Frequency: (2151)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Italian: from a nickname or personal name from the month of May, maggio, from Latin Maius (mensis), from Maia, a rather obscure goddess of fertility, whose name is derived from the same root as maius ‘larger’ and maiestas ‘greatness’. This may have been bestowed on someone born or baptized in the month of May, or it may have been 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. In Roman Catholicism, May is specially associated with the Virgin Mary, so the name may well have had a religious significance.
GIVEN NAMES: Italian 13%. Salvatore (18), Rocco (8), Angelo (4), Domenic (3), Nino (3), Sal (3), Santo (3), Vito (3), Gino (2), Ignazio (2), Marco (2), Pietro (2).
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
