Minkay meaning | Last name Minkay origin

The form of the Menzies. The Menzies, though sometimes considered a Highland clan, are of English origin. Their name was originally Meyners, and as etymologist Skene observes, "their arms, and the resemblance of their name, distinctly point them out as a branch of the English family of Manners, and consequently their Norman origin is undoubted." 2. The name, according to Arthur, has been variously written, "Maynoers, Meyners, then Menys, afterwards Meynes or Mengies, and now Menzies." It is pronounced Mengyies or Mengies. In Gaelic, the family are called Menairich. Their habitat is the Perthshire Highlands, where in 1745 the clan could raise three hundred fighting men.

Minkay is form of Meiner. Descendant of Maganhar meaning "strength, army"; one who came from Meyn, in Germany.

Minkay is form of Mein. Probably Anglo-Norman mesne: "a lord of a manour who holds of a superior lord." Bailey.