MesmerGerman Occupational name for a maker of knives from Middle High German messer meaning "knife". A famous bearer was Franz Mesmer (1734-1815), a German doctor known for his theory of "animal magnetism", which was eventually incorporated into the field of hypnosis.
MessamEnglish (British) originates from a place called Measham in the county of Leicestershire. The placename is first recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, as Messeham, and in the Pipe Rolls of the county of 1182 as Meisham... [more]
MesserGerman Occupational name for an official in charge of measuring the dues paid in kind by tenants, from an agent derivative of Middle High German mezzen "to measure".
MessiItalian, Spanish (Latin American) Possibly from Italian messi meaning "messengers". A famous bearer of this surname is Lionel Messi (born 1987-), an Argentinian footballer of Italian descent.
MessiaenDutch, French, Belgian Derived from Messiaen, the (archaic) Dutch form of the latinate first name Messianus, which itself is ultimately derived from the Roman praenomen Messus.
MessierFrench Occupational name for someone who kept watch over harvested crops, Old French messier 'harvest master' (Late Latin messicarius, agent derivative of messis 'harvest').
MetalloItalian Means "metal" in Italian, ultimately derived from Ancient Greek μέταλλον (metallon) "mine, quarry; metal". Probably a metonymic occupational name for a miner or a metalworker, or perhaps a nickname for someone with a clear, metallic tone of voice... [more]
MetrejonLouisiana Creole (?), French (?) Maiden surname of Constance Leto (nee Metrejon). She was born in Louisiana and has Cajun(French) ancestry. The Metrejon line is traced back to Joseph Marie Maitrejean, who was born c. 1778, in Belle-Île-en-Mer, France, an island off the coast of Brittany.
MētriņšLatvian The name is a combination of "mētra", the Latvian word for mint and -iņš, a suffix commonly used for Latvian male surnames.
MetsolaFinnish From Finnish metso meaning "wood grouse, capercaillie" and the suffix -la indicating a place. Metsola is the realm of forests in Finnish mythology.
MetwallyArabic (Egyptian) From Arabic متولي (mutawalli) meaning "responsible, entrusted with, charged with", ultimately from the word تَوَلَّى (tawalla) meaning "to take charge of, to take control of".
MeusburgerGerman (Austrian) The history of this last name is that it means "Mountain Dweller." Being as part of the Austrian surnames, it's a widely used one in it's home country. A few brothers had gone to various countries, as of now there is Meusburgers in Columbia, as well as the United States and throughout Europe... [more]
MewbornEnglish Rare English name. The only place I have found it in the phone directory (other than several small towns in eastern North Carolina) is in Northumberland, UK. The word mew has to do with stables, and of course born is an English word.
MeyliafFrench (Modern, Rare) Sound very similar to Mélia in French, with the addition of a “hey” in the middle, added by the Y after the E, giving an exotic touch.
MezzasalmaItalian From Italian mezza "half" and salma, an archaic term for a small unit of land, indicating that the bearer was not very wealthy. Salma also coincides with an Italian word meaning "corpse".
MheenakThai From Thai มีนัก (Minak) meaning "of Khmer royalty or nobility".... [more]
MiaoChinese From Chinese 缪 (miào), another name for Duke Mu of Lu, an ancient official whose name (穆) had the same pronunciation as the character 缪. After his death, his descendants adopted 缪 as their surname.
MiaoChinese From Chinese 苗 (miáo) meaning "seedling, shoot, sprout", also referring to the ancient fief of Miao, which existed in the state of Chu during the Zhou dynasty in what is now Henan province.
MibbMost likely German Is an Americanized for of GIbb, or Gibbs. Could be derived from the name Gilbert.
MichalskyPolish A variant of Michalski. "Polish and Jewish (from Poland): habitational name for someone from a place called Michale in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship or Michały in Masovian Voivodeship both named with the personal name Michał (see Michal ). Jewish (from Poland): patronymic from the personal name Michal." ... [more]
MidlerEnglish Nickname for a person who causes trouble or meddles in the affairs of others, derived from Middle English medeler meaning "meddler, troublemaker, one who interferes". This name is borne by the American singer, actress and comedienne Bette Midler (1945-).
MidnightIrish Middle of the night, darkness, dark blue
MidoriyaJapanese (Rare), Popular Culture Combination of 緑 (midori) meaning "green" and 谷 (ya) meaning "valley," used on the main character Izuku Midoriya (緑谷 出久) in 'My Hero Academia'.... [more]
MijićCroatian The surname Mijić is one of those surnames that are very common in Croatia, but also in other countries. This surname sounds very simple and modest, but it has deep roots in history. It is interesting how surnames often arose from some nicknames or personal characteristics of the person who bore that surname... [more]
MilkEnglish Probably from Middle English milk ‘milk’, applied as a metonymic occupational name for a producer or seller of milk.In some instances, probably a translation of German Milch, a variant of Slavic Milich or of Dutch Mielke (a pet form of Miele), or a shortening of Slavic Milkovich.
MilkovićSerbian, Croatian Patronymic derived from the given name Milko, itself a diminutive of Slavic names containing the element milu meaning "gracious, dear".
MillScottish, English Scottish and English: topographic name for someone who lived near a mill, Middle English mille, milne (Old English myl(e)n, from Latin molina, a derivative of molere ‘to grind’)... [more]
MillaresGalician Habitational name from any of various places named Millares in Galicia, from the plural of Galician millar meaning "millet field".
MillayEnglish This surname is thought to be a respelling of Millais, which may come from the French surname Millet, a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of millet or panic grass (derived from a diminutive form of Old French mil which is then derived from Latin milium meaning "millet").... [more]
MilletFrench, Catalan metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of millet or panic grass or a topographic name for someone who lived by a field of millet from French and Catalan millet (from Latin milietum a derivative of milium in Old French mil "millet").
MillsapEnglish (American), English Judging by the name and how it sounds, I guess it's occupational. This is the name of a town in Texas, named after Fuller Millsap.
MilludiBasque (Rare) Possibly a variant of the toponym Merelludi, of uncertain etymology. Could be related to a Basque word meaning "mill" or "millet" and the locative or collective suffix -di.
MilnerEnglish, Scottish Northern English (mainly Yorkshire) and Scottish: variant of Miller, retaining the -n- of the Middle English word, which was a result of Scandinavian linguistic influence, as in Old Norse mylnari.
MimanaJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 任那 (Mimana) meaning "Mimana", an ancient hypothesized region in parts of present-day South Korea, mentioned in the Nihon Shoki.
MinamotoJapanese From 源 (minamoto) meaning "fountainhead, river source; source, origin," derived from a combination of 水 (mi), the combining form of mizu meaning "water," and 元/本 (moto) meaning "source, origin" with the addition of the Old Japanese possessive particle na.... [more]
MinaruJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 御 (mi-), an archaic honorific added to emphasize godlike respect or beauty, and 鳴 (nari), from 鳴り (nari) meaning "ring", referring to a place with a lot of sound (in a positive way).
MinayaSpanish From Minaya, the name of a town in Albacete province, Spain. According to the scholar Miguel Asín Palacios, the place name comes means "open and visible path" from Arabic. It has also been speculated that the place name has Basque origins, meaning "ore", "ore vein" or "asphodel pastures".
MindalanoFilipino, Maranao From the name of Mindalano' sa Tonong, a character in the Darangen epic.
MindanaoTagalog From the name of the second largest island in the Philippines, which was derived from the name of the Maguindanao people (see Mindanao).
MindeGerman Habitational name denoting someone from the city of Minden.
MindenGerman, English Habitational name from any of various places so named, for example in Westphalia (German) or Shropshire (English).
MinelliItalian Patronymic or plural form of Minello, a pet form of the personal name Mino, which is a short form of a personal name formed with the hypocoristic suffix -mino, such as Adimino, Giacomino, Guglielmino, etc.
MinerEnglish English occupational name for someone who built mines, either for the excavation of coal and other minerals, or as a technique in the medieval art of siege warfare. The word represents an agent derivative of Middle English, Old French mine ‘mine’ (a word of Celtic origin, cognate with Gaelic mein ‘ore’, ‘mine’).
MinervinoItalian a habitational name from either of two places, Minervino di Lecce or Minervino Murge, in the provinces of Lecce and Bari, which take their names from ancient temples dedicated to the Roman goddess Minerva.
MinghellaEnglish (British) It derives from the Roman (Latin) "Dominicus", meaning "belonging to the lord god", from "dominus", lord or master. The name was given considerable impetus by the fame of the Spanish saint "Dominicus", who founded the Dominican order of monks, although it was already well established.
Ming-rujiralaiThai From Thai มิ่ง (ming) meaning "something that is auspicious", รุจิรา (ruchira) of unknown meaning, and ลัย (lai) of unknown meaning.
MinteerIrish An Irish variation of the Gaelic surname, Macateer, "Mac" meaning "son of the".
MinterEnglish Occupational name for someone involved in the production or distribution of coins, such as a moneyer or a clerk in a mint, derived from Old English mynet "coin".
MiodaJapanese mioda means "water route field". the kanji used for this name are 澪(mio,rei) meaning " water route" and 田(ta) meaning "field". a bearer of this name is Ibuki Mioda from Danganronpa 2.
MiodownikPolish, Jewish The literal translation is "honey cake", from the Polish word/root surname miod, meaning "honey." An occupational surname to those in the honey business, mainly beekeepers and bakers.... [more]
MiroshnichenkoUkrainian Denis Miroshnichenko is the chairman of the People's Council of the LNR.
MirotvoretsRussian Means "maker of peace" in Russian, from мир (mir) "peace" and творец (tvorets) "creator, maker". Probably given to someone who often mediated fights between villagers.
MishlerGerman Americanized spelling of Swiss German Mischler .
MišićSerbian, Croatian Patronymic, meaning "son of Mišo". Also, mišić (мишић) can be translated as "muscle".
MisirlouGreek Misirlou (Μισιρλού), due to the suffix "ou", is the feminine form (in Greek) of Misirlis (Μισιρλής- a surname) which comes from the Turkish word Mısırlı, which is formed by combining Mısır ("Egypt" in Turkish, borrowed from Arabic مِصر Miṣr) with the Turkish -lı suffix, literally meaning "Egyptian".
MiskellIrish Anglicized form of Irish Ó Meisceall meaning "descendant of Meiscill", a personal name of unexplained etymology. It was sometimes Anglicized as Maxwell.
MislehArabic Variation of Musleh. Means "peacemaker" or "social reformer" in Arabic.
MisoJapanese (Rare) Miso is made up of two symbols literally referring to "miso soup". Approximately less than 140 people in Japan possess this last name.
MitfordEnglish From the name of a village in Northumberland, England, derived from either Old English midd "middle" or (ge)myþe "confluence, stream junction, river mouth" combined with ford "ford, river crossing".