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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : nickname from Old French maquerel ‘bawd’.
  • English : from Middle English makerel ‘mackerel’ (the fish), hence a metonymic occupational name for a fisherman or a seller of these fish.
  • English : Possibly also from Middle English mackerel ‘red scorch marks (on the skin)’, perhaps a descriptive nickname for someone with a noticeable birthmark.

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