Music
A rare surname that likely began as a nickname or occupational reference connected with music-making or musical instruction.
The #6,825 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 62,499 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is most likely from the common noun “music,” ultimately from Latin musica, via Old French and Middle English. In surname use, it probably referred to someone associated with music as a performer, teacher, or minstrel rather than to the abstract art itself. Because the documentary evidence here is thin, it is best treated as an English nickname or occupational surname that arose from the trade term.
History
The name is uncommon in England and appears to have been more often recorded as a descriptive byname than as a long-established hereditary surname. 19th-century surname writers occasionally note forms that could point to a “teacher of music” or similar occupation, but the evidence is scattered and not decisive. In modern records, Music is a small but established surname in English-speaking countries, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same word that gives us the surname Music also appears in many medieval records as a learned term for the art of song and instrumental performance.
From the historical record
“Stem, Pluck, Diamond, Shrimp, Hutch, Cock, Sweet, Pantry, Few, Pen, Fash, Mike, Willox, Strodger, Daddy, Smiler, Nice, Jenny's, Manty, Fullsea, Music, Owd Ned, Margery, Buskin, Orchard, Sifi, and Muff. The Irish name-system is elaborate and somewhat comphcated; but it is extremely interesting. And Ireland is very…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)