Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Motte French, Walloon, Flemish, Germanfrom old French
motte "motte" a word of Gaulish origin denoting a man-made protective mound or moat surrounding a castle or other fortified strongholds; or a habitational name from any of the various places in France and in Belgium named with this word.... [
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Mõttus EstonianMõttus is an Estonian name derived from "Mõtus", meaning "grouse".
Mou ChineseFrom Chinese 牟
(móu) referring to the ancient state of Mou that existed during the Zhou dynasty (1122–221 BC).
Moua HmongFrom the Hmong clan name
Muas associated with Chinese 馬
(mǎ) meaning "horse" (see
Ma).
Moujahid Arabic (Maghrebi)Derived from Arabic مُجَاهِد
(mujāhid) meaning "one who is labouring, one who is in distress", also used to refer to a member of a liberation army in Muslim countries (chiefly Moroccan).
Moulder EnglishDerived from the Middle English word
molder which means "to shape or mold something." It could refer to a person who shaped or molded dough or other ingredients into loaves of bread or other baked goods... [
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Moulton EnglishDerived from various places with the same name, for example in the counties of Cheshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Suffolk and North Yorkshire in England. It is either derived from the Old English given name
Mūla, the Old Norse name
Múli or Old English
mūl meaning "mule" and
tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town".
Mount EnglishMount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains.
Mountjoy EnglishHabitational surname for a person from Montjoie in La Manche, France, named with Old French
mont "hill", "mountain" +
joie "joy".
Mountstuart EnglishPossibly derived from the mountain in the Cascade Range, in the state of Washington, United States.
Moura PortugueseDerived from the Portuguese word "Mouro", which refers to an individual from the Moor people. This is the feminine form of the word, often used in legends of enchanted moor women, which very common in Portugal... [
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Mourouzis GreekBelonged to an important Greek family of Pontic origin.
Mousall EnglishThe surname Mousall was first found in Lancashire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
Moustaki GreekMoustaki is Derived from the Greek word for ‘moustache’, μουστάκι.
Mouton FrenchNickname from Old French
mouton "sheep" used for a docile mild-mannered person for someone easily led or perhaps for a curly-haired man... [
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Mowbray EnglishUltimately from the name of a place in Normandy meaning "mud hill" in Old French.
Moxon EnglishMeans "son of
Magge", a pet-form of
Margaret, a female personal name which came into English via French from Late Latin
Margarita, literally "pearl".
Moyano SpanishHabitational name for someone from Moya, from an adjectival form of the place name.
Moyes EnglishFrom the medieval personal name
Moise, a vernacular variant of
Moses (the biblical name of the Hebrew prophet who led the Children of Israel out of captivity).
Moyle Cornish, WelshCornish and Welsh: descriptive nickname meaning ‘bald’, from Cornish
moyl, Welsh
moel.
Mozart GermanThe surname was first recorded in the 14th century as
Mozahrt, and later as
Motzhardt in Germany. It is a compound word, the first part of which is Middle High German
mos, also spelt
mosz, and meaning “bog, marsh” in southern dialects (compare modern German
Moos)... [
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Mpungu KongoMeans ‘gorilla’ in Yombe and ‘creator’ in its relative Ntandu.
Mridha BengaliFrom a title for a high-ranking commander or security guard who was employed by a zamindar (a landowner) during the Mughal era, presumably derived from Sanskrit मृध
(mrdha) meaning "battle, war".
Mroczkowski PolishName for someone from any of various places called Mroczkowa, Mroczków or Mroczkowice, all derived from Polish
mroczek meaning "house bat".
Mróz PolishFrom a nickname for a white-haired man or alternatively for one of an icy and unsociable disposition, from Polish
mróz "frost". Also can be from a short form of the personal name
Ambroży Mroziński PolishHabitational name for someone from any of several places called Mrozy.
Mrozowski PolishHabitational name for someone from Mrozowo in Bydgoszcz voivodeship, or from any of several places called Mrozy.
Mu ChineseChinese : in the state of Song during the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 bc) there existed a leader who was posthumously given the name of the duke of Mu. His descendants adopted Mu as their surname... [
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Mu ChineseFrom Chinese 穆
(mù) meaning "pure, solemn, honest".
Muchtar HebrewMeans "crowned" from Hebrew כֶּתֶר
keter meaning "crown".
Mudaliar Tamil"Mudaliar" is a combination of a Tamil word "Mudali" which means "First" and "yar" which is an honorific suffix. So the surname means "First People" or "Elite People" in Tamil.
Mudd EnglishEither (i) "person who lives in a muddy area"; (ii) from the medieval female personal name
Mudd, a variant of
Maud (variously
Mahalt,
Mauld,
Malt, vernacular versions of Anglo-Norman
Matilda); or (iii) from the Old English personal name
Mōd or
Mōda, a shortened form of various compound names beginning with
mōd "courage".
Mudge EnglishA location surname for someone who lives or dwells near the swamps. A famous bearer of this surname is Angela Mudge, a champion fell runner and trail runner from Scotland.
Mudie EnglishPossibly from Old English 'modig', meaning "brave", or "reckless".
Mueangkhot ThaiFrom Thai เมือง
(mueang) meaning "city, town" and โคตร
(khot) meaning "ancestry, clan, family".
Muehlhauser Old High GermanThe German surname Müehlhauser is derived from the Middle High German words "mülle" and "hûs" which respectively mean mill and house. It is roughly translated to mean "mill-house" and is believed to have evolved from an individual who was either the owner of a mill or lived in a house attached to a mill in earlier times.
Mufaro ShonaMufaro means "Joy, happiness".
It is a name of rejoicing Muffett ScottishA different form of
Moffatt. 'Little Miss Muffett' is a traditional nursery rhyme:
Little Miss Muffett /
Sat on a tuffet, /
Eating her curds and whey; /
There came a big spider, /
Who sat down beside her /
And frightened Miss Muffet away. It has been speculated that 'Miss Muffett' is Patience Muffet, the daughter of the physician and entomologist Dr Thomas Muffet (1553-1604).
Mugamäe EstonianMugamäe is an Estonian surname meaning "comfortable hill/mountain".
Mughal UrduMeans "Mughal, Moghul" in Urdu, derived from Persian مغول
(moghul) meaning "Mongol". This was the name of the dynasty (of Mongol origin) that ruled much of South Asia from the 16th to 19th centuries.
Muha CzechForm of Mucha, from Czech "Moucha," meaning housefly.
Muir ScottishTopographic name for someone who lived on a moor, from a Scots form of Middle English more
moor,
fen.
Muirhead ScottishDerived from many places in southern Scotland with the same name, from northern Middle English
muir meaning "moor" and
heid meaning "head, end".
Muis Dutch, IndonesianFrom Dutch
muis meaning "mouse". Could be a nickname denoting someone with mouse-like tendencies, or who caught mice, or a short form of the given name
Bartholomeus.
Mukai JapaneseFrom Japanese 向
(muka) meaning "facing, toward" and 井
(i) meaning "well, mine shaft, pit".
Mukaichi JapaneseFrom 向 (
muka) meaning "towards", 井 (
i) meaning "mineshaft, well, pit", and 地 (
chi) meaning "earth, ground, land, destinations".... [
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Mukhopadhyay BengaliFrom Sanskrit मुख्य
(mukhya) meaning "chief" and उपाध्याय
(upadhyaya) meaning "teacher, instructor, priest".
Mukushina Japanese (Rare)From Japanese 無垢 (
muku) meaning "spiritual purity; freedom from desire or aversion" and 品 (
shina), a clipping of 九品 (
kokonoshina) meaning "the 9 Stages in Life (in Buddhism)".
Mulcaster English (Modern)The surname Mulcaster was first found in Cumberland where they trace their lineage back to the place name Muncaster, home of Muncaster Castle, a privately owned castle overlooking the Esk river, near the west-coastal town of Ravenglass in Cumbria which dates back at least 800 years.
Muld EstonianMuld is an Estonian surname meaning "soil" or "dirt".
Muldoon IrishFrom Irish Gaelic
Ó Maoldúin "descendant of
Maoldún", a personal name meaning literally "chief fortress".
Mulè ItalianFrom Arabic
مولى (
mawlan) "guide, chief, lord, master".
Mulkerin IrishThe Irish surname Mulkerin is an anglicied rendering of the Gaelic surname O'Maoilchiarain which means ,literally, "descendant of a follower of Saint Ciaran", the Irish saint who founded the great monastery at Clonmacnois... [
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Mull ScottishScottish, Irish, or English: Probably comes from the Scots language, as the Scots word for "headland" or comes from the geographical term, which is an Anglicization of the Gaelic Maol, a term for a rounded hill, summit, or mountain bare of trees... [
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Mullarkey IrishFrom Irish Gaelic
Ó Maoilearca "descendent of the follower of (St)
Earc", a personal name meaning literally either "speckled one" or "salmon".
Müllerleile GermanDerived from Middle High German
mülnære,
müller meaning "miller" (see
Müller), and the German given names
Lawlin,
Lauwelin and
Lawelin, medieval diminutives of
Nikolaus.
Mullery Irish (Rare)From Irish Gaelic
Ó Maolmhuire "descendant of
Maolmhuire", a personal name meaning literally "servant of (the Virgin)
Mary".
Mullinix FrenchA locational name "of de Moloneaux" probably from the noble family who trace their descent from William the Conqueror, from Molineaux-sur-Seine, near Rouen. The name came to England during the wake of the Norman Conquest... [
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Mullis EnglishAs either Mulles and Mullis, the surname first found in Parish Registers in Cornwall Co. by 1548 in Michaelstow. Manorial tenement rolls trace that particular family to 1483. Between 1337 and 1453 random tenants were recorded between Tintagel and Altarnun as Molys and Mollys... [
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Multatuli DutchFrom the Latin phrase
multa tulī meaning "I have suffered much" or "I have borne much". This was the pen name of the Dutch writer Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820-1887), who wrote
Max Havelaar, which denounced the abuses of colonialism in the Dutch East Indies, now called Indonesia... [
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Mulvaney IrishFrom
Ó Maoilmheana meaning "descendant of Maoilmhaena."
Mulvey IrishAnglicized form of Gaelic
Ó Maoilmhiadhaigh "descendant of Maoilmhiadhach", a personal name meaning "honorable chief".
Mulvihill IrishAnglicized from Gaelic
Ó Maoil Mhichíl meaning "descendant of Maoilmhichil",
Maoilmhichil being a personal name meaning "devotee of (Saint) Michael", referring to the archangel.
Mumuza DunganFrom the first part of the given name
Muhammad and Chinese 娃子
(wázi), a dialectal term meaning "(small) child".
Munakata JapaneseFrom Japanese 宗
(mune) meaning "religion, doctrine, creed" and 像
(kata) meaning "figure, image, form".
Munasinghe SinhaleseDerived from Sinhala මුහුණ
(muhuna) meaning "face, visage" combined with Sanskrit सिंह
(sinha) meaning "lion".
Mundaka Basque (Rare)From the name of a town and municipality in Biscay, Spain, of uncertain etymology. A popular theory is that it derives from Latin
munda aqua "clean water", but there is no evidence to support this origin... [
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