Does anyone know the origin of the surname "Merva"?

Question

Looking for family roots. Slavic? Polish? Portuguese? Jewish? Not sure.

Answer 1

Hey Lilek,

Given the evidence below, I have to say Hungarian.

--------------------------------first web site says
Ancesty.com Global Search Results Merva family history records.
1790 - 1930 Census Records Merva census records.
Historical Newspaper Archives Merva history and archives.
UK and Ireland Records Collection Merva UK and Irish records.
UK and Ireland 1891 Census Merva 1891 Census records.
-----------------------------------second site
is ellis island with 2 distinct passengers
First Name: Andra
Last Name: Merva
Ethnicity: Hungarian
Last Place of Residence: Ropas
Date of Arrival: May 05, 1901
Age at Arrival: 42y Gender: M Marital Status: M
Ship of Travel: Batavia
Port of Departure: Hamburg
Manifest Line Number: 0021

and Second Record at Ellis Island

First Name: Andras
Last Name: Merva
Ethnicity: Hungarian, Slovak
Last Place of Residence: Tarczafo, Hungary (Penn. U.S.)
Date of Arrival: Apr 27, 1909
Age at Arrival: 52y Gender: M Marital Status: M
Ship of Travel: Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm
Port of Departure: Bremen
Manifest Line Number: 0021


You should get a FREE account there! and follow up on these records, they include manifests, and other passengers traveling with them.
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and the third web site says Hungary Genealogy as a posting on the GENFORUM.

Answer 2

Man, Rust is GOOD! But, just to add a bit more, just in case:

It could also be a corrupted version of the name Merveille, or Marvel in English, Merveille is French. It's a habitational surname from Merveille, from the Old French mendre meaning smaller or lesser, and ville, which is settlement.

Just to confuse things further, it could also be the corrupted form of van der Merwe. Often, immigrants would drop the van der, and just keep the main part of the name. "V" looking so much like "W," and "w" being said like a "v," it could easliy be changed down the generations. Van der Merwe is Dutch, a habitational surname from Merwede, a river in southern Holland.

Answer 3

Hmmm. The closest etymology that I could find was Merv, which is the male derivative of Mervyn. This website may be helpful.

http://behindthename.com/