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{{use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} 
{{Use British English|date=April 2022}} 
'''Menzies''' is a [[Scotland|Scottish]] surname and first name, with [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]] forms being '''Méinnearach''' and '''Méinn''', and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges.{{fact|date=April 2022}}

==Derivation and history ==
The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived from the [[Normans|Norman]] name Mesnières, from the town of [[Mesnières-en-Bray]] in [[Normandy]].<ref name =hey>[[David Hey]], [http://www.menzies.org/history/index.htm Clan Menzies website]</ref><ref>[http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/alba/foghlam/learngaelic/litir/pdf/501_600/litir554.pdf BBC Alba - ''Litir do Luchd-ionnsachaidh'' (554)]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=VqzHmppBcl4C&oi=fnd&pg=PP7e ''Family names and family history'', pp 37-38]</ref>

== Pronunciation ==
[[file:Z-small-Variante.svg|tailed ''z''|thumb|upright=0.25]]
[[File:Yogh.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|upright=0.25|Capital yogh (left), lowercase yogh (right)]]
The traditional Scottish pronunciation of the name is {{IPAc-en|audio=Menzies.ogg|ˈ|m|ɪ|ŋ|ɪ|s}} {{respell|MING|iss}}, reflecting the spelling of the name as {{lang|ang|Menȝies}}, using the letter {{big|{{angle bracket|ȝ}}}} ([[yogh]]). The current spelling arose when yogh fell out of use in the [[Scots language]] and was replaced with the similar-looking [[Tailed z|tailed variant]] (<math>\mathfrak{z}</math>) of the letter {{angle bracket|z}}.<ref>{{cite book |title=Setting Signs for Europe |author=Bernd Kappenberg |page=30 |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-3-8382-6703-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w7c-DQAAQBAJ&q=Menȝies&pg=PA30}}</ref>

However, outside Scotland the name is often given the pronunciation {{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɛ|n|z|iː|z}} {{respell|MEN|zeez}}, reflecting the current spelling. 

A [[Scots language|Scots]] [[limerick (poetry)|limerick]] plays on the traditional pronunciation:

<blockquote><poem>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!"{{efn|Translation: There was a young girl named Menzies ["Mingiss"], / That asked her aunt what this thing is. / Said her aunt with a gasp, / "My dear, it's a wasp, / And you're holding the end where the sting is!"}}</poem></blockquote>

The second and fifth lines are pronounced as though the <z> were a <{{lang|ang|ȝ}}>, making "thing is" and "sting is", to rhyme with "Menzies". "Wasp" rhymes with "gasp" in [[Scots language|Scots]].

== People with the surname ==
* [[Alan W. C. Menzies]] (1877–1966), Scots-born chemist and professor of chemistry at Princeton University
* [[Alex Menzies]], Scottish football player
* [[Alex Menzies (footballer, born 1882)]] (1882–1964), Scottish international football player
* [[Archibald Menzies]] (1754–1842), British medic and biologist; ship's doctor and naturalist on board George Vancouver's voyage to the North Pacific
* [[Beryl Fowler|Beryl Menzies]] (married name Beryl Fowler, 1881–1963), English painter
* [[Cameron Menzies]] (born 1989), Scottish darts player
* [[Charles Menzies (anthropologist)]]
* [[Charles Menzies (Royal Marines officer)|Sir Charles Menzies]] (1783–1866), Royal Marines officer
* Danni Menzies, British presenter of [[A Place in the Sun (British TV series)#Presenters|''A Place in the Sun'']]
* [[David Menzies]] (died 1936), Scottish football player and manager
* [[Diane Menzies]], New Zealand landscape architect
* [[Douglas Menzies]] (1907–1974), former Justice of the High Court of Australia
* [[Finlay Menzies]], Scottish para-athlete
* [[Frederick Menzies]] (1875–1949), British physician
* [[Gavin Menzies]] (1937–2020), British retired submarine captain and author
* [[George Menzies]] (1930–2016), New Zealand rugby league footballer
* [[Gina Menzies]], Irish media personality
* [[Heather Menzies]] (1949–2017), Canadian actress
* [[Henry Menzies (rugby union)]] (1867–1938), Scottish rugby player
* [[Hugh Menzies]] (1857–1925), Australian politician
* [[Ivan Menzies]] (1896–1985), singer and actor
* [[James Menzies (disambiguation)]]
* [[John Menzies (disambiguation)]]
* [[Karen Menzies]] (born 1962), Australian footballer
* [[Karl Menzies]] (born 1977), Australian cyclist
* [[Mark Menzies]] (born 1971), British politician
* [[Neal Menzies]] (born 1959), Australian professor of soil science
* [[Peter Menzies Jr.]], Australian cinematographer
* [[Ralph Leroy Menzies]] (born 1958), American murderer
* [[Robert Menzies]] (1894–1978), Australia's longest-serving prime minister
* [[Sadie Menzies]] (1914–1996), founder member of the Revolutionary Workers Group 
* [[Sharon Menzies]], 21st century New Zealand financier 
* [[Steve Menzies]] (born 1973), Australian rugby league player
* [[Stewart Menzies]] (1890–1968), Head of British Secret Intelligence Service 1939–1952
* [[Ted Menzies]] (born 1952), Canadian politician
* [[Tobias Menzies]] (born 1974), British actor
* [[William Cameron Menzies]] (1896–1957), American film director

== See also ==
* [[Clan Menzies]], Scottish clan
* [[Mingus (disambiguation)]], pronounced similarly

==Footnotes ==
{{notelist}} 

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{surname|Menzies}}

[[Category:Surnames of Scottish origin]]