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Updated August 7, 2024

Boy name origins & meanings

  • Latin : Greater; military rank

Boy name variations

How Popular Is The Name Major

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : from the Norman personal name Malg(i)er, Maug(i)er, composed of the Germanic elements madal ‘council’ + gār, gēer ‘spear’. The surname is now also established in Ulster.
  • Hungarian : from a shortened form of majorosgazda (see Majoros), or a derivative of German Meyer 1.
  • Polish, Czech, and Slovak : from the military rank major (derived from Latin maior ‘greater’), a word related to English mayor and the German surname Meyer.
  • Catalan and southern French (Occitan) : from major ‘major’ (Latin maior ‘greater’), denoting a prominent or important person or the first-born son of a family.
  • Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic) : variant of Meyer 2.

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