McCready

Etymology

McCready is an Anglicized surname built on the Gaelic patronymic prefix Mac/Mc, meaning “son of,” plus a personal name that appears in older spellings as Cready, Creedy, or related forms. The exact original Gaelic source is not completely settled in the 19th-century references, but it is generally treated as a family-name form rather than an occupational or place-name surname. In practice, the name is associated with Gaelic-speaking families in Ireland and Scotland, especially where Mac- surnames were later simplified to Mc- spellings.

History

The excerpts point to the surname in Irish records, especially in Antrim and Tyrone, suggesting a concentration in Ulster. Related spellings such as MacConready, MacAready, MacCready, and McCreedy show the common instability of Gaelic surnames under English spelling. The name also appears in Scottish surname collections, reflecting the wider movement of Gaelic families across the Irish Sea.

Origin

Regions

Variant spellings

Fun fact

19th-century surname lists often grouped McCready with several near-identical spellings, showing how fluid Gaelic surname spelling could be in records.