McShane
An Irish surname meaning “son of Shane,” with Shane being an Irish form of John.
The #6,737 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 61,675 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McShane comes from Irish Mac Shéamhais / Mac Seáin-type forms meaning “son of Shane (John).” The name Shane is the Irish form of John, so the surname is ultimately a patronymic built on the same biblical name as Johnson. Older sources sometimes give the family-name form as MacShane or MacShaum, but the core meaning is the same.
History
The surname is long established in Ireland, especially in Ulster, and older reference works note that McShane could be used interchangeably with other Irish patronymics meaning “son of John.” In English-language records it appears in several spellings, including MacShane and McShane. The name has spread widely through Irish emigration, especially to Britain, North America, and Australia.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname writers explicitly pointed out that McShane and Johnson could mean the same thing in Irish records, because both ultimately mean “son of John.”
From the historical record
“Macbride. From the Irish McGill Bride ; a p.n. See Kilbride MacCheyne. Irish MacShane ; a p.n. (Jackson, Johnson) MacClellan. See Gilfillan M”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)Notable people named McShane
- Ian McShane (b. 1942)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.