Family name origins & meanings
- English and Scottish (of Norman origin) and French : habitational name from any of various places named Malpas, because of the difficulty of the terrain, from Old French mal pas ‘bad passage’ (Latin malus passus). It is a common French minor place name, and places in Cheshire, Cornwall, Gwent, and elsewhere in England were given this name by Norman settlers. A place in Rousillon (southeastern France) that had this name in the 12th century was subsequently renamed Bonpas for the sake of a better omen.