Malek

Recorded in over fifty spellings froms including Maly, Malec, Malak, Malata. Malov, Malicki, Maltsev, Malenkov, Malyj, Maliszewski, and found as well in Poland, Russia, The Ukraine, Hungary, and Croatia, this is a surname of Czech origins. It derives from the pre medieval word "maly" meaning small, and hence was either a nickname for a person of small stature (or given the robust humour of the period, the complete reverse!), or it was a personal name of endearment given as a baptismal name to a child, which later developed as a surname. It is said that in Poland the name translated as "young man" and it may be that this meaning also applied in other countries. What is certain is that in its many and varied forms this is one of Eastern Europes most popular names. Sadly early records from these countries are either non existent or when they occur at all, much later than equivalent British records or even German registers, which can often be traced with reasonable accuracy back to at least the 15th century. These recordings from surviving registers of Czechoslovakia (as was) upto 1992, include Symon Maly, the son of Jan Maly, who was christened at Busisov, Trebic, on October 20th 1699, and Matej Malyj, who married Anna Czierna, at Zaroice, Kyjov, on January 10th 1703.