Madison EnglishMeans
"son of Maud". A famous bearer of this surname was the fourth American president James Madison (1751-1836).
Maeda JapaneseFrom Japanese
前 (mae) meaning "front, forward" and
田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Magalhães PortugueseDenoted a person hailing from one of the numerous minor places of this name in Portugal, possibly of Celtic origin. A notable bearer was the Portuguese explorer Fernão de Magalhães (1480-1521), normally called Ferdinand Magellan in English.
Majewski m PolishDerived from Polish
maj meaning
"May". It may have been given in reference to the month the bearer was baptized.
Major EnglishFrom the Norman French given name
Mauger, derived from the Germanic name
Malger.
Maldonado SpanishFrom a nickname meaning
"badly given, ill-favoured" in Spanish.
Malinowski m PolishFrom Polish
malina meaning
"raspberry", originally indicating a person who lived near a raspberry patch.
Mallory EnglishFrom Old French
maleüré meaning
"unfortunate", a term introduced to England by the Normans.
Malone IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Ó Maoil Eoin meaning
"descendant of a disciple of Saint John".
Manco ItalianMeans
"left-handed" in Italian, derived from Latin
mancus meaning "maimed".
Mandel German, YiddishMeans
"almond" in German, an occupational name for a grower or seller, or a topographic name for a person who lived near an almond tree. As a Jewish name it is ornamental.
Mandela XhosaPossibly from Xhosa
mandla meaning
"district, region". This name was borne by the South African activist and president Nelson Mandela (1918-2013). His family's surname was apparently adopted in the 18th century from an ancestor's given name.
Manfredonia ItalianOriginally indicated a person from Manfredonia, Italy. The city was named for the 13th-century King
Manfred of Sicily.
Mann German, EnglishFrom a nickname meaning
"man". This may have originally been given in order to distinguish the bearer from a younger person with the same name.
Mantovani ItalianFrom the name of the city of Mantua in Lombardy, northern Italy (
Mantova in Italian).
Maradona SpanishFrom the name of a place near Lugo in northern Spain. A notable bearer is the former Argentinian soccer star Diego Maradona (1960-2020).
Marchegiano ItalianFrom the name of the Marche region in Italy, derived from Late Latin
marca meaning "borderland". It was the real surname of the American boxer Rocky Marciano (1923-1969), who was born Rocco Marchegiano.
Marchesi ItalianFrom the Italian title
marchese meaning
"marquis". It was probably a nickname for a person who behaved like a marquis or worked in the household of a marquis.
Markey IrishFrom the Irish
Ó Marcaigh meaning
"descendant of Marcach", a given name meaning "horse rider".
Marley EnglishOriginally denoted a person who hailed from one of the various places in Britain called
Marley, ultimately meaning either "pleasant wood", "boundary wood" or "marten wood" in Old English. One of the main characters in Charles Dickens'
A Christmas Carol (1843) bears this surname. It was also borne by the Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley (1945-1981).
Marlow EnglishOriginally a name for a person from Marlow in Buckinghamshire, England. The place name means "remnants of a lake" from Old English
mere "lake" and
lafe "remnants, remains". A notable bearer was the English playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593).
Marmo ItalianMeans
"marble" in Italian, possibly indicating a person who lived near a quarry or one who worked with marble.
Marquardt GermanFrom Old High German
marka "border, boundary" and
wart "protector". This was an occupational name for a border guard.
Marsden EnglishFrom a place name derived from Old English
mearc "boundary" and
denu "valley".
Marsh EnglishOriginally denoted one who lived near a marsh or bog, derived from Old English
mersc "marsh".
Marshall EnglishDerived from Middle English
mareschal "marshal", from Latin
mariscalcus, ultimately from Germanic roots akin to Old High German
marah "horse" and
scalc "servant". It originally referred to someone who took care of horses.
Marston EnglishFrom a place name derived from Old English
mersc "marsh" and
tun "enclosure".
Martel 2 French, EnglishNickname for a smith, derived from Old French
martel "hammer", ultimately from Late Latin
martellus.
Máselník m Czech (Rare)Referred to one who churned or sold butter or buttermilk, derived from Czech
máslo "butter".
Mason EnglishOccupational name for a stoneworker or layer of bricks, from Old French
masson, of Frankish origin (akin to Old English
macian "to make").
Massey EnglishDerived from
Massy, the name of several towns in France. The name of the town is perhaps derived from a personal name that was Latinized as
Maccius.
Masterson EnglishPatronymic derived from Middle English
maister meaning
"master", via Old French from Latin
magister.
Mata Spanish, Portuguese, CatalanFrom Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan
mata meaning
"trees, shrubs", possibly from Late Latin
matta meaning "reed mat".
Mataracı TurkishOccupational name for a person who made water bottles or flasks, from Turkish
matara "flask".
Mathers EnglishOccupational name meaning
"mower, cutter of hay" in Old English.
Matsumoto JapaneseFrom one of the many places with this name in Japan, derived from Japanese
松 (matsu) meaning "pine tree, fir tree" and
本 (moto) meaning "base, root, origin".
Maurer GermanOccupational name meaning
"wall builder" in German.
Maus GermanFrom a nickname meaning
"mouse", from Old High German
mus.
Maxwell ScottishFrom a place name meaning "Mack's stream", from the name
Mack, a short form of the Scandinavian name
Magnus, combined with Old English
wille "well, stream". A famous bearer was James Maxwell (1831-1879), a Scottish physicist who studied gases and electromagnetism.
Mayer 3 EnglishOccupational name for a mayor, from Middle English
mair, derived via Old French from Latin
maior.
Mazur PolishIndicated a person from either Mazovia (Polish
Mazowsze) or Masuria (Polish
Mazury), regions in Poland.
Mazza ItalianFrom a nickname (perhaps occupational) meaning
"maul, mallet" in Italian.
McCabe Irish, ScottishMeans
"son of Cába", where
Cába is a byname meaning "cape, cloak" (from Latin
cappa).
McCauley Irish, ScottishAnglicized form of Gaelic
Mac Amhalghaidh or
Mac Amhalghadha meaning
"son of Amhalghaidh". The given name
Amhalghaidh, from Old Irish
Amalgaid, is of uncertain meaning.
McCullough IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Mac Cú Uladh meaning
"son of Cú Uladh". The byname
Cú Uladh means "hound of Ulster". This surname has also been associated with Old Irish
cullach "boar".
McDermott IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Mac Diarmada meaning
"son of Diarmaid". The McDermotts were nobility in the Kingdom of Connaught, a province in Ireland.
McElligott IrishAnglicized form of the Irish Gaelic name
Mac Uileagóid meaning
"son of Uileagóid", a diminutive of
Uilleag.
McFly Popular CultureInvented name, using the prefix
Mc-, from Irish
mac "son", and the English word
fly. This name was created for the time-travelling hero Marty McFly of the
Back to the Future movie series, beginning 1985.