Family name origins & meanings
- French : from a pet form of the personal name Malo (see Malo 1).
- French : variant of Malette.
- French, Catalan and English : from French, English, and Catalan mallet ‘hammer’, Old French ma(i)let, diminutive of ma(i)l (Latin malleus) either a metonymic occupational name for a smith, or possibly a nickname for a fearsome warrior.
- French and English : nickname for an unlucky person, from Old French maleit ‘accursed’ (Latin maledictus, the opposite of benedictus ‘blessed’).
- English : from the medieval female personal name Malet, a diminutive of Mal(le) (see Mall).
- English : variant of Mallard 1.