McArdle
An Irish surname usually understood as meaning “son of Ardal,” though some older writers linked it to a phrase for “high rock” or “high valor.”
The #6,299 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 56,922 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McArdle is the anglicized form of an Irish Gaelic surname built with Mac, meaning “son of,” plus a personal name, usually given as Ardal or Ardghal in modern scholarship. An older 19th-century source analyzed it as Mac + ardal and glossed the result as “son of the high-rock,” extending that figuratively to “high prowess” or “valor.” The first element is secure, but the second element has been treated differently by different writers, so the exact original sense is not entirely settled from these excerpts alone.
History
The surname is well established in Ireland and appears in 19th-century surname lists and county surveys under spellings such as M'Ardle, Macardle, and M'Areavy. It is especially associated with Irish usage in the north and east, and the modern form McArdle is a common anglicized spelling. In historical records, spellings varied widely before modern standardization.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The spelling with an apostrophe, M'Ardle, was common in older records and books before modern spelling conventions settled down.
From the historical record
“OF FAMILY NAMES. 193 McARDLE or McCardle. (Gaelic.) From Mac, son, and ardal, literally, the son of the high-rock, figuratively, high prowess or valor. McBAEsT. The son of Bain. Sean or Ban, white, Donald Bean, Donald the white. McBKIDE. The son of Bride (which see). McCABE. The son of Cabe. Caob, Gaelic, a bough…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names