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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • South German : topographic name for someone who lived near a meadow, from Middle High German matte ‘meadow’.
  • Dutch (van der Matt(e)) : topographic name for someone who lived by a meadow, or habitational name from any of various places named Made or Maete, from Middle Dutch matte, matta ‘meadow’.
  • Southern French : possibly a habitational name from the common demesne name La Matte, La Mathe, derived from Occitan mata ‘bush’, ‘shrub’, ‘thicket’, ‘brush’. Compare Mata 1.

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