MedellinSpanish Habitational name from a place so named in Badajoz province Latin (Caecilia) Metellina derived from the name of a 1st-century Roman proconsul in Spain Cecilio Metello Pio.
MeersmanFlemish An occupational name for a travelling salesman, from Middle Dutch merseman "itinerant merchant, peddler".
MeghnagiJewish, Northern African Sephardic Jewish, originating from the Libyan Jewish community. Most were from Tripoli, with a much smaller contingent from Benghazi.
MelanderSwedish Combination of the element Mel-, which is unexplained but probably derived from a place name, and the common surname suffix -ander (a combination of land "land" and the habitational suffix -er)... [more]
MendiolaBasque From the name of a village in Álava, Basque Country, derived from mendi "mountain" combined with either ola "hut, cabin; foundry, factory" or -ola "place of".
MeredithWelsh From the personal name Maredudd. In Welsh the stress is on the second syllable. The Old Welsh form is Morgetiud, of which the first element may mean "pomp, splendor" and the second is iudd "lord".
MerisaarEstonian Merisaar is an Estonian surname meaning "sea island".
MerisaluEstonian Merisalu is an Estonian surname meaning "sea grove".
MerivaleEnglish The surname Merivale was first found in Cornwall and Devon, where this prominent family flourished. Walter Merifild was recorded in Devon in 1200 but it is believed the family had established itself earlier in St... [more]
MerletteFrench Feminine diminutive of French merle "blackbird", this name was given as a nickname to a cheerful person or to someone who liked to sing.
MernissiArabic (Maghrebi) Possibly a variant of Marnissi. A famous bearer was Moroccan feminist writer and sociologist Fatima Mernissi (1940-2015).
MerridewEnglish A different form of Meredith (from the Welsh personal name Meredydd, perhaps literally "lord of splendour"). It occurs in Wilkie Collins' 'The Moonstone' (1868) belonging to Mrs Merridew, widowed sister to Sir John Verinder.
MerriganIrish Irish: Anglicized Form Of Gaelic Ó Muireagáin ‘Descendant Of Muireagán’-'The son of the descendant of Mary'/or/ A Personal Name Derived From Muir ‘Sea’.
MerrihewEnglish, Irish Likely an altered form of Welsh Meredith (which is found as Meriday in 16th- and 17th-century English sources; also compare Merridew) or possibly of English Mayhew.
MerrimenNorman An ancient Norman name, that would have been used in Britain soon after the Conquest of the island in 1066. This name was given to a person who was a person who was a mischievous child, or who liked to play tricks and make jokes.
MerriottEnglish Either a habitational name from Merriott in Somerset. The placename may derive from Old English meremiere "mare" mere "pool" or gemære "boundary" and gæt "gate gap"... [more]
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.
MessinisGreek Habitational name for someone who resides in Messene (present day Messina).
MestanzaSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Manchego municipality.
MetcalfeEnglish An occupational name from Northern England, from Old English mete, 'food' and calf, 'calf', i.e calfs being fattened for consumption in late summer. Thus, making this surname an occupational name for either a slaughterer or herdsman... [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.
MetsaäärEstonian Metsaäär is an Estonian surname meaning "forest edge".
MetsamaaEstonian Metsamaa is an Estonian surname meaning "forest land".
MetsaorgEstonian Metsaorg is an Estonian surname meaning "forest valley".
MetslangEstonian Metslang is an Estonian surname meaning "forest cutting area"; derived from the compounds "mets "forest" and "lank" (cutting area).
MetsnõmmEstonian Metsnõmm is an Estonian surname meaning "forest heath/moorland".
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".
MiddaughEnglish Variant of German Mittag meaning "midday, south".
MidnightIrish Middle of the night, darkness, dark blue
MidōmaruJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 御 (mi-), a prefix added to emphasize beauty, 堂 (dō) meaning "temple, shrine, hall", and 丸 (maru) meaning "circle, sphere", referring to a round land.
MidorinoJapanese Midori means "green" and no means "field, plain".
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]
MilitaruRomanian Derived from Romanian militar meaning "military". This could refer to someone who was a soldier or had a military background, or whose ancestors served in the military.
MilkovićSerbian, Croatian Patronymic derived from the given name Milko, itself a diminutive of Slavic names containing the element milu meaning "gracious, dear".
MinakamiJapanese From the 水 (mina) meaning "water" and 上 (kami) meaning "above, top, upper". 水上 is often pronounced suijou, and it means "seaplane" in Japanese.
MinakawaJapanese From Japanese 皆 (mina) meaning "all, every" and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream".
MinamideJapanese From 南 (minami, nan) meaning "south" and 出 (de) meaning "exit".
MinaminoJapanese From Japanese 南 (minami) meaning "south" and 野 (no) meaning "field, plain".
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]
MindanaoTagalog From the name of the second largest island in the Philippines, which was derived from the name of the Maguindanao people (see Mindanao).
MirzadehPersian Means "prince" in Persian, derived from Arabic أمير (amir) meaning "prince, commander" combined with Persian زاده (zadeh) meaning "offspring".
MisakianArmenian An Armenian surname meaning "descendant of Misak." Misak is the Armenian form of the Ancient Hebrew name Meshach.
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".
MiskinisLithuanian Topographic name from miškinis ‘forest’, ‘forest spirit’. This name is also established in Poland.
MiyakuniJapanese Miya means "Shrine, temple" and kuni "country".
MiyamizuJapanese From Japanese 宮 (miya) meaning "temple, shrine, palace" combined with 水 (mizu) meaning "water". A fictional bearer of this surname is Mitsuha Miyamizu (宮水 三葉) from the 2016 anime movie Your Name/Kimi no Na wa.
MiyamoriJapanese Miya means "shrine, temple" and mori means "forest".
MiyanagaJapanese From Japanese 宮 (miya), meaning "shinto shrine", and 永 (naga), meaning "eternity, long, lengthy".
MizutamaJapanese From Japanese 水 (mizu) meaning "water" combined with 玉 (tama) meaning "jewel, ball". Other kanji combinations are possible. ... [more]
MoberleyEnglish English habitational name from Mobberley in Cheshire, named in Old English as ‘clearing with a fortified site where assemblies are held’, from (ge)mot ‘meeting’, ‘assembly’ + burh ‘enclosure’, ‘fortification’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.
MockfordEnglish Mockford comes from "Mocca's ford", with Mocca being an Old English name of uncertain origin. An alternative theory is that it comes from "Motholfr's ford" from the Old Norse meaning "renown-wolf". Either way, Mockford was once a place in Sussex, near Rottingdean, and it is from there that most branches of the name originate.
MolyneuxFrench Possibly a habitational name from Moulineux, meaning "mill of the waters", or derives from the Old French name De Molines or De Moulins, meaning "mill". The surname has been linked to a large French family that settled in Lancashire from France.
MonarrezSpanish Hispanic (Mexico; Monárrez): Altered Form Of Basque Munárriz Itself A Castilianized Form Of A Habitational Name From Munarritz (Also Amunarritz In Castilian Munárriz) A Town In Navarre.