McGill
McGill is usually a Gaelic surname meaning “son of Gill” or “son of the servant/devotee,” with some Irish forms also tied to saints’ names.
The #1,282 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 11,297 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McGill comes from Gaelic Mac Gill or Mac Gille, literally “son of Gill/Gille.” In Gaelic naming, gille can mean “servant,” “follower,” or “devotee,” especially in religious names, so the surname may originally have meant “son of the servant of [a saint or God].” In some Irish records it is also linked with saint-based forms such as Mac Giolla and with names like MacGillbride or MacPatrick as fuller equivalents.
History
The surname appears in both Irish and Scottish tradition, and historical sources record it in several Gaelic spellings, including Magill and Gill. In Ireland it is especially associated with Ulster, where variants such as McGill, Magill, and MoGill were all in use. The name was later standardized in English spelling as McGill, while related families sometimes shortened the form to Gill.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname scholars often grouped McGill with other Gaelic surnames built from Mac Giolla, because the same “gille” element appears in many saint-related names.
From the historical record
“liffe, Macgawley (work, labour) Macbeth. Gael, son of Beth (life) Macbride. From the Irish McGill Bride ; a p.n. See Kilbride MacCheyne. Irish MacShane ; a p.n. (Jackson, Johnson) MacClellan. See Gilfillan”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)