Molnár
A Hungarian surname meaning “miller,” originally denoting someone who worked at or lived by a mill.
The #4,131 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 35,959 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Molnár is the Hungarian word for a miller, so the surname began as an occupational name for someone who ground grain for a living. The word was borrowed into Hungarian from a Slavic source, ultimately reflecting the same basic meaning: a person connected with milling. In surname use, it functioned much like English Miller or German Müller.
History
The surname is especially common in Hungary and among Hungarian-speaking communities, and it appears widely in modern Hungary and the Hungarian diaspora. Because it is a transparent occupational term, it arose independently as a hereditary surname among different families, rather than from a single ancestral line. Spellings without the accent, such as Molnar, are common outside Hungary.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Molnár is one of the classic Hungarian occupational surnames, alongside names like Kovács (“smith”) and Szabó (“tailor”).
From the historical record
“Mollweide 365. MoUy 80. Molnar 625. Mombach 297. Mombelli 200. Momberg, -ger 83, 297. *Momburg 440. Momendey 159.”
— Die Personennamen, insbesondere die Familiennamen