MabbettEnglish From a pet-form of the medieval female personal name Mabbe, a shortened form of Amabel (ultimately from Latin amābilis "lovable")... [more]
MabiniFilipino, Tagalog Means "modest, prudent, civil" in Tagalog. A notable bearer was Apolinario Mabini y Maranan (1864-1903), a Filipino revolutionary.
MacalusoItalian Possibly from Arabic مخلوص (maklus) "freed, liberated", indicating a freedman or slave who had been liberated, which may be related to Sicilian macaluscio, "cleaned and prepared cotton".
MacapagalFilipino, Pampangan From Kapampangan makapagal meaning "tiring". A notable bearer is Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (1947-), the fourteenth president of the Philippines.
MacaraegFilipino, Tagalog From Tagalog makaraig meaning "one who defeats, one who overcomes".
MaccaroneItalian from maccaroni "macaroni" (or in northern Italy "gnocco") perhaps applied as a metonymic occupational name for a maker of pasta or in the North as a nickname for a silly or foolish person.
MacchiaItalian Topographic name from Italian macchia "thicket", "scrub" (from Latin macula) and Habitational name from any of various places named Macchia, as for example Macchia in Trapani province, Sicily.
MacchioneItalian Originally from the south of italy (Calabria or Sicily), from an augmentative of Macchia (stain), in some cases, a habitational name from various places so named in Campania and Puglia.
MacDowellScottish, Irish Variant of McDowell. A famous bearer is American actress Andie MacDowell (1958-). Another was the American composer and pianist Edward MacDowell (1860-1908).
MacduffScottish Gaelic From the ancient Scottish Gaelic Mac duib meaning "son of the black/dark man." This name may have originated as a ethnic term about the native Scots used by Viking conquestors during the later half of the First Millenium... [more]
MaceEnglish, French English: from a medieval personal name, a survival of Old English Mæssa, which came to be taken as a pet form of Matthew.... [more]
MacedoPortuguese, Spanish (Latin American) Referred to a person who worked or lived at an apple orchard. It is derived from Vulgar Latin mattianēta meaning "place with apple trees."
MacFadyenScottish, Irish Variant of Mcfadden. Famous bearers include English actor Matthew Macfadyen (1974-) and Scottish actor Angus Macfadyen (1963-).
MacGillisScottish The MacGillis surname is a very rare surname from Scotland. It means "Mac Giolla Iosa", and translates to "son of the servant of Jesus". The surname was first found in Perthshire in central Scotland.... [more]
MacGillivrayScottish Anglicisation of Scottish Gaelic Mac Gillebhràth meaning "son of the servant of judgement".
MacgrathIrish First found in County Clare, on the west coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where they held a family seat from ancient times.... [more]
MacherGerman Either a habitational name for someone from any of several places called Machern, for example one near Leipzig... [more]
MachiSicilian Unexplained. It may be from the Albanian personal name Maqo. Derivation from a Greek name ending in -akis, which has been suggested, is implausible.
MachiJapanese (Rare) 町 (machi) means 'town' or 'street'. Some occurrences in America could be shortened versions of longer names beginning with this element, not common in Japan.
MackinawIrish First found in County Monaghan located in the Northern part of the Republic of Ireland in the province of Ulster, at Truagh where they were known as the Lords of Truagh.... [more]
MaconFrench, German French: See Maçon. An occupational name for a mason, French maçon. Habitational name from places so called in Saône-et-Loire, Allier, Aube, the Côte d’Or, Gers, and Deux-Sères... [more]
MacriItalian Italian variant of Magro. It could also be a southern Italian nickname for a person who had long limbs or who was tall, derived from Greek μακρύς (makrýs) literally meaning "long, tall" (see Makris)... [more]
MacWhorterScottish (Anglicized) Anglicized form the surname of the Gaelic 'Mac Chruiteir', meaning 'player of the crwth', a string instrument primarily used in Celtic music. A famous bearer of this surname is the American clergyman, Alexander MacWhorter.
MadadiPersian Derived from Persian مدد (madad) meaning "help, aid, assistance".
MaddaloniItalian It should came from the toponym Maddaloni (Campany, South Italy) which name originates from the Arabic term "magdhal" meaning fortress, stronghold. The last name Maddaloni is typical of the area that includes the provinces of Naples, Caserta and Benevento.
MadeleyEnglish English: habitational name from places so named in Shropshire and Staffordshire, named in Old English with the personal name Mada + leah ‘woodland clearing’.
MadenTurkish Means "mine, mineral, ore" in Turkish, ultimately from Arabic معدن (ma'din).
MadridSpanish habitational name from what is now Spain's principal city Madrid. Throughout the Middle Ages it was of only modest size and importance and did not become the capital of Spain until 156 Its name is of uncertain origin most probably a derivative of Late Latin matrix genitive matricis "riverbed" much changed by Arabic mediation (see Madrigal ). There are other smaller places of the same name in the provinces of Burgos and Cantabria and these may also be sources of the surname.
MadrigalSpanish "Madrigal" comes from from the Venetian madregal "simple, ingenuous," from Late Latin matricalis "invented, original," literally "of or from the womb," from matrix (gen. matricis) "womb."
MadrizSpanish, Catalan patronymic surname meaning "son of Madrileño"; given to a person that came from Madrid, Spain.
MaeharaJapanese From Japanese 前 (mae) meaning "front, forward" and 原 (hara) meaning "field, plain".
MaelNorwegian (Rare) Norwegian: habitational name from any of a few farms named Mel in western Norway, from Old Norse melr ‘sandbank, gravel bank’. This surname is very rare in Norway.
MaenoJapanese From Japanese 前 (mae) meaning "front, forward" and 野 (no) meaning "area, field, wilderness".
MaestrePortuguese, Spanish Occupational name from old Spanish and Portuguese maestre meaning 'master', 'master craftsman', 'teacher'.
MagadiaFilipino, Tagalog From Tagalog mag-adya meaning "protect, help, deliver from danger".
MagaldiItalian, South American Patronymic or plural form of the Old German personal name Magoald (from the elements megin, magan "strength, might, power" and wald "power"), or else a nickname from magaldo meaning "evil, wicked", which was derived from the personal name... [more]
MagallanesSpanish Spanish: Castilianized Form Of A Habitational Name From The Village Of Magaláns (Castilian Magalanes) In Pontevedra Province Galicia (Spain).
MagañaSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Castilian municipality.
MaggioItalian From a nickname or personal name from the month of May, maggio, from Latin Maius (mensis), from Maia, a rather obscure goddess of fertility, whose name is derived from the same root as maius "larger" and maiestas "greatness"... [more]
MaggsEnglish Metronymic from the medieval personal name Mag.
MagnumEnglish Possibly derived from the given name Magnus. It is borne by the fictional character Thomas Magnum, the protagonist on the American television series Magnum, P.I. (1980-1988).
MagsaysayFilipino, Tagalog Means "relate, narrate, declare" in Tagalog. A notable bearer was Ramon Magsaysay (1907-1957), the seventh president of the Philippines.
MagsinoFilipino, Tagalog Means "to look closely", derived from Tagalog sino meaning "who". It was probably used as an occupational name for an investigator.
MagsombolTagalog From Tagalog magsumbol meaning "to signal, to wave a flag".
MahajanIndian, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali Means "great (number of) people" or "tradesman, merchant" from Sanskrit महा (maha) meaning "great" combined with जन (jána) meaning "person, people".
MaharjanNepali Either from Sanskrit महाजन (mahajana) meaning "great, distinguished, eminent" or महा (maha) meaning "great" combined with अर्जन (arjana) meaning "acquisition, earning".
MaherIrish (Rare) The originally spelling was "O'Meachair" which means the 'kindly' or the 'generous'. The Maher family resided in the O'Carrol... [more]
MahomesAmerican With Gaelic origins, Mahomes is a surname that is derived from the word “mathghamhan”, which means “bear”. A famous individual with the name is NFL Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.
MaiChinese From Chinese 麦 (mài) meaning "wheat, barley, oats". It was adopted as a family name by the descendants of Maiqiu, a figure from the Spring and Autumn Period, or Mai Tiezheng, a Sui dynasty military general.
MaiGerman Derived from German der Mai meaning "May", perhaps indicating a person who was baptized in that month.
MaiaPortuguese Habitational name from any of several places named Maia, especially one in Porto.
MaiaBasque From the name of a village in Navarre, Spain, called Amaiur in Basque, derived from amai "end, boundary, limit" (compare the given name Amaia).
MaiàCatalan Habitational name from Maià de Montcal, a village in Girona, or any of several other places named with Maià, which is of pre-Roman origin.
MaidanaSpanish Likely derived from from Arabic ميدانا (maydanan) meaning "field".
MaidmentEnglish Occupational name for a servant of maidens (such as nuns), from Middle English maiden (ultimately from Old English mægden) meaning "young girl, virgin, maiden" and man ending with an excrescent -t.
MainEnglish, Scottish A nickname for a strong or very large man, derived from Old French magne "great, strong, large".
MaineFrench French topographic name from Old French maine ‘dwelling’, ‘residence’, ‘abode’, or a habitational name from any of numerous places so named.
MaiselYiddish, German, French Predominantly seems to be a matronymic surname from the Yiddish feminine name Mayzl. Although it is believed that it derived from the Hebrew name Meïser, which means “representative of God”... [more]
MaisonFrench, Walloon Derived from Old French maison "residence", this name used to be given to someone who lived by an important house.
MaitlandEnglish, Scottish Possibly from Mautalant, the name of a place in Pontorson, France meaning "inhospitable" or "bad temper" in Norman French (ultimately from Late Latin malum "bad" and talentum "inclination, disposition"), which was so named because of its unproductive soil; or perhaps it was originally a nickname for an ungracious individual, derived from the same source.
MaitraBengali Habitational name from either the village of Maitreya or Mohit (present-day locations unknown).