Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
MaquedaSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 eponymous localities: the Manchego municipality or the neighborhood of the Andalusian municipality of Málaga.
MaquilingFilipino, Tagalog (Hispanicized) Derived from Tagalog makiling meaning "uneven, crooked, bent." This name was given in honor of Maria Makiling. She is said to be the protector of Mount Makiling, a volcano in the Philippines.
MaranoItalian Habitational name from any of various places named with the Latin personal name Marius and the suffix -anu.
MarciszewskiPolish Habitational name for someone from a place called Marcisze or Marciszów.
MarengoItalian Habitational name from Marengo in Alessandria Province or Marengo-Talloria in Cuneo. From Maréngo, Marénco, meaning Of The Sea, Maritime (Medieval Latin Marincus from Mare ‘Sea’), which were often used as personal names or nicknames in the Middle Ages.
MarínGalician This indicates familial origin within either of 4 eponymous localities: the municipality in the Comarca of O Morrazo, the neighborhood of the parish of Xubial, the neighborhood of the parish of Camos in the municipality of Nigrán, or the neighborhood of the parish of Fiestras in the municipality of Silleda.
MariñoGalician It indicates familial origin within either of 4 neighborhoods: Mariño in the parish of Marei in the municipality of Corgo, Mariño in the parish of Santaia de Rairiz in the municipality of Santiso, O Mariño in the parish of Taboexa in the municipality of As Neves, or O Mariño in the parish of Goiáns in the municipality of Porto do Son.
MarjiArabic From Arabic مرج (marj) meaning "meadow".
MarjoribanksScottish Reputedly from the name of a Scottish estate (Ratho-Marjoribankis) bestowed on Robert the Bruce's daughter Marjorie on her marriage in 1316... [more]
MarkEnglish, German, Dutch Topographic name for someone who lived on a boundary between two districts, from Old High German marka "border, boundary, march". The German term also denotes an area of fenced-off land (see Marker) and, like the English word, is embodied in various place names which have given rise to habitational names.
MarkellEnglish Habitational name from various locations in England containing the Old English element mearc (from Old Germanic markō) meaning "border, boundary".
MarkhamEnglish English name from a place in Nottinghamshire, named in Old English as 'homestead at a (district) boundary', from mearc 'boundary' + ham 'homestead'. English surname used as an equivalent of Gaelic Ó Marcacháin 'descendant of Marcachán', a diminutive of Marcach (see Markey).
MarkinaBasque From the town of Markina in the Basque county of Spain.
MarklandEnglish From Old English mearc meaning "boundary" and lanu meaning "lane", it is a habitational name from a place in the town of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. It can also be a topographic name for someone who lived by a stretch of border or boundary land, or a status name for someone who held land with an annual value of one mark.
MarkleyEnglish From Old English mearc meaning "border, mark" combined with leah meaning "clearing, grove."
MarlboroughEnglish From the name of the market town and civil parish of Marlborough in Wiltshire, England, derived from the Old English given name Mǣrla and beorg meaning "hill, mound".
MarslandEnglish Probably derived from some place named as being a boggy place, from Old English mersc meaning "marsh" and land meaning "land". Alternatively, it may be a variant of Markland.
MarsmanDutch Derived from Middle Dutch marsch, mersch (Southern Dutch meers), meaning "marsh". In some cases, however, it can also be a variant of Meersman.
MarwahaIndian, Punjabi From a place called Marwah in Jammu and Kashmir, India, meaning uncertain.
MarwoodEnglish From the name of two places named Marwood in England, or a nickname for a person who "casts an evil eye", derived from Norman French malreward meaning "evil eye, glance".
MaryFrench Habitational name from places in Saône-et-Loire, Seine-et-Marne, and Nièvre, named in Latin as Mariacum meaning "estate of Marius".
MascarenhasPortuguese Possibly from the place Mascarenhas in the city Mirandela. Originated by Estêvão Rodrigues, Lord of Mascarenhas.
MaschPolish Possibly a rough translation of marsh, given to people who lived near marshes.
MaseJapanese From Japanese 間 (ma) meaning "among, between" and 瀬 (se) meaning "rapids, current".
MaseJapanese From Japanese 真 (ma) meaning "real, genuine" and 瀬 (se) meaning "rapids, current".
MaseyEnglish, Scottish, French, Norman English and Scottish (of Norman origin) and French: habitational name from any of various places in northern France which get their names from the Gallo-Roman personal name Maccius + the locative suffix -acum.... [more]
MashhadiPersian Indicated a person from the city of Mashhad in Iran, itself derived from Arabic مشهد (mashhad) meaning "place of martyrdom".
MashimaJapanese Ma can mean "real, genuine, true" or "flax" and shima means "island".
MashimoJapanese From the Japanese 真 (ma) "real" and 下 (shimo or shita) "down," "bottom."
MashrequeMuslim Name for someone who came from the Mashreq region in the Middle East (modern Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq).
MassaItalian A habitational name from any of the various places named Massa (for example, Massa Lubrense or Massa di Somma, both in the Metropolitan City of Naples, or Massa d’Albe in the Province of L'Aquila), which were all named from the medieval Latin word massa, meaning ‘holding’ or ‘estate’.
MassinghamEnglish From the name of either of two villages in Norfolk, England, meaning "Mæssa’s village", composed of the personal name Mæssa and possessive suffix ing combined with ham "home, settlement".
MastenEnglish This surname came from when a family lived in the settlements named Marsden in Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire.
MastertonScottish (Rare) From English Masterton, an area in the city of Dunfermline in the council area of Fife in Scotland.
MasudaJapanese From Japanese 増 (masu) meaning "increase", 益 (masu) meaning "benefit", 舛 (masu) meaning "oppose, to go against" (kun reading), 桝 (masu) meaning "box seat, measure" or 升 (masu) meaning "box" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
MasudaJapanese From Japanese 増 (masu) meaning "increase" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
MasudaJapanese From Japanese 益 (masu) meaning "profit, benefit" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy".
MasuyamaJapanese From the Japanese 増 (masu) "increase," 益 (masu) "benefit," 桝 (masu) "box seat," "measure" or 升 (masu) "box" and 山 (yama) "mountain."
MasvidalSpanish surname formed by the union of the word, mas, meaning a house from rural zones that is appart from the village and is surrounded by farming land and forests; and another word relating to the owner of the mas.
MatakeJapanese Ma means "genuine" and take means "bamboo".
MatamalaCatalan Town of the Capcir district, in the Northern Catalonia, now part of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in France.
MataplanaCatalan It indicates familial origin within the eponymous farmhouse in the municipality of La Coma i la Pedra.
MatareseItalian habitational name for someone from Matera (see Matera ) from materräisë a local adjectival form of the placename (in standard Italian materano).
MateraItalian Habitational name from Matera in Basilicata region.
MathenyFrench (Anglicized) Of French origin. According to Matheny family tradition, this surname comes from the name of a village in France named Mathenay. This may also have been a French Huguenot surname.
MathrafalMedieval Welsh Named for Castle Mathrafal (Castell-Mathrafal) in Powys, Mid Wales. The House of Mathrafal ruled over Powys for much of the Mediaeval period. Notable members of the family included Owain Glyn Dŵr, who led a rebellion against English rule in 1400.
MatlockEnglish Derived from a place name (Matlock in Derbyshire) meaning ‘meeting-place oak’ from Old English mæthel ‘meeting’, ‘gathering’, ‘council’ and ac ‘oak’.
MatsuzakiJapanese Japanese: ‘pine tree cape’. This name is found mostly in both the Tōkyō area and on the island of Kyūshū, where it is pronounced Matsusaki.
MatsuzakiJapanese From Japanese 松 (matsu) meaning "pine tree, fir tree" and 崎 (saki) meaning "cape, peninsula".
MattenFlemish Could derive from a short form of a given name such as Matthias or Mathilde, or be a toponym derived from either Middle High German mata "meadow" or French motte "clod, mound of earth".
MattilaFinnish Means "Matti's farm". A combination of Matti and the suffix -la "farm, place".
MattinglyEnglish (British) This name dates all the way back to the 1200s and research shows that Mattingly families began immigrating to the United States in the 1600s and continued until the 1900s. However, the place name (Mattingley, England) dates back to the year 1086, but spelled as Matingelege... [more]
MaturanaBasque It indicates familial origin within the eponymous council of the municipality of Barrundia.
MayorquinSpanish variant of Mallorquín a habitational name for someone from Majorca the largest island in the Balearic Islands from an adjectival form of its Spanish name Mallorca.
MazandaraniMazanderani Likely originated to denote someone from the modern-day Mazandaran Province in Iran or someone of Mazandarani descent. It is transliterated in many different ways. One notable bearer is Mírzá Asadu'lláh Fádil Mázandarání (1881–1957), who was an important scholar for the Baháʼí Faith.
MazariegoSpanish Altered form of Mazariegos in singular for matching with the bearer.
McgonagleAmerican Irish (Donegal) and Scottish (Glasgow): Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Conghail, a patronymic from the personal name Conghal, composed of Celtic elements meaning 'hound' + 'valor'.
MeaderEnglish Topographic name for someone who lived by a meadow, from Mead 1 + the suffix -er, denoting an inhabitant.
MeadowEnglish A topographic name for someone who lived near a meadow. The form meadow derives from mǣdwe, the dative case of Old English mǣd.
MeañoGalician It indicates familial origin within the eponymous municipality.
MeathIrish Denotes a person from County Meath, Ireland (see Mcnamee).
MeauxFrench Habitational name from a place in Seine-et-Marne, so named from the Gaulish tribal name Meldi, or from Meaux-la-Montagne in Rhône.
MecklenburgGerman, Jewish Regional name for someone from this province in northern Germany. Derived from Old Saxon mikil "big, great" and burg "castle".
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.
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]
MedlicottEnglish Derivative from a location in Shropshire, England
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).
MeffordEnglish It is the Old English name given to a point where two streams cross each other.... [more]
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.
MehrabaniPersian Originally denoted someone who came from the city of Mehraban, located in the East Azerbaijan province of Iran.
MeijerinkDutch Toponymic surname derived from meier "bailiff, steward, tenant farmer" (see Meijer) combined with the suffix -ink.
MeilerRomansh Derived from the place name Meils (present-day Mels in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland).
MeirelesPortuguese Habitational name for someone from a place called Meireles in Portugal, meaning unclear.
MekkyArabic (Egyptian) Refers to the city of Mecca or Makka (مكة) in Saudi Arabia, considered the most holy city in Islam.
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]
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]
MelbyNorwegian Modern form of Meðalbýr meaning "middle farm", a combination of Old Norse meðal "middle" and býr "farm".
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.
MelinSwedish From any place name named with the element mel- "middle".
MellaliMoroccan Habitational name from the city of Beni Mellal
MellaliMoroccan Habitational name from the city of Beni Mellal.
MellenthinGerman Habitational name from places so called near Berlin and on the island of Usedom.
MellorEnglish Parishes in Derbyshire, and Lancashire, meaning the mill bank. ... [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]
MeltonEnglish Habitational name from any of several places meaning "middle town". Compare Middleton.
MendarozketaBasque It indicates familial origin within the eponymous council of the municipality of Zigoitia.
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.
MendinuetaBasque This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of Itzagaondoa.
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".
MendizabalBasque This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of Arratzua-Ubarrundia that the falangists demolished in 1959 to make way for a reservoir.
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, 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.
MensinkDutch Patronymic or habitational name meaning "of Menso", a diminutive of personal name derived from the element megin (see Mense, Menno).
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]
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]
MerrifieldEnglish English habitational name from any of various places, such as Merryfield in Devon and Cornwall or Mirfield in West Yorkshire, all named with the Old English elements myrige 'pleasant' + feld 'pasture', 'open country.' See also Merivale.
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]
MertesackerGerman Means "Merten's field" in German, derived from the given name Merten and Middle High German acker meaning "field". A famous bearer is the retired German soccer player Per Mertesacker (1984-).
MertonEnglish From a place name meaning "town on a lake" in Old English.
MesaSpanish Habitational name for someone from any of the various locations in Spain called Mesa meaning "table" or "mesa" in Spanish (referring to a flat area of land).
MesquitaPortuguese Means "mosque" in Portuguese, used as a topographic name for someone who lived near a mosque.
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".
MeutstegeDutch Possibly from Dutch meute meaning "pack, crowd" and steeg meaning "alleyway, lane, narrow path". Dutch former soccer player Wim Meutstege (1952-) bears this name.
MianoItalian Habitational name from Miano in Naples, Parma, and Teramo; Miane in Treviso; or Mian in Belluno.
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.
MichalczewskiPolish This indicates familial origin within the Masovian village of Michalczew.
MichałowskiPolish Name for someone from a place called Michałowice, derived from the given name Michał.
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]
MichidaJapanese Michi means "path, road" and da means field, rice paddy".
MichiyamaJapanese Michi means "path" and yama means "mountain, hill".
MichizoeJapanese From the Japanese 道 (michi) "road," "way," "path" and 添 (zoe or soe) "addition," "add-on," "improvememnt."
MicklethwaiteEnglish Habitational name for a person from several places inside West Yorkshire, all derived from Old Norse mikill "great, large" and þveit "clearing, pasture".
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.