Family name origins & meanings
- Northern English and Scottish : metonymic occupational name for a dealer in spices, or a nickname for someone with a hot temper or a vicious tongue, from Middle English, Old French mo(u)starde ‘mustard’ (a derivative of mo(u)st ‘unfermented wine’ (see Most 1), in which the mustard seeds were originally prepared). Black draws attention to an early Scottish form (van Mouster, 1414), which appears to be a Dutch habitational name.