McCurry
An Irish and Manx surname generally understood as a shortened form of Mac Corry, meaning “son of Corry” or “son of Comhraidhe.”
The #4,673 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 40,678 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McCurry is usually treated as an Anglicized form of an Irish patronymic beginning Mac or Mc, meaning “son of.” In the historical sources, it is linked to Mac Corry, and more specifically to an older form understood as Mac Comhraidhe or Mac Comraidhe, which would mean “son of Comhraidhe/Comrad.” The second element is an old personal name; its exact sense is not always explained consistently in the older literature.
History
The name appears in older Irish and Manx records in forms such as Mac Corry and MacCurry, with some sources noting that the form became obsolete or was reduced in later usage. The same family-name pattern also gave rise to spellings like Corry, Curry, and Currin in different districts and records. Because the older scholarship is somewhat inconsistent, the surname is best treated as a traditional Gaelic patronymic with several related spellings rather than a single fixed origin story.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A Manx source explicitly labels MacCorry and MacCurry as obsolete by the early 20th century, which suggests the surname had already become relatively rare in its older Gaelic form.
From the historical record
“rriAc co|tiiA, itjac cot>t»Ai-6, Mac Corry.MacCurry (?) Mac Kerr, Corry, Curry, Corre, Corr. niAc Co|tjiAoin, rriAC Co|t|tAi-6fn, Curreen, Currin, Curren.”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames