Is Mc or Mac like Son-of ?
2007-10-17 11:01:22 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
Mac at the beginning of a surname is Gaelic for son of. Mc is an abbreviation that came to be used in some cases. Some people will try to tell you that one is Scottish and the other is Irish. This is not true I have seen both used in surnames from each country. While I am on it the O' before Irish surnames comes from a Gaelic word that means grandson of. The apostrophe is not really an apostrophe -in Gaelic spelling is a fada, a diacritical mark used in Gaelic.
mac Niall = son of Niall - modern MacNeil or McNeil
Uí Niall = grandson of Niall-modern O' Neil or O'Neal
Once upon a time women also used "na" , daughter of as a prefix to a patronymic. Who is now named Maureen O'Brien ( from Uí Briain ) would centuries ago have been
Maureen na Briain.
Yeah Jock, I agree that the Scottish Gaels come from the septs of the Uí Niall Clan. My own background is Dal gCaís and Eoganacht-southern Ireland.
Slán agus beannacht leat.
2007-10-17 11:18:37 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Irish names are O' or Mc. The Scottish prefix is Mac
2016-03-13 00:57:30 · answer #2 · answered by Joan 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mc, Mac and Fitz means son of
The prefix O means descendant of.
That does not mean every McDonald is related. No doubt there was more than one Donald that had sons.
2007-10-17 11:43:47 · answer #3 · answered by Shirley T 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, if you are a guy for example MacLeod (McLeod)
If you are a lady that would be Nicleod (NcLeod)
bassmeis...yes you'll have seen people with Mc in Scotland too, but if you dig down you'll find ther ancestors are from Ireland, probably the Northern half of Ireland too, just as are the O,Neill's
2007-10-17 12:07:49 · answer #4 · answered by Jock 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
yeah mac means son of in scotland and mc means son of in gaelich in ireland.
2007-10-17 11:05:14 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I believe it signifies a clan or a family transcendence; as such, it is essentially a possessive surname.
2007-10-17 11:08:53 · answer #6 · answered by EvKat the Angler 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
yeah its like son of
2007-10-17 11:05:16 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋