[Surname] Meaning and origin of Mackelo?
My maiden name is Mackelo and due to the 'Mac' in it I've always thought it Scottish for many years till several years ago. My dad was born in Scotland but he was the grandson of a romany gypsy who arrived in Scotland from abroad, presumly Romania or Lithuania. It is only recently I've found out that Mackelo could be a Polish name so I would like to know the meaning and origin of my surname plus narrow it down to a particular area of Poland.
Replies
There is nobody named Mackelo in Poland as you can see at http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/. The Lithuanian online phone book lists one Mackelo as shown at http://tr.im/gvt1. I don't think this case can be solved without some genealogical research.
The website www.herby.com.pl lists the following names similar to your maiden name: Mackell, Mackiel, Mackie££o, Mackie£o. Apologies for the £ which is as near as I can get to the barred-L of Polish. The last two look promising and are probably alternative spellings of the same name. The pronunciation would be something like MatskYEwo. This form is reminiscent of polonised Lithuanian names, such as Jagie££o. I suspect that the name may derive from the forename Maciej (Matthew)if Polish, but that's just a guess.