A list of Irish surnames beginning with Mac (or Mc), from McCann to McSweeney.
MacAuley
Variants: McCauley, McAwley, Cawley,Magawley.
In Irish: Mac Amhalghaidh
Found in: Cork, Fermanagh, Westmeath.
Origin: Gaelic
Mac Amhalghaidh means “son of Auley”, once important Gaelic Lords.
MacAuliffe
In Irish:MacAmhlaoibh
Found in: Cork
Origin: Norse
From the Norse name “Olaf”.
MacBride
Variants: McBride
In Irish: MacGiolla Brighde
Found in: Donegal,
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of the servant of St. Brigid”.
MacCabe
Variants: McCabe
In Irish: Mac Cába.
Found in: Cavan, Leitrim
Origin: Scots-Gaelic
“Caba” means “hat or cap”. The family originally came from Scotland to serve as Gallowglasses (a type of mercenary soldier) to Irish lords. Their name may come from their wearing of distinctive hats.
MacCann
Variants: Canny, McCann
In Irish: MacAnnadh
Found in: Armagh, Ulster
Origin: Gaelic
Related to the O’Neills of Ulster
MacCarthy
Variants: McCarthy
In Irish: MacCarthaigh
Found in: Widespread
Origin: Gaelic
Descendents of Carthac, a 12th century chieftain.
MacCormack
Variants: McCormick
In Irish: MacCormaic
Found in: Widespread
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of Cormac”, not descended from a single Cormac – it was a common name.
MacCullagh
In Irish: Variants: Cully, MacNully
In Irish: Mac Con Uladh
Found in: Antrim, Down, Ulster
Origin: Scots-Gaelic
Means “Son of the hound” Known in Scotland as MacCulloch.
MacDermot
Variants: MacDermott, Kermode.
In Irish: MacDiarmada
Found in: Roscommon, Sligo
Origin: Gaelic
Means “Son of Dermot”. Dermot was a 12th century King of Moylurgh, a place now known as Coolavin, in Sligo.
MacElroy
Variants: McElroy
In Irish: MacGiolla Rua
Found in: Fermanagh, Leitrim
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of the red haired man”.
MacEvoy
Variants: McAvoy, McEvoy
In Irish: MacGuiollabhuidhe Mac A Buidhe
Found in: Laois, Louth
Origin: Gaelic
May mean “woodsman”; or, “yellow (blonde?) son”.
MacGee
Variants: Magee, MacKee, McKee
In Irish: Mac Aodha
Found in: Antrim, Armagh, Down.
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of Aodh (Hugh)”.
MacGill
Variants: Magill
In Irish: An Ghaill
Found in: Ulster
Origin: Gaelic
MacGinn
Variants: Maginn, McGinn, MacGinne
In Irish: Mac Fhinn
Found in: Armagh, Down, Tyrone
Origin: Gaelic
Means “Finn’s son”or sometimes “son of the foreigner”. A foreigner could also simply mean a stranger.
MacGovern
Variants: MacGowran, McGovern, McGowran
In Irish: Mac Samhrain
Found in: Cavan, Fermanagh, Leitrim
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of Samhradh (summer)”.
McGowan
Variants: Gowan, Smith
In Irish: MacGhabhann
Found in: Cavan, Leitrim, Monaghan, Ulster
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of the smith”. The same origin as the English name Smith, to which is was sometime anglicised.
MacGrath
Variants: Magraw, MacGraw, Magrath, McGrath, McGraw.
In Irish: MacRaith
Found in: Clare, Donegal, Fermanagh, Limerick. Widespread.
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of Raith”; raith also means “wealth”, so it may mean “son of the wealthy man”.
MacHugh
Variants: MacCoy, McKee, Hughes, MacKay, McHugh, Hewson
In Irish: MacAoda
Found in: Donegal, Fermanagh, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of Hugh”, so is a related name to McGee, above.
MacInerney
Variants: Macnairney, Mcnerney, McInerney
In Irish: Mac An Airchinnigh
Found in: West of Ireland
Origin: Gaelic
Comes from the old name MacErenagh which means “son of the lord”. Lord as in nobleman, not God.
MacKenna
In Irish: MacCionaoda
Found in: Cavan, Monaghan, Ulster.
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of Cionaoid”.
MacKeown
Variants: McKown, McKeon, MacKowen.
In Irish: MacEoghan
Origin: Gaelic
“Eo” means “Yew Tree”, but may not be relevant. Eoghan is one of several Irish versions of John, so it may just mean “Eoghan’s son”.
MacLoughlin
Variants: O’Loghlen, MacLaughlin, McLaughlin
In Irish: MacLochlainn
Found in: Clare, Derry, Donegal, Meath.
Origin: Gaelic
MacMahon
Variants: Mahon, McMahon, Mohan, Vaughn
In Irish: , Mac Mathghamhna
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of a bear”, presumably a large or strong man.
MacManus
In Irish: MacMaghnuis
Found in: Fermanagh, Roscommon
Origin: Norse
Derived from the Norse or Viking name Magnus.
MacNally
Variants: McNally, Macannally, Nally
In Irish: Mac an Fhailghigh
Found in: Armagh, Mayo, Monaghan.
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of the poor man”.
MacNamara
Variants: McNamara
In Irish: MacNamara
Found in: Clare, Limerick
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of the sea hound”.
MacNulty
Variants: McNulty, Nulty
In Irish: Mac An Ultaigh
Found in: Mayo, Ulster
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of Ulster”.
MacQuaid
Variants: McQuaid, McQuaide, MacWade, McWade
In Irish: Mac Uaid
Found in: Ulster
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of Uaid (Walter)”.
MacQuillan
Variants: McQuillan
In Irish: MacCoilin or MacUighlilin
Found in: Ulster
Origin: Gaelic
Means “son of little Hugh” and refers to Hugeli de Mandeville a Norman-Welsh lord who arrived in Ireland in the 12th century.
MacSweeney
Variants: MacSwiney, Sweeney, Sweeny
Found in: Cork, Donegal.
Origin: Gaelic, Scots Gaelic
Means “son of the pleasant man”. The Donegal branch are of Scots Gaelic origin.
8 Comments
MC means grandson of…
MAC means son of…
Mc is an anglicisation of Mac, which means son. In Irish all Mc names are written Mac with a space before the next part. So my name McCartan is in Irish Mac Artáın (note the accent over the second a and the dotless i.
Another anglisication that was formerly common was M’. The Belfast Newsletter (allegedly the oldest newspaper in the world in continuous production) always used to give Mc names as M’.
How do you not know where your name comes from as well as yourself? I myself am a Londoner but know that all McGoverns originate from in and around Glangevlin in the hills of West Cavan.
Why do both “Mac” and “Mc” exist? Is there a significant difference? Our family name is McArthur, which in the US is often confused with MacArthur, due to the renown of General Douglas MacArthur.
Not only is there no significant difference, there is no difference at all between the two, they are the same. Mc could be considered to be an abbreviation of Mac. Mc or Mac gives no indication as to whether the name is Irish or Scottish. Though Mac is probably the more common form in Scotland, Mc the more common in Ireland, this isn’t the case for all names and isn’t useful when deciding where the name originated.
Nor is one or other spelling indicative of belonging to different family lines – while one form or the other may be used reasonably consistently down the generations in some families, this isn’t always the case. Bear in mind that in both Scotland and Ireland for many centuries record keeping was done by the English, the people whose information was being recorded either didn’t know (or care) how their name was spelled or had little power to influence how it was recorded. As a result official records are not a reliable indicator of the significance of one or other spelling.
Also, when people emigrated to the US their names were very frequently misspelled at point of entry and they tended to just stick with whatever spelling had been used at that point. That tendency to misspell hasn’t changed much. You’ve surely experienced what anyone with a Mac or Mc surnames has – the constant need to specify which form you use when giving your name to anyone or of correcting it on records.
So, essentially, there is no real difference between your name and that of General MacArthur’s. You have the same name.
I have the last name of Fitzgerald. I understand that this name comes from the Gaelic name of “Gearauilt” and the “Fitz” was added by the Anglicans. Could you provide the pronunciation of “Gearauilt” and is it appropriate to add the Mac to the Gaeilc name?
Thank you very much for assistance in this matter.
karen
I am from Canada, I found out I am related to the late Lord and Lady McCann, parents off Rachelle McCann ( Born Feb 14), I was wondering the history of the family, if there is still any descendent living, Etc, thank you, Brenda
I have never heard of a Lord and Lady McCann. I just did a search of Burke’s Peerage and it came up blank. I am not really sure they ever existed to be honest. People who are Lords are generally quite well documented and that’s really not so in this case. There was a Lord Mayor of Dublin called McCann, but he lived his whole life in Ireland and died in the 1980s, so it’s probably not any good to you.
McCann is quite a frequently found name in Ireland.