why should I capitalize the second "C" in ''McCullers"?

Question

Carson McCullers was the American writer, but why should I capitalize the second "C" in ''McCullers"?

Answer 1

For the same reason McDonald's capitalizes the "D".

"Fundamentally, Mac and Mc are interchangeable. They represent the Gaelic patronymic prefix meaning "son of."

Irish and Scotch Gaelic prefix meaning "son of." Also m' and "mic," giving rise to the racial slur for Irish men as "micks," "mics," or "micky's." Scottish and Irish patronymic surnames frequently have the prefix Mac or Mc.

When these surnames were originally developed, they were formed by adding the Gaelic word mac, which means son of, to the name of the original bearer's father. For example, the surname MacDonnell literally means son of Donnell.

In later times, these prefixes were also added to the occupation or nickname of the bearer's father. For example, MacWard means son of the bard and MacDowell means son of the black stranger. Numerous variations of this prefix emerged, for a number of reasons. It was rendered Mag before vowels and aspirated consonants.

Historical records concerning Irish and Scottish names reveal that the common prefix Mc and the less common prefixes M' and Mcc developed as abbreviations of the original Gaelic prefix Mac. Thus, the popular beliefs that Mc is a distinctively Irish prefix while Mac is exclusively Scottish, and that one prefix is used by Catholic families while the other one is specifically Protestant are erroneous.

In actuality, the same person often had his surname recorded using both Mac and Mc on separate occasions.

Answer 2

The Mc is an abbreviation of the word Mac which is a title. It indicates they are a member of the chief's clan. In this case the Cullers. It is proper to respect the tradition of the name.

Answer 3

Because it's their name and you always capitalize the letter after the Mc in a name like that. That's just how it goes.

Answer 4

Because the Mc is a prefix.

Answer 5

It's the rule