Origin
Mal : 1: Slovenian: nickname for a physically small man from mal ‘small little’.2: French (mainly Nord): nickname from mal ‘bad’ (from Latin malus).3: Indian (northern states): variant of Mall.
Bharmal : apparently or folk-etymologically from Bihari Mal as in the case of the historical figure Raja Bharmal or Bihari Mal ruler of Amber (Jaipur) Rajasthan India (1548 - 1574).
Dadlani : Indian and Pakistani: Sindhi name from the personal name of an ancestor called Dadu Mal + the suffix -ani ‘descendant of’ (see Ani).
Mahl : 1: North German (Mähl): topographic name for someone who lived at a mill Low German Mähl or a metonymic occupational name for a miller or mill worker.2: German: nickname from Middle High German Middle Low German māl ‘mark stain’.3: German: topographic name from Middle High German Middle Low German māl ‘boundary mark or stone’.4: Germanized form of Sorbian Mały ‘small little’ (see Maly) and of its shortened form Mał which can also be from a short form of the Old Sorbian personal name Małomir based on Old Slavic malъ ‘small little’.5: Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Mahl ‘meal’ one of surnames distributed at random by Austrian clerks.
Mahlberg : Swedish: ornamental name probably composed of an unidentified first element (perhaps an ornamental spelling of the placename element mal meaning ‘gravel’ as in Malsta but compare also Malstrom) + berg ‘mountain hill’.
Mahler : German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) (also Mähler); Danish: occupational name for a painter especially a painter of stained glass from an agent derivative of German malen to paint (Middle High German mālen Old High German mālōn ‘to mark’ from māl ‘point mark’).
Mail : 1: see Meil. Black at Meal notes that the surname may not have originated in Shetland but derive from the settlement of some Orkney families there in the early 17th century. 2: see Male. 3: from Ó Máille see O'Malley.
Mailey : 1: Irish: alternative Anglicized form of Ó Máille (see O'Malley).2: English Irish or Scottish: perhaps also a Norman name a variant of Malley 2.
Malas : 1: Greek: from Turkish mala ‘trowel’ (see Mallas) or mal ‘property wealth’ both used metonymically.2: Polish (Małas): nickname derived from mały ‘small little’. Alternatively from a short form of the Old Polish personal name Małomir based on Old Slavic malъ ‘small little’.3: Muslim (mainly Syria): from malaṣ of uncertain origin and meaning used as a surname.
Malay : 1: Americanized form of Rusyn (from Slovakia) Mlej: from an imperatival derivative of a dialect form of the verb mlieť ‘to mill’ used as a nickname for miller. Compare Maley 2 and Malley 3.2: Ukrainian: metonymic occupational name from malay ‘bread made of corn peas or millet’.3: Irish: perhaps from Ó Máille see O'Malley. This form of the surname is very rare in Britain and Ireland and is found mainly in Lancashire England.4: Filipino: nickname from Tagalog malay ‘consciousness awareness’.5: Filipino: ethnic name from Tagalog malay ‘Malay’.
Malberg : Swedish: ornamental name perhaps from the placename element mal ‘gravel’ + the ornamental element berg ‘mountain hill’.
Malbon : English (Staffordshire): nickname or habitational name from Norman French Malbanc which may be from Old French mal banc ‘bad bench’ but if so the reason for the use of this expression as a surname is unknown. Possibly it derives from a lost placename in which banc may mean ‘steep crag’. The second part of the name -banc survives in Maybank but medieval forms in -ban(e) -bon(e) or -bun are also common and are sometimes later re-interpreted as -born and -bourne leading to confusion with Melbourne.
Maldonado : Spanish and Portuguese:: 1: nickname from a compound of mal ‘badly’ + donado ‘given endowed’ (past participle of donar ‘to give to bestow’) or directly from Latin male donatus ‘ill favored’.2: habitational name from Maldonado a village in the province of Albacete (Spain). Compare Baldonado and Maldonaldo.
Male : 1: Welsh: from the personal name Mael (literally ‘prince’).2: English (of Norman origin): nickname from Old French mail ‘mallet club mace’ or Middle English (Old French) maille ‘ring (of chain mail) armour’ or Old French maille ‘speckle stain’ or Middle English maille (Old French maaille) ‘coin worth half a penny’ or from a shortened form of Anglo-Norman French amel Old French esma(i)l ‘enamel’ (compare Mailer). Any of these terms might have been used to characterize an individual's behaviour occupation or appearance.3: English: nickname Middle English (Old French) male ‘bag pouch’ also ‘stomach belly’ perhaps given to someone who wore a distinctive pouch or bag or who made such bags (compare the Middle English occupational term malemakere) or to someone with a prominent belly.4: English (of Norman origin): variant of Madle a nickname from Old French Middle English masle madle (also Middle English male) ‘man adult’ or adjectivally ‘male masculine’.5: English: in Lancashire perhaps a variant of Meale either a nickname from Middle English mele ‘meal ground cereal’ perhaps for a maker or seller of meal (compare Millman) or a topographic name from Middle English mele ‘sand-hill’ (Old Norse melr) as found in such placenames as North Meols (Lancashire) Ravensmeols in Formby (Lancashire) and Great Meols (Cheshire) (compare Meil).6: Slovenian: nickname for a physically small man from a derivative of mal ‘small little’ (see Mal 1). Compare Mahle.7: Dutch (Van der Male and Van Male): habitational name from any of a number of places in Flanders named Male.8: Norwegian: habitational name from the farm name Male in Romsdal derived from Old Norse mǫl ‘bank layer of pebbles along a beach’.9: Americanized form of Norwegian Mæle or of its variant Mæhle (see Mahle). Compare Mele.
Malenfant : French: nickname from mal ‘bad’ + enfant ‘child’.
Malet : 1: French: nickname from a diminutive of Mal ‘bad’ or from a derivative of the related Old French word maleit ‘accursed’ (see Mallet 1). Compare Malette.2: French: from the Old French personal name Malet a pet form of Malo (compare Mallet 2).3: French: variant of Mallet 3.5: English: variant of Mallett.4: Catalan: probably a nickname from a diminutive of mal ‘bad’ (compare 1 above).
Malewski : Polish: habitational name for someone from any of the places called Malewo in Masovian Łódź Pomeranian and Greater Poland voivodeships or Malewice in Podlaskie Voivodeship. Both placenames are named with the personal name Mal a short form of Old Polish Małomir based on Old Slavic malъ ‘small little’. Compare Maleski and Malesky.
Maley : 1: Irish: variant of Malley (see O'Malley).2: Americanized form of Rusyn (from Slovakia) Mlej (see Malay 1).3: Americanized form of Czech and Slovak Malý Polish Mały (see Maly 1) or Slovenian Mali ‘small little’. Compare Maly 4 and Malley 4.4: Americanized form of Slovenian and Slovak Malej: nickname derived from Slovenian mal Slovak malý ‘small little’. The Slovenian surname may also be from the dialect pet nickname malej ‘little one’. Compare Malley 4.
Mali : 1: Slovenian: nickname for a physically small man from mali the definite form of mal ‘small little’ (see Mal 1). Compare Maley 3 Mallie 1 and Mally 1.2: Albanian: from the personal name Mal (definite form Mali) from mal ‘mountain’ and probably also a topographic name based on this word (definite form mali).3: Indian (mainly northern states): metonymic occupational name from Sanskrit mala ‘garland’. Traditionally bearers of this name were growers of flowers and vegetables.
Malik : 1: Muslim (mainly Pakistan) Indian (mainly Punjab) and Assyrian/Chaldean: from a personal name based on Arabic malik ‘king’; or a status name for a headman of a village or a tribal leader derived from the same title. Al-Malik ‘the King’ is an attribute of Allah ‘the king of mankind’ (Koran 114:2) giving rise to the compound name ʿAbd al-Malik ʿAbdul-Malik (see Abdelmalek and Abdulmalik). Compare Mallick.2: Ukrainian and Rusyn (standard transliteration Malyk); Czech and Slovak (mainly Malík also Málik); Polish Sorbian and Slovenian: nickname for a physically small man derived from Ukrainian malyy Czech and Slovak malý Polish and Sorbian mały Slovenian mal ‘small little’. It is a cognate of Malec and Malek. Compare Malic and Malick.3: Polish: from a pet form of the Old Polish personal name Małomir based on Old Slavic malъ ‘small little’.
Maliphant : from Old French mal enfant ‘bad child’; compare Bonifant.
Malkasian : Armenian: patronymic from a variant of the personal name Malkhas composed of Persian māl ‘goods’ and khāṣ ‘fine’ or an Americanized form of its western and eastern Armenian standard variants Malkhasian or Malkhasyan. This form of the surname is found only in the US.
Mallaburn : from Old French mal ‘bad’ + apert ‘obvious evident logical visible clear frank’. The exact sense of the compound is uncertain. Comparison with Old French mal apertement ‘improperly’ suggests that it may mean ‘improper’.
Malley : 1: Irish: variant of O'Malley.2: English (of Norman origin): habitational name from any of several places in northern France called Mailly (Marne Somme and elsewhere).3: Americanized form of Rusyn (from Slovakia) Mlej (see Malay).4: Americanized form of Polish Mały Czech and Slovak Malý (see Maly 1) or Slovenian Mali 1 ‘small little’ or of related Slovenian and Slovak Malej (see Maley 4).
Mally : 1: Germanized or Americanized form of Polish and Sorbian Mały Czech and Slovak Malý (see Maly compare 2 below) Slovenian Mali all meaning ‘small little’.2: Czech and Slovak (Mallý): variant of Malý ‘small little’ (see Maly compare 1 above).3: Irish: variant of O'Malley. This form of the surname is rare in Britain and Ireland and is found mainly in Lancashire England and Glasgow Scotland.4: French: unexplained.
Malpass : English (Staffordshire and Gloucestershire): habitational name chiefly from either of two places called Malpas (Cheshire England and Monmouthshire Wales); perhaps also occasionally from other minor places so called in England (e.g. in Berkshire Cornwall and Yorkshire) or from various places called Malpas or Maupas in France. The placenames derive from Old French mal ‘bad’ + pas ‘passage’.
Malstrom : Swedish (Mälström): ornamental name composed of either mäl (from a placename element meaning ‘middle’) or mäl (an altered form of mal ‘gravel’) + ström ‘stream’.
Maly : 1: Czech and Slovak (Malý); Polish Jewish (from Poland) and Sorbian (Mały); Ukrainian (also transliterated as e.g. Malyy) Rusyn and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): from Czech and Slovak malý Polish and Sorbian mały Ukrainian malyy ‘small little’. This is both a nickname for a physically small man and a pet name for a child which is sometimes retained into adult life. Compare Klein Little 3 and Small 3.2: English (of Norman origin): variant of Malley.3: Irish: variant of O'Malley.4: In some cases also an Americanized form of Slovenian Mali 1 ‘small little’. Compare Maley 3.
Marwood : 1: from Marwood (Durham). The place-name derives from Old English māra ‘greater bigger’ + wudu ‘wood’. 2: from Marwood (Devon) which is recorded as Merewode in the 13th century. The place-name derives from Old English (ge)mǣre ‘boundary border’ + wudu ‘wood’. 3: from Anglo-Norman French mal regard ‘evil look evil eye’.
Mau : 1: North German: nickname for a dandy or an affluent person from Middle Low German mouwe ‘sleeve’ referring to a wide sleeve of expensive ornamented fabric.2: Portuguese: nickname from mau ‘bad evil’ (from Latin malus).3: French: nickname from a variant of mal ‘bad’.4: Chinese: variant of Mao.5: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surname 繆 see Miao 2.6: Vietnamese (Mâu): from the Chinese surname 缪 see Miao 2.
Mauleverer : from Old French mal leverier ‘bad harrier’.
Maupin : French: topographic name from Old French mal mau ‘bad’ + pin ‘pine (tree)’. Compare Moppin.
Maute : 1: German (Bavaria-Austria): metonymic occupational name for a toll collector or customs official from maut ‘toll payment’ or a habitational name from a place called after a toll station like Hohen-Maut in Austria.2: South German (Swabia): from Maude a nickname for a grumpy person.3: French (Mauté): nickname from Old French malté mauté ‘malice’ (derived from mal mau ‘bad’).
Mautz : 1: South German: nickname for a grouch or complainer from Swabian dialect mau(n)zen ‘to complain’.2: German: variant of Mutz and Muth.3: Germanized form of Slovenian Mavec or Mavc: nickname for a physically small man a derivative of mal ‘small’.
Mealey : Irish: from Ó Máille see O'Malley.
Meaux : French:: 1: variant of Maux probably a nickname from a variant of mal ‘bad’ (see Mau) or a habitational name from a place called Maux or perhaps Meaux (see 2 below).2: habitational name from Meaux a city in Seine-et-Marne so named from the Gaulish tribal name Meldi or from some other place called Meaux.
Melquist : Swedish: ornamental name composed of either mell- (from a placename element meaning ‘middle’) or mäl- (originally the same placename element as mell or an altered form of mal ‘gravel’) + quist an old or ornamental spelling of kvist ‘twig’.
Mockler : English and Irish (of Norman origin): nickname from Anglo-Norman French Mauclerc ‘bad priest’ Old French mal mau ‘bad’ + clerc ‘cleric clerk priest’. The final c has been lost by dissimilation.
Moffet : 1: Scottish Irish and northern English: variant of Moffatt.2: Altered form of French Maufay a variant of Maufait: nickname from Old French mau fait ‘misshapen’ (from mal mau ‘badly’ + fait past participle of faire ‘to do or make’) used as a nickname for a deformed individual. Compare Monfette.
Molland : 1: from Molland (Devon) which is recorded as Mollanda in 1086. The place-name derives from an uncertain initial element (perhaps related to the river Mole but unlikely to be from the Mole itself as no medieval forms for the river-name have been found) + Old English land ‘land’. 2: from Molland Farm in Ash next Sandwich or a lost Molland in Cliffe (both Kent). The place-names probably derive from Old English māl ‘bargaining tax rent’ + land ‘land’; compare Modern English molland ‘land for which rent was paid in commutation of feudal service’ (see OED). 3: there may have been some confusion with Mouland.
Monfils : 1: Altered form of French Maufils: nickname from Old French mau fils ‘bad son’ from mal mau ‘bad’ + fils ‘son’. The surname Maufils is no longer found in France.2: Walloon and French: nickname from the phrase mon fils ‘my son’ (perhaps applied because of its over-use in conversation) or derived from mau fils ‘bad son’ (compare 1 above).
Montpetit : Altered form of French Maupetit: nickname from Old French mau petit ‘bad child whelp’ from mal mau ‘bad’ + petit ‘small (one)’.
O'Maley : Irish: variant of O'Malley.
O'Mally : from Ó Máille see O'Malley.
O'Meally : Irish: variant of O'Malley.
O'Melia : Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Máille (see O'Malley) in which the pronunciation of Irish -lle (as in English ‘million’) is represented by -lia.
Thadani : Indian (Gujarat Maharashtra): from the root of the personal name of an ancestor called Thado Mal based on Gujarati or Sindhi thado ‘ability skill’ + the suffix -ani ‘descendant of’ (see Ani).
More
Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
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