Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being ****Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges.

Derivation and history

The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived from the Norman name Mesnières, from the town of Mesnières-en-Bray in Normandy.

Pronunciation

The traditional Scottish pronunciation of the name is, reflecting the spelling of the name as Menȝies, using the letter ⟨ȝ⟩ (yogh). The current spelling arose when yogh fell out of use in the Scots language and was replaced with the similar-looking tailed variant (⟨𝔷⟩) of the letter ⟨z⟩. However, outside Scotland the name is often given the pronunciation, reflecting the current spelling. A Scottish limerick plays on the traditional pronunciation: There wis a young lassie named Menzies, That askit her aunt whit this thenzies. Said her aunt wi a gasp, "Ma dear, it's a wasp, An you're haudin the end whaur the stenzies!" The second and fifth lines are pronounced as though the <z> were a <ȝ>, making "thing is" and "sting is", to rhyme with "Menzies". "Wasp" rhymes with "gasp" in Scots.

People with the surname

Footnotes