Menzies
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Frequency: (796)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Scottish: variant of Manners, in which the z originally represented Middle English letter Ê’ (yogh), representing a sound similar to modern English y. The surname is still pronounced mingiz in Scotland. It has been Gaelicized as Méinn, from which come the English forms Mein and Mien. The patronymic forms McMenzies, McMon(n)ies, McMin(n), and McMyn represent adapations of the name to the predominant pattern of Highland surnames.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
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Copyrights:
Oxford Dictionary of Family Names
Dictionary of American Family Names. Copyright © 2006 Patrick Hanks. All rights reserved.
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