Submitted Surname Revision History

Either a status name or occupational name from Old French mareschal "marshal" (from Late Latin mariscalcus). The term is of ancient Germanic origin (from marah "horse mare" and scalc "servant") and was originally applied to a man who looked after horses. In the Middle Ages it also came to be used on the one hand as an occupational name for a farrier and on the other as a status name for an officer of state in particular a member of a royal household with military responsibilities. French cognate of Marshall and variant of Maréchal.