin).
Mussolini ItalianFrom Italian
mussolina meaning
"muslin", a type of cloth, itself derived from the city of Mosul in Iraq. This name was borne by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (1883-1945).
Mutō JapaneseFrom Japanese
武 (mu) meaning "military, martial" and
藤 (tō) meaning "wisteria". The final character may indicate a connection to the Fujiwara clan.
Mutton EnglishReferred to a shepherd or else someone who in some way resembled a sheep, derived from Norman French
mouton "sheep".
Myška CzechFrom nickname derived from Czech
myš meaning
"mouse".
Nagel German, DutchMeans
"nail" in German and Dutch, an occupational name for a carpenter or nailsmith.
Naggi ItalianOriginally denoted a person from the town of Naggio in Lombardy, Italy.
Nagy HungarianFrom a nickname meaning
"big, great" in Hungarian, referring to one's characteristics. This is the most common Hungarian surname.