McGlone
An Irish surname generally taken to mean “son of Gloinne/Glun,” though the exact Gaelic source is uncertain and probably tied to a nickname or old personal name.
The #9,233 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 87,538 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained as an Anglicized form of an Irish patronymic built on Mac, meaning “son of,” plus a Gaelic personal name or nickname. Early writers linked it with forms such as glun, meaning “knee,” which would make the name something like “son of the knee,” but that explanation is not fully secure. A more cautious reading is that McGlone belongs to a group of Irish surnames whose final element was a byname or personal name now obscure or regionally varied.
History
The name is found in Ireland, especially in Ulster, and later spread through emigration to Scotland, Britain, North America, and other English-speaking countries. Historical surname writers often grouped McGlone with related forms such as McGloon and McGlune, suggesting close local variation in spelling and pronunciation. In modern records, McGlone is the standard spelling, though older documents may show several interchangeable forms.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Nineteenth-century surname scholars sometimes glossed it very literally as “son of the knee,” which shows how playful and speculative early Gaelic etymologies could be.
From the historical record
“16 McGlone, 12 'McGlynn (26),”
— Special Report on Surnames in Ireland (numerical strength, derivation, distribution)