Mace
A surname with more than one likely source, including a medieval occupational sense connected with a mace-bearer and a short-form nickname for Matthew.
The #2,933 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 25,261 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Mace can be an occupational surname in medieval records, used for someone who carried a mace as an officer or attendant. The underlying word comes through Old French forms such as maissier or massier, referring to a mace-bearer. In some cases, however, Mace is also explained as a shortened French pet form of Matthew, so the name does not have a single certain origin everywhere it appears.
History
The surname appears in English records and was noted by 19th-century surname writers among names drawn from law, office, and public service. Because the same spelling could also arise from a nickname form of Matthew, different families may share the spelling but not the same origin. It is therefore a good example of a surname with mixed beginnings rather than one fixed source.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname scholars linked Mace to the mace-bearer, a ceremonial or official office in medieval life, which gives the name a distinctly medieval administrative flavor.
From the historical record
“hard-us, O.Ger. Madelhard = Speech- or Council- Strong [the Cont.Teut. cognate of O.'E.mce^el, speech, council, etc. + O.Sax. hard=Gotii.hardu-s=0.li.Gex.hart=0.'E,. h(e)ard, hard, strong, etc.] MALLET \ I (Fr.-Lat.) Naughty [Fr. mal MALLETTJ (Lat. mal-us) -|-the dim. suff. -rt]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)