McCulley
A Scottish and Irish surname meaning “son of Cú Uladh” or a similar Gaelic personal name, with the Mc/Mac prefix marking descent.
The #6,269 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 56,651 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McCulley is generally understood as an Anglicized Gaelic surname built on the patronymic prefix Mac or Mc, meaning “son of,” plus a personal name that has been rendered in English spellings such as Cully, Culley, or similar forms. In many cases, surnames of this shape come from Gaelic given names beginning with Cul-, sometimes ultimately tied to older Irish or Scottish Gaelic elements whose exact form can vary by family and region. The name therefore points to descent from an ancestor known by a Gaelic personal name rather than to an occupation or a place-name.
History
The surname appears in both Scotland and Ireland, and later traveled to North America with immigration from those regions. As with many Gaelic names, it was Anglicized in several spellings, so McCulley may overlap historically with MacCully, McCully, and related forms. In modern records it is found most commonly in English-speaking countries, especially the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Surnames beginning with Mc or Mac are usually patronymics, so the prefix itself literally means “son of.”