McGregor
A Scottish clan surname meaning “son/descendant of Gregor,” with the Gregor line traditionally linked to the old Scottish royal line.
The #2,333 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 19,774 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McGregor is a Gaelic patronymic built on Mac, meaning “son” or “descendant of,” plus the personal name Gregor. In older surname lore, Gregor was often taken as a form of Gregory, though some 19th-century writers connected the clan name more specifically to a legendary ancestor, Gregor son of Alpin. The literal sense is therefore “son/descendant of Gregor.”
History
The name is strongly associated with the historic Clan Gregor of the Scottish Highlands, a name that became especially famous through clan history, conflict, and later romantic literature. Some later bearer surnames in Scotland and beyond arose from branches or descendants who altered the clan name under pressure or for protection. It is also one of the best-known Scottish clan surnames in the English-speaking world.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is famous from Sir Walter Scott’s line, “My foot is on my native heath, and my name is MacGregor.”
From the historical record
“prosperity. McGREGOR. The descendants of G-regor, who was the son of Alpin, King of Scotland. A family of great antiquity, and of distinguished ancestors. (See Gregor.) McGUIRE. The son of Guaire or Godfrey. Gmire was a son of Alpin, King of Scotland. McHARD or McHARG. (Welsh, Cor. Br., and Gaelic.) The son of the…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian NamesNotable people named McGregor
- Ewan McGregor (b. 1971)
- Conor McGregor (b. 1988)
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