May is a surname

Surname

A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...

 of Saxon

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

 and, independently, of Gaelic

Gaels

The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....

 origin. There are many variants used in English-speaking countries, as well as several variants used in Germany. The Scottish May is a sept of Clan Donald

Clan Donald

Clan Donald is one of the largest Scottish clans. There are numerous branches to the clan. Several of these have chiefs recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms; these are: Clan Macdonald of Sleat, Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, and Clan...

. The surname "May" remains a common surname in Germany, Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as among Russians of German origin. People with the surname May include:

• Abby May
  Abby May
  Abigail "Abby" Alcott was the wife of Transcendentalist Amos Bronson Alcott and mother of four daughters, including Civil War novelist Louisa May Alcott...
  
  , mother of Louisa May Alcott
• Alan Nunn May
  Alan Nunn May
  Alan Nunn May was an English physicist, and a confessed and convicted Soviet spy, who supplied secrets of British and United States atomic research to the Soviet Union during World War II.-Early years, education:...
  
  , British spy
• Andrew J. May
  Andrew J. May
  Andrew Jackson May was a Kentucky attorney and influential New Deal-era politician, best known for his chairmanship of the House Military Affairs Committee during World War II, and his subsequent conviction for bribery...
  
  , American politician
• Billy May
  Billy May
  William E. "Billy" May was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music, for The Green Hornet , Batman , and Naked City and collaborated on films, such as Pennies from Heaven , and orchestrated Cocoon, and Cocoon: The Return among...
  
  , American arranger
• Bob May, see Robert May
• Bob May (golfer)
  Bob May (golfer)
  Robert Anthony May is an American professional golfer.May was born in Lynwood, California. He attended Oklahoma State University and was a member of the 1991 U.S. Walker Cup team before turning professional later that year....
  
  , American golfer
• Brad May
  Brad May
  Brad S. May is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played in the National Hockey League . He grew up in Stouffville, Ontario, but played his rep minor hockey in Markham, Ontario. A veteran of over 1,000 NHL games, May was known more for his enforcing skills than his scoring...
  
  , Canadian ice hockey player
• Brian May
  Brian May
  Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
  
  , British guitarist
• Buckshot May
  Buckshot May
  William Herbert "Buckshot" May was a Major League Baseball pitcher who appeared in one game for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1924. The 24-year-old right-hander stood 6'2" and weighed 169 lbs....
  
  , American baseball player
• Carlos May
  Carlos May
  Carlos May is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago White Sox through most of his career, and also the New York Yankees and California Angels. He also played four seasons in Japan, from until , for the Nankai Hawks. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed...
  
  , American baseball player
• Charles S. May
  Charles S. May
  Charles Sedgwick May was a politician from the U. S. state of Michigan.-Early life:May was born in Sandisfield, Massachusetts and at the age of four moved to Richland, Michigan. He worked there on a farm until the age of fifteen and became a student of the State University at Kalamazoo...
  
   (1830–1891), American politician from Michigan
• Chase May, American Combat Infantryman
• Christine May
  Christine May
  Christine May is a Labour Co-operative politician, and was Member of the Scottish Parliament for Fife Central constituency from 2003 to 2007...
  
  , Irish politician
• Christof May
  Christof May
  Christof May is a German jazz musician who performs on the clarinet and saxophone.May studied jazz saxophone with John Ruocco at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague from 1992–1998 and from 1998 - 2002 classical clarinet with Ab Vos...
  
  , German musician
• Clifford May
  Clifford May
  Clifford D. May is an American journalist, editor, and political activist. He is the president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a conservative policy institute created shortly after the 9/11 attacks, and the Chairman of the Policy Committee department within the Committee on the...
  
  , American activist
• Corinna May
  Corinna May
  Corinna May is a blind singer from Germany. As a child she was already used to music; her father had a huge collection of jazz albums. Soon Corinna started singing in a school choir and a gospel choir....
  
  , German singer
• Corrinne May
  Corrinne May
  Corrinne May is a Singaporean singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles.Corrinne composed and performed the theme song for Singapore's National Day 2010, titled "Song for Singapore"...
  
  , Singaporean singer-songwriter
• Cyril May
  Cyril May
  Cyril May is an Australian singer and songwriter who often performs with Jack McDonald.Born and raised on a farm in Hellhole Creek, Victoria, Australia. Cyril's philosophy of life is reflected in the words and music he has been writing for more than 40 years. As a young man Cyril left Australia to...
  
  , Australian singer-songwriter
• Dan May
  Dan May
  Dan May was a Nashville, Tennessee business, educational and civic leader.- Biography :An alumnus and long-time member of the board of trustees of Vanderbilt University, May was an active member and trustee of many civic and educational organizations in the Nashville area.May is one of the...
  
  , Nashville civic leader
• Daniel Boone May
  Daniel Boone May
  Daniel Boone May , known as Boone May, was an American gunfighter, of the Black Hills of South Dakota.May was born in Missouri...
  
  , American gunfighter
• Darrell May
  Darrell May
  Darrell Kevin May is a former Major League Baseball starting pitcher who last played for the New York Yankees. May stands at 6'2" tall and weighs 190 pounds...
  
  , American baseball player
• Dave May
  Dave May
  David LaFrance May is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who played from to . May is one of two Delawareans to make the All-Star Game. He was first drafted by the San Francisco Giants, but appeared in his first Major League game with the Baltimore Orioles...
  
  , American baseball player
• David May (footballer), English footballer
• David May (computer scientist)
  David May (computer scientist)
  Michael David May, born February 24, 1951, is a British computer scientist. He is Professor of Computer Science at the University of Bristol and founder and Chief Technology Officer of XMOS Semiconductor.May was lead architect for the transputer...
  
  , Computer Scientist
• Dent May
  Dent May
  -Biography:May attended Jackson Prep, then later NYU Film School and Ole Miss, where he studied English and Southern studies, and found his home in the music of Serge Gainsbourg and Lee Hazlewood...
  
  , American musician
• Derrick May (musician), American electronic music composer
• Derrick May (baseball player)
• Eddie May
  Eddie May
  Edwin Charles May is an English former footballer and football manager.May was born in Epping.-Playing career:Eddie May joined Southend United from Dagenham in January 1965, making his league debut later that season. He went on to make 100 league appearances, scoring 3 times for the Shrimpers,...
  
   (born 1943), English footballer and manager
• Edna May
  Edna May
  Edna May Pettie , known on stage as Edna May, was an American actress and singer. A popular postcard beauty, May was famous for her leading roles in Edwardian Musical Comedies.- Life and career :...
  
   (1878-1948), American singer and actress
• Elaine May
  Elaine May
  Elaine May is an American film director, screenwriter and actress. She achieved her greatest fame in the 1950s from her improvisational comedy routines in partnership with Mike Nichols...
  
  , American screenwriter and director
• Elizabeth May
  Elizabeth May
  Elizabeth Evans May, OC, MP is an American-born Canadian Member of Parliament, environmentalist, writer, activist, lawyer, and the leader of the Green Party of Canada. She was the executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada from 1989 to 2006. She became a Canadian citizen in 1978.May's...
  
  , Leader of the Green Party of Canada
• Elizabeth May (athlete)
  Elizabeth May (athlete)
  Elizabeth May is a female athlete from Luxembourg, who competes in triathlon. May is the reiging Aquathlon World Champion and is a former European Championship silver medalist. May competed at the second Olympic triathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics...
  
  , Luxembourgian triathlete
• Ernst May
  Ernst May
  Ernst May was a German architect and city planner.May successfully applied urban design techniques to the city of Frankfurt am Main during Germany's Weimar period, and in 1930 less successfully exported those ideas to Soviet Union cities, newly created under Stalinist rule...
  
   (1886–1970), architect
• Erskine May, 1st Baron Farnborough
  Erskine May, 1st Baron Farnborough
  Sir Erskine May, 1st Baron Farnborough, KCB, PC, DCL was a British constitutional theorist. This derived from his career at the House of Commons.-Biography:...
  
  , British constitutional lawyer
• Fiona May
  Fiona May
  Fiona May was an athlete who competed for the Great Britain and later Italy in the long jump. She won the World Championships twice and two Olympic silver medals...
  
  , Italian athlete
• Francis Henry May
  Francis Henry May
  Sir Francis Henry May, GCMG was a British colonial administrator who became Governor of Hong Kong.-Early life and education:...
  
  , Hong Kong Governor
• George S. May
  George S. May
  George S. May was an American businessman.George Storr May was born in Windsor, Illinois. He graduated with a degree from the Illinois States Teacher College...
  
  , American business and pre-eminent golf promoter
• Graham May
  Graham May
  Graham John May was a weightlifting competitor for New Zealand.He won the gold medal at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in the men's 110 kg division. He is widely known for falling on his face during a lift prior to his gold medal winning effort. During the failed lift he fell forward with the...
  
  , New Zealand weightlifter
• Henry May (disambiguation)
• Hugh May
  Hugh May
  Hugh May was an English architect in the period after the Restoration of King Charles II. He worked in the era which fell between the first introduction of Palladianism into England by Inigo Jones, and the full flowering of English Baroque under John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. His own work...
  
  , English architect of the seventeenth century
• Jack May
  Jack May
  Jack May was an English actor. Born in Henley-on-Thames, he was educated at Forest School, Walthamstow and after war service with the Royal Indian Navy in India was offered a place at RADA, but he instead went to Merton College, Oxford...
  
  , British actor
• James May
  James May
  James Daniel May is an English television presenter, journalist and writer. He is best known for his role as co-presenter of the award-winning motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond....
  
  , co-presenter of BBC's Top Gear
  Top Gear (current format)
  Top Gear is a British television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style...
  
   and motoring columnist for The Daily Telegraph
  The Daily Telegraph
  The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
  
  
• Jesse May
  Jesse May
  Jesse May is an American poker commentator and player.Jesse May was raised in Madison, New Jersey, where he first became hooked on poker playing with friends. In 1988 he started attending The University of Chicago, but he found that classes were clashing with his poker games, and so dropped out...
  
  , American poker player
• Jodhi May
  Jodhi May
  Jodhi May is an English actress.-Early life:Born in Camden Town, London, May first acted at the age of 12 in 1988's A World Apart. The role earned her a Best Actress award at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, shared with her co-stars Barbara Hershey and Linda Mvusi...
  
  , British actress
• Joe May
  Joe May
  Joe May , born Julius Otto Mandl, was a film director and film producer born in Austria and one of the pioneers of German cinema....
  
  
• John May (disambiguation)
• Jon May, mathematician
• Jonathan May
  Jonathan May
  Jonathan May was an American cellist and conductor. He resided in the Orlando, Florida area and was noted for founding and directing numerous youth orchestras and music programs throughout the region.-Early life:...
  
  , American cellist and conductor
• Joseph May
  Joseph May
  Joseph May is a British-born actor who has appeared in television and film on both sides of the Atlantic...
  
  , British actor
• Julian May
  Julian May
  Julian May is an American science fiction, fantasy, horror, science and children's writer who also uses several literary pseudonyms, best known for her Saga of Pliocene Exile and Galactic Milieu Series books.- Background and early career :Julian May grew up in Elmwood Park, Illinois, a suburb of...
  
  , American science fiction author
• Karl May, one of several people including
  • Karl May
    Karl May
    Karl Friedrich May was a popular German writer, noted mainly for adventure novels set in the American Old West, and similar books set in the Orient and Middle East . In addition, he wrote stories set in his native Germany, in China and in South America...
    
    , (1842–1912), German poet
  • Karl Ivanovich May, (1820—1895), Russian educator, see Karl May School
• Kenneth May
  Kenneth May
  Kenneth O. May was an American mathematician and historian of mathematics, who developed May's theorem. The Kenneth O. May Prize is awarded for outstanding contributions to the history of mathematics....
  
  , mathematician
• Lady May
  Lady May
  Lady May is an American rapper from New York City's suburbs.May was born in the 1980s and grew up listening to Elton John, Duran Duran and Michael Jackson...
  
  , American rapper
• Lee May
  Lee May
  Lee Andrew May is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball. From through , May played for the Cincinnati Reds , Houston Astros , Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals . He batted and threw right-handed. He is the brother of former Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees outfielder...
  
  , American baseball player
• Lev Mei, Russian dramatist & poet ("Mei" being distinct from "May" by transliteration alone, and not by sound)
• London May
  London May
  London May , is a rock musician best known for playing drums in Glenn Danzig's post-Misfits/pre-Danzig punk/goth band Samhain, which he joined in the summer of 1985...
  
  , drummer
• Margaret May
  Margaret May
  Margaret Ann May , Australian politician, was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to July 2010, representing McPherson, Queensland....
  
  , Australian politician
• Márcio May
  Márcio May
  Márcio May is a Brazilian road bicycle and track cyclist, who competed in three Summer Olympics for his native country. He won two bronze medals during his career at the Pan American Games . May retired from professionalcycling in January 2008...
  
  , Brazilian cyclist
• Marin May
  Marin May
  Marin May is an American actress who has starred in movies and on television.Her best known role is in the 1983 NBC miniseries V as Katie Maxwell...
  
  , American actress
• Mark May
  Mark May
  Mark Eric May is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League. He is currently a football analyst for ESPN.-Football career:...
  
  , American football player
• Mathilda May
  Mathilda May
  Mathilda May is a French film actress.-Early life:May was born in Paris. Her father is playwright Victor Haïm, who is of Greek and Turkish descent. Her mother is Swedish ballet teacher and choreographer Margareta Hanson...
  
  , French actress
• Michael May (racing driver)
  Michael May (racing driver)
  Michael May is a former racing driver from Switzerland. He participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 14 May 1961...
  
   (born 1934), Swiss racing driver
• Michael May (cricketer)
  Michael May (cricketer)
  Michael Robert May is a former English cricketer who played for Derbyshire between 1989 and 1999.He made his debut appearances for Derbyshire at the 1989 Second XI Trophy, but made no contribution with either bat or ball...
  
   (born 1971), English cricketer
• Mike May (Iowa politician)
  Mike May (Iowa politician)
  Mike May is the Iowa State Representative from the 6th District. He has served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2004...
  
   (born 1945), Member of the Iowa House of Representatives from the 6th district
• Mike May (Colorado politician), Minority Leader in the Colorado House of Representatives
• Mike May (skier) (born 1954), Paralympic alpine skier, regained partial vision by cornea transplants and stem cell procedure
• Milt May
  Milt May
  Milton Scott May is a former professional baseball player and coach who played in the Major Leagues from to for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, and San Francisco Giants. May was a catcher who hit for a fairly high batting average during the era in which...
  
  , American baseball player
• Monica May
  Monica May
  Monica May is an American television and film actress, known for her role as Elizabeth 'Z' Delgado on the series Power Rangers: S.P.D..-Early life:...
  
  , American actress
• Patrick Wayne May, Canadian Hero
• Phil May, British illustrator
• Phil May
  Phil May (singer)
  Phil May is the stage name of an English vocalist...
  
  , singer with The Pretty Things
  The Pretty Things
  The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...
  
  
• Peter May, English cricketer
• Ralphie May
  Ralphie May
  Ralphie O. May is an American stand-up comedian.-Early life:May was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but raised in Clarksville, Arkansas. When he was seventeen years old, he won a contest to open for comedian Sam Kinison, whom he considered his idol. Kinison suggested he move to Houston, Texas to...
  
  , American comedian
• Richard May (disambiguation)
• Robert May (disambiguation)
• Rollo May
  Rollo May
  Rollo May was an American existential psychologist. He authored the influential book Love and Will during 1969. He is often associated with both humanistic psychology and existentialist philosophy. May was a close friend of the theologian Paul Tillich...
  
  , American psychologist
• Rudy May
  Rudy May
  Rudolph May, Jr. is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from to for the California Angels, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expos...
  
  , American baseball player
• Sarah May
  Sarah May
  Sarah May is a British author. Her first book, The Nudist Colony , was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. Her other books include Spanish City , The Internationals , and The Rise and Fall of the Queen of Suburbia...
  
  , British writer
• Scott May
  Scott May
  Scott Glenn May is a retired American professional basketball player.May was a power forward on the 1976 Indiana basketball team that went undefeated and won the NCAA championship under coach Bobby Knight. May was named NCAA men's basketball national player of the year in 1976...
  
  , American basketball player
• Sean May, American basketball player
• Simon May
  Simon May
  Simon May is a British musician and composer, best known for composing some of British television's best known theme tunes, including EastEnders and Howards' Way, and for composing the music for the 1988 film The Dawning....
  
  , British composer
• Teresa May
  Teresa May
  Teresa May is an English glamour model.In 1997, she appeared in the music video for The Prodigy's single "Smack My Bitch Up". She moved into acting later in her career in B movies such as Exterminator City and One Man and his Dog....
  
  , British model
• Theresa May
  Theresa May
  Theresa Mary May is a British Conservative politician who is Home Secretary in the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition government. She was elected to Parliament in 1997 as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, and served as the Chairman of the Conservative Party, 2003–04...
  
  , British politician
• Tim May
  Tim May
  Timothy Brian Alexander May is a former cricketer for South Australia and Australia, who is currently a leading players' representative in his role as Chief Executive of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations...
  
  , Australian cricketer
• Timothy C. May
  Timothy C. May
  Timothy C. May, better known as Tim May, is a technical and political writer, and was an electronic engineer and senior scientist at Intel in the company's early history...
  
  , engineer
• Tina May
  Tina May
  Tina May is an English female jazz vocalist who has recorded several albums on the 33 Records label, born in Gloucester, U.K.. She lived in Frampton-on-Severn when she was young, and attended Stroud High School. Her ex-husband, Clark Tracey, appears on most of her albums for the label. May has...
  
  , British singer
• Thomas May
  Thomas May
  Thomas May was an English poet, dramatist and historian of the Renaissance era.- Early life and career until 1630 :...
  
  , English poet
• Thomas Erskine May, Erskine May, 1st Baron Farnborough
  Erskine May, 1st Baron Farnborough
  Sir Erskine May, 1st Baron Farnborough, KCB, PC, DCL was a British constitutional theorist. This derived from his career at the House of Commons.-Biography:...
  
  , British constitutional lawyer
• Tom May (rugby union), English rugby union footballer
• Vladimir May-Mayevsky
  Vladimir May-Mayevsky
  Vladimir Zenonovich May-Mayevsky was a general in the Imperial Russian Army and one of the leaders of counterrevolutionary White movement during the Russian Civil War.-Biography:...
  
  , Russian general
• William May (theologian), English archbishop
• Wop May
  Wop May
  Captain Wilfrid Reid "Wop" May, OBE, DFC , was a First World War flying ace and a pioneering aviator who created the role of the bush pilot while working the Canadian west....
  
  , Canadian airman
• Zakhar May
  Zakhar May
  Zakhar May is a modern Russian musician, author of such hits as "Nahui", "Nashi Tanki" and "Russo Matroso", a participant in festivals "Nashestvie 2002" , "Krylya 2003" and others.-Biography:...
  
  , Russian musician

Other uses

• May (name), given name origin, and people with the given name
• Baron May
  Baron May
  Baron May, of Weybridge in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1935 for the financial expert Sir George May, 1st Baronet. He was for many years secretary of the Prudential Assurance Company. May had already been created a Baronet, of the Eyot, in...
  
  , nobility, a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom

See also

• Maye (disambiguation)
• Mays (disambiguation)
• Mayne (disambiguation)
• Mayhew (disambiguation)
• Maybery
  Richard Maybery
  Captain Richard Aveline Maybery MC and Bar was a Welsh World War I flying ace.Maybery was born in Brecon, Powys, Wales in January 1895, the only son of Aveline Maybery, a solicitor, and his wife Lucy...
  
  
• Maynard (disambiguation)
• Mayall (disambiguation)
• Mey (disambiguation)
• Meynell
  Meynell
  Meynell is the name of:* Alice Meynell , wife of Wilfrid Meynell* Francis Meynell , British poet and printer, son of Alice and Wilfrid Meynell* Godfrey Meynell , army officer, awarded posthumous VC...