Maude Family History

English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Mold in Flintshire, Wales, which name derives from Anglo-Norman French mont haut ‘high hill’ (Latinised as mons altus), the Norman name for Bailey Hill on which the castle stood. The name de Montalt de Mohaut was borne by an Anglo-Norman aristocratic family who acted as castle wardens there but who had their chief seat in Riddlesden in Yorkshire, where the surname proliferated as Mawhood and Maude.

In the 17th century, one branch of the family acquired lands in Ireland. The Maude baronetcy of Dundrum, Tipperary, was created in 1705 for Robert Maude. His son Cornwallis Maude, Baron de Montalt, was created first Viscount Hawarden in 179.

Mowatt is the Scottish form of the name, from a different branch of the same family. Occasionally, it comes from the Middle English and Norman French female personal name Mahald or Maud, which are Old French forms of ancient Germanic Mahthild (Latinised as Matilda), composed of the Germanic elements maht ‘might, power’ + hild ‘battle’.

This personal name partly owed its great popularity among Normans in England to the fact that it was the name of the wife (c. 1031–83) of William the Conqueror. Surnames derived from this personal name are found in many forms and spellings, for example Mould and Moll.