McCreary
An Irish and Scottish surname usually understood as a form of MacCreary, likely meaning “son of the steward” or related to a Gaelic personal name.
The #4,285 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 37,207 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McCreary is generally treated as an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Crearaidh or a related surname form such as Mac Reathaire/Creary-type names, with the prefix Mac meaning “son of.” Older writers proposed different Gaelic explanations, and the surviving evidence is not perfectly clear. The name is usually grouped with surnames from an Irish Gaelic personal name or occupational byname rather than a place-name.
History
The surname is found especially in Ulster, with historical concentration in counties such as Down, Antrim, and Londonderry. It also appears in Scottish usage and in emigrant communities overseas, where spelling often shifted between MacCreary, McCreary, and related forms like McCreery. Nineteenth-century writers disagreed on the exact Gaelic root, so the surname’s origin is best treated as traditional but not fully certain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname writers sometimes gave fanciful literal breakdowns for Irish names, which is one reason McCreary has several competing explanations in the historical literature.
From the historical record
“RiAC Rvii-otAi, MacReery, Mac Creery, MacCreary. RiAC ^AiiiiiAin, Somers. ?«”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames