Min
A rare surname that may come from an old personal name meaning “love” or “memory,” though its exact origin is uncertain.
The #5,026 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 44,220 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is probably shortened from an old personal name such as Old English Min or Minna, which is linked in early scholarship with the Germanic word for “love” and “memory.” In that reading, Min would have begun as a pet form or brief personal name and later become a hereditary surname. Because the surname is very short and sparsely documented, the exact derivation remains uncertain.
History
19th- and early-20th-century surname writers noted Min mainly as a short baptismal or family-name form, and some also connected it with longer surnames such as Minns and Minson. The evidence is thin, but the survival of related forms suggests it was used as a personal name before becoming a surname. It is rare in modern records and may also appear as a clipped form or variant spelling in some families.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older surname books even speculated that Min may preserve a very ancient nickname-like personal name rather than a place-name or occupation.
From the historical record
“MEALOR, a var. of Maylor, q.v. MEAN (Celt.) Little [Ir. min = Gael, mion] MEAR (Eng.) Dweller at a Mere [O.E. mere,': a pool] ' (Celt.) Merry, Joy^ous [Gael, and Ir. '”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)