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Najma Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

"Mc" in English names?!

Hi all,

I'm curious about the meaning of "Mc" in some English names. For example, McDonald, McCann, McCarthy, etc.

What does "Mc" stand for? Is it somehow similar to the article "the'', but of course it goes only with some names?

Thank you in advance.
  

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What does "Mc" stand for? qid=20071113075927AA5p1yI

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7 Answers
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Hello Najma,

Mc and Mac mean "son of", in Scots Gaelic.

Best wishes,

McP
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Hi,

Yes, 'son of'. A slightly longer form is 'Mac'.

You might like to look at sites such as these.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_name


Clive

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Thank you very much MrPredantic, Clive, and the anonymous user. I really appreciate your help.

Kind regards,

Najma
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You'll find Mc and Mac in Scottish or Irish names, not English ones.
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MacDonald, Macdonald, and McDonald are Anglicised forms of the Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic name MacDhòmhnaill, which in modern Gaelic is approximated as McConnell. It is a patronym where Mac means "son" and Dhòmhnaill means "of Dòmhnall". The personal name Dòmhnall is composed of the elements domno "world" and val "might", "rule".[2] According to Alex Woolf, the Gaelic personal name is probab
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I am studying. Can you please tell me where you found your answer info? It's wonderfully comprehensive.
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