McLeod
A Scottish Gaelic surname meaning “son of Leod,” though one old source tried to connect it with the Latin name Claudius.
The #1,141 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 10,034 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McLeod is the Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Leòid, meaning “son of Leod.” The personal name Leod is generally treated as a Gaelicized form of an older Norse or Scandinavian name, and the surname is strongly associated with Highland Scotland. One 19th-century writer proposed a fanciful derivation from Claudius, but that explanation is not accepted in modern surname scholarship.
History
The name is famously linked to Clan MacLeod, one of the best-known Highland clans, centered historically in the Hebrides and on Skye. From Scotland it spread widely through migration, especially to North America, where McLeod became the standard English spelling. Variant spellings such as M'Leod, MacLeod, MacCloud, and McCleod appear in older records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older reference books sometimes grouped McLeod with McCloud, reflecting how spelling and pronunciation were often unstable in historical records.
From the historical record
“estate of the McLeans or Macklins. McLEOD or McCLEOD. From Mac, son, and Olode, from Claudius, the second emperor who invaded Britain. Church- ill says he was named Claudius because, through fear of death, he buried himself alive, being plucked by the heels out of a hole to be set upon the throne. OF FAMILY NAMES.…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names