Mayor Family Crest, Coat of Arms and Name History

Mayor Origin:

England, France, Spain

Origins of Mayor:

According to the early recordings of the spelling of the surname, this interesting and unique name is listed as Maier, Maior, Mair, Mayer, Mayor, Meyer, Meier, Mayers, Meyers, and nicknames like the Spanish and Catalan Mayoral, this uncommon surname is of Roman and Frankish pre 5th-century sources. It widely listed in old English, French, German and Swiss documents. It acquired from the Latin word “magnus” which means great, all over the history, it has always been a status name explaining the headman or “Chief,” of the town or area. In old Scotland, the name mentioned an officer who performed the process and other legal writs in addition to governmental services, and in a Scottish Act of Parliament dated 1426, the ‘mair’ was introduced as the ‘King’s Sergeant,’ and a name to bear a ‘horn and wand.’ In England, the term was always given to the chief civil officer of a borough, but frequently may have been used as a nickname for an arrogant or busy person. In 17th century Germany and specifically in the old state of Lippe, it developed other compound forms, all referring to status. These contain as Surmeyer, Surmeyers, and Suermeier with the next American Surmeir, and explain an “elder mayor,” or a past mayor. Previous examples of the surname documents contained William le Maier of Somerset, England in 1243, and Henry Meyer and Bartholomew le Meyre in Norfolk in 1275. The first recorded spelling of the family name considered to be that of Heinrich Meier of Zurich, which dated near the year 1172, in the rolls and documents of that famous city.

Variations:

More common variations are: Mayore, Mayora, Mayori, Mayoro, Mayoru, Mayoor, Mayour, Mmayor, Mayyor, Mayory.

England:

The surname Mayor first appeared in on the Islands of Guernsey Where Mauger, priiest of Rouen and uncle of William, the invader, settled after vacating. There he married Gisella or Guille “without the sanction of the parish, he formed an affection that resulted in great offsprings, some of the Whom took their father’s, others their mother’s name. So, observes a contributor ‘Guilles and Maugers are as fertile as blackberries on the Channel Islands’. Sir Mathias Mayer (Mayor), originally a Jerseyman was ancestors of the Majors of Hampshire.

Ireland:

Many of the people with surname Mayor had moved to Ireland during the 17th century.

United States of America:

Individuals with the surname Mayor landed in the United States in four different centuries respectively in the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th. Some of the people with the name Mayor who arrived in the United States in the 17th century included Herman Mayor, Katherine Mayor and Maudline Mayor, all came to Maryland in 1661. Thomas Mayor, who came to Maryland in 1668.

People with the surname Mayor who landed in the United States in the 18th century included Joanis Mayor at the age of 24, arrived in Pennsylvania in 1741.

The following century saw more Mayor surnames come. Some of the people with the name Mayor who arrived in the United States in the 19th century included Lastenia De Mayor, who landed in Peru in 1860. Elizth Mayor at the age of 40, landed in New York in 1864. Richard Mayor at the age of 18, landed in New York in 1864. Peter Mayor, who landed in Arkansas in 1890. Pierre Martin Mayor, who arrived in Arkansas in the same year 1890.

Some of the people with the surname Mayor who arrived in the United States in the 20th century Jean Baptiste Mayor, who landed in Arkansas in 1900.

Australia:

Some of the individuals with the surname Mayor who landed in Australia in the 19th century included James Mayor arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship “Navarino” in 1848.

Here is the population distribution of the last name Mayor: Nigeria 14,978; Philippines 13,147; Spain 9,006; Colombia 4,490; Indonesia 3,601; United States 2,985; Cuba 2,525; Mexico 2,434; Argentina 2,404; Venezuela 2,208.

Notable People:

Michel G. E. Mayor (b. 1942), is a Swiss professor of astronomy.

Henry Mayor is an American political leader and minister in Frostburg, Maryland.

Blazons & Genealogy Notes

1) Gu. a fesse betw. three daggers, points upwards or. Crest—On a chapeau gu. turned up erm. an escallop gu. betw. two wings or.
2) (granted to Rev. Charles Mayor, of Rugby). Motto—Mea anchora Christus. Gu. an anchor ar. on a chief or, three roses of the first. Crest—A greyhound’s head couped gu. collared or.