surnames.ie

Irish surname · 82nd most common in 1911

McDonald

Also spelt MacDonald

McDonald means 'son of Domhnall' (Donald), from the Gaelic Mac Domhnaill. In Ireland it mostly marks descent from Scotland's Clan Donald, whose men came over as gallowglass soldiers from the 14th century. Because MacDonald and MacDonnell are English forms of the same Irish name, some Irish McDonalds descend from native MacDonnell families instead.

Irish Mac DomhnaillIrish Mac DhomhnaillIrish MacDhòmhnaill, Dòmhnallach
1901 census
7,762
#87 · 18 per 10,000
1911 census
7,779
#82 · 18 per 10,000
1926 census
4,885
#108 · 17 per 10,000
Most numerous
Antrim
Highest share: Carlow

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Scottish & Gaelic Irish (merged) Mainly Scottish, from Clan Donald of the Hebrides and Argyll, but sharing its Gaelic form Mac Domhnaill with native Irish families more often called MacDonnell.[1][2]

Mac Domhnaill
“son of Domhnall”[1]
Woulfe's headword, which he gives as the source of MacDonald, MacDonnell, MacDaniel, Donaldson and Donald.
Mac Dhomhnaill
A spoken variant, common even where the English form keeps the D. Woulfe links it to spellings such as MacConnell and notes that in Mayo it was sometimes pronounced Ó Comhnaill.
MacDhòmhnaill, Dòmhnallach
“son of Dòmhnall; a MacDonald”[2][3]
The Scottish Gaelic forms given by Wikipedia; the clan itself is Clann Dòmhnaill.

The name is built on the personal name Domhnall, usually explained as “world-mighty, or 'world ruler'”. Woulfe glosses Domhnall as 'world-mighty' and calls it an ancient and very common Irish personal name, anglicised as both Donald and Daniel. Wikipedia breaks it into elements meaning 'world' and 'might rule' and notes Alex Woolf's view that it was probably borrowed from the British Celtic Dyfnwal.[1][2]

Pronunciation

McDonald: mak-DON-ld

Place

Where the McDonalds lived

How common the name was in each county, as a share of the population, in the three surviving full censuses of Ireland. Use the buttons to compare years.

Donegal: 7.5 per 10,000 (127 people) Waterford: 10.3 per 10,000 (85 people) Dublin: 22.2 per 10,000 (1,065 people) Kilkenny: 45.7 per 10,000 (343 people) Carlow: 87 per 10,000 (316 people) Limerick: 2.8 per 10,000 (40 people) Louth: 36.8 per 10,000 (232 people) Tipperary: 3.5 per 10,000 (53 people) Roscommon: 2 per 10,000 (19 people) Meath: 13.3 per 10,000 (87 people) Wicklow: 61 per 10,000 (371 people) Cavan: 52 per 10,000 (475 people) Cork: 5.9 per 10,000 (231 people) Clare: 0.9 per 10,000 (9 people) Galway: 3.2 per 10,000 (58 people) Mayo: 6.2 per 10,000 (119 people) Sligo: 4.8 per 10,000 (38 people) Leitrim: 7.9 per 10,000 (50 people) Offaly: 21.4 per 10,000 (122 people) Laois: 66.7 per 10,000 (365 people) Kildare: 28.7 per 10,000 (192 people) Kerry: 0.6 per 10,000 (9 people) Monaghan: 29.4 per 10,000 (210 people) Wexford: 50.9 per 10,000 (521 people) Longford: 9.4 per 10,000 (41 people) Westmeath: 3.3 per 10,000 (20 people) Tyrone: 18 per 10,000 (257 people) Antrim: 22.3 per 10,000 (1,067 people) Armagh: 35.9 per 10,000 (429 people) Fermanagh: 17.3 per 10,000 (105 people) Londonderry: 13.2 per 10,000 (185 people) Down: 17.6 per 10,000 (538 people)
fewerup to 98 per 10,000

Share of each county's census population. 1926 covers the 26 counties of the Irish Free State only.

Highest concentration · 1911

Carlow

87 per 10,000

316 McDonalds · 4.91× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Carlow 87
  2. Laois 67
  3. Wicklow 61
  4. Cavan 52
  5. Wexford 51
  6. Kilkenny 46
  7. Louth 37
  8. Armagh 36

Per 10,000 residents. A concentration index above 1 means the name was commoner there than nationally.

County figures as a table
County190119111926Per 10k 1901Per 10k 1911Per 10k 1926
Antrim9661,067—2122—
Armagh416429—3336—
Carlow364316271988779
Cavan511475396525248
Clare3399311
Cork217231215566
Donegal89127120588
Down463538—1618—
Dublin9591,0651,094222222
Fermanagh159105—2517—
Galway575857333
Kerry2599211
Kildare208192168342929
Kilkenny392343373524653
Laois301365317536762
Leitrim6750451088
Limerick604040433
Londonderry203185—1413—
Longford234119595
Louth278232214433734
Mayo9811967564
Meath898771131311
Monaghan228210252312939
Offaly122122104202120
Roscommon161932224
Sligo493835655
Tipperary905351644
Tyrone333257—2218—
Waterford928581111010
Westmeath352035636
Wexford514521498495152
Wicklow305371312516155

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where McDonalds made up the largest share of the population. In Rathornan, Co. Carlow, about one resident in 13 was a McDonald.

DEDCountyMcDonaldsShare
RathornanCarlow29 7.8%
NewbawnWexford37 6.5%
Old LeighlinCarlow35 5.8%
ArlessLaois22 5.6%
KilledmondCarlow30 5.1%
KilboraWexford16 5.1%
BurtownKildare17 4.9%
GrillyCavan34 4.6%

Origins

Septs & territories

Many Irish surnames were adopted independently by unrelated families. These are the distinct McDonald lineages described in the sources.

A surname can point you towards a place. On its own, it cannot establish a pedigree.

Clan Donald (MacDonald of the Isles)

the Hebrides, Kintyre and the western Highlands

The Scottish clan descended from Domhnall, a grandson of Somerled, who died around 1250. Its chiefs were Lords of the Isles until the title was forfeited in 1493, and two of them were also Earls of Ross. Woulfe calls them the most powerful and warlike of the Highland clans.[3][4][1]

MacDonald gallowglasses of Leinster

Laois (Leix) and Wicklow · Laois, Wicklow

Woulfe describes MacDonalds who came to Ireland in large numbers in the 14th and 15th centuries as captains of gallowglasses, forming a military clan under their own chiefs. Paid partly in land, they seem to have settled permanently in Leinster by about the mid-15th century, with considerable estates in Laois and Wicklow.[1]

MacDonalds (MacDonnells) of the Glens of Antrim

the Glens of Antrim and Rathlin Island · Antrim

A cadet branch of the MacDonalds of Dunnyveg. The Glens came to them through the marriage of John Mór, son of a Lord of the Isles, to the Bissett heiress in the early 15th century, though Woulfe dates their lasting settlement to about 1520. This family is usually called MacDonnell and is covered on the McDonnell page.[1][3]

Mac Domhnaill of Clann Cheallaigh

Clann Cheallaigh (Clankelly) · Fermanagh

A native Irish family of the same Gaelic name, chiefs of Clankelly in Co. Fermanagh, who still formed a distinct clan under their own chief at the end of the 16th century. Woulfe calls them MacDonnells.[1]

Mac Domhnaill of Thomond

Thomond · Clare

Woulfe reports, following Dr O'Brien's Irish dictionary, that this family was a branch of the O'Briens, descended from Domhnall, son of the high king Murtagh Mór O'Brien. He too calls them MacDonnells.[1]

The name over time

History

Son of Domhnall

McDonald is a patronymic, 'son of Domhnall', in Irish Mac Domhnaill and in Scottish Gaelic MacDhòmhnaill. Domhnall was an old and very common Gaelic personal name, which Woulfe glosses as 'world-mighty', and in English it was rendered both Donald and Daniel. Because so many men bore the name, Mac Domhnaill arose separately in several families. Woulfe lists three: the Scottish MacDonalds, a Fermanagh family and a Thomond family. Their English forms include MacDonald, MacDonnell, MacDaniel, Donaldson and Donald.[1][2]

Clan Donald and the Lords of the Isles

The Scottish MacDonalds take their name from Dòmhnall mac Raghnaill, who died about 1250. He was a grandson of Somerled, the Norse-Gaelic lord who built a kingdom in Argyll and the Isles and was killed at Renfrew in 1164. His descendants ruled the Hebrides as Lords of the Isles with fleets of galleys until James IV seized the lordship in 1493. Medieval Gaelic historians traced Somerled's line to the Irish high kings Colla Uais and Conn of the Hundred Battles, but a 2005 DNA study pointed to Norse descent in the male line.[3][4][5]

Gallowglasses in Ireland

Gallowglasses, from the Irish gallóglach, 'foreign warrior', were heavily armed Hebridean and Highland soldiers hired by Irish lords from the 13th century. The MacSweeneys were among the first such families, followed by the MacDonnells, MacAlisters and others. Woulfe says the MacDonalds arrived in large numbers in the 14th and 15th centuries, serving under their own chiefs and taking land for their service. In this way a Leinster branch had settled by the middle of the 15th century, with estates in Laois and Wicklow. Over time the gallowglass companies came to include many native Irishmen.[6][1]

Antrim and the 17th century

In north-east Ulster, John Mór, a son of the Lord of the Isles, gained a claim to the Glens of Antrim by marrying the Bissett heiress, and his family's settlement there grew in the early 16th century. That Antrim branch, a cadet line of the MacDonalds of Dunnyveg, is generally known as MacDonnell. Smaller Antrim families such as the MacAlisters, and probably the Antrim Marcuses, were offshoots of the MacDonalds. In 1644 Alasdair Mac Colla, a MacDonald of Dunnyveg with lands on both sides of the sea, led 1,500 Irish troops to Scotland to fight for the Royalist cause under Montrose.[3][1][7][8][9]

McDonald or McDonnell?

The two spellings overlap. Woulfe treats MacDonald and MacDonnell as English forms of the one Gaelic surname, and remarks that MacDonnell or MacDonald was among the most numerous names in Ireland. Wikipedia says that in Ireland MacDonald mostly reflects the Scottish Clan Donald, but that it can be a synonym for MacDonnell, which may itself be of gallowglass or native Irish origin. Families sometimes changed between the forms: the Olympic champion Pat McDonald, for example, was born McDonnell.[1][2][10]

Places linked to the name

  • Glens of Antrim (Glinnte Aontroma), Co. Antrim — Gained by the MacDonalds through John Mór's marriage to the Bissett heiress; their settlement grew in the early 16th century.[1][3]
  • Rathlin Island (Reachlainn), Co. Antrim — Settled by Clan Donald migrants alongside the Glens in the early 16th century.[3]

Everyday lives

The McDonalds in the census

Who the McDonalds were in the 1901 and 1911 censuses (and 1926 where recorded), set against everyone in Ireland in the same census.

McDonalds All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the McDonald bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic +4.8 points vs Ireland
McDonalds 78.4%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland −3.4 points vs Ireland
McDonalds 9.8%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian −1.2 points vs Ireland
McDonalds 8.9%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other about the same as Ireland
McDonalds 2.8%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 −10.2 points vs Ireland
McDonalds 5.1%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 −8.3 points vs Ireland
McDonalds 5.2%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties −4.3 points vs Ireland
McDonalds 9.2%
All of Ireland 13.5%

50 McDonalds spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ about the same as Ireland
McDonalds 80.4%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ −0.7 points vs Ireland
McDonalds 85.1%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 1,687 households lower than Ireland
McDonalds 4.39
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 lower than Ireland
McDonalds 6.15
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living −0.6 points vs Ireland
McDonalds 79.2%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer1,223
Farmer's son491
General labourer280
Farm servant272
Agricultural labourer271
Farmer's daughter271
Labourer218
House keeper172
Domestic servant168
Farm labourer160

Born outside Ireland

5.0% of McDonalds in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

Scotland202
England134
United States25
India15
Wales3
Canada2

Median age: 25 in 1901, 26 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the McDonalds

Men and boys

  1. John1,435
  2. James1,199
  3. Patrick955
  4. Thomas681
  5. William504
  6. Michael480
  7. Edward349
  8. Joseph251
  9. Peter181
  10. Francis178

Women and girls

  1. Mary1,553
  2. Bridget591
  3. Margaret573
  4. Annie457
  5. Ellen414
  6. Elizabeth385
  7. Catherine351
  8. Anne295
  9. Kate290
  10. Sarah267

All three censuses combined. Top five in 1926: John, James, Patrick, Thomas, Michael; Mary, Annie, Margaret, Bridget, Elizabeth.

Spellings

Spellings

This page combines the spellings below, which census enumerators and families used for the same name.

Spelling190119111926Records
McDonald7,2667,1864,612Search
MacDonald496593273Search

Related forms

  • MacDonald, Macdonald — Fuller spellings of the same name; Scottish records do not distinguish between them.[2]
  • MacDonnell, McDonnell — Another English form of Mac Domhnaill, usual for the Antrim, Fermanagh and Thomond families; see the separate McDonnell page.[1][2]
  • MacDaniel, Donaldson, Donald — Other English forms Woulfe gives for Mac Domhnaill.[1]
  • MacConnell — From the spoken variant Mac Dhomhnaill.[11]
  • M'Donaill, M'Donall — Early written forms recorded by Woulfe.[1]

Diaspora

The McDonalds abroad

Emigration carried the name worldwide. In the 2010 United States census:

SpellingPeopleUS rank
McDonald180,497143rd
MacDonald46,717744th

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 surname file (public domain).

Heraldry

Is there a McDonald coat of arms?

There is no single McDonald crest; arms belong to particular chiefs and families. Burke records arms for the ancient Lords of the Isles: on gold, a red eagle displayed beneath a black galley, with a red hand in the upper corner and a raven on a rock as crest. He also records quartered arms with the motto 'Per mare, per terras' ('By sea and by land') for Baron Macdonald of Slate, whose title was in the Irish peerage as 'of Slate, co. Antrim'. In Scotland the Lord Lyon recognises chiefs of Clan Donald and several of its branches.[12][3]

Websites selling a single “McDonald family crest” are selling a design, not an inheritance. Arms in Ireland belonged to individuals and their heirs, and the Chief Herald of Ireland still grants arms that way today.

People

Notable people named McDonald

  • Alasdair Mac Colla (c. 1610–1647)
    MacDonald soldier who fought in the Irish Confederate Wars and Montrose's Royalist campaign.
  • Flora MacDonald (1722–1790)
    Hebridean woman who helped Charles Edward Stuart escape after Culloden in 1746.
  • Sir John A. Macdonald (1815–1891)
    First prime minister of Canada and the leading figure of Confederation.
  • Walter McDonald (1830–1899)
    Irish-born priest in colonial New Zealand and a key aide to Bishop Pompallier.
  • John McDonald (1846–1932)
    Irish cultural nationalist poet of the Literary Revival era.
  • Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937)
    Scottish-born Labour leader and twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
  • Pat McDonald (1878–1954)
    Irish-American 'Irish Whale', Olympic shot put champion in 1912; born McDonnell.
  • Frank McDonald (1950–2026)
    Irish author, environmentalist and environment editor of The Irish Times.
  • Michael McDonald (born 1952)
    American singer and keyboardist, lead vocalist of the Doobie Brothers.
  • Mary Lou McDonald (born 1969)
    President of Sinn Féin since 2018 and Leader of the Opposition since 2020.

Questions

Questions about the McDonald name

Is McDonald Irish or Scottish?

Usually Scottish in origin. Most Irish McDonalds descend from Clan Donald, the Hebridean clan of the Lords of the Isles, many of whom came to Ireland as gallowglass soldiers from the 14th century. The Gaelic name Mac Domhnaill, 'son of Domhnall', also arose in Ireland itself, so some Irish McDonalds belong to native families more often known as MacDonnell.[2][1]

Are McDonald and McDonnell the same name?

They are two English forms of one Gaelic surname, Mac Domhnaill, and Woulfe treats them together. In practice MacDonald points more often to the Scottish clan, and MacDonnell is the usual spelling for the Antrim branch and for native families in Fermanagh and Thomond. The forms do cross over: the Olympic champion Pat McDonald was born McDonnell.[1][2][10]

What is McDonald in Irish?

Mac Domhnaill, 'son of Domhnall'. In speech it was often Mac Dhomhnaill, which explains spellings like MacConnell. The Scottish Gaelic equivalent is MacDhòmhnaill, and a MacDonald can be called Dòmhnallach.[1][11][2]

Is there a McDonald clan crest or motto?

There is no single McDonald crest, because arms belong to individual chiefs and families. Burke records arms with a red eagle, black galley and red hand for the ancient Lords of the Isles, and the motto 'Per mare, per terras', 'By sea and by land', for Baron Macdonald of Slate. Branches of Clan Donald have their own chiefs recognised by the Lord Lyon in Scotland.[12][3]

Is it MacDonald or McDonald?

Both. Mc is simply a shortened way of writing Mac, 'son of', and Wikipedia notes that Scottish surname records make no distinction between Macdonald and MacDonald. In the United States in 1840 the McDonald spelling was far more common than Macdonald.[2][3]

Where does the McDonald name come from?

From the Western Isles of Scotland. Clan Donald descends from Domhnall, grandson of Somerled, and its chiefs were Lords of the Isles until 1493. MacDonalds came to Ireland in numbers in the 14th and 15th centuries, settling in Leinster, especially Laois and Wicklow, and in the Glens of Antrim.[3][1][4]

Where in Ireland is the McDonald surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of McDonalds lived in Antrim (1,067), Dublin (1,065), Down (538). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Carlow (87 per 10,000), Laois (67 per 10,000), Wicklow (61 per 10,000).

How common was the McDonald surname in Ireland?

7,779 people were recorded as McDonald or MacDonald in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 82nd most common surname. That is roughly 0.2% of the population, or 1 person in 565.

Looking for a McDonald ancestor?

Search every McDonald household in the 1901, 1911 and 1926 censuses, with free images of the original forms.

Search records on irishcensus.com

Evidence

Sources

  1. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Domhnaill, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Wikipedia, MacDonald (surname) (2026)
  3. Wikipedia, Clan Donald (2026)
  4. Wikipedia, Lord of the Isles (2026)
  5. Wikipedia, Somerled (2026)
  6. Wikipedia, Gallowglass (2026)
  7. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Alastair, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  8. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Marcuis, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  9. Wikipedia, Alasdair Mac Colla (2026)
  10. Wikipedia, Pat McDonald (shot putter) (2026)
  11. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Dhomhnaill, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  12. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries 'Macdonald (ancient Lords of the Isles)' and 'Macdonald (Bosville-Macdonald, Baron Macdonald, of Slate, co. Antrim)'.
  13. Census of Ireland 1901 and 1911, and Census of Population 1926, National Archives of Ireland. Counts compiled by surnames.ie from the irishcensus.com transcription (dataset 20260831130351). 1926 data © National Archives of Ireland, CC BY 4.0.
  14. Irish forms cross-checked against Gaois surname data (Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, DCU).

How we compile these figures: methodology.