McPhee
A Scottish surname from the Gaelic clan name Mac Dhubhshìth, later associated with Clan MacPhee and often explained as “son of the dark peace.”
The #8,158 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 75,952 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McPhee is a Scottish surname ultimately from Gaelic Mac Dhubhshìth, a clan name traditionally analyzed as mac, “son of,” plus dubh, “dark,” and sìth, “peace” or “fairy peace.” Older writers sometimes tried to link it with a “dark tribe” or with a softened form of MacDuffie, but the usual explanation is a Gaelic clan name rather than a direct English word formation. The spelling has been anglicized in several ways, including MacPhee and McPhee.
History
The name is associated with a Highland Scottish clan connected with the island of Colonsay and the wider Argyll area. Historical spellings and explanations vary, and nineteenth-century writers often treated it as related to MacDuffie or as a descriptive clan name. In modern usage it is most common in Scotland, North America, and other English-speaking countries with Scottish migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A number of Scottish surnames beginning with Mac- have become simplified or reshaped in English, and McPhee is one of the best-known examples.
From the historical record
“MFie. the name of a former clan of the island of Colon- * iv. Argyleshire, a branch of the Soil Alpin, in Gaelic Clann Dhubhi, hence MacDuffie, softened into MacPhee. See Mac- Phee. The name implies a dark coloured tribe. M'GAYIX, William, author of 'The Protes- tant,' was bora August 12, 1773, on the farm of…”
— The Scottish Nation, vol. 2Notable people named McPhee
- Mel B (b. 1975)
- Katharine McPhee (b. 1984)
- Kodi Smit-McPhee (b. 1996)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.