Maloy
A surname that is usually a spelling variant of Irish names like Malloy or Molloy, meaning a descendant of a servant or follower.
The #6,664 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 60,921 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Maloy is generally treated as a variant spelling of the Irish surname Molloy / Malloy, from Gaelic Ó Maolmhuaidh. The first element, maol, means "bald" or, in surname use, "devotee/tonsured follower," while the second element is usually taken as a personal name or byname meaning "noble" or "majestic." In broad sense, the name points to descent from a notable Gaelic ancestor rather than to the English word "mal".
History
The surname appears in records as one of several spellings clustered around Malloy, Molloy, Malley, and related forms. In nineteenth-century Irish surname lists it is often grouped with these variants rather than treated as a separate independent origin. In the United States, Maloy is generally found as an Anglicized or simplified spelling of the Irish name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old surname dictionaries often list Maloy alongside a whole family of similar Irish forms, showing how fluid spelling could be before standardization.
From the historical record
“[Logue]. 259,2 Maloy. Meloy. Moloy.”
— Varieties and Synonymes of Surnames and Christian Names in Ireland