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".
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.
MoncriefScottish Scottish: habitational name from Moncreiff Hill near Perth, so called from Gaelic monadh ‘hill’ + craoibhe, genitive of craobh ‘tree’.
MondejarSpanish Habitational name from a place called Mondéjar in Guadalajara province.
MondrianDutch Variant of Mondriaan. A notable bearer was the Dutch-American abstract painter Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), born Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan Jr. (He changed his name in 1912, dropping the extra a from his surname).
MonfaredPersian Means "solitary, single" in Persian (of Arabic origin).
MontaltoItalian, Portuguese Habitational name from any of various places called Montalto or Montaldo especially Montalto Uffugo in Cosenza province in Italy or from a place in Portugal called Montalto from monte "hill" and alto "high" (from Latin altus).
MontalvoPortuguese, Spanish, Italian Montalvo is a habitational Portuguese and Spanish surname that originated in the medieval period. It comes from the Spanish words monte, meaning "mount", and albo, meaning "white". The name was often given to families who lived near or on a white mountain or hill, and can be interpreted as "white mountain".
MonteithScottish From the name of the district of Menteith in south Perthshire, Scotland, derived from Gaelic monadh meaning "hill pasture" combined with the Scottish river name Teith. A famous bearer was the Canadian actor and musician Cory Monteith (1982-2013), who played Finn Hudson on the American television series Glee (2009-2015).
MontfordEnglish As a Shropshire name believed to mean "from a communal ford or water crossing" while the Norfolk origin is "from Munda's ford," Munda being an old English personal name meaning "protector, guardian," as seen in names such as Edmund.
MontfortMedieval French (Rare) Habitational name from any of numerous places called Montfort from Old French mont "hill" and fort "strong impregnable"
MontignyFrench habitational name from (Le) Montigny the name of several places in various parts of France (from a Gallo-Roman estate name Montiniacum formed either from a personal name or from a derivative of mons "mountain" and the locative suffix acum)... [more]
MontillaSpanish Habitational name from Montilla a place in Córdoba province.
MontisciItalian Originated in Sardinia, Italy in the 17th century given to fishermen
MoorcockEnglish From a medieval nickname for someone thought to resemble a moorcock (the male of the red grouse). It is borne by British author Michael Moorcock (1939-).
MorabitoItalian Ultimately from Arabic مُرَابِط (murabit) "holy man, one who preaches in the street; soldier stationed in an outpost", from which comes Sicilian murabitu "moderate, sober" and murabbiu "teetotal".
MordauntEnglish Recorded as Mordant, Mordaunt (English), Mordagne, Mordant (French) and apparently Mordanti in Italy, this is a surname of French origins. According to the famous Victorian etymologist Canon Charles Bardsley writing in the year 1880, the name was originally Norman, and was brought to England by a follower of Duke William of Normandy, when he conquered England in 1066... [more]
MoreschiItalian Nickname for a dark-skinned person, derived from the Medieval Latin word moro, actually from the Latin Maurus, meaning, "dark-skinned".
MorpurgoJudeo-Italian Italian surname of Jewish origin, originally Marpurg, from the Austrian city Marburg an der Drau (today Maribor in Slovenia). The progenitor was Moises Jacob, father of Petachia, in Bad-Rackersburg, Austria... [more]
MorrealeItalian Habitational name from the town of Monreale in Sicily, derived from Italian monte regale meaning "royal mountain".
MorshuisDutch Probably derived from Old Dutch mor "swamp, marsh, peat" and huis "house, home".
MortlockEnglish Habitational name denoting someone from Mortlake, Surrey, or from Mortlach, Banff. Mortlake could mean either "Morta’s meadow", from the byname Morta and Old English lag "wet pasture, marshy field", or "salmon stream", from mort "young salmon" and lacu "stream, pool"... [more]
MoslavacCroatian Habitational name for someone from Moslavina, a region in Croatia.
MosquedaSpanish Mosqueda comes from the Spanish word 'Mosca' meaning house fly.
MosqueraSpanish, Catalan Spanish topographic name for someone who lived in a place that was infested with flies or mosquitos from a derivative of mosca "fly" (from Latin musca)... [more]
MossbergSwedish Combination of Swedish mosse "bog" and berg "mountain".
MoujahidArabic (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).
MudaliarTamil "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.
MuirheadScottish Derived from many places in southern Scotland with the same name, from northern Middle English muir meaning "moor" and heid meaning "head, end".
MukaichiJapanese From 向 (muka) meaning "towards", 井 (i) meaning "mineshaft, well, pit", and 地 (chi) meaning "earth, ground, land, destinations".... [more]