Submitted Surname Revision History

Derived from #Messiaen#, the (archaic) Dutch form of the latinate first name #Messianus#, which itself is ultimately derived from the Roman praenomen #Messus#. The meaning of #Messus# is not wholly certain; it may be derived from the Latin verb #meto# "to reap, to harvest, to cut, to sever", or from the latinized form of Greek #mesos# or #messos# "(the) middle, (the) middle one". It could even be a variant form of the Roman praenomen #Maesus#. A well-known bearer of the Messiaen surname was French composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992). Lastly, note that the spelling of both the first name and the surname is typical for archaic Dutch: the modern spelling would have been #Messiaan# (compare Adriaen vs. Adriaan, Christiaen vs. Christiaan, and so on). The surname is mostly found in Flanders and in areas of Northern France that historically had a Dutch-speaking population (as part of the Southern Netherlands).