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Surname Etymology and Meaning of MAW

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Name meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

1. name for someone who was related to an important local personality, from Middle English maugh, maw ‘relative’, especially by marriage (from Old English mage ‘female relative’). In the north of England this term was used more specifically to mean ‘brother-in-law’.
2. topographic name from Middle English mawe ‘meadow’. Some early forms, such as Sibilla de la Mawe (Suffolk 1275), clearly indicate a topographic origin, by reason of the preposition and article.
3. probably also from a Middle English personal name, Mawe, Old English Meawa, perhaps originally a byname from Old English m?w ‘sea mew’, ‘seagull’ (compare Mew).

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)