MacLean
A Scottish and Irish surname meaning “son of Gillean,” later associated with a Highland clan name.
The #4,726 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 41,144 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is usually explained as a Gaelic patronymic based on Mac Gilleain, meaning “son of Gillean” or “son of the servant of St. John,” though older genealogical writers often simplified it to descent from a man named Gillean. In the historical sources here, the name is linked especially with a Highland chieftain called Gillean-ni-Tuoidh, and the clan name was later written in many spellings, including MacLean, MacClean, MacClain, and MacLaine. The underlying Gaelic elements are therefore tied both to personal-name tradition and to clan identity.
History
MacLean is strongly associated with the Scottish Highland Clan MacLean, long centered on the Hebrides and Argyll. The name also appears in Irish records in anglicized forms such as MacClean and M'Clean, and some 19th-century sources treated related spellings as variants of the same family name. In modern use, MacLean and Maclean are the most common spellings.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some old sources connect the clan crest with a battle-axe, reflecting the legend of Gillean-ni-Tuoidh, whose nickname meant “Gillean of the battle-axe.”
From the historical record
“McLAURIN. The son of Ldbhruinn, or Lawrence. McLEAN. MacGillean. From a Highland chieftain of the name of Gillean, who was the progenitor of this family. This Gillean was a celebrated warrior, and was called Gillean- ni-Tuoidh, from his ordinary weapon, a battle-ax, which in the Gaelic is Tuoidh, which his…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names