Surnames Starting with M

usage
Montgomery English, Scottish
From 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 Italian
Means "mountain, hill" in Italian, from Latin mons.
Moon 1 Korean
Korean form of Wen, from Sino-Korean (mun).
Moon 2 English
Originally indicated a person from the town of Moyon in Normandy.
Moon 3 Irish
Variant of Mohan.
Mooney Irish
Variant of O'Mooney.
Moore 1 English
Originally indicated a person who lived on a moor, from Middle English mor meaning "open land, bog".
Moore 2 English
Derived from the given name Maurus.
Moore 3 English
Nickname for a person of dark complexion, from Old French more, Latin maurus, meaning "Moorish".
Mooren Dutch
Derived from the given name Maurus.
Moors English
Variant of Moore 1.
Mooshian Armenian
Alternate transcription of Armenian Մուշյան (see Mushyan).
Mora Spanish
Derived from Spanish mora meaning "mulberry", of Latin origin.
Morales Spanish
Derived from Spanish moral meaning "mulberry tree", of Latin origin.
Morandi Italian
From the Italian medieval given name Morando meaning "steadfast".
Moravec Czech
Originally indicated a person from Moravia (Czech Morava).
Morce English
Variant of Morriss.
Moreau French
Derived from a diminutive of Maurus.
Morel French
Derived from a diminutive of Maurus.
Morello Italian
Derived from a diminutive of Mauro.
Moreno Spanish, Portuguese
From a nickname meaning "dark" in Spanish and Portuguese.
Moretti Italian
Derived from a diminutive of the Italian given name Mauro.
Morgan Welsh
Derived from the given name Morgan 1.
Morgenstern German, Jewish
Ornamental name meaning "morning star" in German.
Mori Japanese
From Japanese (mori) meaning "forest".
Moriarty Irish
From 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.
Morikawa Japanese
From Japanese (mori) meaning "forest" and (kawa) meaning "river, stream".
Morimoto Japanese
From Japanese (mori) meaning "forest" and (moto) meaning "base, root, origin".
Morin English
Variant of Moore 2 and Moore 3.
Morishita Japanese
From Japanese (mori) meaning "forest" and (shita) meaning "under, below".
Morita Japanese
From Japanese (mori) meaning "forest" and (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
Moriyama Japanese
From Japanese (mori) meaning "forest" and (yama) meaning "mountain, hill".
Morozov Russian
Derived from Russian мороз (moroz) meaning "frost".
Morra Italian
Locative name derived from Italian places such as Morra De Sanctis, Campania, or Morra del Villar, Piedmont.
Morris English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
Derived from the given name Maurice.
Morrison English
Means "son of Morris".
Morriss English
Derived from the given name Morris.
Morse English
Variant of Morriss.
Mortimer English
From the name of a town in Normandy meaning "dead water, still water" in Old French.
Morton English
Derived from a place name meaning "moor town" in Old English.
Moschella Italian
From a diminutive of Italian mosca meaning "housefly", perhaps originally a nickname for an annoying person.
Moser German
Name for someone who lived near a peat bog, from Middle High German mos.
Moses Jewish, English
Derived from the given name Moses.
Moss 1 English
From Middle English mos meaning "bog, moss".
Moss 2 English
From the given name Moses.
Moto Japanese
From Japanese (moto) meaning "base, root, origin". More commonly it is the final character in Japanese surnames.
Motta Italian
From various names of places around Italy. It is derived from a Gaulish word meaning "hill".
Mottershead English
From the name of a lost place in Cheshire, derived from the Old English byname Motere meaning "speaker" and heafod meaning "headland".
Mould English
From the given name Mauld, a medieval form of Matilda.
Moulin French
Means "mill" in French.
Mounce German (Anglicized)
Possibly an Americanized form of German Manz.
Moya Spanish
From any of various towns named Moya in Spain, of uncertain meaning.
Moździerz Polish
Means "mortar" in Polish. It probably referred to someone who worked with or sold mortar.
Muggia Italian
From the town of Muggia in northeastern Italy near the Slovenian border. It was called Muglae in Latin.
Muhammad Arabic, Urdu, Bengali
Derived from the given name Muhammad.
Muhlfeld German
Means "mill field" in German.
Muir Scottish
Scots form of Moore 1. This name was borne by the Scottish-American naturalist John Muir (1838-1914).
Mulder Dutch
Dutch equivalent of Miller.
Mullane Irish
Variant of Mullen.
Mullen Irish
From the Irish Ó Maoláin meaning "descendant of Maolán". The given name Maolán meant "devotee".
Müller German
German equivalent of Miller, derived from Middle High German mülnære or müller.
Muller German
Variant of Müller.
Mullins 1 English
Derived from Norman French molin "mill".
Mulloy Irish
Variant of Molloy.
Mulryan Irish
Anglicized form of Ó Maoil Riain.
Mun Korean
Alternate transcription of Korean Hangul (see Moon 1).
Muñoz Spanish
Patronymic derived from the medieval Spanish given name Muño, from Latin Munnius, possibly of Germanic origin.
Munro Scottish
Designated 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.
Munroe Scottish
Anglicized (typically Canadian and American) form of Munro.
Munson English
Patronymic formed from the Norman French nickname moun meaning "monk".
Muraro Italian
Occupational name for a wall builder, from Italian murare meaning "to wall up".
Muratović Bosnian
Means "son of Murat".
Murdoch Scottish
Scottish form of Murdock.
Murdock Irish
Derived from the given name Murchadh.
Murgatroyd English
From a place name meaning "Margaret's clearing".
Murgia Sardinian
Means "brine" in Sardinian, perhaps a nickname for someone who pickled foods.
Murphy Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Murchadha meaning "descendant of Murchadh". This is the most common Irish surname.
Murray 1 Scottish
Derived 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.
Murray 2 Irish
Anglicized form of Irish Ó Muireadhaigh meaning "descendant of Muireadhach".
Murtas Sardinian
From Sardinian murta meaning "myrtle".
Mushyan Armenian
Originally denoted someone who came from the Armenian town of Mushi.
Musiał Polish
Polish cognate of Musil.
Musil Czech
Possibly from a nickname meaning "the one who had to", from the past participle of the Czech verb muset meaning "must" (of Germanic origin).
Mussolini Italian
From 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).
Mustonen Finnish
Derived from Finnish musta meaning "black".
Mutō Japanese
From Japanese (mu) meaning "military, martial" and () meaning "wisteria". The final character may indicate a connection to the Fujiwara clan.
Mutton English
Referred to a shepherd or else someone who in some way resembled a sheep, derived from Norman French mouton "sheep".
Muyskens Dutch
Means "little mouse" in Dutch.
Mwangi Eastern African, Kikuyu
Derived from the given name Mwangi.
Myers English
Patronymic form of Mayer 3.
Myles English
From the given name Miles.
Mynatt English
Variant of Minett.
Myška Czech
From nickname derived from Czech myš meaning "mouse".