McAvoy
An Irish surname, usually understood as a form of Mac a' Bhuidhe or a related Gaelic byname, meaning roughly “son of the yellow-haired one.”
The #7,102 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 65,482 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McAvoy is an Anglicized Irish surname. The Woulfe excerpts group it with forms such as MacEvoy and MacVoy, reflecting a Gaelic original beginning Mac- 'son of' plus a descriptive personal byname. The most likely sense is a nickname based on a word for 'yellow' or 'fair-haired,' though the old sources are not perfectly clear and the exact Gaelic form is debated.
History
The name appears in Irish surname scholarship alongside related spellings such as MacEvoy, MacVoy, and MacAvey, showing how English spelling blurred several Gaelic surnames together. In records outside Ireland, the prefix Mc- became common, and the name settled into its modern Irish-American form McAvoy. It is best known today as an Irish surname rather than as a strongly localized clan name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname has often been folded into clusters of similar-looking Irish names in older reference works, which is why historical spellings can vary so much.
From the historical record
“rriAC 'a "Diiij-oe, MacBride. rriAC 'a t)tiix)e, MacAvoy, Mac , Evoy, etc. THac At)a, ITIac Ax)Ani), Mac”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnamesNotable people named McAvoy
- James McAvoy (b. 1979)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.