Updated June 9, 2019 Share: Family name origins & meanings Jewish (Ashkenazic) : patronymic from a reduced form of Meyer 2, + German Sohn ‘son’.French : metonymic occupational name for a trader, from Old French mers (Latin merx) ‘wares’, ‘merchandise’.Scottish : probably a metronymic from a short form of the female personal name Mary (see Marie).