Loading...May Family History
May Name Meaning
English, French, Danish, Dutch, and German: from a short form
of the personal name Matthias (see Matthew) or any of
its many cognates, for example Norman French Maheu.English, French, Dutch, and German: from a nickname or
personal name taken from the month of May (Middle English, Old French
mai, Middle High German meie, from Latin Maius
(mensis), from Maia, a minor Roman goddess of fertility).
This name was sometimes bestowed on someone born or baptized in the
month of May; it was also used to refer to someone of a sunny
disposition, or who had some anecdotal connection with the month of
May, such as owing a feudal obligation then.English: nickname
from Middle English may ‘young man or woman’.Irish
(Connacht and Midlands): when not of English origin (see 1–3 above),
this is an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Miadhaigh ‘descendant
of Miadhach’, a personal name or byname meaning ‘honorable’,
‘proud’.French: habitational name from any of
various places called May or Le May.Jewish (Ashkenazic):
habitational name from Mayen, a place in western Germany.Americanized spelling of cognates of 1 in various European
languages, for example Swedish
Ma(i)j.Chinese : possibly a variant of
Mei 1, although this spelling occurs more often for the given
name than for the surname.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
3,628,630
Historical Documents & Family Trees with May
Name Distribution of May Families
MAP:
United States
England & Wales
Scotland
Number of May families
 643 - 1,283  215 - 642 |
 1 - 214  |
from the 1920 US Federal Census Data
Number of May families
|
2,109 - 4,216 704 - 2,108 |
1 - 703 |
from the 1891 England and Wales Census Data
Number of May families
|
125 - 247 42 - 124 |
1 - 41 |
from the 1891 Scotland Census Data
May census records
You can see how May families moved over time by selecting different Census years.
Census records can tell you little-known facts about your ancestors such as birthplace, occupation and value of personal estate.
View all May census records
>
May Family Origin
May Immigration Information
Click on a circle in the chart to view May immigration records
You can find out when most of the May families immigrated
to the United States.
You can focus your search to immigration records dating from that era.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival and destination.
View all May immigration records >
from the New York Passenger Lists
Average Life Expectancy for May
Click on a circle in the chart to view May birth and death records
An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your ancestors lived in harsh conditions.
A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in
your family.
The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. You can find birthdates,
death dates, addresses and more.
View all May ancestors in the SSDI >
from the Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
May Family Occupations
from 1880 Federal Census Data
May census records
Census records can offer a lot of little known facts about your May ancestors, such as occupation.
Occupation can tell you about your ancestors' social status and economic status.
View all May census records >
May Civil War Service Records
Message Board about May
2045 Threads, 29
Messages
Browse message boards to get helpful hints from other people researching the name
May.
Threads: 2045 - Messages: 29
Start a FREE May family tree
Starting a family tree at Ancestry is not only the easiest way to organize, preserve
and share your family history, it's also a direct link to missing information about
your roots.
About Ancestry.com
The world's largest family history resource
- Explore over 7 billion genealogical records
- Search 26 million family trees
- Create your FREE family tree
- Follow leaf Hints to follow more ancestors
×