Macdonald
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 | |
|---|---|
| Family name | |
| Meaning | Son of world ruler |
| Region of origin | Scottish |
| Language of origin | Gaelic |
| Related names | Domhnall |
MacDonald, Macdonald, and McDonald are anglicized forms of the Scottish/Irish Gaelic name "Mac Dhomhnuill", a patronymic from the personal name "Domhnall". Domhnall means world ruler and Mac means son of.
In the context of Scottish Clans, the various forms of the name refer to one of the largest clans, Clan Donald.
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[edit] Frequency and distribution
In Scottish surname data, no distinction is made between, for instance, "Macdonald" and "MacDonald".[1] According to this data, the following frequency information can be collated:
| Year(s) | Macdonald Rank | %freq[2] | McDonald Rank | %freq |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1855–1858[3] | 2 | 1.23 | <50 | <0.30 |
| 1901[4] | ||||
| 1935[3] | 2 | 1.03 | <50 | <0.28 |
| 1958[3] | 3 | 0.98 | <50 | <0.26 |
| 1976[5] | 10 | 0.59 | 23 | 0.40 |
| 1990[5] | 10 | 0.55 | 32 | 0.35 |
| 1999–2001[1][5] | 9 | 0.55 | 24 | 0.37 |
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.[6] "McDonald" shares the same pattern of distribution.[7] Looking at contemporaneous data from the United States, coast-to-coast distribution of both "Macdonald" and "McDonald" appears in 1880.[8][9] 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.[10][11]
[edit] Notable people: MacDonald surname
- Born after 1400
- John of Islay, Earl of Ross or "John MacDonald" (1434–1503), Scottish ruler, Fourth Lord of the Isles, Chief of the Highland Clan Donald
- Born after 1700
- Jacques MacDonald (1765–1840), French Duke of Tarento and Marshal of the Empire under Napoleon I (2nd generation French; father was Scottish)
- John Small MacDonald (c.1791–1849), Canadian businessman and provincial politician
- Born after 1800
- George MacDonald (1824–1905), Scottish-English author, poet, and Christian minister
- Sir John Alexander Macdonald (1815-1891), first Prime minister of Canada
- John L. MacDonald (1838–1903), Scottish-American national politician
- Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald (1852–1915), British soldier and diplomat
- Sir Hector MacDonald (1853–1903), Scottish Major-General of the British Army under Lord Kitchener
- Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937), Scottish politician, twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (illegitimate son of "Macdonald" father and "Ramsay" mother, registered at birth as "James McDonald Ramsay")
- Ranald MacDonald (1834–1894), Scottish-Chinook educator. First man to teach the English language in Japan
- William Josiah MacDonald (1873–1946), American lawyer and national politician
- Born after 1900
- Jeanette MacDonald (1903–1965), American singer and actress
- Ian MacDonald (actor) (1914–1978), American actor and director during the 1940s and 1960s
- John D. MacDonald (1916–1986), American novelist
- John MacDonald (rower) (1908–1982), New Zealand rower
- Charles B. MacDonald (1922–1990), American World War II soldier and military historian
- Jeffrey R. MacDonald (born 1943), American murderer
- Kevin B. MacDonald (born 1944), American psychology academic
- John MacDonald (Canadian musician) (born 1948), Canadian musician of the French horn (current residence, Germany)
- Ross Macdonald (1915–1983), pseudonym of the American-Canadian writer Kenneth Millar
- Born after 1950
- Andrew McDonald (born 1955), American water polo player
- Ann-Marie MacDonald (born 1958), Canadian playwright, novelist, actor and broadcast journalist (born in West Germany to Canadian military parents)
- Garry MacDonald, English footballer
- Kevin MacDonald (footballer) (born 1960), Scottish footballer
- William J. MacDonald (writer and producer) (living), American television writer and producer
- Mike MacDonald (living), French-Canadian comedian and actor
- Roddy (R.S.) MacDonald (living), Scottish-Australian Pipe Major and composer (26 year residence in England)
- Shaun MacDonald (born 1988), Welsh footballer
[edit] Notable people: Macdonald surname
- Born after 1800
- John Sandfield Macdonald (1812–1872), Canadian national politician, First Premier of Ontario
- Sir John A. Macdonald (1815–1891), Scottish-Canadian national politician, first Prime Minister of Canada
- Donald Alexander Macdonald (1817–1896), Canadian national politician
- John Macdonald (Canadian politician) (1824–1890), Scottish-Canadian merchant, churchman, philanthropist and national politician
- William Christoper Macdonald (1831–1917), Scottish-Canadian tobacco manufacturer, philanthropist
- Charles B. Macdonald (1855–1939), American golfer, introduced the first 18-hole course in the United States (2nd generation American, born to Scottish father and Canadian mother)
- Harry Macdonough (born "John Macdonald" 1871–1931), Canadian singer and recording executive
- John Alexander Macdonald (Prince Edward Island politician) (1874–1948), Canadian national politician
- William Alexander Macdonald (fl.1890's), Canadian provincial politician
- William Ross Macdonald (1891–1976), Canadian national politician (2nd generation Canadian born to Scottish immigrant father)
- Born after 1900
- Archibald 'Archie' James Florence Macdonald (1904-1983), British Liberal MP
- Dwight Macdonald (1906–1982) American writer, editor, social critic, philosopher, and political radical.
- John Michael Macdonald (1906–1997), Canadian national politician
- James David Macdonald (ornithologist) (1908–2002), British and Australian ornithologist
- Margaret Mary Macdonald (1910–1968), Canadian national politician
- Callum Macdonald (publisher) (1912–1999), Scottish publisher who specialised in poetry
- James David Macdonald (politician) (born 1922), Canadian politician
- Ian G. Macdonald (born 1928), English mathematician, a prominent contributor to algebraic combinatorics
- Ian Macdonald (Australian politician) (born 1945), Australian national politician
- Born after 1950
- Sir Ken Macdonald QC (born 1953), British barrister, Director of Public Prosecutions and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service (2003-2008)
- Kelly Macdonald (born 1976), Scottish actress
- Amy Macdonald (singer) (born 1987), Scottish singer/songwriter
- Ian Macdonald (New South Wales politician) (living), Australian state politician
- Steve Macdonald (living), American-German filk musician
- Kevin Macdonald, Film director (The Last King of Scotland, Touching the Void)
- Dame Mary Macdonald (born 1950), Head Teacher, honoured for Services to Education
[edit] Notable people: McDonald surname
- Born after 1800
- Eugene F. McDonald (1886–1958), American entrepreneur, founder of Zenith Radio
- James Grover McDonald (1886–1964), American diplomat, first Ambassador to Israel
- Born after 1900
- Sir Arthur McDonald (1903–1996), British West Indian-English Royal Air Force Air Marshal
- Marie McDonald (1923–1965), American film actress
- Walt McDonald (born 1934), American poet, academic, Poet Laureate of Texas
- Very Revd Dr Alexander McDonald (born 1937), Scottish Minister of the Church of Scotland
- Sir Trevor McDonald (born "George McDonald" 1939), Trinidadian-born British news presenter
- Country Joe McDonald (born 1942), American musician and activist
- Ian McDonald (musician) (born 1946), English rock musician
- Mac McDonald (born 1949), American actor
- Roy McDonald (poet) (born 1937), Canadian poet and busker
- Roy McDonald (politician) (born 1946) New York State Senator
- Susan Marshall McDonald (1918-1992), philatelist of Ohio,
- Laurier McDonald (born 1931), Texas Attorney, Historian, Author.
- Born after 1950
- Hugh McDonald (musician) (born 1950), American musician, bassist
- Christopher McDonald (actor) (born 1955), American actor
- Ian McDonald (author) (born 1960), English science fiction novelist (residence in Northern Ireland)
- Daniel McDonald (actor) (1960–2007), American actor
- Kevin McDonald (born 1961), Canadian comedian and actor
- Neil McDonald (born 1965), former English professional footballer turned coach
- Rod McDonald (born 1967), English footballer
- David Tennant (born "McDonald" 1971), Scottish actor
- Andy McDonald (born 1977), Canadian professional ice hockey player
- Shawn McDonald (born 1978), American Christian singer, songwriter and guitarist
- Scott McDonald (born 1983), Australian footballer
- Kevin McDonald (footballer born 1985) (born 1985), English footballer
- Kevin McDonald (footballer born 1988) (born 1988), Scottish footballer
- Clayton McDonald (born 1988), English footballer
[edit] Pseudonyms
- Ian MacDonald (born "MacCormick" 1948–2003), British music critic and author.
[edit] Relationships
- 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)
[edit] Notable fictional characters
- Domenica Macdonald, fictional character in the 44 Scotland Street series by Alexander McCall Smith.
- Old McDonald or Old MacDonald, farmer featured in the children's song "Old McDonald Had a Farm"
- Ronald McDonald, the mascot for the McDonald's fast food chain.
[edit] See also
- Ambiguous human name pages
- John Macdonald (includes 'MacDonald'), John McDonald
- Kevin MacDonald, Kevin McDonald (disambiguation)
- Ian McDonald
- Michael MacDonald
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Surnames in Scotland over the last 140 years". Occasional papers. General Register Office for Scotland. http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/occpapers/surnames-in-scotland-over-the-last-140-years.html. Retrieved 2008-02-10. "In this new survey of surnames, as in all previous surveys, we have not distinguished between the varying use of capital letters within surnames e.g. MacDonald/Macdonald. However, as in the previous two surveys, each spelling is noted separately in the tables e.g. McDonald/MacDonald."
- ^ a b %freq = percentage of the sample population sharing a particular surname.
- ^ a b c d http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files/01surnames_tablea3a.pdf
- ^ a b c http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files/01surnames_tablea4.pdf Note: Quote from GROScotSurnames: "Note that McDonald is shown as more common than MacDonald in 1901, although given the uncertainties surrounding the spelling of these names it would seem wrong to regard this as significant."
- ^ a b c d http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files/01surnames_tablea3b.pdf
- ^ macdonald Families Living in England and Wales in 1891 - Ancestry.com
- ^ mcdonald Families Living in England and Wales in 1891 - Ancestry.com
- ^ mcdonald Family History Facts 1880 - Ancestry.com
- ^ macdonald Family History Facts 1880 - Ancestry.com
- ^ mcdonald Family History Facts 1840 - Ancestry.com
- ^ macdonald Family History Facts 1840 - Ancestry.com
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