McVay
A Scottish and Irish surname that likely developed as a phonetic spelling of MacVey/MacVeigh-type Gaelic names.
The #4,398 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 38,183 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McVay is generally treated as a variant spelling in the MacVey/MacVeigh family of surnames. Those names are Anglicized forms of Gaelic patronymics beginning with Mac, meaning "son of," followed by an older personal name. In this case the exact Gaelic source is not certain from the excerpt alone, but the spelling history points to a surname that was reshaped by English-language spelling and pronunciation.
History
The Woulfe material groups MacVay with a cluster of related spellings such as MacVoy, MacVeigh, MacVey, and MacVea, showing how one Gaelic surname could generate many English forms. Such variants are common in Irish and Scottish records, where local pronunciation often mattered more than fixed spelling. In the United States, McVay became the streamlined modern form of one branch of that larger surname family.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The Woulfe excerpt shows just how fluid one Gaelic surname could be: a single name family could appear under half a dozen or more spellings in historical records.
From the historical record
“MacEvoy, MacVoy ; Mac Veagh, MacVeigh, MacVey, MacVay, MacVea, Vahy , Veigh; Veasy, Vesey, etc. tTlAC An t3iAX)CAi5, MacVeety, MacVity, MacVeity, etc.”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames