This article is about the surname MacDonald (and similar). For other uses, see Macdonald (disambiguation)

"McDonald" redirects here. For the global fast food chain, see McDonald's

MacDonald, Macdonald, McDonald Pronunciation mɨkdɒnəld Language(s) Scottish Gaelic Origin Meaning "Son of Dòmhnall" Region of origin Scotland/Ireland Other names Variant form(s) Donald, Donaldson (surname), McDonnell, MacDonnell, MacDonell, McConnell, MacConnell, O'Donnell, Donnell [1]

MacDonald, Macdonald, and McDonald is a Scottish and Irish surname.

Origins and variants [ edit ]

The surname is an Anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic MacDhòmhnaill or Dòmhnallach.[2] The name is a patronym meaning "son of Dòmhnall". The personal name Dòmhnall is composed of the elements domno "world" and val "might", "rule".[3] According to Alex Woolf, the Gaelic personal name is probably a borrowing from the British Celtic Dyfnwal.

In the context of Scottish clans, the various forms of the name refer to one of the largest clans, Clan Donald.

Frequency and distribution [ edit ]

In Scottish surname data, no distinction is made between, for instance, "Macdonald" and "MacDonald".[4] According to this data, the following frequency information can be collated:

Year(s) Macdonald Rank %freq[5] McDonald Rank %freq 1855–1858[6] 2 1.23 <50 <0.30 1935[6] 2 1.03 <50 <0.28 1958[6] 3 0.98 <50 <0.26 1976[7] 10 0.59 23 0.40 1990[7] 10 0.55 32 0.35 1999–2001[4][7] 9 0.55 24 0.37 2014[1] 9 0.35 34 0.21

Frequency data from England of 1891 shows a concentration of families bearing the "Macdonald" surname in Lancashire and Yorkshire with a lower frequency in the northernmost counties, but overall widespread distribution throughout the country.[9] "McDonald" shares the same pattern of distribution.[10] Looking at contemporaneous data from the United States, coast-to-coast distribution of both "Macdonald" and "McDonald" appears in 1880.[11][12] Looking back to 1840 in the United States, the prevalence of "McDonald" is far greater than that of "Macdonald", with concentration in the Ohio-Pennsylvania-New York corridor.[13][14]

Notable people: MacDonald surname [ edit ]

Born before 1400

Born after 1400

John of Islay, Earl of Ross (1434–1503), or "John MacDonald", Scottish ruler, Fourth Lord of the Isles and Chief of the Highland Clan Donald

Born after 1700

Flora MacDonald (1722–1790), Jacobite patriot who protected Bonnie Prince Charlie after the 1746 Battle of Culloden

Jacques MacDonald (1765–1840), French Duke of Tarento and Marshal of the Empire under Napoleon I (2nd generation French; father was Scottish)

John MacDonald of Garth (1771–1866), early partner in the North West Company

John Small MacDonald (c. 1791–1849), Canadian businessman and provincial politician

Born after 1800

Born after 1900

Born after 1950

Notable people: Macdonald surname [ edit ]

Born after 1700

Allan Macdonald (1794–1862), New York politician

Lawrence Macdonald (1799–c.1870), Scottish sculptor

Born after 1800

Born after 1900

Born after 1950

Notable people: McDonald surname [ edit ]

Born after 1800

Born after 1900

Born after 1950

Pseudonyms [ edit ]

Ian MacDonald (born Ian MacCormick, 1948–2003), British music critic and author.

Given names [ edit ]

Macdonald Carey (1913–1994), American actor

Relationships [ edit ]

Brothers: J.S. Macdonald (b. 1812) ↔ D.A. Macdonald (b. 1817)

Brothers: C. McDonald (b. 1955) ↔ D. McDonald (b. 1960)

Father-son: A. McDonald (b. 1937) → D. Tennant (McDonald) (b. 1971)

Father-Daughter-in-Law: J.A. Macdonald (b. 1874) → M.M. Macdonald (b. 1910)

Fictional characters [ edit ]

Coronation Street [ edit ]

Several characters from the soap opera Coronation Street, including:

See also [ edit ]

Ambiguous human name pages