Mayor (surname)
Mayor is an English and Spanish-language surname with several etymological origins. The English-language name is sometimes a variant spelling of Mayer,[1] and thus derived from the Middle English and Old French mair, maire (in turn derived from the Latin maior, meaning "greater", "superior"); this surname originated from the title of a mayor.[2] The surname Mayor can also be derived from a nickname, derived from the Spanish mayor, meaning "older", borne by the elder of two individuals with the same name. Another origin of the surname is from an occupational name, derived from the Spanish major, meaning "governor", "chief". The surname can also be a Catalan variant of the surname Major,[1] derived from major, meaning "greater", used to denote an elder son of a particular family or an important person.[3] The surname Mayor can also be derived from the Yiddish personal name Meyer,[1] which is derived from the Hebrew language Meir, which in turn means "enlightener".[4]
List of persons with the surname
- Federico Mayor Zaragoza (born 1934), Spanish scholar and politician
- John Eyton Bickersteth Mayor (1825–1910), English classical scholar
- Michel Mayor (born 1942), Swiss Astronomy professor at the University of Geneva
References
- ^ a b c Mayor Family History, Ancestry.com, retrieved 10 February 2012. This webpage cited: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4.
- ^ Mayer Family History, Ancestry.com, retrieved 10 February 2012. This webpage cited: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4.
- ^ Major Family History, Ancestry.com, retrieved 10 February 2012. This webpage cited: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4.
- ^ Meyer Family History, Ancestry.com, retrieved 10 February 2012. This webpage cited: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4.
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