McVicker
A Scottish surname meaning “son of the vicar,” originally built from Mac- plus vicar.
The #8,770 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 82,596 Americans shares it.
Etymology
McVicker is a reduced form of Mac Vicar, a Gaelic surname meaning “son of the vicar.” The second element goes back to Latin vicarius, the source of English vicar. In older surname use, the name could function as a hereditary family name even when the bearer was no longer connected with church office.
History
The form is especially associated with Scotland and Scottish-descended families, where Mac- surnames often developed into shorter spellings such as Mc- or M'-. Historical surname dictionaries commonly group McVicker with MacVicar and related forms. In modern records, McVicker and MacVicar are usually treated as variants of the same surname family.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The occupational root is a little misleading: the surname does not mean the bearer personally was a vicar, but that an ancestor was identified as the vicar’s son or household member.
From the historical record
“MAC VICAR \ (Celt. +Lat.) Son of the MACVICKER J Vicar ,[La.t.vicarius] MAC WADE = Mao Quade = Mac Quoid q;v. MAO WALTER (Celt.+Teut.) Son of Walter q.v. MAC WALTERS 1 = Mao Walter (q.v.) + MAC WATERS J the E. genit. -i suff.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)