McDougall
A Scottish Gaelic surname meaning “son of Dougal,” with Dougal traditionally understood as “dark stranger.”
The #5,242 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 46,393 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McDougall comes from Gaelic Mac Dubhghaill, meaning “son of Dubhghall.” The personal name Dubhghall is usually explained as dubh “black, dark” + gall “stranger, foreigner,” so the full sense is often given as “son of the dark stranger” or “son of the foreigner.” Older sources also gloss the name more loosely as “son of Dougal,” treating Dougal as the later anglicized form of the Gaelic personal name.
History
The surname is strongly associated with the Scottish Highlands, especially the Clan MacDougall of Argyll. Nineteenth-century surname writers repeatedly connect it with the Gaelic idea of a “black stranger,” a traditional ethnonym that appears in several Scottish and Irish surnames. It is also found in Ulster and among descendants of Scottish and Irish emigrants overseas.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some early writers glossed the root as a nickname for a foreigner or outsider, which is why the name is often translated in a very literal way rather than as a straightforward family relationship alone.
From the historical record
“MAC DOUGAL "1 Son of Dougal(l : v. MACDOUGALL; Dougal(l [Ir. and GaeL Mac Dubhghaill] MAcg§wEl:l:}«°^°^^°— -°°-" MAC DUFF (Celt.) Son of Dubh : v. Duff MAC EACHAN \ (Celt.) Son of Eachan : MAC EACH EN jv. Eachan. MAC EACHARN \ (Celt.) Son of Eacht(h)-'”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)