Mele
A surname with several possible roots, most likely from a personal name or a local-language word rather than a single clear English origin.
The #7,944 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 74,129 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Mele is not securely explained by the excerpts provided, and it is best treated as a name with more than one possible source. In Romance languages, Mele can be associated with forms related to Latin malum meaning “apple,” or with personal-name traditions, while in some cases it may also reflect a shortened or altered form of a fuller surname. Because the evidence here is indirect, the safest conclusion is that Mele is a Romance-language surname whose exact origin can vary by family line.
History
The name is found in several Romance-speaking regions, and surnames of this shape often spread through migration into the Americas and other English-speaking countries. In the United States it is relatively uncommon, which is consistent with recent immigrant or regional family lines rather than a long-established English surname tradition. The historical excerpts supplied do not directly define Mele itself, so no stronger conclusion can be drawn from them.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because Mele is short and vowel-heavy, it can be either a stand-alone surname or a shortened form in different local naming traditions.
From the historical record
“Huish] MELLADEW (Eng.) Honeydew, Nectar [O.E. mele-dedw] MELLERfor Miller, q.v. MELLIN for Malin, q.v., and Melling, q.v. M E LLI N G (Eng.) Bel. to Melling = (the Settle- men t of) the M/EL- Tribe [Domesday”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)