Magill
Usually an Anglicized Irish surname from Mac Gill, meaning “son of the servant of [a saint]” or related Gaelic forms; in some English records it was also treated as a local name from Maghull.
The #6,036 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 54,242 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The best-supported Irish derivation is from Gaelic Mac Gille or Mac an Ghoill-type forms, with Gill pointing to a devotee or servant of a saint. Older sources gloss Magill as equivalent to Mac Gill, and related Irish spellings appear in Woulfe and Matheson. In English records, however, Magill was sometimes also interpreted as a locative surname from Maghull in Lancashire, so the name can have more than one historical source.
History
The surname is well attested in Irish onomastic sources and appears in forms such as MacGill and Gill, showing the common shortening and Anglicization of Gaelic names. In some English families, especially in earlier records, Magill may have been adopted as a name from the place Maghull in Lancashire. The name is now found in Ireland, Britain, North America, and other English-speaking regions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname dictionaries sometimes debated whether Magill was primarily Irish or a local English surname, which is a good example of how the same spelling can hide different family histories.
From the historical record
“piapyapLTTi^, a pearl] MAGILL = Mac Gill, q.v. MAGI MAGI NN I ='^3-C Gi""! Mao Gennis, q.v- MAGINESS”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)