I always thought that Mc or Mac as in Scottish names came before other M names becuase the "c" or "ac" are special characters.
2007-01-10 07:41:59 · 11 answers · asked by YE_ 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
If they aren't special characters, why is the next letter capitalized? They are a sub or super script
2007-01-11 03:44:03 · update #1
It used to be true that Mc and Mac came before other M's. I have books published as late as the 1980s which list the entries of the bibliography in that order. But in the 21st century that is no longer the case and Matthew will precede McDonald but follow MacDonald. I used to get really mad when my name (McLaughlin) was not where I expected to find it (between Ma and Me).
EDIT: I am speaking for American English. The Brits always play by different rules. But since there are more Americans.....
2007-01-10 08:17:34 · answer #1 · answered by Taivo 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There are so many different ways of spelling these Scottish surnames (McDonald, MacDonald, Macdonald) that all British telephone directories order them alphabetically AS IF they were spelled Mac..., whether they actually are or not. Other surnames which happen to begin with MAC, even if it's not the Scottish prefix, are just sorted in among the Mac's. So the order could be Maccabeus, McCarthy, Macconnachie, McDonald, Mace, Machin, McKay, . . . and Matthews would be a long way after.
2007-01-10 10:05:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Matthews
2007-01-10 07:45:39 · answer #3 · answered by Mz Bee 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Quarter Pounder
2016-03-14 04:04:09 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Matthews. The c in McDonald, is just like any other letter of the alphabet. "a" comes before "c", so Matthews is before McDonald.
2007-01-10 07:46:36 · answer #5 · answered by Curious 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Matthews: Ma before Mc no matter how you look at it.
2007-01-10 07:45:58 · answer #6 · answered by LOLO W 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Matthews comes first.,,,
2007-01-10 09:08:42 · answer #7 · answered by suma 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
what you believe is not true in regular filing system. i took an administrative asst. class and no matter the special character mac comes before Mc.Hope this helps!
2007-01-10 07:53:39 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
It takes seven seconds for Y.A. questions to open for me to be able to click on [add your answer] box. is my computer slow??
2016-08-23 14:52:48 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They're not special characters; they're letters.
2007-01-10 07:44:58 · answer #10 · answered by Megara 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋