Mayfield
A habitational surname meaning “someone from a place called Mayfield,” literally “May field” or “perhaps meadow of the may-tree.”
The #1,184 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 10,359 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Mayfield is a place-name surname taken from a village or field called Mayfield. The first element is usually explained as the month name May, though in some place-names it may also reflect Old English mægheġe or a related plant name for the hawthorn or may-tree. The second element is Old English feld, meaning an open area, pasture, or cleared land.
History
English records show Mayfield as a local surname, especially in Sussex, where it appears to have been established for centuries around Mayfield and Heathfield. Like many locational surnames, it spread as people moved away from their home district, and it is now found well beyond England, including in the United States. The name is also borne by several English place-names, which likely helped reinforce and diversify its use as a surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because Mayfield is also a common place-name, the surname can have multiple independent points of origin rather than tracing to a single family line.
From the historical record
“in 1827. Mr. Pettyjohn lived in Belknap, Tex., 1858. Mr. Gilliam (i.e., " Guillaume," or "Wil- liam ") is a lawyer at Mayfield, Ky. A Mr. Jack is a graduate of Yale. Paulsen ("Paul's son") is the American Philidor. He i^layed at one time (October, 1857), in New York, five games of chess, blindfolded, beating in…”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)