McCully
A Scottish and Irish surname with Gaelic roots, usually understood as meaning “son of Cully” or as a descendant form of an older personal name or nickname.
The #9,919 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 94,824 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McCully is a Gaelic patronymic surname. The prefix Mc or Mac means “son of,” while the second element is usually treated as a shortened form of an older personal name or nickname such as Cully. In older surname traditions, names of this type often developed from a father’s name, a pet form, or an anglicized Gaelic byname rather than from a plain English word.
History
The name is established in both Scottish and Irish naming traditions, and modern bearers are most often found in North America, Scotland, Ireland, and places shaped by migration from those regions. The 19th-century source material groups McCully with other Mc- surnames of Gaelic origin but does not supply a specific derivation in the excerpted passages. Spellings in this surname family could vary over time, especially as Gaelic names were Anglicized.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older surname dictionaries, McCully is often listed alongside related Mc- names rather than explained in detail, showing how many Gaelic surnames were still being cataloged and standardized in the 19th century.
From the historical record
“McCowen, McCoy, McCrea, McCready and Mc- Creedy, McCreet, McCrillis, McCrohan, McCrud- DEN, McCue, McCulloch, McCully, McCulver, McCune, McCurdy, McCushley, McCutcheon, McCutchins, McDade, McDavitt and McDevitt, McDermott, McDewell, McDougall; McDuff, Mc- DuFFE, and McDuffie; McEachen, McEachron ; McElheny…”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)