McDuffie
A Scottish surname from the Gaelic clan name meaning “dark” or “dusky,” linked to the old Clan MacDuffie of the Isles.
The #3,526 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 30,493 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McDuffie is an anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Dhuibhidh or a related clan form built on dubh, meaning “black,” “dark,” or “dusky.” The surname is therefore usually understood as “son of Dubhidh” or more loosely as belonging to the “dark” people or clan. Older writers also connected it with the Clan MacDuffie of Colonsay and the wider Clan Alpín tradition in the Hebrides.
History
The name is strongly associated with the Hebrides, especially Colonsay, where historical references place MacDuffie chiefs and cadets. 19th-century genealogical writers note that the form was later softened in some branches into MacPhee. In later usage, McDuffie became the standard Anglicized spelling, especially outside Gaelic-speaking areas.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century account says a tombstone on Colonsay bore the inscription of a Macduffie chief and that a family cross was used in funerary rites for the clan.
From the historical record
“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; McEnroe, McEvoy, McFadden, Mc- Fall, McFarland, McFarlane and McFarlen, McFeat, McFee…”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)