MedleyEnglish Habitational name, either a variant of Madeley (a name common to several places, including one in Shropshire and two in Staffordshire), named in Old English as ‘Mada’s clearing’, from an unattested byname, Mada (probably a derivative of mad ‘foolish’) + leah ‘woodland clearing’; or from Medley on the Thames in Oxfordshire, named in Old English with middel ‘middle’ + eg ‘island’... [more]
MéeFrench French habitational name from places called (Le) Mée in Mayenne, Eure-et-Loir, and Seine-et-Marne, derived from Old French me(i)s ‘farmstead’ (Latin mansus).
MeeksScottish In Scotland, the names were spelled according to sound so there are many variations of the spelling including Meek, Meeke, Meik, Meech, Mekie and other spellings. After hard times in Scotland, many Meeks' left for Australia Ireland, and North America.
MeelEstonian Meel is an Estonian surname meaning "sense" or "countenance".
MeeruEstonian Meeru is an Estonian surname derived from "meer" meaning "mayor".
MeesterDutch, Flemish, German Occupational name for a teacher, lecturer or a master craftsman, or a nickname for someone who had a bossy demeanor, derived from Dutch meester meaning "master". A famous bearer of this surname is the American actress, singer and model Leighton Meester (1986-).
MeffordEnglish It is the Old English name given to a point where two streams cross each other.... [more]
MeghnagiJewish, Northern African Sephardic Jewish, originating from the Libyan Jewish community. Most were from Tripoli, with a much smaller contingent from Benghazi.
MeguriJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 巡 (Meguri), a clipping of 巡谷 (Meguriya) meaning "Meguriya", a division in the division of Nakada in the area of Aiga in the city of Sumoto in the prefecture of Hyōgo in Japan.
MeguriJapanese (Rare) From Japanese 廻 (meguri), from 廻り (meguri) meaning "transport route, regular visit". This is the name of a former village in the district of Aira in the former Japanese province of Ōsumi in parts of present-day Kagoshima, Japan.
MeiklejohnScottish A Scottish distinguishing name for identifying the larger or eldest (Older Scots meikle "large") or elder of two men called John. (See also Mickle).
MeilerRomansh Derived from the place name Meils (present-day Mels in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland).
MejiaSpanish Spanish (Mejía): probably from a religious byname (possibly under Jewish influence), from a vernacular form of Latin, Greek Messias ‘Messiah’, from Hebrew māšīaḥ ‘anointed’.
MejiaGalician A very ancient surname, infrequent and widely spread across Spain, mostly in Madrid, Barcelona, Ciudad Real, Valencia, Cuenca, Sevilla and Toledo; and also in Pontevedra, Lugo, Guadalajara, Almería, Granada, Alicante and Málaga.... [more]
MelakuEthiopian, Amharic From the given name Melaku, meaning "the angel" in Amharic. It is possibly related to Arabic/Hebrew Malak and Turkish Melek 2, also meaning "angel".
MelanchthonHistory Means "black earth", derived from Greek μελανός (melanos), the genitive of the adjective μέλας (melas) meaning "black, dark", and χθών (chthon) meaning "land, earth, soil"... [more]
MélançonFrench Nickname from a dialect word meaning 'melancholic'.
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]
MelasGreek Possibly from the names of several characters in Greek mythology, including a son of Poseidon who the Nile River was originally named after.
MeleroSpanish Occupational name for a collector or seller of honey, melero (Late Latin mellarius, an agent derivative of mel, genitive mellis, ‘honey’).
MelgarSpanish Topographical name for someone who lived by a field of lucerne, Spanish melgar (a collective derivative of mielga 'lucerne', Late Latin melica, for classical Latin Medica (herba) 'plant' from Media).
MelgosaSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 Castilian municipalities, Melgosa de Burgos or Melgosa de Villadiego. It could also indicate familial origin within the Manchego municipality La Melgosa.
MelmothEnglish From middle english milde, meaning "mild, gentle, friendly" and mouth. The development of the surname may have been influenced by association with Middle English mele-mouth, meaning "mealy-mouthed, reticent, ingratiating, hypocritical".
MeloniItalian From Italian mela ("apple", from Latin malum) or melone ("melon", from Latin melopepo), both ultimately from Ancient Greek μῆλον (mêlon), meaning "apple", "fruit from a tree"... [more]
MelroseScottish, English Habitational name from a place near Galashiels in the Scottish Borders, so named from British words that were ancestors of Welsh moel ‘bare, barren’ + rhos ‘moor, heath’. ... [more]
MeltzerGerman German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a maltster, a brewer who used malt, from German Meltzer (an agent derivative of Middle High German malt ‘malt’, ‘germinated barley’), Yiddish meltser ‘maltster’... [more]
MemonUrdu From the name of the Memon people who inhabit parts of India and Pakistan. The name itself is derived from Arabic مؤمن (mu'min) meaning "believer".
MénardFrench From the Old German given name Meginhard, making it a cognate of Maynard. A notable bearer was André Ménard, Governor General in the French colonial empire.
MendarteBasque This is a (nearly extinct) Basque surname of Gipuzkoan origin. It is a topographic name for someone who lived near a mountain. (Basque mendi = Mountain, arteko = near/in between)... [more]
MendeleevRussian Meaning uncertain. A famous bearer was Dimitri Mendeleev (1834-1907), a Russian chemist who developed an early model of the periodic table.
MendietaBasque This indicates familial origin within any of 3 eponymous neighborhoods: the one in the municipality of Ajangiz, the one in the municipality of Lemoa, or the one in the municipality of Artziniega.
MendigurenBasque This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the municipality of Gasteiz.
MendizabalBasque This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of Arratzua-Ubarrundia that the falangists demolished in 1959 to make way for a reservoir.
MendlerGerman Occupational name for a maker of coats from an agent derivative of Middle High German mantel, mandel, mendel "coat".
MendolaItalian topographic name for someone who lived by an almond tree or trees or a habitational name from any of the places called with the dialect term amendolamendula "almond almond tree" (see Amendola ). Compare Lamendola.
MenearCornish, English (British) English (Devon; of Cornish origin): topographic name for someone who lived by a menhir, i.e. a tall standing stone erected in prehistoric times (Cornish men ‘stone’ + hir ‘long’). In the United States, it is a common surname in Pennsylvania & West Virginia.
MenesesSpanish (Caribbean) Meneses is my maternal grandfather's surname. He was born in Cuba in 1888 but his family came from Spain in the 1800's... [more]
MenesesSpanish, Portuguese Meaning uncertain. It was likely a habitational name from either the municipality of Meneses de Campos in Palencia or the municipality of Valle de Mena in Burgos.
MenezBreton Menez means mount or mountain in Breton.
MengChinese From Chinese 孟 (mèng) meaning "eldest brother". It was also adopted by descendants of Meng Sun, a prince from the state of Lu that existed during the Zhou dynasty.
MengeleGerman Doctor Josef Mengele (Born on March 16, 1911 - Died on February 7, 1979), also known as the Angel of Death, was a German Schutzstaffel (SS) Officer and physician during World War II. He is mainly remembered for his actions at the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he performed deadly experiments on prisoners, was a member of the team of doctors who selected victims to be killed in the gas chambers and was one of the doctors who administered the gas.
MenkeGerman Derived as a diminutive of several Germanic given names whose first element was derived from Germanic *magin- and *megin- "strength; force; power".
MenonMalayalam Means "accountant" in Malayalam, itself derived from the title മേലവൻ (melavan) meaning "overseer, boss, exalted one", from മേല (mel) meaning "top, above, high" and the third person pronoun അവൻ (avan) meaning "he".
MentzerGerman Habitational name with the agent suffix -er, either from Mainz, earlier Mentz, derived from the medieval Latin name Mogontia (Latin Mogontiacum, probably from the Celtic personal name Mogontios), or from Menz in Brandenburg and Saxony.
MenzieScottish Menzie (originally spelled Menȝie) derives from the surname Menzies, which in turn derives from the Norman commune Mesnières (known as Maneria in the 1300s)... [more]