McEachern
A Scottish Gaelic surname from a personal name meaning roughly “horse-lord” or “horseman.”
The #8,003 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 74,703 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McEachern is generally explained from the Gaelic personal name Eachthighearn, made up of each, meaning “horse,” and tighearn, meaning “lord.” The sense is therefore something like “horse-lord” or “horseman.” The surname was formed in the usual Gaelic way with Mac/Mc, indicating descent from or association with a bearer of that name.
History
The name is strongly associated with the Scottish Highlands and with Gaelic-speaking families in western Scotland. In older scholarship it is treated as a clan-style surname derived from a traditional Gaelic forename rather than from an occupation in the modern sense. It has become established in North America through Scottish emigration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old Gaelic name elements connected with horses appear in a number of Scottish surnames and personal names, reflecting the prestige of horsemanship in medieval Gaelic society.
From the historical record
“a Norseman ; Malcolm (servant of Columba) ; Hector is in Gaelic Eachuinn, with a further form Eachthighearn (McEachern), meaning "horseman, horse-lord;" Ewen (Eoghan "kind-natured," Avi-gono-s, Welsh Owen). The Welsh names are Arthur, " Stone-man " (?) or " Bear-like," Allan (allied to Latin alumnus)^ Owen, Morgan…”
— Personal Names and Surnames of the Town of Inverness