Machula is a relatively rare surname. It is probably Sudovian (Yotvingian), Old Prussian, or possibly Lithuanian in origin, from the Baltic region. The former two languages are long extinct, and their speakers' descendants lived in an area with frequent border changes. Many of the them assimilated into Polish, German, Russian, or Lithuanian culture.

Today there are several families living in Europe and North America with the surname Machula and its variants. The goal of this project is to determine whether the various families are related, and if so, to group them into their appropriate branches.

Besides the registered variants listed above, other possible spellings include: Matchula, Matschula, Matschulet, Matschullat, Maczuleit, Macula, Mačula, Maculatis, Mačulatis, Maciulatis, Mačiulatis, Mačiulaitis