McCorkle
An Irish surname usually taken as a shortened Anglicized form of MacCorkell or MacCorkill.
The #4,154 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 36,200 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This name is generally treated as an Anglicized form of an Irish Mac surname, with the final element represented in older spellings such as MacCorkell and MacCorkill. The sources suggest a Gaelic personal-name base behind the second element, but the exact original form is not fully secure. In older scholarship, the name has also been connected with Irish place- or nickname-like elements involving cork/corcaig, though that explanation is speculative and not certain.
History
The surname appears in older Anglicized Irish spellings with a range of forms, including MacCorkell, MacCorkill, and McCorkle. It is found in surname lists and variant-groupings from 19th- and early-20th-century compilations, which suggests it was already established as an Irish family name by that period. In modern usage, McCorkle is the best-known spelling, especially in English-speaking countries and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname compilers sometimes grouped McCorkle with other Mac- names that had heavily altered English spellings, showing how fluid Irish surname spellings could be in records.
From the historical record
“rriAC rimcAill, MacCorkill, Mac Corkell, MacCorkle, Corkhill, etc. niAC Uait), MacQuaid, Mac Quaide, MacQuade, Mac Ouoid, MacWade, Quaid,”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames