McDade
An Irish surname that is usually treated as a Gaelic patronymic, often linked to an ancestor named Dade or a related personal name.
The #4,945 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 43,369 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McDade is a surname of Irish form, with the prefix Mc/ Mac meaning “son of.” The second element is generally taken to be a personal name or nickname, often rendered as Dade or a similar Gaelic form, though older sources are not always precise about the exact original. In practice, the name is understood as a patronymic family name rather than a word with a direct modern-English meaning.
History
The surname is found among Irish and Irish-diaspora families, especially in Ulster and in communities shaped by emigration to Britain and North America. Nineteenth-century surname compilers list McDade alongside other Mc- names, reflecting its established use by that period, though they do not always give a full derivation. In modern records it survives as a relatively uncommon but well-attested Irish-American surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In U.S. census data, McDade remains uncommon but clearly established, with several thousand bearers recorded in 2010.
From the historical record
“DEN, McCue, McCulloch, McCully, McCulver, McCune, McCurdy, McCushley, McCutcheon, McCutchins, McDade, McDavitt and McDevitt, McDermott, McDewell, McDougall; McDuff, Mc- DuFFE, and McDuffie; McEachen, McEachron ; McElheny, McElleny, and McEllheny; McElroy, McElwain, McEnally; McEneany, McEneney, and McEnheney…”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)