MacDonald, Macdonald, and McDonald are surnames of both Irish and Scottish origin. In the Scottish Gaelic and Irish languages they are patronymic, referring to an ancestor with given name Donald.
Origins and variants The surname is an Anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic or . The name is a patronym meaning 'son of Dòmhnall'. The personal name is composed of the elements 'world' and 'might rule'. According to Alex Woolf, the Gaelic personal name is probably a borrowing from the British Celtic .
In the context of Scottish clans, the various forms of the name refer to one of the largest clans, Clan Donald. In Ireland the name is largely from this root but may sometimes be a synonym for MacDonnell, which itself may be of distinct Scottish Clan Donald galloglass or native Irish origins.
Frequency and distribution In Scottish surname data, no distinction is made between, for instance, "Macdonald" and "MacDonald". According to these data, the following frequency information can be collated:
Year(s) Macdonald Rank %freq McDonald Rank %freq 1855–1858 2 1.23 <50 <0.30 1935 2 1.03 <50 <0.28 1958 3 0.98 <50 <0.26 1976 10 0.59 23 0.40 1990 10 0.55 32 0.35 1999–2001 9 0.55 24 0.37 2014 10 0.51 30 0.32
Table references%freq = percentage of the sample population sharing a particular surname. Note: Quote from GROScotSurnames: "Note that McDonald is shown as more common than MacDonald in 1901, although given the uncertainties surrounding the spelling of these names it would seem wrong to regard this as significant."
Frequency data from England of 1891 shows a concentration of families bearing the "Macdonald" surname in Lancashire and Yorkshire with a lower frequency in the northernmost counties, but overall widespread distribution throughout the country.macdonald Families Living in England and Wales in 1891 – Ancestry.com "McDonald" shares the same pattern of distribution.mcdonald Families Living in England and Wales in 1891 – Ancestry.com In contemporaneous data from the United States, coast-to-coast distribution of both "Macdonald" and "McDonald" appears in 1880.mcdonald Family History Facts 1880 – Ancestry.commacdonald Family History Facts 1880 – Ancestry.com Looking back to 1840 in the United States, the prevalence of "McDonald" is far greater than that of "Macdonald", with concentration in the Ohio-Pennsylvania-New York corridor.mcdonald Family History Facts 1840 – Ancestry.commacdonald Family History Facts 1840 – Ancestry.com
Notable people: MacDonald surname Born before 1400 Aonghus Mór (died c. 1293), son of Domhnall mac Raghnaill, and first MacDonald Aonghus Óg of Islay (died 1314 × 1318/c. 1330), Chief of Clan Donald and ally of Robert the Bruce John of Islay, Lord of the Isles (died 1386), First Lord of the Isles and Chief of Clan Donald Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles (died 1423), Second Lord of the Isles Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross (died 1449), Third Lord of the Isles
Born after 1400 John of Islay, Earl of Ross (1434–1503), or "John MacDonald", Scottish ruler, Fourth Lord of the Isles Aonghas Óg (died 1490), bastard son of John of Islay and last of the MacDonald Lords of the Isles Alasdair Mac Colla (1610–1647), or Sir Alexander MacDonald, Scottish/Irish military commander
Born after 1700 Flora MacDonald (1722–1790), Jacobite patriot who protected Bonnie Prince Charlie after the 1746 Battle of Culloden John MacDonald of Garth (1771–1866), Scottish emigrant to Canada, early partner in the North West Company John Small MacDonald (c. 1791 – 1849), Canadian businessman and provincial politician
Born after 1800 Annie MacDonald (1832–1897), British courtier, lady's maid to Queen Victoria of Great Britain A. B. MacDonald (1871–1942), American journalist Beatrice Mary MacDonald (1881–1969), American Army nurse during World War I Bob MacDonald (golfer) (1885–1960), Scottish-American golfer Claude Maxwell MacDonald (1852–1915), British soldier and diplomat Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald (1864–1922), Canadian writer, suffragist George MacDonald (1824–1905), Scottish-English author, poet, and Christian minister Hector MacDonald (1853–1903), Scottish Major-General of the British Army under Lord Kitchener John L. MacDonald (1838–1903), Scottish-American national politician Pirie MacDonald (1867–1942), American portrait photographer Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937), Scottish politician, twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Ranald MacDonald (1834–1894), Scottish-Chinook educator. First man to teach the English language in Japan William Josiah MacDonald (1873–1946), American lawyer and national politician William Myron MacDonald (1890–1958), American-Canadian military pilot
Born after 1900
J. Clifford MacDonald (1901–1963), American businessman and philanthropist Jeanette MacDonald (1903–1965), American singer and actress Jimmy MacDonald (sound effects artist) (1906–1991), Scottish-born American sound designer at Disney James Macdonald (ornithologist) (1908–2002), Scottish-Australian ornithologist Ian MacDonald (actor) (1914–1978), American actor and director during the 1940s and 1960s Ross Macdonald (1915–1983), pseudonym of the American-Canadian writer Kenneth Millar John D. MacDonald (1916–1986), American novelist Virginia B. MacDonald (1920–2008), American politician Charles B. MacDonald (1922–1990), American World War II soldier and military historian Raymond M. MacDonald (1923–2015), American politician Flora MacDonald (politician) (1926–2015), Canadian politician Peter MacDonald (Navajo leader) (born 1928), former chairman of the Navajo Nation Robert David MacDonald (1929–2004), Scottish playwright, director and translator Lowell MacDonald (1941–2025), Canadian ice hockey player Jeffrey R. MacDonald (born 1943), American murderer Margo MacDonald (1943–2014), Scottish politician Kevin B. MacDonald (born 1944), American psychology academic Marcia Lee Macdonald (born 1944), American photographer Ralph MacDonald (1944–2011), American percussionist, songwriter Linda MacDonald (born 1946), American multimedia artist and quilter L. Ian MacDonald (born 1947), Canadian author, columnist, broadcaster, and diplomat
Born after 1950 Alan MacDonald (rugby union) (born 1985), Scottish rugby union player Andrew MacDonald (ice hockey) (born 1986), Canadian ice hockey player Andrew McDonald (water polo) (born 1955), American water polo player Ann-Marie MacDonald (born 1958), Canadian playwright, novelist, actor and broadcast journalist Duck MacDonald Andrew Duck MacDonald (born 1953), American heavy metal/hard rock guitarist Fiona MacDonald (born 1974), Scottish curler Garry MacDonald (born 1962), English footballer Heidi MacDonald, American comic book editor and comics critic Jacob MacDonald (born 1993), American ice hockey player Jason MacDonald (born 1975), Canadian mixed martial artist Kevin MacDonald (footballer) (born 1960), Scottish footballer Kiaran MacDonald, English boxer Kirk MacDonald (ice hockey) (born 1983), Canadian ice hockey player Kirk MacDonald (politician) (born 1975), member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick Kristen McDonald Rivet (born 1970), member of the United States House of Representatives Linda MacDonald (activist), Canadian activist against Non-State Torture Mike MacDonald (comedian) (1954–2018), Canadian comedian and actor Mike MacDonald (rugby union) (born 1980), American rugby union player Ray MacDonald (born 1977), Thai actor, adventurer, television presenter, host Roddie MacDonald (born 1954), Scottish footballer Roddy (R.S.) MacDonald (born 1956), Scottish-Australian Pipe Major and composer Rory MacDonald (fighter) (born 1989), Canadian mixed martial artist Shaun MacDonald (born 1988), Welsh footballer Tom MacDonald (rapper) (born 1988), Canadian rapper, songwriter William J. Macdonald (filmmaker), American television writer and producer
Notable people: Macdonald surname Born after 1700 Allan Macdonald (1794–1862), New York politician Lawrence Macdonald (1799 – c. 1870), Scottish sculptor Étienne Macdonald (1765–1840), Marshal of the Empire
Born after 1800 John Sandfield Macdonald (1812–1872), Canadian national politician, First Premier of Ontario Sir John A. Macdonald (1815–1891), Scottish-Canadian national politician, father of Confederation and the first Prime Minister of Canada Donald Alexander Macdonald (1817–1896), Canadian national politician John Macdonald (Canadian politician) (1824–1890), Scottish-Canadian merchant, churchman, philanthropist William Christoper Macdonald (1831–1917), Scottish-Canadian tobacco manufacturer, philanthropist Captain Murdo Stewart MacDonald (1852–1938), Scottish sailor, the last Sea Baron, Lloyd's Surveyor of Shipping Charles Blair Macdonald (1855–1939), American golfer, introduced the first 18-hole course in the United States C. Leslie Macdonald (1856–1929), Australian racehorse owner Alexander Macdonald (New York politician) (1867–1935), American politician and conservationist John Smyth Macdonald (1867–1941), British physiologist Harry Macdonough (born John Macdonald, 1871–1931), Canadian singer and recording executive John Alexander Macdonald (Prince Edward Island politician) (1874–1948), Canadian national politician William Alexander Macdonald (fl. 1890s), Canadian provincial politician William Ross Macdonald (1891–1976), Canadian national politician Ab Macdonald Albert Macdonald (1896 – after 1967), South Australian horse trainer
Born after 1900 Archibald 'Archie' James Florence Macdonald (1904–1983), British Liberal MP Barbara Macdonald (1913–2000), American social worker, lesbian feminist and ageism activist Dwight Macdonald (1906–1982), American writer, editor, social critic, philosopher, and political radical Eleanor Josephine Macdonald (1906–2007), pioneer American cancer epidemiologist and cancer researcher John Michael Macdonald (1906–1997), Canadian national politician Jack Macdonald (sportsman) (1908–1982), New Zealand rower James David Macdonald (ornithologist) (1908–2002), British and Australian ornithologist Margaret Mary Macdonald (1910–1968), Canadian national politician Callum Macdonald (1912–1999), Scottish publisher who specialised in poetry James David Macdonald (politician) (1922–1995), Canadian politician Ian G. Macdonald (1928–2023), English mathematician, a prominent contributor to algebraic combinatorics Ian Macdonald (Australian politician, born 1945), Australian national politician Ian Macdonald (New South Wales politician) (born 1949), Australian state politician
Born after 1950
Dame Mary Macdonald (born 1950), British head teacher, honoured for services to education Amy MacDonald (writer) (born 1951), American writer and journalist Ken Macdonald (born 1953), British barrister, Director of Public Prosecutions Norm Macdonald (1959–2021), Canadian comedian, writer and actor Sarah Macdonald (journalist) (born 1966), Australian journalist Kevin Macdonald (director) (born 1967), Scottish film director Shona Macdonald (born 1969), Scottish artist Shauna MacDonald (Canadian actress) (born 1970), Canadian actress and filmmaker Kelly Macdonald (born 1976), Scottish actress Shauna Macdonald (Scottish actress) (born 1981), Scottish stage, television and film actress Alice Macdonald (born 1983), English politician Amy Macdonald (born 1987), Scottish singer/songwriter
Ross Macdonald (born 1989), bassist for The 1975 Nene Macdonald (born 1994), Papua New Guinean Rugby League player Louise Macdonald (active 2020s), charity leader in Scotland, national director of the Institute of Directors in Scotland
Notable people: McDonald surname Born after 1800 Ambrose Stephen McDonald (1845–1913), American businessman and politician Eugene F. McDonald (1886–1958), American entrepreneur, founder of Zenith Radio Harl McDonald (1899–1955), American composer, pianist, conductor and teacher Ian Donald Roy McDonald (1898–1920), British World War I flying ace Jack McDonald (ice hockey, born 1887) (died 1958), Canadian ice hockey player