Mair

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mair is a Welsh girl's first name meaning 'Mary'. In Hebrew, the translation is 'wished for child.' David Lloyd George, former UK Prime Minister had a daughter called 'Mair'.

Mair is a name of Scottish origin. In pre-feudal times a mair was an official who attended a sheriff for arrestment or executions (see sheriff court). That post is thought to be the origin of the still-extant post of sheriff officer, which is one of the oldest in the Scottish legal system.

Mair also has separate etymologies in the German language and Yiddish language (see German family name etymology and List of Jewish surnames), where it is a less common variant of a large family of surnames like Meyer, Meier, Maier etc (see m:de:Meier); and Sanskrit language, where it means brave.

Several notable people have the surname Mair:

• Surname:
  • Charles Mair, a Canadian poet, son of Scottish immigrants
  • Eddie Mair, a Scottish television and radio presenter
  • Paulus Hector Mair, an Augsburg civil servant
  • Rafe Mair, a Canadian political commentator
  • Sarah Mair (1846–1941), Scottish campaigner for women's suffrage and education
  • Victor H. Mair, American Professor of Chinese Language and Literature

• Other
  • MAIR Holdings, an airline holding company based in Minnesota, United States

[edit] See also

• Jacob Le Maire, a Dutch mariner
• Mair-Minhas, see Minhas, the Rajput tribe of Chakwal in the Punjab Province of Pakistan, named after Raja Mair (whose name before conversion to Islam in 1190 was Raja Bhagir Dev), the ancestor of Minhas Rajputs in Punjab (mair means brave in Sanskrit)
• Mair Rajputs of Punjab
• Rajput
• Bhati / Bhatti (Punjab)
• Mayr, Meir, Maier, Meier, Mayer, Meyer, Myer, Meyr, Von Meyer
• Myers, Meyers
• Meyerson, Myerson