Magyar Family History

Hungarian: ethnic name from the vocabulary word magyar ‘Hungarian’. The name was most often given to Hungarians who lived in nationally mixed rural areas for example in Transylvania and parts of Slovakia (compare Mager).

The ethnic name originates from the ancient Megyer tribe, one of the most powerful Hungarian clans which occupied the Carpathian basin in late Roman times.

The Magyar people came originally from the Urals, but between the 5th and 9th centuries they lived in the north Caucasus and were closely associated with the Turkic peoples there.

They were forced to migrate westward and settled in their present territory at the end of the 9th century.

This surname is also found in Romania and Slovakia.