MCDERMOTT IrishMeans
"son of DIARMAID". The McDermotts were nobility in the Kingdom of Connaught, a province in Ireland.
MCELLIGOTT IrishAnglicized form of the Gaelic name
Mac Uileagóid meaning
"son of Uileagóid", a diminutive of
UILLEAG.
MCGILL Irish, ScottishAnglicized form of Gaelic
Mac an Ghoill meaning
"son of the foreigner", derived from
gall "foreigner".
MCGOVERN IrishAnglicized form of Gaelic
Mag Shamhradháin meaning
"son of Samhradháin", a given name meaning "summer".
MCGUIRE IrishAnglicized form of Irish
Mag Uidhir meaning
"son of Odhar", a given name meaning "pale-coloured".
MCINTYRE ScottishFrom Scottish Gaelic
Mac an tSaoir meaning
"son of the carpenter".
MCKINLEY ScottishAnglicized form of the Gaelic
Mac Fhionnlaigh meaning
"son of FIONNLAGH". This name was borne by the American president William McKinley (1843-1901), who was assassinated.
MCLEOD ScottishFrom Gaelic
Mac Leòid meaning
"son of Leod", a given name derived from Old Norse
ljótr "ugly".
MCNAMARA IrishFrom Irish
Mac Conmara meaning
"son of Conmara". The given name
Conmara is composed of
cú "hound" and
muir "sea".
MCRAE ScottishFrom the Gaelic
Mag Raith meaning
"son of Rath", a given name meaning "prosperity" or "grace".
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.
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 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".
MESSANA ItalianFrom the name of the Sicilian city of Messina, founded by Greek colonists. The city was named after the Greek city
Μεσσήνη (Messene).
MESSER GermanOccupational name for a person who made knives, from Middle High German
messer "knife".
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.
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".
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-).
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 a 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).
MONROE ScottishDesignated a person who had originally lived near the mouth of the Roe River in Derry, Ireland.
MONTAGNA ItalianMeans
"mountain" in Italian, indicating a person who lived on or near one.
MONTAGUE EnglishFrom a Norman place name meaning "sharp mountain" in Old French.
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.
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".
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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
MURRAY (1) ScottishDerived from the region in Scotland called
Moray meaning "seaboard settlement". A notable bearer of this surname was General James Murray (1721-1794), who was the first British Governor-General of Canada.