Mauger is a Norman

Norman language

Norman is a Romance language and one of the Oïl languages. Norman can be classified as one of the northern Oïl languages along with Picard and Walloon...

 surname of Germanic

Germanic languages

The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...

 origin. The second element of the name "ger" means "spear", while the first element was perhaps "mol" to sharpen. The previous form was Malger, Malgerius. Besides northern France, the surname Mauger is frequently found in the Channel Islands

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...

, particularly Guernsey

Guernsey

Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...

 and Jersey

Jersey

Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...

. There and in the rest of the Commonwealth

Commonwealth

Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...

, the name Mauger is usually pronounced "Major", rather than retaining a French pronunciation.

Archbishop Mauger, Archbishop of Rouen in the eleventh century, had a half-brother Robert I, Duke of Normandy who was the father of William the Conqueror. Archbishop Mauger was exiled to Guernsey, with his family. Other Maugers include two New Zealand sportsmen, Ivan Mauger

Ivan Mauger

Ivan Mauger, OBE, MBE, is a retired motorcycle speedway rider. He won a record six World Championships, a feat only equalled by Tony Rickardsson of Sweden...

 who was six times the motorcycle speedway world champion and his great-nephew, Aaron Mauger

Aaron Mauger

Aaron Joseph Douglas Mauger is a former rugby union player who played at centre for Leicester Tigers. He previously played first five-eighths and second five-eighths for Canterbury , the Crusaders and the New Zealand All Blacks...

 who made his All Blacks

All Blacks

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

 debut in 2001. Another is Samuel Mauger

Samuel Mauger

Samuel Mauger was an Australian social reformer, hat manufacturing unionist and a Protectionist politician.-Early life:...

, a former Australian politician originating in Guernsey.

Mauger is also a popular French grammar textbook, used all over the world.

See also

• Mauger (disambiguation)
• Mayor (surname)
  Mayor (Surname)
  Mayor is a French surname of Viking or Norman origin. The Normans were Viking warriors who settled in Normandy, France, the region gaining its name from the Latin Normannium meaning "Men of the North"....