Mar
A rare surname that may be a shortened or variant form of several different names, with origins not fully certain.
The #6,342 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 57,441 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical dictionaries do not give a single clear derivation for Mar, and the entry appears alongside related spellings such as Marr, Marrett, Marrian, and Marrion. One possibility is that it is a shortened or altered form connected with names like Mansel/Maunsell in English and Norman tradition, but the evidence is not decisive. Another line of explanation treats some Mar-type names as local surnames or as forms influenced by the personal name Mark, yet the sources here do not settle which route applies to the surname in every case.
History
Because Mar is very short, it can reflect more than one family line or spelling history. In older surname books it is often linked to nearby forms and variant spellings rather than treated as a firmly established independent name. The modern rarity of Mar in the United States fits a surname that may have merged into longer forms or survived as a short variant.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In some surname dictionaries, Mar is not treated as a stand-alone origin at all, but as part of a cluster of related spellings that blur together over time.
From the historical record
“MAR RAT MARRATT MARRETT MARRIAN MARRIN MARRION”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)