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
3,437,934
Historical Documents & Family Trees with May
The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry.com.
You can find out where the majority of the May families were living before
they immigrated to the U.S and learn where to focus your search for foreign records.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival, and destination.
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.
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