McMillion
A Scottish and Irish-style surname that likely began as a patronymic form of Mac/Mc + a personal name, later fixed in Anglicized spelling.
The #9,520 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 90,409 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McMillion is generally understood as an Anglicized surname built on the Gaelic patronymic prefix Mac or Mc, meaning “son of,” attached to a personal name that has been reshaped in English spelling. In many cases, surnames of this form arose when a Gaelic name was rendered into a more English-looking form, sometimes with sound-based spellings that obscured the original root. The second element is not certain from the spelling alone, so the name is best treated as a patronymic with an uncertain underlying Gaelic personal name.
History
Names of the Mc/Mac type became fixed surnames over time in Scotland and Ireland, and many were later standardized or altered in North America. McMillion is one of several forms that likely reflect local pronunciation and spelling variation rather than a single neat medieval spelling. Because the underlying given name is obscure, the surname’s exact early history is hard to pin down with confidence.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Surnames beginning with Mc/Mac often changed spelling after migration, so one family line could appear in records under several very different-looking forms.