Can someone help me with my surname Maze? Cherokee Indian?

Question

My dad's family says that we have Cherokee Indian in our family but I can't find anything to testify to that, anything at all would help!

Answer 1

A family friend who grew up in eastern Oklahoma and who is  now in her 80s has the maiden name of "Mize"  (not Maze); her mother was Cherokee while her dad was an Anglo, so if your surname is a variation of her last name, you might be part Cherokee.  

Look up both "Maze" and "Mize" in the 1930 US Census   ( http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/census.... ) or else google these sites:

http://www.allthingscherokee.com/links.h...

http://www.cherokeebyblood.com/  

Unfortunately, for your purposes, the United States Census for 1930 didn't note the ethnicity of those individuals listed.  You might also check to see if your surname is on the Dawes Roll:

http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/nat...  (or else google Dawes Rolls National Archives)

Of course, Native Americans didn't receive American citizenship until June 2, 1924.

Answer 2

You won't get ANYWHERE until understanding a basic.. that a name is not your ancestry, nor is a particular name either Cherokee or not Cherokee.  Someone named Jones might have Cherokee ancestry through his maternal grandmother... and when you think about it.. HER maiden name is something else.  Another explanation.. take 2 cousins named Maze, having the same grandfather from wherever.. one cousin marries a Native American, while the other cousin marries a woman from Germany.  Male descendants from both will be related and have the Maze name, but one group has NA heritage and the other does not.

http://www.cyndislist.com/beginner.htm

cyndi's is at the top of my list for favorite sites, because it has thousands of resources, including the beginner area. You have to start with you... using good records and work your way back. Identify your parents, grandparents (using the maiden name for the women).  Normally you will not find living people on the internet, you have to use family documents such as birth/ death certificates. You will get into census records prior to 1930, and other types of items.. obits, tombstones, land records, etc.

You can't identify someone as Cherokee, or anything, until you have the factual information and documents.. but most important.. a NAME.  The names and facts come from basic research. We have lots of persons here to help, and you are not limited on how many questions you can ask.  The more specific the question, the better.  "I need the parents for John Maze, who died in 1935 in Alabama".

Most people think of family history as what the relatives remember or believe.. and have no clue as to the many records available 'out there'.  Keep an open mind to look for facts.. the odds are high that he can be in error regarding the Cherokee part.

http://www.arkansasresearch.com/guideind...

another online guide.

Search the persons first, as individuals, and the real history will show up.

Answer 3

Wendy C. is giving you good advice, a lot of people can have the same name as you and have entirely different origins. This is possibly the origin of the name itself, not you.

Maze  

Last name origins & meanings:

French (Mazé): habitational name from a place in Maine-et-Loire, named in Latin as Masiacum ‘estate of Masius’, from the personal name Masius + the locative suffix -acum.

French (Forez): topographic name from a feminine form of mas ‘farmhouse’, ‘house in the country’ (see Mas 2), or a habitational name from a place called La Maze (Ardèche) or Les Maze (Hérault), named with the same word.

French (Mazé): from a pet form of Thomas.

Northern Irish: of uncertain origin; possibly a variant of May.

Slovenian: possibly from a short form of the personal name Tomaž or its pet form Tomaže(j)