Maslin Family History

from the medieval personal name Masselin. This originated as an Old French pet form of Germanic names with the first element mathal ‘speech’, ‘counsel’. However, it was later used as a pet form of Matthew. Compare Mace. A feminine form, Mazelina, was probably originally a pet form of Matilda. possibly a metonymic occupational name for a maker of wooden bowls, from Middle English, Old French maselin ‘bowl or goblet of maple wood’ (a diminutive of Old French masere ‘maple wood’, of Germanic origin). In some cases it may derive from the homonymous dialect terms maslin, one of which means ‘brass’ (Old English mæslen, mæstling), the other ‘mixed grain’ (Old French mesteillon).

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press