Popularity of the last name by country

Switzerland

All countries

Origine of last name

MARCHAL : 1: French and Walloon: status name or occupational name from Old French maresc(h)al ‘marshal’. The term is of ancient Germanic origin (from marah ‘horse mare’ + scalc ‘servant’) and was originally applied to a man who looked after horses. In the Middle Ages it also came to be used on the one hand as an occupational name for a farrier and on the other as a status name for an officer of state in particular a member of a royal household with military responsibilities. Compare English <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Marshall">Marshall</a> and 2 below.2: English: variant of <a href="https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/Marshall">Marshall</a>. This form of the surname is rare in Britain and Ireland and is found mainly in Glamorgan Wales.

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